Simon Nare
EFF in the National Assembly have raised concerns over how budget debates are being rushed and steamrolled without allowing for due process and interrogation, to make way for President Cyril Ramaphosa to deliver his address at the opening of Parliament next Thursday.
Leading the charge is EFF deputy president Flyod Shivambu who put it to Speaker Thoko Didiza during the budget vote that committees were not being given reasonable time to have quantitative debates as there was no space for committee meetings due to time limits.
The opening of Parliament is set down for July 18 where Ramaphosa will outline the priorities of the 7th administration in a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
And as the day has been set down, it has left little time for committees to debate the budget and how the public purse should be allocated, argued Shivambu during the budget debate accusing Ramaphosa of causing the time congestion as he delayed announcing the Cabinet.
Shivambu pointed out that it was imperative for committees to debate the budget thoroughly and not browse through it.
Also, all the chief whips in a forum at the meeting agreed that the manner in which the budget debates was unfolding was not satisfactory, he said.
“We reached a unanimity that we should postpone the budget and that we should postpone the debates for today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday) to allow the committees to exhaust the deliberations and compile the reports that are going to be presented in the budget vote for approval purposes,” Shivambu said during the debate.
Shivhambu said the chief whip forum went as far as discussing whether the opening day of Parliament should be postponed to allow the committees to exhaust the issues pertaining to the budget.
“(The budget debates) is not even legally compliant because it has just been steamrolling and members have not been given adequate opportunity to reflect on the budget as to what should be approved and the amount of money that is going to be spent by the executive. That is our major concern,” said Shivambu.
Another EFF MP Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi in support of Shivambu said the opening day can simply be postponed as it was not as important as budget debates being exhausted and matters interrogated.
Ndlozi said the Parliament could not afford to steamroll the budget debates just so Ramaphosa can have his State of the Nation Address which he said the EFF does not have a problem with.
“But we are in this situation because of him taking three weeks if not more to constitute a portfolio. Then he still wants to have three days to himself with Parliament. And then he comes back with budget votes and then he comes back for replies.
“He takes the lion’s share of July. But in your admission you say we don’t have time and there are extreme circumstances, there is a drama of venues, time frames and all of that but you are not reflecting it here,” argued Ndlozi.
Ndlozi pointed out that as Speaker, Didiza had the powers to postpone the opening and allow budget debates to continue in order to protect the integrity and autonomy of Parliament as it appeared the executive was having a field day in steamrolling the process.
Even if committee reports were drafted On Wednesday night and submitted on Thursday, the expectation that there would be qualitative debates around them was a joke, said Ndlozi and stressed that committees must be given more time to interrogate those reports.
“Meaningful public participation and parliamentary oversight over budget processes increase social ownership of the budget and enhance the effective allocation of funds while reducing wasteful prioritisation.
“We are raising a legitimate point that committees do not have adequate time to exhaust the budgeting process because there’s no space for meetings, and there’s no adequate time for meetings”.
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