MTBPS, Adjustments Appropriation Bill & Special Appropriation Bill: finalisation and Committee Reports

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed everyone to what would be the last meeting of the Committee for 2022. It would be looking at several reports, including the Special Appropriation Bill [B24 – 2022], and the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

Motion of Desirability - Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B23 - 2022]

Mr Darrin Arends, Committee Secretary, read the motion.

Mr Z Mlenzana (ANC) moved for the adoption of the motion, and Ms D Peters (ANC) seconded.

Draft Report on 2022 Adjustments Appropriations Bill [B23 – 2022]

The Chairperson took the Committee through the report on the 2022 Adjustments Appropriation Bill.

Mr O Mathafa (ANC) moved for the adoption of the report, and Ms M Dikgale (ANC) seconded.

The DA reserved its position on the report, and the EFF abstained.

The 2022 Adjustments Appropriations Bill [B23 – 2022] was adopted. The report would be sent to the National Assembly (NA) to be published in the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC).

Read: ATC221129: Report of the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B23 – 2022], Dated 29 November 2022

Motion of Desirability - Special Appropriation Bill [B24 - 2022]

Mr Arends read the motion.

Ms Peters moved for the adoption of the motion, and Mr X Qayiso (ANC) seconded.

The DA reserved its position on the motion, and the EFF abstained.

Draft Report on Special Appropriation Bill [B24 – 2022] (National Assembly - Section 77)

The Chairperson took the Committee through the report.

Ms Peters corrected the spelling of “equity” in Table 3 on page 10.

Ms Peters moved for the adoption of the report, and Ms Dikgale seconded.

The DA reserved its position on the report, and the EFF abstained.

The Special Appropriation Bill [B24 – 2022] was adopted. The report would be sent to the NA to be published in the ATC.

Read: ATC221129: Report of the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the Special Appropriation Bill [B24 – 2022] (National Assembly – Section 77), Dated 29 November 2022

Draft Report on 2022 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement

The Chairperson took the Committee through the report.

A small editing adjustment was made, with the heading "Contingent Liabilities" being moved from page 13 to page 14.

Ms Dikgale moved for the adoption of the report, and Mr Mathafa seconded.

The EFF abstained, and the DA reserved its position on the report.

The 2022 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement was adopted. The report would be sent to the NA to be published in the ATC.

Read: ATC221129: Report of the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the 2022 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Dated 29 November 2022

Adoption of Minutes

The Committee adopted the minutes of 18 and 22 November.

Announcements

The Committee Secretary announced that today’s meeting would be the last Committee meeting of 2022. The debate on all three reports would take place on Thursday, 1 December.
 
Regarding the study tour to South Korea, one of the support staff was making arrangements with the travel agent to issue itineraries and accommodation information. Members needed flight and accommodation details in order to complete certain forms. That needed to be finalised that day. Mr Arends had received an email from Mr Kim at the South Korean embassy. Once Mr Arends had finalised the programme, he would send it to the Members. In the meantime, he would resend the information that Members needed to complete electronic authorisation.

The Chairperson encouraged Members to contact Mr Arends if they had any questions related to the study tour to South Korea.

Closing

Members had an opportunity to exchange pleasantries.

Mr A Shaik Emam (NFP) reminded Members of the vaccination certificates that they may need for travel purposes. He thanked the Chairperson, the Members, and the support staff. It had been a difficult year, and a lot of work had been put in. He felt that all had appreciated each other and the commitment to taking the country forward. He wished everyone well over the festive season. He encouraged Members to travel during the day, since some of the roads were not in good condition. He looked forward to seeing everyone, particularly on the flight to South Korea.

Mr E Marais (DA) thanked the Members and staff. He had experienced politeness in the Committee, and nobody had been rude toward other Members. The Committee had worked well, and he wished everyone the best.

Ms N Ntlangwini (EFF), as the longest-serving Member of the Committee, thanked the research unit, content advisors, and secretaries, who always assisted Members in ensuring that they did their work diligently. She thanked the Chairperson for his leadership throughout the year. The Chairperson had given each person an ample amount of time to raise their views, regardless of which political party they were from. She also thanked all the Members, and echoed Mr Shaik Emam’s sentiment on staying safe on the road. She hoped that all would enjoy the Christmas holiday and festive season. She jokingly reminded Ms Peters that when the Committee debated on Thursday, she was the longest-serving Member, and that she was the youngest Member as well.

Mr Qayiso thanked the Committee team for the work it had done during the current financial year. The Committee team was always on top of doing its level best not to disappoint South Africans by agreeing to approve the budget, to ensure that there was always service delivery happening for the people. He thanked the Members for their patience, and for their delivery in participation in the discussions. He wished Members and their families a joyful festive season, and a safe trip on the Committee's study tour. 

Ms Dikgale appreciated the way that the Committee worked. She was serving on three other committees. There were two committees that she could not miss, though she knew that without the SCOA, the departments “would never move”. What the Committee was doing was important, because if the departments got appropriations, they were able to do their daily business. Every time she attended the Committee's meetings, she learned a lot. Her experience continuously moved from one level to another. She thanked the Members from all of the political parties, and wished them well over the holidays.

Ms Peters had been logged out of the meeting, and asked for an update on what had happened. She thanked the Committee Members and the staff for the way that the Committee had worked throughout the year. She also wanted to thank Members for the relationship that they had, across parties. Members were able to “suss out” the most important information from departments, and to make sure that the Members were “truly the guardians of the money that was appropriated.” She wished all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2023. She looked forward to working together in the way that Members had done in 2022.

Mr Mlenzana joked that the Committee should “take stock” so that it would know exactly how many young people were in the Committee.

Mr Mathafa echoed Members’ sentiments. He acknowledged the Chairperson’s stewardship in “steering the ship” in the Committee. Members really appreciated everything that the Chairperson had put into the work of the Committee. He also thanked the Members for the way they had worked together. He was glad that with most of the endeavours that the Committee had set, it had “really excelled”. Members looked forward to the study tour, and perhaps what they learned would be used in their sittings the following year. He thanked the support staff, especially the researchers, who had helped Members with content work.

Mr A Sarupen (DA) thanked the staff, who “helped keep the wheels turning,” and who always got the information and documentation to the Members on time. He had served on committees where the staff were not as efficient, so he was thankful for the staff’s efficiency. He thanked the Members for the robust way in which they engaged with each other, without descending into anything personal. He liked the fact that Members were professional. Members had different ideas about how they did things, but all agreed on what needed to be done for the country. He thanked the Chairperson for always giving Members space to robustly agree and disagree.

The Chairperson said the Committee was the busiest one. There was “no breathing space,” but he always found everyone prepared to put their shoulders to the wheel, to make sure that the Committee delivered on what it was supposed to do, and that it did its oversight function as diligently as possible. He thanked the "unsung heroes" -- the Members’ families. Since the Committee was working virtually, Members had “taken their families’ space.” He extended appreciation to the families on behalf of the Committee. He knew that Committee meetings could be “intrusive” at home, but it was in the nature of the work, and the way the Committee was operating.

Members had raised their views without fear or favour. As Mr Sarupen had said, there was no disagreement about what had to be done. No one on the platform would want to see unemployment increasing; no one wanted to see poverty worsening; and no one would say that inequality was good for South Africa. Members differed on how to reach objectives, but their objectives were the same.

He thanked the staff for their diligent background work, which made the Committee “shine.” He also thanked the Parliamentary Liaison Officers (PLOs), the Ministers, the Deputy Ministers, Director-Generals and Deputy Directors-General, and all departmental staff. The Members appreciated that the departmental delegates listened when the Members gave them criticism; they did their work and came to the Committee to account. He thanked National Treasury in particular since it was the department that it dealt with often.

The Chairperson observed that there was a time when he would have been the youngest on the committee, but now he was one of the oldest Members. In a humorous tone, he said to Mr Sarupen and Ms Ntlangwini that one day they would turn out to be the oldest, wherever they were. He wished all Members well over the festive season. He encouraged Members to take care on the roads, as the roads were quite congested, and there had been many accidents.

The Chairperson would see the Members on Thursday during the debate in the NA, and again on Friday 2 December, when the Committee left for South Korea.

The meeting was adjourned.