The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has passed the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill at its plenary sitting today.
The Bill was presented in Parliament by the Minister of Finance in the National Assembly (NA) on 11 November 2021, when he delivered the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.
The Bill was tabled in Parliament according to section 12(4) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act No. 9 of 2009. The Act requires the Minister of Finance to table a Division of Revenue Amendment Bill, with a revised fiscal framework, if the adjustments budget affects changes to the Division of Revenue Act for the relevant year.
The Division of Revenue Bill provides for the determination of each province’s equitable share of revenue and for any other allocations to provinces, local government or municipalities from the national government’s share of the revenue.
Last week, the National Assembly adopted the Bill and referred it to the NCOP for concurrence.
In processing the Bill, the Select Committee on Appropriations received a briefing from the National Treasury and had engagements with the Financial and Fiscal Commission, the Parliamentary Budget Office and the South African Local Government Association. The Committee further called for public submissions through media adverts and received submissions on the Bill from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).
The Committee welcomed the proposed additional allocations, such as allocating the provincial equitable share of R14.7 billion to assist provinces in implementing the wage agreement of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council for the 2021/22 financial year. It further welcomed the R350 million to fund the employment of assistant nurses who will fulfil the responsibilities required in the Covid-19 vaccination programme, Covid-19 wards, High Care Units, patient observation and other duties through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative.
Considering the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [B19 – 2021], the Select Committee on Appropriations recommends adopting the Bill without amendments.
Today’s sitting also passed the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill [B2B- 2019]. The Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill provides for the repeal of the Municipal Systems Amendment Act No.7 of 2011, which was declared unconstitutional in 2017, for failure to comply with the procedures as set out in section 76 of the Constitution. The Act was tagged as a section 75 instead of a section 76 Bill.
The National Assembly passed the Bill in December 2020 and referred the Bill to the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water, Sanitation and Human Settlement in February 2021 for processing.
The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, having deliberated on and considered the subject of the Bill, agreed to it with amendments.
The Bill will be sent back to the National Assembly for consideration.
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