Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance has adopted its report on the fiscal framework that was tabled in Parliament by the Finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, earlier this month. The budget includes a zero-point-five percentage point VAT increase over the next two financial years. The committee adopted the report with recommendations proposed by ActionSA - which includes that Treasury must be given 30 days to come up with alternatives to tax hikes, while scrapping the VAT hike and to adjust personal income tax brackets. The majority of the members of the committee - 6 out of 11 - voted in favor of this. However, other members cautioned that the laws governing the adoption of the budget do not make provision for a 30 day window period. Zalene Merrington filed this report and Sakina Kamwendo spoke to policy writer, researcher, and political analyst, Tara Roos