Parliament Committees Launch Budget Oversight Hearings

Parliament’s committees resume a dense oversight schedule this week, and the accountability questions at the centre of the programme are hard to miss. Following the tabling of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement by the Minister of Finance on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, the Standing Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Finance will convene joint public hearings on Wednesday, 28 October, giving stakeholders a formal opportunity to comment on the revised fiscal framework and revenue proposals. The hearings form part of Parliament’s constitutional scrutiny of the government’s fiscal plans.

Before that, on Tuesday, 27 October, the finance and appropriations committees of both houses will receive a joint briefing from the Parliamentary Budget Office and the Financial and Fiscal Commission on the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, from 09:00 to 12:00 on the virtual meeting platform. The session positions the two independent advisory bodies as the first assessors Parliament hears from as it begins interrogating the fiscal framework.

The same day, the Select Committee on Finance turns to compliance matters, hearing responses from National Treasury to submissions received during public hearings on the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill (B15-2026). The meeting, scheduled from 14:00 to 17:00, keeps the legislative process tied to the country’s anti-money laundering obligations under public scrutiny.

Audit oversight features prominently across the week. On Tuesday morning, the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and Creative Industries will be briefed by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the National Arts Council on their 2025/26 annual reports, budget expenditure and conditional grant expenditure in the provinces. The Auditor-General will present audit findings for the department and the council for the 2025/26 financial year, and the committee will consider and adopt draft minutes. The virtual session runs from 10:00 to 13:00.

On Thursday, 29 October, the Select Committee on Security and Justice similarly receives an Auditor-General briefing on the Department of Correctional Services’ annual report, in a session running from 10:00 to 16:00 that also includes a joint discussion on mineral-related crime.

Provincial governance accountability is on Tuesday’s agenda as well. The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration will be briefed by the Mpumalanga MEC responsible for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the 2024/25 section 47 report tabled in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000. The committee will also consider progress reports on investigations under section 106 of the Act and interventions under section 139 of the Constitution, the statutory mechanisms through which provinces monitor and intervene in municipalities.

Meanwhile, two committees weigh in on the security and economic dimensions of mineral-related crime on Wednesday, 28 October. The Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade meets in the afternoon, from 14:00 to 17:00, to discuss a coordinated approach to eliminating the extortion of minerals through collaboration between law enforcement agencies in the security cluster, and to consider joint oversight by the relevant security and economic development select committees arising from a Taking Parliament to the People recommendation. The Select Committee on Security and Justice takes up the same joint oversight discussion during its morning session.

Also on Wednesday, the Select Committee on Public Infrastructure, together with the Minister in the Presidency, will be briefed by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure on the release of land for land reform purposes over the past five years. The briefing will cover the Land Release Programme, including the policy framework, criteria for land identification and alignment with national land reform objectives, as well as interdepartmental transfers and beneficiary use, covering departments that have received land, the intended purpose of each allocation, progress in utilisation and implementation challenges. The session runs from 10:00 to 13:00.

The afternoon of Wednesday also brings consumer and credit watchdogs before the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, with the National Consumer Tribunal, the National Consumer Commission and the National Credit Regulator presenting their 2026/27 annual performance plans, followed by consideration and adoption of minutes. The Select Committee on Social Services hears from the Department of Health on its 2025/26 annual report from 10:00 to 12:30.

On Tuesday, the Select Committee on Public Petitions and Executive Undertakings will consider a progress report on the implementation of executive undertakings made by the Minister of Employment and Labour during the sitting of 3 June 2026, with the venue to be confirmed. The same morning, the Select Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Mineral Resources receives an introductory briefing from Mr Jooste and Ms Le Roux on succulent poaching involving indigenous and endangered plant species in various provinces, before adopting minutes. The week closes on Thursday with the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade receiving a briefing from the Department of Small Business Development on the Spaza Shop Fund, covering registration and funding disbursements, from 10:00 to 13:00.

Enquiries can be directed to Moloto Mothapo, Parliament’s spokesperson. Whether the week’s hearings translate into concrete follow-up on the undertakings and audit findings tabled remains the open question committees will face once the schedule concludes.