Illustrative image | Sources: Finance MInister Enoch Godongwana. (Photo: Leila Dougan) | ANC, IFP, ActionSA, PAC, Rise Mzansi, BOSA, UDM, Good Party, Al-Jamah and P.A members at the joint media briefing on the resolution of the fiscal framework impasse. (Photo: Luba Lesolle / Gallo Images) | South African R5 coin. (Photo: Leon Sadiki /Bloomberg via Getty Images) 
After a protracted process, South Africa is one step closer to finally passing a Budget after both Houses of Parliament approved the fiscal framework on Wednesday — but not without the usual party political jabs.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told the sitting, “We have had a painful journey to arrive at this date, where the fiscal framework is being approved. It has been a painful journey. Definitely, from the [perspective of the National Treasury] we have drawn a number of lessons.
“But I suspect, also members of this House must draw a number of lessons as to how in practice we are going to manage the debates around the fiscal framework moving forward.”
Godongwana said it was up to MPs to ensure the Budget was spent correctly.
“You can’t fault this Budget — if it’s not spent properly, that’s your duty as members of Parliament to do your oversight,” he said.
He was responding directly to a point made by National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams about allocations within the Budget and how they could be spent.
“That should be the concern of this moment,” said Godongwana, who, since February, had attempted to pass a Budget.
Read more: Enoch Godongwana’s budget: a delicate balance of debt control and social investment unveiled
On Wednesday, 268 MPs voted in favour of the fiscal framework, while 88 were against it and two abstained. The ANC and the DA voted in favour of it. The MK party and the EFF voted against it, while Build One South Africa (Bosa) abstained from voting.
Bosa’s deputy leader, MP Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, said the party had abstained because it was “not a Budget that we can support.
“It’s a Budget that is still not a good Budget in any way. It is still a Budget that ultimately punishes South Africans for the sins of the ANC,” she said.
“We absolutely want to see more catalysts for economic growth in the Budget… We gave alternatives — we proposed alternatives — that could look different for income generation for the state versus actually burdening South Africans further.”
Hlazo-Webster said the National Treasury had not considered any of Bosa’s proposals on income generation in the Budget. “Ultimately, what this means is that the ANC’s not listening to the people,” she said.
“This is still a very tax-heavy Budget, it’s a stagnant budget. It’s a Budget that doesn’t speak to how [to] grow South Africa’s economy.
‘Shared vision of cooperation’
The fiscal framework is a key step in the budgeting process; it establishes economic policy and revenue projections and sets the overall limits to government spending. This report must be adopted within 16 days from when Godongwana tables the Budget.
The next phase in the budgeting process is the passing of various Bills, including the consideration and adoption of the Division of Revenue Bill and the Appropriation Bill.
The ANC and the DA found common ground in Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance last week, both voting for the committee to adopt the framework report, Daily Maverick reported. Only the EFF and MK party rejected the report.
When asked whether the ANC and DA — South Africa’s two biggest parties — had now found each other after their previous public disagreements over the Budget, DA spokesperson Karabo Khakhau said: “We’ve always maintained if we’re agreeing on something and we’re getting along and there is a shared vision of cooperation, then it would be easy for us to be able to pass through hurdles like the one of the fiscal framework now.
“The point of contention in the past that we’ve had, we’ve been able to deal with, so that’s why there’s a more open approach towards engagements, and that’s what we’ve always wanted.”
Khakhau said the party had wanted to see that issues of waste expenditure, ghost employees and infrastructure investment were being addressed.
“At the heart of why the DA is in the GNU is to make sure that we’re able to grow the economy to alleviate poverty and make sure that people have jobs,” she said.
Politics across the aisle
On Wednesday, politics did not stop as the framework was passed, and the National Assembly Speaker, Thoko Didiza, had to call several MPs and political parties to order during the discussion.
A loud cheer of “weekend special” was heard from the ANC caucus when MK party spokesperson on finance, Des van Rooyen, spoke — in reference to his weekend stint as finance minister.
When the Patriotic Alliance’s Ashley Sauls spoke in favour of the report, MK party and Economic Freedom Fighters MPs shouted “Free Palestine” in reference to the party visiting Israel for a “fact-finding” mission amidst Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
Read more: It was me! – parties scramble to take credit for VAT reversal
ActionSA’s Alan Beesley said he was “proud” of the role his party played in the VAT hike reversal. From the DA seats, one MP shouted: “No deal this time around, Beesley”. The EFF also tried to claim victory for the reversal. DM