African National Congress (ANC) member of the NCOP, Yunus Carrim has criticised the Finance Ministry for its absence in the NCOP as the House was processing the 2019 Appropriations Bill.
Neither Minister Tito Mboweni nor his Deputy David Masondo were in the House when the Bill was considered.
Carrim, a former National Assembly member and former Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance in the Assembly, stopped short of accusing the Finance Ministry of undermining the NCOP.
“The Minister and Deputy Minister, Chairperson, I must say should actually, ideally be here. They are there in the National Assembly when the Appropriations Bill is dealt with. They should actually be in the National Council of Provinces. This is something yourself, the chairperson and Mr Booi have to look into. We are both equal and complementary Houses. This is the most important thing we are looking at in the year. It’s voting on the budget, one day before the deadline. Why is the Minister and Deputy Minister not here? I understand that they are out of the country, but please could one of them be here, the Deputy Minister, at least,” says Carrim.
