Hon Chairperson, it is an honour to take part in the proceedings this afternoon to deal with the allocation of money in order to better the lives of our people outside.
On behalf of the Select Committee on Finance and Appropriations, I congratulate the hon Minister and the Deputy Minister on their appointments to serve our nation in positions of responsibility. We commend the Minister of Finance for the sterling work done during his time as Commissioner of the SA Revenue Service. We wish him well in these trying times, but also give him endless opportunities. John Maxwell said: "Tough times never last, but tough people do."
Prudence and discipline in the management of fiscal policies is required more today than ever before, as the days of the public spending boom are over. Leadership means taking responsibility for good and bad, even if it means taking unpopular decisions.
As a committee we have taken note that the fiscal policy framework, as outlined in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework presented by the previous Minister of Finance in February this year, has since been altered by the new economic realities prevailing in the world today.
The important issue is: How do departments in the national and provincial spheres manage their spending, including municipalities?
The budget is guided by five enduring principles, which are as follows: protecting the poor; sustaining employment growth and expanding training opportunities; building economic capacity and promoting investment; addressing the barriers of competitiveness that limit an equitable sharing of opportunities; and, in doing these things, maintaining a sustainable debt level so that actions today do not constrain development tomorrow.
The debates on the Budget Votes showed that the departments do have clear objectives to do what is captured in the five principles. Progress in these areas will be more difficult over the period ahead. Policy adjustments need to reinforce macroeconomic stability. New departments will have to align their budgets with the set priorities.
Our country's intergovernmental system faces a number of challenges with regard to service delivery, where concurrent functions are concerned. Some of these challenges have been identified as follows. Sometimes there seems to be a misalignment between policy initiatives and resource allocation. The lack of accountability for service delivery where the functions are concurrent creates problems. The lack of clarity on whether the assignment or configuration of certain functions lends itself to inefficiency and ineffectiveness is another challenge.
The largest adjustments to spending plans go to poverty reduction. Key spending allocations are, for example, R489 million to Education for the school nutrition programme; R200 million for health care; and R2,3 billion to adjust social grants for inflation and to accommodate the increase in beneficiary numbers due to changes in the means test.
It is our responsibility to give our people a better life. The quality of services delivered is important.
It is thus the responsibility of the NCOP, as we do our oversight, to look at the allocated resources and how they are spent. What priorities are addressed? The main issue is: Do we get value for money?
We are going to do our constituency work now and we will be confronted by the communities wanting to know whether there are projects on the ground. The underspending and overspending by departments and provinces lead us to pose the question: What are the implications in respect of quality of services rendered because both are unacceptable?
There will be serious engagement with the departments' strategic plans and their spending on a quarterly basis, as well as dealing with their annual reports. The Appropriation Bill is providing more money in many areas. It is our task to do oversight of this money.
In light of the economic downturn, provinces should be in a position to weather the storm, provided the following are in place: improved and better cash management and cash-flow procedures; improved ability to cost activities and plan expenditure; adherence to the prescriptions of the Public Finance Management Act, Treasury regulations and other financial guidelines; avoidance of expenditure on nonpriority items; improved execution of departmental plans and budgets; and renewed focus on the efficient, effective and economic delivery of services.
The select committee dealt with the Appropriation Bill this morning, and adopted it. But there are a few concerns that I also want to note on behalf of the committee. The committee will deal with them in the future, when we call on the National Treasury on a quarterly basis to find out about progress on the issues mentioned.
What is the impact on service delivery by newly created departments that still do not have any budget allocations and support staff? What is the practicality of having functions transferred to new departments, while budget allocations are still with old departments? How will the transfer of functions to new departments impact on personnel transfers? How does the Treasury expect the departments to implement their mandate as they do not have any budgets and are expected to ask other departments for financial assistance?
As I have indicated, we will deal with these issues when we call the department back on a quarterly basis.
These are the kinds of challenges that are facing all of us - not only one party but everyone sitting here - as we deal with the Appropriation Bill today. We have a responsibility to our people out there. Let's work and give them a better life. Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill agreed to in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution.