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The National Council of Provinces passed the Appropriation Bill on Wednesday, bringing Budget 2025’s fraught passage through Parliament to an end.
- The National Council of Provinces has passed the Appropriation Bill, finalising Budget 2025's journey through Parliament.
- The MKP and EFF opposed the Bill, with 51 MPs supporting it, nine opposing it, and no abstentions during the vote.
- The Bill now awaits President Cyril Ramaphosa's assent to become an Act.
The National Council of Provinces passed the Appropriation Bill on Wednesday, bringing Budget 2025’s fraught passage through Parliament to an end.
All that remains is President Cyril Ramaphosa assenting to the Money Bill making up the Budget, the first introduced by the government of national unity.
If Parliament had failed to pass the Bill by the end of this month, it would have had dire effects on the government’s ability to use its funds, with Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo having warned the National Assembly last week when the Appropriation Bill was before that House, that government would be unable to withdraw money by October if the Budget didn’t pass.
The proceedings in the NCOP weren’t as drawn out as the ones in the National Assembly last week, and it appears that the MKP on Wednesday correctly expressed their vote against the Bill, unlike last week.
READ | Crisis averted: National Assembly passes Appropriation Bill
There were 51 MPs in support of the Bill, nine against, and no abstentions. It was the MKP and EFF who opposed the Bill, while the GNU partners represented in the NCOP – the ANC, DA, IFP, PA, FF Plus and UDM – all supported it.
The MKP and EFF also objected to all the departmental budget votes, while the GNU parties supported all of them, bar the Employment and Labour Budget, from which the FF Plus abstained, as they did in the National Assembly last week.
According to a statement from Parliament, “once passed by both Houses of Parliament, the Bill will be sent to the President for assent and becomes an Act of Parliament after being signed by the President”.
“The law authorises government departments to spend public funds for the financial year as approved by Parliament.”
