Godongwana calls for better scrutiny of departmental budget spending

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana appeared in the National Assembly on Tuesday, where the Appropriations Bill was tabled.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said that while there is acknowledgement that departments are underfunded, there is not enough scrutiny of how national departments spend their budgets.

Godongwana said this as he appeared in Parliament on Tuesday, where the Appropriation Bill was passed, and will be sent to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for concurrence. Parliament’s processing of the budget will conclude when the NCOP approves the Bill, expected on Friday.

Godongwana started by thanking the chairpersons of the committees on Appropriations and Finance, saying that “to produce a report of this nature reflects some patience of a different kind”.

He said that the Budget tabled in February was R2.3 trillion, and that what the debate on the Appropriation Bill focuses on is a portion of that.