The disappointing Medium-Term Budget Speech indicates that government is not taking the fight against corruption seriously. It prompted OUTA to do a formal submission to Parliament to raise our concerns. 

Last month’s budget Medium-Term Budget Speech (MTBPS) failed to prioritize essential anti-corruption strategies and procurement reforms. OUTA is particularly concerned about the inadequate funding for the criminal justice system, especially the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which saw a R174 million budget cut. This is in stark contrast to the R221 million (45%) increase in MP salaries and an additional R3.5 billion allocation for military involvement in the DRC. Additionally, the police budget was reduced by R1.5 billion. OUTA calls for significant budget increases for key criminal justice agencies like the NPA, SIU, SARS, and the Public Protector to address accountability gaps. 

We are also concerned about other aspects of the budget. Read here why we called the MTBPS a “budgetary betrayal” that appear disconnected from the urgent needs of the country.

Our formal submission to Parliament

OUTA’s submission to Parliament raises concern about the trend to produce unusual additional money bills over recent years, mainly driven by bailouts for failed entities, and indicating fiscal chaos.

The Special Appropriation Bill 2024, tabled as one of nine bills with MTBPS 2024 on 30 October, is the tenth such unusual bill tabled by the Minister of Finance since February 2021.

“These bills were in addition to the usual appropriation bills of the budget and the adjustments appropriation bills of the MTBPS. These extra bills have mainly been additional adjustments and special appropriation bills, which were aimed at addressing unforeseen or mismanaged spending. Many contained bailouts for failed entities,” says OUTA’s submission to Parliament’s Standing and Select Committees on Appropriations.

“We believe these bills indicate fiscal chaos. We are also concerned that some, due to the last-minute nature of these bills, obscure the full reasons for the spending.”

The Special Appropriation Bill 2024 contains R96 million for South Africa’s case, split across three votes, and the R5.021 billion bailout for Sanral.

Those ten bills between them contained more than R250 billion in bailouts for various entities, plus the release of R150 billion from the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Research Account, effectively a bailout for central government.

OUTA’s submission also asks Parliament:

• To ensure that bailouts have strict and public conditions attached;

• To explain the 45% increase in the total remuneration cost of parliamentarians to the taxpayers;

• To consider whether Defence has the budget for international deployments, what commitments were made, and whether the funds which Defence transfers to the secret Special Defence Account (R17 billion in the last five years) are being spent with integrity;

• Why Transport needs another R134 million for the new driving licence card machine and what the total cost is; and

• To help find solutions to the failure by municipalities to pay for crucial services such as water.

Read our submission to Parliament here.
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