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The Standing Committee on Appropriations yesterday (29 November) emphasised its intolerance of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in departments and their entities.

The Committee highlighted the failure of departments to implement projects budgeted for as one of the main reasons behind the high rate of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

This will not be tolerated and the Committee will recommend that more stringent action be taken against departments and entities that continue on this path. It will also recommend that departments pay close attention to the payment of invoices within the 30-day payment rule, especially those relating to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs).

The Committee yesterday considered and adopted the proposed amendments to the 2017 Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B25-2017] and its related report. These are the first budget amendments effected by Parliament since the dawn of democracy in 1994. Amending Money Bills is as an important expression of Parliament’s independence and is a powerful tool to exercise oversight over the executive.

The Committee also adopted its first-ever risk statement, which serves to identify and focus attention on programmes providing critical services to the public that display planning and implementation weaknesses. In such cases, allocations may be made conditional or may be amended in the following year’s Appropriation Bill.
 

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Appropriations, Yvonne Phosa