Report on Appropriation Bill finalised for presentation to National Assembly
The scene has been set for the final step to be taken in passing the national budget next week.
FILE: Chairperson of Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations Mmusi Maimane at a finance cluster briefing on the national budget. Picture: Parliament/Phando Jikelo
CAPE TOWN - The scene has been set for the final step to be taken in passing the national budget next week.
While there’s still much uncertainty as to whether Government of National Unity (GNU) partners will put their differences aside to pass the Appropriation Bill, on Friday, the Standing Committee on Appropriations finalised their report on the Appropriation Bill to present to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Chairperson Mmusi Maimaine said that the committee had been following legal advice to the letter on how to handle this process, especially in light of the current impasse over corruption-accused ministers.
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While the Democratic Alliance (DA) has previously indicated it won’t support the budgets of departments headed by compromised ministers, the appropriations committee is staying out of the politics.
The committee has noted the impact the delays in tabling a budget has had on public hearings, saying this had not been satisfactory, and recommended that this was reviewed in future.
While the committee has not received any proposals to amend budget votes within the prescribed time frame, it has been considering the conditions placed on the social security agency, SASSA, by the National Treasury, that has caused upheaval in the payments of grants.
Maimane explained: "We are not here to debate the conditions. The only debate we are putting forward is that where there’s validity, grant payment must be done. Ultimately, there should be no disruption to the payment of valid grant recipients."
The committee is also recommending that the Treasury conduct spending reviews as soon as possible to identify possible savings within the fiscus, including the viability of maintaining the high number of foreign missions when compared to trade benefits.
Only the MK Party rejected the report that will precede Wednesday’s expected vote on the budget schedule containing the allocations to all national departments, each of which must be agreed to, before the bill can be put to the vote.