DA's threat to withold support for some departmental budgets could again risk finalisation of budget
Chairperson of Parliament’s Appropriations Committee, Mmusi Maimane, said his hands are tied, and this is a battle for the Government of National Unity (GNU) to iron out.
DA Chief Whip George Michalakis. Picture: EWN/ Lindsay Dentlinger
CAPE TOWN - As the clock ticks down on securing a national budget for the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s threat to withhold its support for departments presided over by compromised ministers could once again imperil its finalisation.
Chairperson of Parliament’s Appropriations Committee, Mmusi Maimane, said his hands are tied, and this is a battle for the Government of National Unity (GNU) to iron out.
During budget vote debates over the past two weeks, the DA made it clear it won’t back the budgets of the Departments of Human Settlements and Higher Education.
Following recent corruption allegations made about Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, it’s also added that budget vote to the list of those it will reject.
Although the DA has said it won’t vote against the budget as a whole, legally, all 42 budget votes for departments and related entities have to be agreed to, before the Appropriation Bill can be put to the vote on 23 July.
The party wants the President to act against ministers fingered in corruption after he fired the party’s Andrew Whitfield as the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, for travelling overseas without his permission.
The DA’s chief whip, George Michalakis, said his party has no issue with the budget, but rather with certain ministers entrusted to manage those funds.
“The deadlock at this point will have to be addressed. It will have to come from the president, taking decisive steps against those ministers. It’s a purely political issue.”
Maimane said if the bill is rejected and returned to the committee, it can only recommend changes of a monetary nature.
“What we cannot solve for as a committee are the political machinations that people put forward. So, if political parties are looking at how to reject or amend, they need to come up with proper amendments.”
If the Appropriation Bill is not passed by both houses of Parliament by the end of July, departments will only be able to spend up to 10% monthly of the budget of the previous financial year.
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