Several pieces of legislation govern the budget process. The bills are debated by Parliament before they are signed into law by the President.
Division of Revenue Bill
This bill provides for the equitable division of revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local levels of government for the financial year. It also determines each provinces’ equitable share and allocations to provinces, local government and municipalities from national government’s equitable shares. Furthermore, it spells out the responsibilities of all three levels of government, after the division and allocations to provide for these matters.
Appropriation Bill
This bill allows for the appropriation of money from the National Revenue Fund for the requirements of the state for the financial year. It also prescribes conditions for the spending of funds withdrawn for the financial year before the commencement of the Appropriation Act for that financial year, and to provide for related matters.
Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act
In broad terms, the act provides the procedure for Parliament to amend the budget, which includes the annual Division of Revenue Bill, the Annual Appropriation Bill and the Adjustments Appropriation Bill, as well as revenue bills, such the annual Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and other bills.
Importance of oversight
A number of processes take place to ensure oversight over public-sector expenditure and performance. South Africa has an Auditor-General, who is responsible for auditing government departments’ financial and non-financial performance.
The finding of these audits are reported to Parliament. Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts ensures that the issues raised by the Auditor-General are dealt with accordingly. Parliament also exercises its oversight through various portfolio committees that assess the budget and other plans, as well as the performance of each department, including their financial performance, and hold them accountable.
Parliament’s standing committees, the National Treasury and the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation (in the presidency) analyse departmental reports on performance indicators that measure progress made in respect of their mandates, for which they are given their share of the budget. This monitoring is done on a quarterly basis.
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