Parliament, Sunday 7 July 2019 – The National Assembly is scheduled to hold 25 budget vote debates on government departments and entities at mini-plenary sittings this week.
The budget vote debates of state entities – including Parliament and the Presidency – will culminate in Parliament’s consideration of the Appropriation Bill.
The Appropriation Bill is part of the National Budget, which Minister of Finance Mr Tito Mboweni presented to Parliament in February. The Bill allocates state funds to specific state entities.
In March, the fifth democratic Parliament passed the Division of Revenue Bill, which allocates state funds to the national, provincial and local spheres of government.
Once the National Assembly has considered and made decisions on the Appropriation Bill, the National Council of Provinces will consider and make decisions on it. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Amendment Act has empowered Parliament to make adjustments to the National Budget.
Debates on budget votes are scheduled for mini-plenary sittings of the National Assembly on Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Friday. Five budget vote debates are scheduled for Tuesday, nine for Wednesday, eight for Thursday and three for Friday.
There are also various Parliamentary committee meetings scheduled this week.
The National Council of Provinces is scheduled to hold a plenary sitting on Tuesday to elect members to the Pan-African Parliament and to serve on the Judicial Service Commission and the Magistrates Commission. The National Assembly has already met to conduct similar elections. Provisional plenary sittings of the National Council of Provinces have been scheduled also for Thursday and Friday.
On Tuesday, the Joint Rules Committee, of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces, is scheduled to meet for the first time since the establishment of the sixth democratic Parliament to determine the systems for the joint business of Parliament.
On Wednesday, the Rules Committee of the National Council of Provinces is scheduled to meet to consider its specific rules.
On Thursday, the Joint Programme Committee of the two Houses is scheduled to meet, also for the first time in the sixth Parliament, to consider Parliament’s programme for the rest of the year. This follows meetings of the specific programme committees of each House.
Committee meetings scheduled this week include:
MONDAY
Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration: Consideration and adoption of three budget vote reports
TUESDAY
Joint meeting of the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Select Committee on Appropriations: Briefing by Parliamentary Budget Office on 2019 Appropriation Bill
Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs: Briefing on committee legacy report, adoption of budget vote report
Standing Committee on Public Accounts: Presentation of legacy report of committee
Standing Committee on Finance: Consideration and adoption of budget vote report
WEDNESDAY
Joint meeting of the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Select Committee on Appropriations: Briefing by the Financial and Fiscal Commission on the 2019 Appropriation Bill
Select Committee on Justice: Briefing from Parliamentary Legal Adviser on the legal procedure to follow in reviewing the President’s decision to remove Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba and Advocate Lawrence Sithembiso Mrwebi from their positions in the National Prosecuting Authority; briefing by the National Prosecuting Authority on the President’s removal of Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba and Advocate Lawrence Sithembiso Mrwebi from their positions in the National Prosecuting Authority
FRIDAY
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education: Consideration and adoption of draft Portfolio Committee Report on Budget Vote: Basic Education
For the latest full schedule of committee meetings (updated regularly), please click: https://www.parliament.gov.za/whatson
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