Cosatu spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla says the VAT hike spells disaster for workers, who will now struggle to clothe and feed their families and send their children to school.

The implementation of the VAT increase will be a disaster for the low-income working class already living on a hand-to-mouth basis.

The one percentage point hike in VAT took effect on Sunday. The Sugar Tax also came into effect Sunday.

“We do hope the parliamentarians and all responsible authorities are going to take seriously our proposals where we said they need to look at expanding the basket of zero rated goods. We will also like to see a situation where water and electricity are not vatable because we really have a crisis where we are going to continue as an economy to produce the phenomenon of the working poor – people who actually do wake up every day and earn an income but they cannot take care of their own families,” says Pamla.