Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act provides in section 7(1) that the Minister must table the national annual Budget in the National Assembly as set out in section 27 of the Public Finance Management Act at the same time as the Appropriation Bill. This indeed happened on 23 February 2011.
Upon tabling of the Budget, both the National Assembly and the NCOP are required to refer it to committees of Finance and Appropriations for consideration and reporting. The Fiscal Framework and the Division of Revenue Bill were adopted with the support of all parties represented in this House on 10 March and 12 April respectively. The Appropriation Bill set out the strategic priorities, measurable objectives and other performance information for each department, public entity or institution, against its expected revenue and its proposed expenditure by programme and sub-programme and economic items.
Hon Chairperson, today, as we adopt the Appropriation Bill, we complete the Budget process and release resourses to various departments and provinces in the form of conditional grants. We do so mindful of the reality that the financial year has already commenced and departments are incurring expenditure in terms of section 29 of the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, which makes provision for spending before the Budget is passed.
It therefore follows that departmental activities may be constrained should there be any delays and/or failure to pass the Bill into law. Such failure and delays would not only affect departments or provinces, but would actually fail those whom we are representing here - the people. It would furthermore create serious service delivery backlogs and have the potential of projecting our government as irresponsible and uncaring; and it is in this context that our support for the Bill should be understood and further challenge and expose the agenda of those objecting to it.
Hon Chairperson, the objections to some Budget Votes, support for others and objection to the entire Bill show the confusion and contradiction within the opposition parties - the DA and ID to be precise. By their actions, they want to tell the nation that the national revenue funds, that is tax monies, are appropriated to programmes and activities that would not improve their livelihoods and bring a better life. They are actually showing their lack of support for government priorities as endorsed by the people who entrusted the ANC with the task to lead. They are actually objecting to the ANC, not to the Budget. For if this is not the case, why are they not telling the nation that they have, as early as 12 April, supported the adoption of the Division of Revenue Bill? They conveniently hide from the nation the fact that whilst on television, and hopefully through print and electronic media, they appear to be against the Appropriation Bill and some departments' Budget Votes, as Members of Parliament, as provinces and as parties, they already benefited from the very resourses we seek to release today. They don't tell the nation that the very salaries they earn, as Members of Parliament, come from the Budget Vote of Parliament that they objected to.
They fail to tell the nation that the Western Cape province, and by extension its municipalities, are already rolling out programmes funded through the conditional grants they received from the very budgets they are opposing. Hon Chairperson, this is scandalous, to say the least.
Our people should know that there are Rules and procedures governing all that we do here at Parliament and we, as members of the ruling party, will never deliberately do anything detrimental to the plight of our people. We put their interests first, hon Gunda. [Interjections.]