South Africa ranked second in terms of transparency in the 2021 Open Budget Index, scoring 86 points out of 100.

The index, which included 120 countries, was compiled by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) through an Open Budget Survey.

Georgia placed first, with 87 points; South Africa was followed by Sweden in third and New Zealand in fourth, both with 85 points; and Mexico in fifth place with 82 points.

The global transparency average is 45 out of 100, while South Africa scores the second best with 86 out of 100, a score which reflects South Africa’s commitment to transparency.

South Africa scored 87 points for its budget transparency in the IBP’s 2019 Open Budget Index.

IBP is an independent, comparative measure of budget transparency, participation and oversight.

In terms of budget oversight, South Africa scored 81 points out of 100; while it scored 19 points out of 100 for public participation, ranking on par with Zimbabwe and being pipped by Zambia which scored 24 points. The global average for public participation is 14 points out of 100.

South Africa scored 72 out of 100 points in terms of legislative oversight, and received full marks for audit oversight.

Of the 120 countries included in the index, only 41 had “adequate” oversight, as measured and defined by IBP.

To boost its oversight rankings in the index, the IBP recommends South Africa’s Parliament provide adequate oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and adequate oversight during the implementation stage.

To further improve budget oversight, the IBP recommends South Africa prioritise the submission of the Finance Minister’s (FM’s) budget proposal to legislators at least two months before the start of the budget year; that Parliament approve the FM’s budget proposal before the start of the budget year; and, in practice, ensure that Parliament is consulted before the FM reduces spending as a result of revenue shortfalls.

To improve public participation, the IBP recommends that, although South Africa’s National Treasury has established pre-budget submissions during budget formulation, it nonetheless endeavours to strengthen public participation in the budget process by prioritising pilot mechanisms to monitor budget implementation and actively engage with vulnerable and underrepresented communities.

Further, despite South Africa’s Parliament establishing public hearings related to the approval of the annual budget, the IBP says it should also prioritise allowing members of the public or any civil society organisation to testify during its hearings on the budget proposal prior to its approval, and to testify during its hearings on the audit report.

The IBP also recommends that South Africa’s Auditor-General prioritise the improvement of public participation in the budget process by establishing formal mechanisms for the public to assist in developing its audit programme and to contribute to relevant audit investigations.

The National Treasury reports that steps are already being taken following the last index survey results, including South Africa participating in the Fiscal Openness Accelerator pilot project in partnership with IBP and the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency to further strengthen public participation in the budget process.

The pilot is in its second and final year and the objective is to improve the approach of soliciting inputs from the public, in pursuance of improving public participation in the budget process.