Court voids VAT Act section over tax power

A chunk of South Africa's VAT Act just got torched by the Western Cape High Court for handing tax powers to the wrong branch of government.

Court guts executive tax authority

• Judge Matthew Francis ruled the delegation unconstitutional.
• Parliament alone holds power over national tax rates.
• Francis dismissed regulatory-purpose arguments as flimsy.
• Lawmakers got 24 months to patch the legal defect.

DA's legal fight pays off

• Helen Zille called it a win for parliamentary oversight.
• Her party filed the challenge back in April last year.
• Zille framed it as classic no-taxation-without-representation stuff.
• Future VAT changes must go through proper legislative channels.

What triggered the whole mess

• Enoch Godongwana announced a VAT hike starting 1 May.
• Parliament passed fiscal proposals despite pushback from the DA.
• Godongwana and SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter fought the case.
• Their defense painted the power as fiscal management, not taxation.

Francis dismantles the government's argument

• Setting a tax rate is no minor detail, per Francis.
• His ruling called it a revenue-raising mechanism, full stop.
• The Constitutional Court still needs to confirm the invalidation.
• The current VAT rate stays until parliament rewrites the law.

EFF claims vindication

• Sinawo Thambo said the ruling backed their long-held stance.
• EFF had mounted its separate court challenge on the hike.
• Their argument mirrored the no-representation, no-taxation principle.
• The party pushed the same line in committee and in court.