13 JANUARY 2026, CAPE TOWN

RESTORING PUBLIC TRUST AND STRONGER OVERSIGHT THROUGH TARGETED ADJUSTMENTS IN THE ADJUSMENTS APPROPRIATION BILL

HONOURABLE MEMBERS 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN 

FELLOW SOUTH AFRICANS WATCHING AT HOME

GREETINGS TO YOU ALL!

HOUSE CHAIRPERSON,

The Adjustment Appropriation Bill, tabled before this August House is a test, not only of fiscal management, but of political honesty.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS,

This Bill forces us to reveal, through our vote, where our loyalties truly lie:

Do we govern for the people, or do we grandstand while poor households and vulnerable communities suffer?

The ANC chooses to govern for the people because grandstanding is easy as it requires no decisions, no trade-offs, and no accountability.

This Bill exists because in real life, poor households and vulnerable communities need action, not commentary.

Climate change related floods and disasters do not wait for the next financial year.
Commissions of Inquiry do not pause for political convenience.
Poor households and vulnerable communities do not stop needing schools, clinics, social grants, basic services, and justice because the economy is under pressure.

That is why South Africa’s ‘celebrated’ constitution allows this Bill, and why the ANC supports it.

FELLOW SOUTH AFRICANS,

This Bill strengthens the backbone of our democracy – that is, it supports the justice system so that cases are heard, rights are protected, and wrongdoing is confronted; oversight institutions so that public money is accounted for; and administrative capacity to ensure that basic services reach the people in need of them. For illustrative purposes, this Bill allocates an additional R104 million to Vote 27 of the Office of the Chief Justice to strengthen its capabilities, which is a vital investment for the administrative efficiency of the highest courts and the delivery of justice. In short, this 6.9 per cent upward adjustment of R104 million to the Office of the Chief Justice strengthens the courts and justice institutions so that cases move faster, backlogs are reduced, and victims are not left waiting indefinitely. For poor households and vulnerable communities, this adjustment means protection from crime, enforcement of labour and family law, and confidence that the law applies to everyone, not only the powerful, with the implicit assumption that the ANC-led government remains present and effective where justice matters most.

Additionally, this Bill allocates an additional R147.8 million to Vote 25 of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for funding the operations of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry exists because there were serious allegations that state institutions were undermined or deliberately defied, and in a constitutional democracy like South Africa, such serious allegationsmust be investigated openly, independently and thoroughly. Failure to fund and support such a Commission would be an admission that some people are above the law, thereby undermining the independence and credibility of the justice system, which ordinary South Africans rely on when they seek protection, fairness, and dignity. The ANC will never accept that.

Parties that oppose the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry do so not because they defend the constitution, but because they fear its authority. They lambast the cost of the Commission amid the pressing challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment, but remain silent when corruption costs the people billions. They claim to support the rule of law yet oppose the very mechanisms that allow the truth to be established. That is not principle, but selective accountability.

Rejecting the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry implies that certain matters must never be investigated, certain individuals must never be questioned as they are above the law, and certain truths must remain buried. The ANC rejects this logic completely because the ANC as a liberation movement born out of the struggle against injustice and the violation of the rule of law cannot turn away from accountability and transparency when it is uncomfortable. In short, the ANC did not fight Apartheid-Colonialism to replace one form of impunity with another.

This Bill further strengthens state administration through an upward adjustment of R84 million to Vote 14 of Statistics South Africa to support its core statistical and administrative functions, including, but certainly not limited to, sustaining national surveys and data systems; strengthening economic, social and labour statistics; and supporting the integrity of population, household and service-delivery data. Such support matters because effective, responsible budget planning depends on accurate and up-to-date statistics; without these, planning, monitoring, and accountability are significantly weakened. Moreover, without a capable Statistics South Africa, the ANC-led government cannot plan clinics, schools or housing accurately; social grants and social programmes risk being misaligned; government oversight becomes weaker; and inequality and unemployment are mismeasured or underestimated. The underlying effect of this is that a capable, ethical, developmental state the ANC-led government wishes to build requires a capable Statistics South Africa.

HONOURABLE CHAIRPERSON,

Let me be clear: public trust is built when ordinary people witness money accounted for, fraud confronted, and basic services delivered. This Bill builds public trust since it supports National Treasury’s Targeted and Responsible Savings (TARS) programme, aimed at cutting down fraud and ‘double-dipping’ in the social grant system because the ANC-led government will never defend theft from the poor. The ANC protects the poor from criminals and from unconstitutional means-testing checks imposed on social grants.

However, the ANC is equally clear. Anti-fraud measures in the social grant system must never become barriers that punish eligible beneficiaries. That is what a caring, capable developmental state looks like.

FELLOW SOUTH AFRICANS,

Let me be open and honest about parties that oppose this Bill.

They oppose this Bill because it strengthens the state whereas they believe in a weak state. They oppose this Bill because it protects the social wage whereas they are uncomfortable with the poor receiving no state support. They oppose this Bill because it corrects failures instead of collapsing government whereas they benefit politically from chaos. They oppose this Bill because it offers governance, responsibility, and action whereas they offer slogans. They speak passionately about accountability but oppose the very mechanisms that ensure accountability and transparency. They complain about unspent funds but oppose rollovers that allow public economic infrastructure projects to be completed.
They criticise state incapacity but vote against strengthening it. That is not political principle, but political opportunism.

The real difference between the ANC and these parties that comment from the sidelines is this: the ANC does not run away from South Africa’s socio-economic challenges, it confronts them head-on; the ANC does not hide underspending, it declares it; the ANC does not abandon public economic infrastructure projects, it corrects and completes them; and the ANC does not reduce the role of the state when poor households and vulnerable communities are suffering, it strengthens it.

HONOURABLE CHAIRPERSON,

In conclusion, this Bill demonstrates that the ANC-led government accounts for the spending of taxpayers’ money, it is willing to correct its insurmountable government failures, and it does not abandon poor households and vulnerable communities when the fiscal space is limited. For these reasons, Honourable Chairperson, the ANC supports the Adjustments Appropriation Bill, and we do so without apology.

I thank you.