South Africa has regressed in its efforts to expand public participation in national budget processes according to the Open Budget Survey 2021. The Survey is the world’s only comparative, independent and regular assessment of transparency, oversight and public participation in public budgets and has been undertaken across 120 countries. The Survey ranks countries according to their level of accountability in national budget processes.

South Africa’s score for public participation, dropped from an already disappointing score of 24/100 in 2019 to 19/100 in 2021.

“National Treasury and Parliament need to do far more to enable public participation and regain the trust of the public”   said Jay Kruuse, Director of the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM), which conducted the research for South Africa. “To encourage greater public participation the following actions should be undertaken:

South Africa’s National Treasury should introduce:

  • Pilot mechanisms to encourage the public to monitor budget implementation.
  • Actively engage with vulnerable and underrepresented communities, directly or through civil society organizations representing them.

South Africa’s Parliament should:

  • Allow any member of the public or any civil society organization to testify during its hearings on budget proposals prior to their approval.
  • Allow members of the public or civil society organizations to testify during its hearings on the Audit Report.

The Open Budget Survey also found that South Africa’s Auditor-General should establish formal mechanisms for the public to assist in developing its audit program and to contribute to relevant audit investigations. Currently the Auditor-General does engage the public on its audit investigations but is not formally required by law to do so.

In the area of budget transparency, South Africa has managed to continue its practice of scoring well, achieving a score of 86/100 in the 2021, marginally down from its score of 87/100 in 2019. Only one country (Georgia) achieved a higher score (of 87/100) than South Africa for this aspect of the Survey.

Looking at global trends, the 2021 Open Budget Survey found that legislative oversight globally has declined. Some governments have found ways to undermine Supreme Audit Institutions. Only 31 percent of countries provide sufficiently detailed information to understand how their budget addresses poverty and only 14 percent present their expenditures by gender. Only 8 countries worldwide have formal channels to engage underserved communities in budget processes.

To access the 2021 Open Budget Survey report for South Africa visit https://internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey/country-results/2021/south-africa

To access the global report on the 2021 Open Budget Survey visit https://internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey/open-budget-survey-2021

To access the 120 country results visit: https://internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey/country-results

To access the 120 country rankings visit: https://internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/2021_OBS_rankings.pdf

ENDS.   

Survey methodology

  • Only documents published and events, activities, or developments that took place through 31 December 2020 were assessed in the OBS 2021.
  • The survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert: Jay Kruuse (Director)Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) – Rhodes University; kruuse@ru.ac.za
  • To further strengthen the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert, and in South Africa by a representative of the National Treasury.