DA petitions President on unconstitutional passing of medium term budget bills

6 December 2015

The medium term budget passed by the ANC in Parliament last week not only failed to prioritise spending where South Africans need it most, but failed to pass constitutional muster as a result of its blatant disregard for section 76 of the Constitution.

The DA has therefore submitted petitions to President Jacob Zuma on both the Division of Revenue Amendment (DORA) Bill and the Adjustments Appropriation Bill in terms of section 79 of the Constitution.

It is our belief that in the ANC’s haste to finalise this year’s controversial medium term budget, they ignored clear unconstitutional procedural irregularities in favour of political expediency. The ANC also failed to apply their minds to the DA’s proposed amendments to the budget to fund the shortfall in Higher Education, and bullheadedly rushed through the process so that Parliament could rise for the year as soon as possible. 

The Constitution is clear that section 76 bills must be passed by the National Assembly (NA) before they are referred to, and considered by, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). This did not happen, instead, while the Bill was still being considered by the NA, several provincial legislatures sent through their voting mandates on the DORA Bill – which legally was not yet within their power to consider.

At the same time, proper public participation was not conducted on the Bill – despite the courts having ruled on the importance of this in the past. The Constitutional processes set out for Parliament to follow are of vital importance. These processes ensure that there is proper oversight over the laws of South Africa; that each Province is allowed the proper opportunity to debate and consider laws that will affect them; and so that the public are given ample opportunity to make input during the law making process.

Throughout the process in Parliament, the DA wrote repeated letters to both the Speaker of the NA, Baleka Mbete, and to the Chairperson of the NCOP, Thandi Modise, to alert them to the Constitutional breaches and to appeal to them to correct these before the bills were past. This was never done and instead the Presiding Officers of both Houses turned a blind eye, blatantly ignored our appeals to the process which was flawed and now constitutes a violation of the Constitution.

If the ANC is allowed to get away with bending the rules to rush through a budget that is dripping is wasteful and frivolous expenditure, when the higher education sector is facing a funding crisis and many provinces are in the grips of drought, then the ANC will be allowed to get away with a lot more on other Bills in the future.

It is for this reason – in defence of the institution of Parliament and most importantly in defence of the Constitution that the DA has written to the President to outline the details of these irregularities and to request him to exercise his powers in terms of section 79 of the Constitution and refer these bills back to Parliament for reconsideration.

The DA believes that the budget should reflect the needs of the people and prioritise funding that will give life to the dream of an inclusive, democratic and more equal South Africa. The DA will not allow the ANC to bludgeon a self-serving budget through Parliament – it is our constitutional obligation to put the people first.

Statement issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, 6 December 2015