Parliament is due to vote on the 2025 fiscal framework proposals on Wednesday as part of a busy week.
SA’s budget approval process requires MPs in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to consider and approve the budget framework, as well as several bills.
The first of these is the fiscal framework, which is due to go before the National Assembly on April 2. Parliament also has to consider the Division of Revenue Bill, the Appropriation Bill, the Rates and Monetary Amounts Bill and the VAT Amendment Bill.
If the budget is not passed by April 2, the Public Finance Management Act, the cornerstone of SA’s financial management, provides a fallback that allows government spending to continue based on the previous year’s budget allocations.
The passage of the budget remains in doubt after several parties in the government of national unity (GNU), including the DA, said they did not support it, mainly because of the proposed VAT increase.
Negotiations between the ANC and the DA were on a knife-edge at the weekend after the ANC rejected the DA’s demands for joint control over economic policy and far-reaching proposals on what this should be.
The ANC national executive committee met at the weekend to discuss the budget, among other things, and could announce the decisions taken at a media briefing early this week.
The GNU comprises the ANC, DA, Rise Mzansi, Al Jama-ah, IFP, Patriotic Alliance, GOOD, the Pan Africanist Congress, Freedom Front Plus and the UDM. They represent 70% of the seats in the National Assembly.
Without the DA, which has 87 seats in the National Assembly and is the second-largest party in the coalition government, the budget is unlikely to receive enough votes to pass, unless the GNU manages to get support from outside political parties.
On Monday, employment & labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth, with labour activation partners, will hand over 15 contracts valued at R460m to stimulate job creation for more than 9,616 beneficiaries in Mpumalanga.
On Tuesday, the communications and digital technologies department is set to brief parliament on the State Digital Infrastructure Company. The co-operative governance & traditional affairs department, Eskom, Transnet, Prasa and Sanral are also expected to brief the communications committee.
The select committee on finance in the NCOP is set to receive a briefing by Gauteng and Western Cape provincial treasuries on their quarterly reports.
SA Revenue Service commissioner Edward Kieswetter is on Tuesday expected to announce the preliminary outcome of revenue collection figures for 2024/25.
On Wednesday, the select committee on economic development and trade in the NCOP will be briefed by the auditor-general on the audit outcomes for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for the 2023/24 financial year. The UIF is expected to brief the committee on its 2023/24 annual report.
On Thursday, economic cluster ministers are expected to field questions from MPs ranging from energy security, the social relief of distress grant, food security, employment of undocumented foreign nationals and a shortage of inspectors in the mining and petroleum sector, among other issues.
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