Hon Chairperson, is a pleasure to follow the hon Ferguson. She said that she does not serve on the committee, but I hope that next time round she will do so on behalf of Cope.
For me it has been a real pleasure to serve on the appropriations committee. It's remarkable that this committee deals with wide-ranging budgetary issues across all spheres of government. I want to thank the chair and all the colleagues in the committee for their collegiality at all times.
My humble suggestion to all parties here is that all new MPs should serve a stint on the appropriations committee for three to six months, because the committee allows one to have a broad view of what exactly is happening in government as far as expenditure is concerned. I think it will do all members good, even if they serve on portfolio committees. This is a committee that gives one a broad view.
The IFP will support this particular Bill. It is a constitutional requirement. But we have some suggestions, moving forward into the Fifth Parliament. I trust that the committees that will interrogate the budgets - the parliamentary committees and the Standing Committee on Appropriations - will vigorously interrogate spending patterns in all spheres of government. I know the Constitution makes provision for three spheres of government, but what we need to know is that 52,5% of the R1,4 trillion that is being appropriated, is appropriated to provinces and municipalities, with 43,5% going to provinces and 9% going to municipalities.
So, we in this House have a responsibility to interrogate very carefully the spending patterns within the provinces and respective municipalities. I say this because, when we read the Auditor-General's report and findings, it's shocking to see that only six or eight municipalities out of a possible 260 received clean audits. That is quite an alarming statistic.
Furthermore, the Fifth Parliament and the committees need to make efficient use of the Parliamentary Budget Office. We do know that it has been established under the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, Act 9 of 2009. Professor Jahed heads it and he works with some very capable staff who have been employed. We must use the Parliamentary Budget Office - the portfolio committees and the Standing Committee on Appropriations - to get advice at all levels to exercise our right to effect amendments to the Budget. Over the past 20 years, up till now, there haven't been any amendments to the Budget that was tabled by National Treasury in this House.
Moving forward, we need to make sure that we really serve the needs of the people out there. I am not saying this to suggest that the National Treasury is not doing its job, but the 400 members of this Parliament have to have their feet on the ground and be able to use provisions of this Act to make amendments to the Budget.
Other concerns include the issue of procurement, the capacity to deliver at different levels of government, conditional grants and the nonspending of conditional grants. The clauses in this Bill are welcome to the extent that national government will now be able to ring-fence amounts for conditional grants, and will also be able to intervene when provinces and municipalities are not spending.
But, what does sometimes happen is that money is taken away from municipalities that do not spend. This is not fair, because the people in those areas deserve to receive good services. If the cause of the nonspending is mismanagement within the municipality, which results in services not being delivered, then we certainly need to intervene.
Lastly, I do trust that the hon Minister and the National Treasury take seriously the recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, FFC. We had a very interesting presentation by the FFC and we hope that the hon Minister and the National Treasury take those recommendations seriously.
In conclusion, I want to say that we support the Division of Revenue Bill. I want to wish all my colleagues in this House everything of the best. Unfortunately I can't say, have a restful time with your family, because that's going to be the last thing on our minds for the next two months. Thank you. [Applause.]