The E400 million in budget changes made by the House of assembly’s finance portfolio committee have been rejected in full by the Senate, setting up a standoff between the two Houses over the handling of the national budget.
While the Senate rejected the changes, the House of Assembly ultimately prevailed, as the Constitution vests final authority over money bills in the lower House. As a result, the House dismissed the Senate’s position and passed the budget with the amendments intact.
The adjustments did not reduce overall spending. Instead, the committee, chaired by Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo, made cuts and reassigned the funds to new priorities. At the same time, some reallocations increased spending in other areas. Parliament’s travel budget was increased by E6.4 million, while E10 million was allocated under treasury and stores for the hosting of the Association of African Accountant Generals.
The committee defended the changes as a reprioritisation exercise within the existing fiscal envelope, shifting money away from what it considered non-urgent or unjustified allocations and redirecting it to priority areas.
However, critics, including Prime Minister Russell Dlamini, have questioned both the legality and process of the adjustments, warning that such changes may fall outside the committee’s mandate.
The most significant reductions were made under Head 3, which effectively covers the PM’s office.
On the recurrent side, the committee removed E5 million that had been allocated to the e-Cabinet system, a digital platform intended to support Cabinet processes. It also cut a further E5.799 million that had been earmarked for PMEAL automation, a system linked to planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Both allocations were reduced to zero. The committee argued that the e-Cabinet system had already been developed and paid for, while PMEAL automation could be deferred in light of fiscal pressures and competing priorities.
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The larger cuts came from capital expenditure. An allocation of E27 million for the design and construction of Cabinet offices and the State House project was removed entirely. The committee questioned the urgency of the project, noting that Government House has historically not been occupied by sitting prime ministers, while also raising concerns about repeated reallocations and outstanding audit issues.
A further E12.716 million was cut from funds earmarked for security-related works at the PM’s office. Here, the committee pointed to alleged irregularities in the procurement process, stating that it did not align with donor conditions or government procedures.
In addition, E8.75 million set aside for the SADC University of Transformation project was removed and redirected elsewhere.
Taken together, these capital cuts amount to E48.466 million. When combined with the E10.799 million removed from recurrent spending, the total reduction linked to the PM’s office and its associated programmes reaches E59.265 million, the largest single shift in the adjustment package.
Beyond the PM’s office, the committee made several additional adjustments across government.
It removed E16 million from the ministry of tinkhundla administration after Minister Sikhumbuzo Dlamini revealed that the ministry had not requested the funds.
An allocation of E11 million for spatial planning under the ministry of housing and urban development was deferred, effectively postponing the project rather than cancelling it outright.
The committee also removed E10 million that had been earmarked for the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund, arguing that the legal framework required to operationalise the fund was not yet in place.
In the ministry of information, communication and technology, E6.5 million allocated to the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) for strategy review and implementation was cut.
The committee cited the absence of a substantive chief executive as a limiting factor in executing the programme.
Meanwhile, E42 million was removed from the rehabilitation of Somhlolo Stadium, marking one of the more significant capital project cuts outside of the PM’s office.
