Committee Report on National Treasury's 2011 budget and strategic plan

Meeting report

Election of Acting Chairperson
In accordance with the rules of Parliament, the Committee elected Ms N Sibhidla (ANC) as the Acting Chairperson.

Committee Report on National Treasury’s 2011 budget and strategic plan
Ms Sibhidla welcomed all Members to the meeting. Thereafter, she referred them to the report under consideration and asked if there were any comments, recommendations or changes that needed to be made to it.

Mr D Van Rooyen (ANC) recalled that based on the discussions with National Treasury, there was an issue regarding equitable share that would require much of the Committee’s attention going forward.  He therefore recommended that the Committee review that issue in hopes of resolving it promptly.

Mr N Koornhof (COPE) said that there has been no announcement about the new procurement requirements by the Minister and that the Committee should recognise that.

Ms P Adams (ANC) recommended that the Committee should receive a briefing concerning the International Monetary Fund.

Ms L Chikunga (ANC) asked that the report use consistent terminology when referring to the Committee.

Mr Van Rooyen recommended a requirement listing the vacancies on the Financial Services Board (FSB). The FBS was unable to fulfill its mandate if it had too many vacancies.

Ms Sibhidla commented that there had been ongoing concerns about the reliability of the country’s taxpayer database. National Treasury had promised to meet with the Committee on this matter; however it had not yet done so. The report should therefore include a recommendation that National provides information concerning this issue as soon as possible.

Mr Van Rooyen replied that he did not think their discussion with National Treasury was going to form part of the Committee’s recommendations around its participation in international discourse on the economies of different countries or the microeconomic issues globally.  There were major issues and debates taking place and the Committee’s participation left a lot to be desired. It was not a visible presence in those discussions.  This was something that the Committee needed to deal with.

Ms B Ngcobo (ANC) made one recommendation about a grammatical issue in the report, as well as a suggestion regarding the placement of condolences.

Mr Koornhof also made a suggestion regarding congratulations in the report.

The Committee adopted the report with amendments reflecting the recommendations as discussed in the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.