Parliament says it wants to have a greater say in the budget it receives from the National Treasury. The National Legislature says the current allocation and subsequent cuts, make it difficult to carry out its mandate.
In a presentation to the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament, Secretary to Parliament, Xolile George, told members that Parliament should consider other instruments at its disposal to ensure it can continue to do its work.
In a presentation, Parliament’s management indicated that the institution’s budget has been cut by R214 million in the 2023/2024 financial year. This will increase to over R772 million in the next three years.
The Speaker of the National Assembly and the NCOP Chairperson held a meeting with the finance minister last year, to discuss the matter. They were told, however, that it was too late to make any adjustments.
George says he is still developing a funding model for parliament so it can carry out its duties.
“Consistently, year in and year out, the budget of Parliament continues to be cut and as it is cut, it puts parliament in a precarious position, where in certain instances, for the last three years, Parliament has relied more on internal savings, retained earnings that the budget, we were able at the time not to return to the fiscus. So, there’s been a cushioning effect for the last three years. However, as we are pursuing this discussion, that base for protection has completely declined. In fact it has now evaporated,” says Xolile George, Secretary to Parliament.
George has proposed that it may be time for Parliament to play a more proactive role with regard to its own budget.
“So, what we are essentially interpreting, chair, is that perhaps Parliament may want to consider whether it should not establish a budget committee that would essentially be a multi-party budget committee. So that, when the executive team to interface either at the level of the president as the head of government and legislature, the EA being heads of that arm, whether there should not be an intervening conversation prior to the figures being tabled to cabinet and being approved.”
