Parliament, Thursday, 25 July 2024 - The National Assembly has, during its plenary sitting today, passed the 2024 Appropriation Bill. The Bill aims to appropriate money from the National Revenue Fund (NRF) for the State's requirements for the 2024/25 financial year.
The Bill not only appropriates money for the requirements for the current financial year but also prescribes conditions for the spending of the funds withdrawn for the 2025/26 financial year before the commencement of the Appropriation Act and for matters incidental to it.
Section 27(1) of the Public Finance Management Act requires the Minister of Finance to table the annual budget for a financial year in the NA before the start of that financial year or, in exceptional circumstances, on a date as soon as possible after the start of the financial year.
The Appropriation Bill was tabled by the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, in February, during the delivery of the Budget Speech, together with the Division of Revenue Bill; the Budget Review; the Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2023/24 financial year); the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserves Accounts Defrayal Amendment Bill; the Estimates of National Expenditure; and the Revenue/Tax Proposals.
The Bills were tabled in terms of section 10(1)(a) of the Money Bill and Related Matters Act 2009 (as amended in 2018). The 2024 Appropriation Bill lapsed after the last sitting of the NA before the 2024 general elections and was revived by the NA on 2 July 2024. Section 10(7) of the Money Bill and Related Matters Act provides that Parliament has four months to process the national budget from the start of the financial year of the period as tabled by the Minister.
The 2024 Appropriation Bill strikes a careful balance between fiscal consolidation and development. On average, 60.2% of consolidated non-interest spending will continue to be spent on the social wage (health, education, social protection, community development, and employment programmes). Proposed additional spending of R18.6 billion in 2024/25, R19.2 billion in 2025/26 and R19.8 billion in 2026/27 will ensure that the salaries of teachers, nurses, doctors, police and many other public servants are catered for. Spending on social transfers will rise from R283.4 billion in 2023/24 to R331.5 billion in 2026/27. The 2024 budget also prioritises capital budgets, with a 7.3% increase in capital investment over the medium term.
The Bill proposes a total appropriation by vote of R1.1 trillion in the 2024/25 financial year (or R3.4 trillion over the next three years). Total direct charges against the NRF amount to R1 trillion in the 2024/25 financial year (or R3.3 trillion over the MTEF period). Direct charges against the NRF include, amongst others, Provincial Equitable Share (PES); debt-services costs; general fuel levy sharing with metropolitan municipalities; skills levy; and sector education and training authorities.
Including direct transfers to provinces and local government, direct charges and total vote appropriation, provisional allocations not assigned to votes, and the contingency reserve, the total estimate of national expenditure amounts to R2.1 trillion for the 2024/25 financial year or R6.8 trillion over the MTEF period.
The Bill was adopted without amendments and will now be sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
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