Parliament’s budget left unchecked as no committee scheduled 

30 August 2016

The Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act of 2009 is clear that an oversight mechanism must be created to scrutinise the budget of Parliament and oversee the institution thereon. However, to date, Parliament’s budget has yet to receive such oversight – it continues to operate free from any form of budgetary accountability.

On 5 May 2016 the Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament (the committee) was finally convened in order to elect co-chairpersons. At this meeting there was a clear undertaking by the committee chairpersons that as soon as Parliament reconvened following the Local Government Election, this committee would sit to scrutinise Parliament’s budget.

We are still waiting. 

An examination of the z-list shows that no such meeting of the Joint Standing Committee is scheduled to take place in the third term of Parliament.

This means that crucial issues such as the structure and spending of the Secretary to Parliament, Mr Mgidlana’s office as well as his extravagant overseas travel will remain free from oversight and accountability.

As the official opposition party the DA cannot sit back and allow the very institution tasked with Executive oversight to itself become a place free from checks and balances. 

I will thus be writing to the Speaker of Parliament to request that she instruct the Co-Chairpersons of the committee to schedule a meeting as a matter of urgency so that a programme for the third term can be presented to the members and so that Parliament's budget can begin to be interrogated.

Issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, 30 August 2016