The consideration of the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill for 2016/17 will have to be rescheduled following two failed attempts by the National Assembly to pass the critical Bill. 

National Treasury said in a statement on Friday that the Bill was still on track to be passed before the end of the year.

The Division of Revenue Amendment Bill proposes adjustments to the equitable share of national government revenue and to conditional grants to provinces and municipalities.

Crucially, only after the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill is passed by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), can the Adjustments Appropriation Bill for 2016/17 – proposing adjustments to appropriations to national government – be considered by the National Assembly and the NCOP.

National Treasury stated that adjustments to allocations contained in the two Bills were critical for the continued provision of services by a number of government institutions.

“If the Bills are not passed before the end of 2016, it will mean that government departments are not able to access any of the additional funds allocated to them,” Treasury stated.

National Treasury said that the delayed departmental spending of increased allocations could hamper service delivery and could also mean that departments were unable to spend funds effectively before the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

“Where the Bills propose allocation reductions, these are not yet approved and institutions may spend the funds before the Bills are law. If so spent, institutions will be unable to return the required funds to the fiscus after the Bills have become law. Ultimately institutions would then be deemed to have overspent their budget allocations at financial year-end,” the department added.