National Treasury set to unveil significant spending reviews to Cabinet
National Treasury director-general Duncan Pieterse says work on spending reviews has just started, along with the work around conditional grants review in infrastructure and the ghost worker audit.
Image: Supplied
National Treasury director-general Duncan Pieterse said the work to be done by his department on spending reviews will soon be presented before the Cabinet.
Pieterse said there were historical spending reviews and that they have embarked on a new wave of them.
'Some of the new spending reviews are complete, like the work on active labour market programmes and public employment, and that we will be tabling to Cabinet and elsewhere soon,' he said.
He made the statement along with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and the National Treasury team unpacking the 2025/26 Budget on Friday.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
In his Budget speech, Godongwana said the National Treasury has undertaken expenditure reviews looking at more than R300 billion in the government's spending since 2013 to identify duplications, waste, and inefficiencies.
Pieterse said some of the work on spending reviews has just started, along with the work around the conditional grants review in infrastructure and the ghost worker audit.
'We intend to take this work and make it part of the budget process and embed it there, and of course, the committee should, when it engages with us on a quarterly basis, ask us about the outcomes there.'
He also said they are starting with national and provincial departments for the ghost worker audit because that is the area where they have the best data to effect piloting work there.
'Nothing stops us from extending it to entities as we gather that data, but that is going to be a little bit more difficult in exercise because now we are moving beyond Persal, which is where all the data on personnel sits, to individual data sets,' he said.
Godongwana had a data-driven approach to detect payroll irregularities and will replace the more costly method of using censuses.
'This initiative will cross-reference administrative data sets to identify ghost workers and other anomalies across government departments.'
In its presentation to the joint committee on Friday, the National Treasury said it planned to conclude the full review of the 2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and roll out reforms from the Budget process review study.
It also said it will strengthen the consultation channels in the context of the Government of National Unity framework, including empowering the Cabinet to grapple with the complexity of trade-offs and macro fiscal stability, as well as to empower government-wide technical committees to be responsive to the GNU priorities.
It added that it will upgrade data, IT, and capital-budget systems to embed evidence-based decisions across the government.
DA spokesperson for finance, Mark Burke, wanted to know the powers and timelines of the spending reviews.
'I would like to understand what the force of its findings will be. Will they be recommendations or enforceable?' he asked.
'While we are looking at that, some of the expenditure items that we will no doubt identify in there will require legislative changes. I am hoping the minister can give us a bit more information on our agreed omnibus bill to effect those changes and whether he's got a timeline on the introduction of that legislation.'
ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said it would be great if the spending review processes were transparent.
'It is an issue that we have, as ActionSA, been saying, it must start with the Cabinet. We have got a bloated Cabinet to live the life of luxury, and we have to live by example. We can't tell other people to tighten their belts when the Cabinet's belt is getting looser, so I think the first spending review must be with the Cabinet,' Beesley said.
Mmusi Maimane, the Standing Committee of Appropriations chairperson and BOSA leader, said while he accepted the principle of spending reviews, it would be a miss if it did not include parliamentary input upfront or post factor.
'When we do spending reviews, there are certain things to be taken into account,' he said.
Deputy Minister David Masondo said they would look at spending reviews to make sure that it was not enough just to raise revenue.
'We need to be looking at how we are spending that money in the context of making sure that there are efficiencies in our spending. I think the issue around the timelines on the spending reviews and making sure that they are enforceable, it is something that we will have to go back and do,' Masondo said.
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
3 hours ago
- The Citizen
Better Bedfordview to host business breakfast with top speakers on June 27
Better Bedfordview to host business breakfast with top speakers on June 27 The community clean-up and improvement NPO, Better Bedfordview, will host a business breakfast on June 27. All community members, including business owners, are invited to join at the Tee Bar and Grill at the Glendower Golf Club. The two speakers are Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse's CEO, Wayne Duvenage, and artist James Delaney, known for reviving The Wilds. ALSO READ: Help Better Bedfordview complete its pothole mission 'Inspiration, networking and community connections will be the order of the day,' said Better Bedfordview chairperson Marina Constas. The Better Bedfordview Business Breakfast starts at 07:30. Tickets are R300 each. Space is limited, so book early by paying Better Bedfordview. Email proof of payment with your name and cell number to lola@ Banking details for payments: Better Bedfordview First National Bank Account number: 6300 1083 847. There will be lucky draws at the event, with great prizes up for grabs. ALSO READ: Better Bedfordview hosts fundraiser with movie night on March 14 'This is a chance to enjoy a great meal with Better Bedfordview, fuel your inspiration, expand your network and connect with other passionate community leaders and professionals,' Constas stated. For enquiries, email info@ or visit At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The South African
a day ago
- The South African
Back to drawing board for 2026 revised SASSA SRD grant
Parliament sent back the revised SASSA SRD grant to the Department of Social Development this week. It's touted to become a Basic Income Grant for the unemployed in 2026. However, the working group wants to see urgent changes before it is approved. As such, a draft policy for the revised SASSA SRD grant was initiated with the committee for Social Protection, Community and Human Development back in November 2024. However, the committee sent it back to the DSD on Wednesday this week, citing 'affordability and economic opportunities for beneficiaries.' The none-permanent COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant has been extended every year since 2020. Image: File Before the new-look stipend is approved, it must survive various engagements. Like with the Office of the Presidency, National Treasury and Department of Employment and Labour. The South African Social Security Agency believes this will be concluded within a few months. From there a draft will be published for public comment. Policymakers from the DSD were told to 'better integrate pathways from income support to employment.' Currently, the grant pays out R370 each month to roughly 9-million beneficiaries living below the poverty line. However, the committee wants to see it become better 'aligned with broader economic objectives,' like jobs … South Africa's unemployment rate has only been increasing in the last decade, forcing many to exist in the informal sector. Image: File Essentially, the 2026 Basic Income Grant will be for those without jobs, but not to the point of creating long-term dependency on the grant. Therefore, the DSD and SASSA have to improve their data systems and align government programmes to make it work efficiently. Government is concerned that if and when they make the grant permanent, it must be budgeted for every year to remain viable (unlike the current R370 SRD which isn't permanent). While the department sets to work 'tightening' the revised SASSA SRD grant, it has requested that the National Treasury extend SRD for two more years. However, the Treasury has only approved the continuation of the current SRD grant until March 2026. There's simply not enough taxpayer money to ensure everyone who applies for a SASSA grant will be approved for one. Image: File In response to yet another delay to the revised SASSA SRD grant, many MPs were scathing of the DSD's work. The EFF's Noluvuyo Tafeni noted the policy has been in development for over two decades and was still not ready. Likewise, the DA's Alexandra Abrahams questioned whether the revised SASSA SRD grant policy would ever see the light of day. Finally, the MK's Nhlanhla Gcwabaza argued that SASSA should work to help people exit the grant system, not make them dependent on it … Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Illicit financial flows are derailing Africa's future
Illicit financial flows (IFFs) continue to undermine the future of Africa, hampering the ability of governments to adequately fund education, healthcare and development projects essential for lifting people out of poverty and fostering sustainable economic growth. As business leaders, politicians, academics and citizens, we cannot sit back. We must help curb the illegal flow of money out of our country through a cohesive effort by all stakeholders, both local and international, to ensure safeguards are put in place, laws are harmonised, and all enforcement agencies work together to address the problem. At the same time, we must not do anything that will deter investment. Ahead of G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, as well precursor meetings — such as the G20 finance ministers' and central bank governors' meeting and the T20 midterm conference held this month — we must formulate proposals that integrate the perspectives of public and private sector institutions, nonprofit organisations, think-tanks and universities. Together we can make valuable policy recommendations, such as using AI to turn vast amounts of data into information for developing strategic interventions. Working alongside each other, we can identify gaps in current legal frameworks and areas where greater co-operation is required. We must seek ways to stem illicit money flows. When individuals or companies evade their tax obligations, deliberately falsify import or export documents, or misappropriate funds intended for development projects, they are not committing victimless crimes. These outflows not only weaken our reputation in the eyes of the international markets, but also make it harder for the government to raise capital at manageable interest rates. We already owe too much: the National Treasury predicts that debt on our national balance sheet will be 77% of GDP this year. IFFs directly undermine economic growth, costing the South African economy the equivalent of almost 5% of annual collected tax revenue — losses of about R92.5bn. On the African continent, the numbers are more alarming, with between $50bn (about R889bn) and $90bn stolen annually, according to the UN. A 2020 report from a UN conference on trade and development states that IFFs represent as much as 3.7% of Africa's GDP. This figure has almost certainly grown since then, given that those who break laws will keep doing so if they are not held accountable. We recently convened a G20 multi-stakeholder dialogue to better understand this challenge, quantify its impact, assess current solutions, and identify new ones . One of our speakers, deputy minister of international relations and co-operation Alvin Botes, spelt out what this theft means: countries with high IFFs spend at least 25% less on healthcare and 50% less on education compared with their peers. IFFs wipe out any good the $65bn in aid Africa receives each year might do. They reduce progress made in making people's lives better. There are initiatives under way to address IFFs. For example, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) collaborates with the UN to strengthen countries' financial systems and prevent illicit outflows. While South Africa's inclusion on the FATF's grey list is viewed by some as an embarrassment, it enables us to strengthen our legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as enhance our anti-money-laundering capabilities. While South Africa's inclusion on the FATF's grey list is viewed by some as an embarrassment, it enables us to strengthen our legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as enhance our anti-money-laundering capabilities. We are also seeing prosecutions of high-level fraudsters, especially those who use dubious accounting methods to move money around and avoid paying their fair share of taxes. It is gratifying to see that action has been taken in this regard. Other UN entities have developed discussion platforms and measurement systems. There are 10 asset-recovery inter-agency networks that have 178 member countries, allowing illicit money flows to be traced across borders. In addition, Interpol supports national and international law enforcement agencies to investigate, trace and prosecute those responsible for these crimes. We must all strive towards expanding such interventions, as well as advocate for and enable closer alignment between government departments and between local law enforcement agencies and their international counterparts. However, our solutions must not cause more harm than good by discouraging legitimate investment. We should not, for example, implement unfair tax regimes that could result in capital flight. We must also not inhibit international investment inflows by making it nearly impossible to comply with legislation and regulations. Such a state of affairs would merely encourage companies to operate businesses in sectors such as import and export under the radar. Through working together by sharing data, harmonising laws and holding those responsible for IFFs accountable, we can strengthen the economy by plugging the holes through which money leaks and encouraging investment. Our people deserve nothing less.
