Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993/1994-07-22/Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Finance

GENERAL FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

National Revenue Fund

185. (1) There is hereby established a National Revenue Fund, into which shall be paid all revenues, as may be defined by an Act of Parliament, raised or received by the national government, and from which appropriations shall be made by Parliament in accordance with this Constitution or any applicable Act of Parliament, and subject to the charges imposed thereby.

(2) No money shall be withdrawn from the National Revenue Fund, except under appropriation made by an Act of Parliament in accordance with this Constitution: Provided that revenue to which a province is entitled in terms of section 155(2)(a), (b), (c) and (d) shall form a direct charge against the National Revenue Fund to be credited to the respective Provincial Revenue Funds.

Pensions of political office-bearers

190A. (1) There shall be paid out of and as a charge on the pension fund referred to in subsection (2) to a political office-bearer upon his or her retirement as a political office-bearer, or to his or her widow or widower or dependent or any other category of persons as may be determined in the rules of such pension fund upon his or her death, such pension and pension benefits as may be determined in terms of the said rules.

(2) A pension fund shall be established for the purposes of this section after consultation with a committee appointed by Parliament, and such a fund shall be registered in terms of and be subject to the laws governing the registration and control of pension funds in the Republic.

(3) All political office-bearers shall be members of the said pension fund.

(4) Contributions to the said fund by members of the fund shall be made at a rate to be determined in the rules of the fund, and such contributions shall be deducted monthly from the remuneration payable to members as political office-bearers.

(5) Contributions to the said fund by the State shall be made at a rate to be determined by the President, and such contributions shall be paid monthly from the National Revenue Fund and the respective Provincial Revenue Funds, according to whether a member serves at national or provincial level of government.

(6) In this section “political office-bearer” means—

an Executive Deputy President; a Minister or Deputy Minister; a member of the National Assembly or the Senate; the Premier or a member of the Executive Council of a province; a member of a provincial legislature; a diplomatic representative of the Republic who is not a member of the public service; or any other political office-bearer recognised for purposes of this section by an Act of Parliament.



Constitution, expertise and impartiality

200. (1) The Commission shall consist of—

a chairperson and deputy chairperson, appointed by the President in consultation with the Cabinet; a person designated by each of the various Executive Councils of the provinces, who shall be appointed by the President; and seven members appointed by the President on the advice of the Cabinet, at least one of whom shall have expertise in local government finance.

(2) The first appointment of members of the Commission shall be effected within 120 days from the date of commencement of this Constitution.

(3) No person shall be qualified to be appointed to the Commission unless he or she—

is a South African citizen; and is a person who, by reason of his or her training and experience, has expertise in economics, public finance, public administration, taxation, management or accountancy.

(4) (a) Unless the new constitutional text provides otherwise, a member of the Commission may be removed from office only by the President and only on account of misconduct, incapacity or incompetence.

(b) The President shall within 14 days after the removal from office of a member of the Commission, notify Parliament and the provincial legislatures by message of such removal and of the reasons therefor.

(5) Vacancies in the Commission shall be filled in accordance with the relevant provisions of this section under which the former member concerned was appointed.

(6) The chairperson and the deputy chairperson shall be appointed for a period of five years, and the other members of the Commission for a period of two years, but shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(7) A member of the Commission shall perform his or her duties fairly, impartially and independently.

(8) The chairperson and deputy chairperson shall not perform or commit himself or herself to perform remunerative work outside his or her official duties.

(9) A member of the Commission shall not hold office in any political party or political organisation.

(10) It shall be an offence to influence or attempt to influence a member of the Commission to act otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of subsection (7).

(11) The chairperson and deputy chairperson—

shall be the only full-time members of the Commission; shall be the chief executive officer and deputy chief executive officer, respectively, of the Commission.