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Your Guide to Parliament
What is a Budget Vote?
Information obtained from brochure issued by: Public Education Office of Parliament (021) 403 8200 |
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Introduction
Budget Votes are one of the
most important events in Parliament are the Budget Day when the Minister of
Finance announces the budget projections for the next financial year, as well
the Budget Votes of each Minister (Department) What is the Budget? In the Budget the Minister of
Finance set outs how much money the government will spend during the next
year. The Budget is divided into how
much each department will spend as well as where the government will find the
money, how much it will collect in taxes and how much it will have to borrow. Why is the Budget so
important? Control over the Budget has
always been important, especially in democracies. One of the first ways in
which the people challenge the power of the old Kings in Europe was to refuse
to pay tax unless they had a say in how their money was spent. This is why
people say “no taxation without representation” If is therefore a democratic
principle in our Constitution that the government can only spend money if it
has first been approved by Parliament. This gives Parliament a lot of
power to check that the President and the Cabinet are doing their work
properly Budget Votes go to the
Committees After the Minister of Finance
has presents the Budget, each Parliamentary Committee has hearings with the
state department for which that committee is responsible. The Committee can also check
whether the Department kept the promise of the previous year and whether it
spent taxpayer’s money properly. The Budget Votes are
debated When the Committees have
finished discussing different Budget Votes, they are debated in the National
Assembly and National Council of Provinces. In these Budget debates, the
Ministers report on the work done by their Departments in the past year. At
the same time, opposition parties have the opportunity to comment on and
criticize the way in which government is run, and make alternative proposals.
This means that every year, there is an open discussion amongst parties in
Parliament on the way each state department is run. Approving the Budget After
all the Budget Votes have been debated, each House must vote on the whole
budget. |
If
the budget is approved, the Ministers can go ahead and spend the money as
budgeted. The Budget is so important that, if Parliament rejects the Budget,
the government will usually resign and an election will be held to elect a
new government. What you get from the Budget The
Budget comes from public money that is collected from you the taxpayer. It
must be spent in ways that will most benefit the public. Houses
must be built, health services and education must be provided. The police and
courts must protect society. Transport,
water and electricity must be planned for and provided. There are many
services that must be provided with the allocated budget. The Budget is bout choices There
are many things that must be taken into consideration. Like a budget in any
household, there are decisions that must be made about priorities. Some
things have to be cut, whilst others require more money. But there is only a
certain amount of money that the government can spend and, if things are to
go well, it must spend that money wisely. Where the money comes from The
government gets its money for the Budgets from collecting taxes. People who
earn money pay taxes, while companies pay tax on their profits. All
South Africans pay VAT (Value-Added Tax) when we buy groceries etc. There are also many special taxes, which
contribute to the Budget – for example taxes on imported goods, cigarettes and
alcohol. The Budget and You We
all pay tax of some kind and the money that government spends is our money.
This means that we have a right and a responsibility to make sure that the
money is spent well. It is
difficult for individual citizens to make a difference to the Budget, but
there are things we can do together as groups or orgnisatons. We
can watch out for corruption in the civil service, and report civil servants
who are seen to be improperly spending public money. We can
use the media to expose these things, and we can talk to our Parliamentary
representatives if we are worried about the way government offices are doing
the work. |
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