Financial and Fiscal Commission

We were at Parliament today. 🏛️ The FFC briefed the @FinanceCluster Standing Committee on Appropriations on our recommendations on the 2026 Appropriation Bill. Parliament must appropriate R 1.2 trillion to government departments — and by law, they must consider the FFC’s recommendations before doing so. Watch 👇 @MmusiMaimane @ParliamentofRSA #AppropriationBill2026 #FFC #FiscalMatters

The Standing Committee on Appropriations during a briefing by the @Fiscal_Comm_RSA and the Parliamentary Budget Office on the 2026 Appropriation Bill. @ParliamentofRSA

🧵 THREAD | The Special Appropriation Bill 2026 is before Parliament. Here is what government is asking to spend - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬👇 #FFC #Appropriations #DivisionOfRevenue #FiscalEquity

Public infrastructure investment is critical. The reality is that we have failed to focus on infrastructure delivery, maintenance and rehabilitation. We support funding for reconstruction and rehabilitation of provincial infrastructure damaged by rainfall, flooding, thunderstorms.

@Fiscal_Comm_RSA You don’t think building road and investing in water infrastructure will change anything?

Parliament is being asked to approve R1.2 trillion for government departments. That is R1 200 000 000 000. The question is not whether the money will be spent. Most of it will be. The question is whether anything changes when it lands. Next week the FFC makes its recommendations on the Appropriation Bill. The FFC will tell Parliament what we find.

Parliament is being asked to approve R700 million for Sentech to keep its operations running. Sentech is the state company that transmits public broadcasting signals — radio and television — across South Africa. #Sentech #Broadcasting #SpecialAppropriationBill #FFC @FFC_SA

Parliament is being asked to approve R1 billion for South Africa to buy shares in the International Finance Corporation - the World Bank Group. This is South Africa maintaining its seat at the table of global development finance. #WorldBank #IFC #SpecialAppropriationBill #FFC @FFC_SA

@Uncle_Thaps Local governments, which bear the brunt of disaster response must be fiscally capacitated to adapt and respond to climate shocks.

I read your latest newsletter; on top of your priorities is “climate resilience." We have serious and underfunded social issues and you are using fiscal policy to play with the lives of South Africans.

@Ndala_Momane @Uncle_Thaps Biggest problem is our procurement system. There is no value for money if government buys bottle of water at inflated prices, paying far more than normal market price

@Fiscal_Comm_RSA @Uncle_Thaps "value for money for taxpayer's" is fill all teachers, nurses, doctors & police vacancies and stop the double taxation we endure through private schools, Healthcare & security. That's

You are asking wrong questions, you should be asking if the money is adequate to deal with issues of social challenges in the country. We know it is not.

@WilliamN13326 @Uncle_Thaps Money unaccounted for.

@Fiscal_Comm_RSA @Uncle_Thaps What are those leakages (Local, Provincial and National)?

Does this mean you don't care if the budget is adequate to meet the country's desperate developmental and social needs?

Both matter. Debt service cost is the annual interest amount. Painful but manageable if not mushrooming. Debt redemption is the principal falling due. Non-negotiable. Miss it and South Africa is in default. When both arrive together they reduce amount available for health, education, infrastructure etc. That is the structural risk the FFC tracks and monitor.

@Fiscal_Comm_RSA @Uncle_Thaps Do you subscribe to reducing the debt stock or the cost of debt to achieve this outcome?

Do you subscribe to the national treasury's “fiscal consolidation," and do you believe it has served the country in addressing social challenges. Do you also support running a budget surplus in light of pressing needs in health, education, and security?

Here is the technical problem we identified in 2021 and have repeated every year since. NHI requires a live, integrated national patient information system — real-time records, linked across facilities, accessible to providers. That system does not exist. You cannot insure what you cannot count.

Recently a High Court order prohibited government from implementing key NHI provisions until constitutional challenges are heard. This has slowed rollout significantly. But the FFC's concern predates the court order. We raised it in 2021. The concern is not legal. It is technical.

The NHI Act was signed into law in 2023. Three years later, implementation is stalled by a High Court order. But the court case is not the real problem. The real problem existed before any judge weighed in. 🧵