EKASI TIMES

04/03/2026

The Budget Process Cycle: A Simplified Overview
This is a simple look into the budget cycle and overview to establish the base framework in order for you to atleast have an idea of how our national budget comes to be. Follow up indepth articles will be published in sequence in order for you to have not only an idea but an indpeth view into how the national budget comes to be.

The South African budget cycle is a complex web that essentially has three fiscal years overlapping each other concurrently. *A fiscal year is essentially a 12 month period in which an organisation or government uses to function their accounting practices like budgeting, reporting, etc, that is not concurrent with the yearly calender. The SA government has a fiscal year spanning from 01 April to 31 March.*

The budget cycle essentially has 4 stages that it undergoes (as previously mentioned in the "Understanding The Budget" article) and at any given time not less than 3 stages are occuring all at the same time. We will go over the 4 stages, what they are and how they work briefly, then at the end of this article you will atleast have a foundational idea of how the budget cycle goes.

Stage 1: Planning, Drafting, and Formulating.
It takes approx. 10-12 months to accomplish this stage and is the longest stage out of all the 4. It occurs before the start of the fiscal year (01 April) and is essentially launched by the SONA, which is when the president outlines the developmental & economic objectives of the coming fiscal year.
NB: To the public (you) this outlines what to expect from the government in that particular year, but to the government departments (bureaucrats who implement the priorities) it initiates the process of starting to plan for the next calender year's fiscal year.
Now before any planning can begin treasury issues "technical guidelines" to each department, which essentially instruct the departments on how their expenditure plans must align with the "National Development Plan" (NDP) and the "Medium Term Strategic Framework" (MTSF). In October the minister of Finance tables the Medium Term Budget Policy speech (MTBPS) which is essentially the pre budget outlook that outlines the macroeconomic plans for the upcoming 3 years, and most importantly previews what the equitable share between the three spheres of gov will look like. Then to close it off we have the first sight of parliamentary involvement with what we call the Budget Reviews & Recommendations Reports (BRRRs), which are essentially reports from oversight committees that review a department's past service delivery spending and achievement to assess whether or not their funding should be adjusted positively or negatively.

Stage 2: The Legislative Process
This stage occurs for about 6 months and runs just before the fiscal year begins and ends when the budget is passed into law by parliament. It essentially begins on budget speech day when the minister of Finance tables the "budget" proposal (which is a set of different documents) infront of parliament. The list of docs tabled include:
The Appropiations Bill, which gives treasury the authority to release funds from the national reserve fund and for gov departments to spend on outlined priorities.
The Division of Revenue Bill, which essentially determines the split of the total budget revenue to the 3 spheres of gov (the equitable share).
The Estimates of National Expenditure, is the most important document in the bunch as it outlines the detailed line by line spending item of each government department. You can use this to see how each cent of your tax money is spent in that fiscal year and also as a tool to hold departments accountable when they fail to do what they said they would. For example, there's been that school that's been dormant in your area and has only the foundations built and left there for years, yet the estimate of expenditure for the dept of education says they plan on building 30 new schools, you can use that document to question the department in parliament as to why that school has been dormant but they claim to have built 30 new schools, I hope you get the gist.
Then finally comes parliament approval of the bills, this is the period when the Finance & Appropriations committees in parliament (two different committees that happen to overlook this process by the way) hold public discussions and hearings to deliberate on the proposed bills. Under the Money Bills and Related Matters Act, parliament is able to propose changes to the expenditure allocations if they deem that they do not align with the developmental goals of the country.

Stage 3: The Implementation.
Now this is the actual fiscal year and runs from the 01 April to 31 March. At the very instance parliament passes the tabled bills by the minister of Finance as Acts, treasury releases the funds from the national revenue fund to the respective gov departments. The Director Generals of all departments (which are the accounting officers) must manage the expenditure throughout the fiscal year and make sure all expenditure is effectively deployed to do what it was planned to do. Treasury oversees the implementation period and releases monthly and quarterly expenditure reports which are known as Section 32 Reports (more on a later piece) to track whether the departments are spending as planned, or fruitless/unauthorised, irregular, or wasteful expenditure is occuring (these all mean different things by the way, more explanations on a later article).
Midway through the year in October, government is allowed to table an "Adjustments Appropriations Bill" to account for unforseen emergencies like floods or significant shifts in the economy like the 2020 Lockdown.

Stage 4: The Auditing & Assesment.
This stage occurs after the fiscal year has ended. Here departments are required to submit all their financial statements and supporting documents for the year on expenditure to the Auditor General for auditing. The Auditor General then issues a financial opinion (Unqualified, Qualified, Adverse or Disclaimer), with an unqualified opinion essentially signalling that the books directly reflect the financial status of the department, whilist a disclaimer counts as a severe fail as the Auditor General could not even find enough evidence to formulate an opinion.
With SCOPA (Standing Committe On Public Accounts) acting as the accountability lever of parliament, interrogating public officials and departments on irregularities found in the Auditor General reports to ensure consequences for the mismanagement. Such powers of SCOPA being that of parliamentary limits which are summoning, investigating, and recommendations to the relevant authorities that will further escalate the matter.

To conclude this article, one should consider the complex nature of our fiscal processes, and not only know what the budget says about spending, but most importantly what the processes that govern the budget coming to life are as to make it easier for you to know where to look for when things aren't going right and who to hold accountable. Hope this article finds you well, comment, and share to your friends who you think might be interested in this.

27/02/2026

Fiscus Foundations In SA: The legal bedrock and Framework making up our fiscal policy.

What is fiscal policy you may ask? In the simplest terms, its essentially the government using taxing and spending to influence a country's economic growth, and drive socio-economic goals (in the case of SA). Again you may ask, what does this have to do with you? I say it needs your attention more than you can imagine, cause it's essentially the very policy that determines whether you have consistent water supply, or you have to go days on end without water whilist paying gov the bulk of your pay. So it's pretty important you understand how it works if you ask me.

Pre-94' budgeting.
Now before we get to the functionalities, we first have to establish the history of our fiscal policy pre 94' and how it got to be where it is today post 94'. Pre 94', the fiscus (national budget) was racially fragmented and opaque (unclear/non transparent), divided amongst 10 Bantustans in which each had their own rules of procedure (you can imagine the administrative burden). It operated under yearly incrimental budgeting and departments just put percantage increases on the current budget, and spent the majority of the funds on inputs rather than outputs (more on this on a later piece), esentially the budget was a tick box exercise.

Post 94' Budgeting.
Come post 94', democracy shines in, the apartheid era comes to an end, and the constitution is established in 1996. The fragmented independently admistered budgets now become consolidated into one pot which is known as the National Revenue Fund. Chapter 13 of the constitution (more on this in a later piece) is established and is essentially the supreme law of public finance in the country. The major institutions of behaivour mandated by this chapter include:
Section 216: The establishment of a single national treasury which would ensure accountability, transparency, and the sound control of the national purse (budget). *More on a later piece*
Section 214 (Division of revenue): This was established as a "fairness clause", which requires that an act of parliament determines the *equitable share* of the purse between the three spheres of gov.
Socio-Economic Covenant (agreement): Unlike most nations, SAs fiscal policy has a unique mechanism, it is legally tied to the bill of rights, essentially meaning that the state is constitutionally obligated to provide for the progressive realisation of socio economic rights like education, health, and social security (social wage) within available resources.

Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
The introduction of the MTEF in 1997 became one of the most significant changes that chartered SAs fiscal policy. Before this, SA operated on an Incrimental budget framework (in simple terms, previous year budget is used as a base and adjusted for inflation), then this mechanism introduced rolling budgets (planned out over a period of time, with a quarter/year added each time whilist the unused funds rollover), meaning that departments could plan for their expenditure for over 3 years at a time, allowing them to plan for multi year projects without the fear of uncertainty of fund availability in the coming year budget.

Key Legislation Anchoring Fiscal Policy.
SAs fiscal policy has come a long way from what it was pre democracy, and for that it should be commended. Three major policies anchor the fiscus which are namely:
The Public Finance Management Act of 1999 (PFMA): This act provides governance gaurdrails on how national and provincial gov should manage public funds, focusing more on outputs and accountability rather than just inputs.
The Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003 (MFMA): This extends the guardrails to local gov (municipalities) and most importantly ensures effective and sustainable service delivery.
The Money Bills and Related Matters Act (2009): This act set a game changing precendent, as for the first 15 years parliament could only either accept or reject the budget as a whole, now they were given the legal right/obligation to ammend the budget to include shift priorities in accordance to the people's will.

Who determines what and how the budget goes?!
The SAn fiscal system has a very complex web of flow, thus institutional power is divided amongst different key players in different organs of gov.
National Treasury: The gatekeepers and determiners of the fiscal policy.
Parliament: The watchdogs who set oversight and hold the authority to put the the proposed fiscal policy into law, or ammend it.
The Executive: This is the cabinet, Director Generals, and public officials of gov departments who are entrusted with executing the objectives set out in the fiscal policy.
The Auditor General: Think of this institution as the referee, they hold the discretionary power to enforce the rules set and have the authority to go over any gov entity's books to audit use of funds.
The Financial & Fiscal commission (FFC): These are the trusted advisors of parliament and the council of provinces. They advise on the fairness of the equitable share amongst the spheres of gov.

In conclusion SAs fiscal system is very complex but very important, without it we esentially have no way of knowing whether or not our public money is being used for what it's supposed to be used for or not. Understanding how it works takes us a step closer into gaining the knowledge required to make informed decisions as citizens and also be able to hold our public officials to account when we go with no water for days on end due to infrastructure dilapitation.

25/02/2026

Understanding The National Budget: What It Is, it's components, the process and why it matters to you.

Most people only here about the budget on the the day of the speech and they think that's where it starts and ends, which is wrong. By that time most important decisions have already been made and it's more on the final stages, understanding the budget and it's processes will help you know when you can play your part in influencing the important decisions before the money is already allocated.

Firstly what is the budget?
Essentially the budget is a legal instrument that grants government (national treasury) the authority to actually take money from you (taxes) and spend it on making sure that the economic & developmental goals of the country (general population) are achieved. It is a constitutional and legislative tool that is made up of different features and is mainly driven by the three following features, which are:
The constitutional mandate: Which is made up of the three sections that drive the budget process, which are section 214, 215, and 216 of the SAn constitution.
The Fiscal Policy: This is essentially how gov manages revenue (taxes) and expenditure (spending) to influence the economy of the country.
The MTEF: South Africa uses a three year planning horizon to plan out the budget and spending priorities which is known as the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, allowing for policy certainity for odinary citizens and business owners like you to know where gov stands both in the short & medium term in spending priorities.

The Key Components of the Budget.
The budget essentially has three main components it affords government to be able to effectively drive the economic agenda of the country, which are namely:
REVENUE: These are mainly the taxes collected from you by SARS through your salary (Personal Income Tax), your business profits (Corporate Tax), and your everyday use item purchases (VAT).
EXPENDITURE: This is where gov decides how to spend the money they collect from you through allocating it to various government departments that are meant to execute on the mandates they were given by you the citizen.
DEBT: Most times gov tends to have to spend more money than they collect, which means to cover that defecit they have to borrow money through what we call GOVERNMENT BONDS.

The Budget Process & Why It Matters To You
As I said in opening, the budget process doesn't begin at the day of the speech, it is an 18 month cyclical process that happens throughout the year. It occurs in 4 stages which are the:
Planning, Drafting, and Formulating stage: This is when gov departments submit their budget proposals to national treasury to be reviewed and approved for the next "FISCAL" year.
Legislative Procees Stage: This is when the minister of Finance takes their proposal to parliament (your representatives as the people) for approval into making the budget into law.
Implementation stage: This is when parliament has approved the budget and funds have been allocated to various departments to be divided and used for their respective objectives.
Auditing & Assesment Stage: This is when the Auditor general reviews various departments to see whether or not the funds are being used for their specified objectives or being mismanaged.

This all matters to you as the budget is considered as the most important document in your daily life as it determines the SOCIAL WAGE. This wage essentially decides whether or not you get to keep more of the money you make this year or a larger chunck goes to government through tax increases. It determines whether you are able to recieve social welfare if you are part of the most vulnerable in the country, and even so which type of vulnerability you under and how much you get. The development of your community infrastructure and whether or not you go without water for days on end or electricity prices keep on going up are determined by this document. I could go on all day but the main point is that this process isn't a passive checklist item that doesn't affect you in any manner, it is essentially the document that determines your whole livelihood and standard of living in this country.

21/08/2025

12/08/2025

FROM THE FARM TO THE STORE: AFRICANS OWNING THE WHOLE SUPPLY CHAIN VALUE?!

"From the farm to the store", I found myself spurting this phrase to our now banker whilist were we opening our business account with my folks. So apparently when you opening a business account the type of activities your business does matter, so bro (the banker) was like what activities is the business going to be doing, and I was like agriculture. He asked passively (in a joking manner) to my folks, "lomntu uthetha ngeAgric apha uyakwazi ulima phof?!" (can this person talking about agric actually farm?!) and I was like agriculture isn't just farming, actually farming is just the beginning. He was like ellaborate, then I found myself utterring the phrase "From the farm to store, that's agriculture". For a while after the fact, I found myself pondering a lot on that phrase and interrogating myself as to what did I actually mean by that exactly and why did it mean so much to me after I had said it?! Then it hit me (or atleast I'd like to think), as Africans we don't own anything and we never were allowed to own anything, so it would make sense for us to never really see the bigger picture, ownership at all levels in whatever sector, controlling the whole supply chain value. Makes sense as to why we celebrate the most miniscle of achievements like owning a retail in some shape or form for example, and rightfully so cause in all honesty as a people we've been blocked from success in every way possible for the past 3 to 4 centuries or so; but I don't want to lie, for me personally, it seemed like it was just not enough. Always asked myself why am I not elated that one of my own is winning, am I the jealous type maybe?! But why would I be jealous of somebody I don't even know or worse, one of my own people winning?! Now as I grew older and started being exposed to the likes of Witness Mdaka, Banele Rewo and the sorts, builders of generational movements and industries, I realised it wasn't a jelousy thing. I was just so angry at the fact that we were just not doing as much as we should be as a people, as Africans, but I was probably too young and unexposed to certain things that I wasn't knowledgeable enough to understand; but now I do and yaz intoni, I'm actually very ecstatic and hopeful for this incoming generation (my generation). We really don't have anything to lose so might as well go for it all, strive to own the whole supply chain in whatever industry we find ourselves in, matter of fact we should strive to create our own industries, that address and speak to our unique struggles as Africans. But ke that's just my 2 piece🙂.

A thought piece by Da Writing Buddha🧘🏿

05/08/2025

INFORMAL TRADING AND THE PROTECTION FEE MAFIA: THE SUBTLE EXODUS OF THE MAJORITY'S "SURVIVAL ECONOMY"

I think we all or maybe majority of us atleast know that we have a somewhat peculiar predicament of somesort in SA. Which is the economic power and concentration of economic productivity is in 3 places, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Not to say other areas don't have economic output of somesort, but the major industries, where the money is made in SA is in these 3 places; which would explain the large influx of people that occupy these places, rapid urbanisation of some sort. I'll spare you the details on the G12 economic geo brochure, long story short, its not as sweet as presumed, nhan nhan. Now, with so much of the country's economic opportunity concentrated in these 3 provinces, it's natural that majority of us would want to move to these places and nathi have our chance at increasing our exposure to more opportunities if I would say. Abantu get here and they survive, now comes in informal trading. You know coming from a small city in a small suburban township in the Eastern Cape, you not really exposed much to informal trading to a large scale; to me informal traders were abamama besonka erank ekuseni, plate zecontainer, nostandi with the variety set, barbershops neSpaza, arriving in Cape Town, I couldn't believe how busy the streets were like why is everything so fast. You can imagine the image coming in from the airport via Nyanga, it's grind on grind, informal trading at a large scale, KASI ECONOMY. Just odinary folk trying to get their next meal, pushing their honest hustle and trying to survive and feed their families. With the economy being what it is (we will look into the reasons in future pieces), almost half of the country being unemployed, informal trade becomes a means to survive, not just a side hustle for the majority of the population, majority being African/black, who for a better part of a century have been systemically kept out of the spoils of the vast wealth in SA. Now being intentionally kept out of the economy led to us developing our own economy, the Kasi Economy which is a survival but effective economy. Now since not everybody is willing to sweat for their bread, they find it easier to just work their own people, in that they'll just wait for you to work your ass off, and then come and just basically ask for a cut or they'll rob you. In comes the protection fee mafia, "my cut for protecting this place from danger this month, or you close down", what the actual ****. Odinary, honest surviving folks, contributing to the economy of the country, creating jobs, creating income and spending power, now all of a sudden they close shop cause they can't afford to pay R5K protection fee to some extortionists, and guess what?! It's being all done intentionally, bit by bit we gradually becoming a crime haven, cause we are already a gangster state. Odinary people who are trying to survive now have no job, no income and have to depend more on government welfare to survive, cause their shop closed down not because it wasn't profitable and functioning, no, just because they couldn't afford to make R5000 extra to pay an extortion. "Black men, you truly are on your own".

A thought piece by yours truly, Da Writing Buddha🧘🏿

03/08/2025

This❤️❤️❤️

01/08/2025

WELCOME TO EKASI TIMES

That's it, that's the caption🙂