Minister of Finance to present 2020 Budget Speech in the National Assembly
Following the debate on the President’s State of the Nation Address, the Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni is scheduled to deliver the Budget Speech and related Bills in the National Assembly (NA) tomorrow at 14h00.
Parliament and the Budget:
When President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the State of the Nation Address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces, he announced government’s service delivery priorities for the year ahead. Members of Parliament debated the Address over two days last week and the President then replied to issues raised in the debate.
Following the State of the Nation Address, the Minister of Finance presents the budget to Parliament. The Budget Speech intends to give details of how the priorities set out during the Sona will be funded. It further unpacks how the funds will be allocated to the different spheres of government, departments and state entities.
Parliament interrogates the allocation of funds to meet the priorities identified in the State of the Nation Address and must approve the National Budget, which the Minister of Finance tables, before it can be implemented.
Parliament’s responsibility concerning scrutiny of the budget and oversight of government spending is an ongoing, rolling process. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act (Act 9 of 2009) empowers Parliament to make amendments to the fiscal framework, appropriations and division of revenue.
The fiscal framework sets out overall estimates of revenue collection, expenditure, borrowing, interest and debt servicing. It provides motivation for government’s specific proposals about the Division of revenue Bill – which allocates funds to the national, the provincial and the local spheres of government. It also provides motivation for the Appropriation Bill, which allocates funds to different government departments and entities of the state – including Parliament. The different entities present motivations to Parliament about why Parliament should approve the money, which the National Treasury has allocated to them.
Once Parliament has passed the Budget and Division of Revenue Bill for a particular financial year, Parliament’s deliberations centre around the allocations to the different departments at separate sittings focusing on specific departments and their entities.
Parliamentary committees make decisions about the proposed allocations and present reports on them to the National Assembly for approval.
Once the National Assembly has approved the Division of Revenue Bill, it considers the Appropriation Bill and votes on each departmental allocation. Once the National Assembly has adopted the Appropriation Bill, it is transferred to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.
Public attendance of Budget Speech:
As part of the public participation process, different categories of guests are invited to attend the Budget Speech sitting. These include, but are not limited to, the representatives of statutory and constitutional institutions, civil society, business, members of the public, organised labour, interest groups, etc.
Follow the Budget Speech:
To keep South Africans abreast, the Budget Speech will be broadcast live on Parliament TV (DSTV Channel 408), streamed live on Parliament’s website and on Parliament’s YouTube channel (@ParliamentofRSA). Various media platforms will also carry this important sitting.
Collection of accreditation (accredited media only)
Accreditation tags for media, who are not part of the lock-up, will be available for collection on Wednesday, 26 February 2020 at the Visitors Centre) from 5am to 13:30. Those who applied and are accredited, are encouraged to collect their tags on time to avoid long queues.
NB: Members of the media who are part of the lock-up should contact Treasury for full details.
For enquiries related to the media accreditation, please contact Nolizwi Magwagwa on 081 716 5824 / 021 403 2465 or Masego Dlula on 021 403 8141
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo – 082 370 6930
Collection of accreditation (accredited members of the public only)
All accredited stakeholders (Members of the public only) attending tomorrow’s sitting are urged to collect their accreditation tags at the Public Relations Unit Offices situated on the Upper Ground Floor in the 90 Plein Building. All guests are expected to be seated by 13h30 tomorrow afternoon and doors to the public gallery will open at 12:00.
Members of the public who have accreditation enquiries should contact the following officials from Public Relations Office: Nompumelelo Mokoena 021 403 2460 / Dolly Mlonyeni 021 403 8440 / Helene Lawrance 021 403 8092
Did you know?
The President may attend meetings of the National Assembly and may speak in the Assembly, but he or she does not have a vote.
