The National Council of Provinces will today, 12 April 2011, from 14h00, debate the Division of Revenue Bill. The bill is dealt with in terms of the Constitution, the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act and the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act.
The Constitution, Section 214 requires an annual Division of Revenue Bill (DORB), an Act of Parliament to provide for:
- The equitable division of revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of government
- the determination of each provinces equitable share of the provincial sphere of that revenue
- Any other allocations to provinces, local government and municipalities from the national governments share of that revenue, and any conditions on which those allocations may be made
- Section 76(4) of Constitution requires that DORB must be tabled in NA, and referred to the NCOP thereafter.
The Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act gives effect to the Constitution in terms of:
- Section 10: Consultation processes for allocations with the Budget Council, Budget Forum and FFC
- Section 10(5): Explanatory memorandum on formulae, data etc.
The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act stipulates that:
- When the budget is tabled, a report must also be tabled that responds to the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committees on Appropriations regarding the proposed division of revenue and conditional grant allocations to provinces and local governments as contained in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) Section 6(10)
- The report must explain how the DORB and the national budget give effect to or the reasons for not taking into account, the recommendations contained in the committees reports Section 7(4)
- After the adoption of the fiscal framework the DORB must be referred to the committee on appropriations of the NA for consideration and report
- Referred to the Appropriations Committee in the NCOP for consideration and report
- DORB must be passed no later than 35 days after the adoption of the fiscal framework by Parliament.
At a provincial level, the following should occur:
- Public hearings must be held
- Legislature adopts and sends a negotiating mandate to the NCOP
- Committee deliberates and refers back to province for confirmation or rejection
- Legislature adopts final mandate and refers to committee at the NCOP
- Committee deliberates and approves the bill.
The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Appropriations Mr Chaane will open the debate. Several MECs will also participate and Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan will close the debate.
Enquiries:
Khuthala Noah
Tel: 021 403 3424
Cell: 083 620 0652
Source: Parliament of South Africa
