Cosatu response to the Chair of Parliament's Budget Committee 14 - 03 - 06

 

COSATU Response to the Chair of Parliament's Budget Committee

The Congress of South African Trade Unions notes the reported response by Nhlanhla Nene, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Budget Committee, to COSATU's decision not to participate in the Parliamentary hearings on the budget.

He was reported in the media as stating that "COSATU is harming its own cause" by taking this stand. We believe on the contrary that the government is harming the cause of democracy by flouting Section 77(2) of the Constitution of South Africa by not allowing Members of Parliament, let alone civil society, to meaningfully impact on the budget before it is finalised by Parliament. Government is further opening itself up to a constitutional challenge in this regard

We do not want to get into a tit-for-tat debate with Comrade Nene, who is playing a constructive role in Parliament. We merely refer him to the findings of Parliament's Joint ad hoc Committee on Economic Governance and Management, which last month submitted its report following hearings on the African Peer Review Mechanism.

The report concurred with COSATU and stated that: "The budget is currently presented without much room for changes from Parliament and other stakeholders". The Committee noted the evidence it received that "Most engagements are information-sharing forums between parties, e.g. Government and Parliament or Government and NEDLAC, and that organisations do not necessarily input into policy, but are informed of decisions that have already been taken without any engagement."

These findings effectively confirm COSATU's view expressed in our letter to the Budget Committee that, "making inputs after the approval of the budget is a futile exercise as no changes can be effected".

The report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Governance concluded that "As the representative of the people, Parliament is the appropriate institution to ensure that the budget best matches the nation's needs with available resources. Thus, the legislative budget stage provides the crucial opportunity to check the budget against citizens' preferences."

The Ad Hoc Committee recommended that "Parliament should effect the Constitutional requirement, in terms of Section 77 (2) of the Constitution, that allows for an Act of Parliament to enable Parliament to amend money bills."

This is all COSATU is proposing. When an adequate money amendment bill is legislated, we will be the first to participate in what would then be a meaningful parliamentary process.

COSATU will continue to campaign for a change in the legislation to compel the government to allow both parliament and civil society to "meaningfully interact" with the budget, in line with the Constitution. The budget, and ultimately the people of South Africa, can only benefit from this democratic exchange of ideas.