Financial and Fiscal Commission questions SA budget process, wants to be more involved

CAPE TOWN - The Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) has called into question the country's budget process and wants to be more involved in the planning.  

The commission's chairperson, Nombeko Mbava, also wants the institution to be given space to make submissions on spending priorities before they are tabled by the finance minister.

ALSO READ: Parliament's finance committees want greater involvement in budget planning process  

The commission, one of the institutions supporting democracy, and chairpersons from Parliament's finance committees addressed a cluster briefing on the budget process in Cape Town on Monday.  

The FFC has raised concerns about the budget process, saying it is not adequately consulted before the budget is tabled.  

The recent postponement of the budget at the 11th hour has led to greater scrutiny of the entire process, with Mbava saying it needs to be interrogated further.  

"What that means is that the budget process in itself, the entire budget process, whether it’s a procedural irregularity on the budget process, could be a question that needs to be interrogated to say, was the budget process implemented in line with the constitution?"  

Chairpersons of the finance committees from the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) called for government to put more effort in trimming the fat to help plug the R60 billion funding gap instead of raising taxes.