Budget Guide for Members of Parliament

The document is a comprehensive manual for South African MPs to navigate the national budget cycle, understand the legal frameworks like the PFMA, and apply quantitative tools to assess budget priority, progress, equity, and adequacy.

• The South African budget process utilizes a 'programme approach' to budgeting, which links finance and function to ensure performance accountability by focusing on measurable objectives and outputs rather than simple line-item spending.
• South Africa employs a Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) introduced in 1997/1998, which uses a three-year planning horizon to align budget allocations with the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).
• The Public Finance Management Act of 1999 (PFMA) regulates financial management at national and provincial levels, establishing the National Treasury and requiring that audited spending information be presented to Parliament within six months of the financial year's end.
• The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act of 2009 provides Parliament with a formalized procedure to amend the budget, moving beyond a 'rubber stamping' role by allowing changes to the fiscal framework, tax policy, and the Division of Revenue Bill.
• Budgetary Review and Recommendation Reports (BRRRs) serve as a critical oversight mechanism, requiring committees to assess departmental service delivery, efficiency, and effectiveness before the adoption or amendment of the budget.
• South Africa's tax revenue is primarily driven by three sources: Personal Income Tax (PIT), Corporate Income Tax (CIT), and Value Added Tax (VAT), which together accounted for 80.7% of total gross tax revenue in the 2013/14 fiscal year.
• The Auditor General and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) are the two primary institutions responsible for the audit stage of the budget, with SCOPA focusing on whether funds were spent in an efficient, effective, and economic manner.
• Quantitative budget analysis requires adjusting nominal allocations for inflation using a price index (such as the Consumer Price Index) to determine 'real' growth and avoid skewed conclusions about progress.

APA

Verwey, L. (2015). Budget Guide for Members of Parliament. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/BudgetGuide_for_MPs.pdf

Chicago

Verwey, Len. Budget Guide for Members of Parliament. Institute for Security Studies, 2015. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/BudgetGuide_for_MPs.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Verwey |first1=Len |title=Budget Guide for Members of Parliament |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 2015 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/BudgetGuide_for_MPs.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{verwey2015budget, author = {Verwey, Len}, title = {{Budget Guide for Members of Parliament}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/BudgetGuide_for_MPs.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }