Finance and Economic Opportunities
In reference to the ongoing review of the provincial equitable share formula, as mentioned in the 2022 Division of Revenue Bill:
(1) (a) Whether the National Treasury has sought input from his Department on the review of the provincial equitable share formula; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) how did the National Treasury respond to the Department’s input;
(2) (a) how often has the National Treasury engaged his Department, (b) when was the last engagement and (c) when is the next planned engagement?
1[a] Yes.
1[a] Budget Council agreed that the review would be done collaboratively in consultation with all relevant stakeholders. This has been achieved through the involvement of:
- Provincial Treasuries through a Provincial Equitable Share [PES] Review Technical Task Team in which all provinces are represented.
- Recommendations from the PES Technical Task Team are then discussed at the Technical Committee of Finance [TCF], including TCF Lekgotlas.
- These recommendations are in turn discussed by the Budget Council representing all Provincial Ministers of Finance for adoption.
The Western Cape Provincial Treasury has been involved at all three levels and has made both verbal and written inputs into the process.
1[b] National Treasury has provided written responses to the Provincial Treasuries, including the Western Cape.
2[a] The PES Review Technical Task Team has engaged as required to discuss updates, sharing of National Treasury commissioned research, and adhoc presentations by Statistics South Africa and National Departments. National Treasury has provided updates to TCF and Budget Council as per their meeting schedule.
2[b] The last engagement was a PES Review Technical Task Team meeting on 29 November 2021.
2[c] The Provincial Treasury is awaiting communication on the next PES Review Task Team engagement. Progress continues to be monitored by the TCF.
