JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa 's fragile unity government was shaken again Wednesday as the country's second-largest political party broke with partners and voted against a national budget.
The Democratic Alliance, which joined the government after the long-ruling African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority last year, said it could not support a tax increase that would further burden the poor majority of the country's population.
It said it would challenge the budget's adoption in court.
The leftist rival party Economic Freedom Fighters celebrated the friction. “We are happy that we managed to break this so-called GNU (government of national unity). What is uniting you if you can’t agree on something a national budget?” EFF leader Julius Malema said.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana raised doubts about the DA’s ability to remain in the government.
“I don’t think you can vote against a budget, and tomorrow you want to grow and be part of its implementation. It can’t be,” Godongwana said.
The disputed budget would raise the Value Added Tax by half a percentage point starting next month, with another half a percentage point introduced next year.
VAT is payable on goods and services including food and electricity. Opposition parties and civil society have criticized the proposed budget as anti-poor.
According to the latest budget, more than 20 million people in South Africa rely on welfare grants, with the unemployment rate at over 32%.
The tax increase is meant to generate over 15 billion rand (about $800 million) in revenue annually to fund health, education and social services programs.
Already, the budget had been revised to address foreign aid cuts by the new U.S. administration.
This is the latest disagreement between the two main parties after the ANC lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in its worst-ever electoral performance last year.
The ANC and DA have ideological differences on issues including foreign policy, land reform, education and health sector reforms.
On Wednesday, a small party outside the unity government, ActionSA, unexpectedly tipped the scales in favor of the ANC to pass the budget.
In this photo provided by the South African Government Communications and Information Services (GCIS), the Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana speaks before the vote for national budget for 2025 in the National Assembly, in Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Jairus Mmutle/GCIS via AP)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel struck tents outside two major hospitals in the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least two people, including a local reporter, and wounding nine, including six reporters, medics said Monday.
Fifteen others were killed in separate strikes across the territory, according to hospitals.
A strike on a media tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at around 2 a.m. set the tent ablaze, killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today TV station, and another man, according to the hospital. The six reporters were wounded in that strike.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant, without providing further information. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it is deeply embedded in residential areas.
Israel also struck tents on the edge of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, wounding three people, according to the hospital.
Nasser Hospital said it received 13 other bodies, including six women and four children, from separate strikes overnight. Al-Aqsa Hospital said two people were killed and three wounded in a strike on a home in Deir al-Balah.
Israel has carried out waves of strikes across Gaza and ground forces have carved out new military zones since it ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month. Israel has barred the import of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid since the beginning of March.
Thousands of people have sheltered in tents set up inside hospital compounds throughout the 18-month war, assuming Israel would be less likely to target them.
Israel has raided hospitals on several occasions, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by hospital staff.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, rampaging through army bases and farming communities and killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted 251 people, and are still holding 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel has vowed to keep escalating military pressure until Hamas releases the remaining hostages, lays down its arms and leaves the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will then implement U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle much of Gaza's population to other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as “voluntary emigration.”
Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and human rights experts have warned that implementing the Trump proposal would likely amount to mass expulsion in violation of international law.
Netanyahu will meet with Trump in Washington on Monday to discuss Gaza and other issues.
Israel's military offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants or civilians. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and at its height displaced around 90% of its population.
Magdy reported from Cairo.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
FILE - Israeli tanks maneuver along the border with north of the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
