National Treasury responds to the abusive EFF attacks

THE RESPONSIBILITIES of the National Treasury (the department) and the Ministry of Finance (the political head of the Treasury) are established in terms of Chapter 13 and other sections of the Constitution. They are elaborated upon in national legislation.

These responsibilities cut across all three spheres of government and therefore make the Ministry and the Treasury the most high profile of government institutions.

This is partly a result of the role the Minister of Finance has in the budget process and all the associated expenditure management tasks.

The minister, supported by a cabinet subcommittee (the Ministers Committee on the Budget), advises the cabinet about what is affordable and, just as controversially, recommends which of the contending priorities need immediate resourcing and which might have to wait.

Secondly, as the guardian of macroeconomic and fiscal policies the Minister of Finance often contests the appropriateness of particular policies proposed by his cabinet colleagues. He does so taking into account the advice of Treasury officials.

Inevitably, the Ministry and the Treasury become the target for blame when other sections of the government fall short of their aims and objectives.

This requires of the Ministry and Treasury to have thick skins and not