Have your say on the budget

While the country is still processing Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech, what most people don’t know is that it still needs to undergo committee debates and a voting process before it’s passed into law.

While the public are not usually included in these deliberations, an online tool developed by the International Budget Partnership and Code for South Africa allows ordinary South Africans to have their say on the budget.

The tool, ‘Vote for the Budget’, is a first for South Africa. It lists the top five increases and top five decreases in the budget’s allocations. It also lists five possible projects to be funded and lets you vote for them in terms of personal preference.

Once you’ve made your choices, a click of a button generates an email directly to the Standing Committee of Appropriations, the parliamentary committee that can recommend changes to the budget.

Carlene Van der Westhuizen, Programme Officer at the International Budget Partnership (IBP), an international organisation that collaborates with civil society to improve governance and reduce poverty, said that the tool was created to give citizens an opportunity to give feedback to Parliament on the national budget.

“Any individual can send a submission, but then there’s the matter of knowing that there is this committee and that you can send them an email with your comment, which citizens are not generally aware of,” she said.

“With Vote for your Budget, it’s an easy tool to use and you’ll be submitting your opinion as an individual straight to Parliament.”

Adi Eyal, Director of Code for South Africa, a civic tech organisation that promotes informed decision making for positive social change, added that the purpose of the tool educational.

“We may or may not be able to influence the final decision of the Appropriations Committee, but what we can do is show people that they have the power to communicate with government and hopefully next time, they’ll write their own letters with more specifics.”

Eyal adds that it’s also about showing Parliament that there is a public interest. “We need to prove to Parliament that it’s worthwhile doing this type of outreach. People are very interested, they just haven’t had the means to do it. If we provide an easy channel for them to do it then they will participate.”

The tool went live on Wednesday evening. Visit vote4thebudget.org to submit your comment to Parliament.