Godongwana introduces Special Appropriation Bill to address shortfall after US aid cuts 

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has introduced the long-awaited Special Appropriation Bill in Parliament to get more money to address the shortfall caused by the withdrawal of health sector donor funding by the United States.

The bill will see an additional amount of R754 million going to the health budget vote for the 2025/26 financial year to plug the funding gap left by the withdrawal of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) earlier this year.

The funds will go towards various programmes like developing strategies to decrease mortality associated with communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as research.

Before its withdrawal, PEPFAR had contributed to the country's HIV response and supported 27 HIV/AIDS districts out of 52 districts in eight provinces.

The health department had asked the treasury for assistance with some of the funds expected to go towards the South African edical Research Council (SAMRC) to support health researchers across the country.

The withdrawal of the PEPFAR funds had also threatened the livelihoods of 15,000 healthcare workers.

ALSO READ: Motsoaledi announces R1 billion funding boost to plug PEPFAR gap

The Special Appropriation Bill says an amount of R754 million is appropriated from the National Revenue Fund.

It further states that the bill must be dealt with in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution since it is a money bill and must be adopted by Parliament's two houses.

The bill says the state law advisers and the National Treasury are of the opinion that it is not necessary to refer the bill to the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders since it doesn' contain any provisions pertaining to traditional communities.