ATC181129: Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on the Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B35 – 2018] [National Assembly (Section 77)], dated 29 November 2018

NCOP Appropriations

REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS ON THE ADJUSTMENTS APPROPRIATION BILL [B35 – 2018] [NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (SECTION 77)], DATED 29 NOVEMBER 2018
 

The Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B35 – 2018], was referred to the Select Committee on Appropriations (SeCOA) on 28 November 2018. In order to streamline the processing of the Bill and contain costs, the Committee had already received a presentation on the Bill, as tabled by the Minister of Finance on 24 October 2018, during a joint meeting with the Standing Committee on Appropriations (SCoA) on 21 November 2018. The Adjustments Appropriation Bill is tabled annually in terms of Section 30 of the Public Finance Management Act of 1999 and Section 12 (2) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act of 2009.  

 

In order to facilitate public participation, the Committee had also held a joint public hearing, on 23 November 2018, with SCoA on the Bill. The Committees advertised in newspapers in all 11 official languages, calling for the public and interested parties to make submissions on the Bill and the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). Written and oral submissions were received from the Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP); FairPlay; the Budget Justice Coalition; the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF); and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Written submissions were also received from Mr DW Nott and Dr S M Muller. As part of the hearings the Committees also invited the South African  Express (SAX) to make oral and written presentations to provide clarity on how the R1.249 billion allocation to it, would be utilised. The Department of Public Enterprises was also present and made oral inputs as a government shareholder regarding the turnaround strategy of SAX.     

 

The Committee further consulted the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) and the South African Local Government Association (Salga). Some of the contents of the submissions received, are included in the Committee’s Report on the Proposed Division of Revenue and Conditional Grant Allocations to Provinces and Local Government as contained in the 2018 MTBPS, in accordance with Section 6(10) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, Act 9 of 2009.

 

The Select Committee on Appropriations, having considered the Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B35 – 2018], referred to it, and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) as a section 77 Bill, reports that it has agreed to the Bill, without amendments.  

 

The Democratice Alliance objected to the Bill.

 

Report to be considered.