Honourable members, our fiscal path requires that we better leverage government’s status as the largest purchaser of goods and services in the economy.

Finalisation of the Public Procurement Bill is urgent. The National Treasury is fast tracking it. The bill addresses fragmentation in procurement legislation. We aim to table this reform before Cabinet before the end of this year.

Many of the tips I received spoke of the importance of zero‐based budgeting. The National Treasury is finalising the framework to implement zero‐based budgeting across government. This will be done through spending reviews which have been used internationally to achieve spending efficiencies. These reviews are already underway and will shape this framework.

The Department of Public Enterprises and the National Treasury will be first to pilot a new budgeting methodology. The intention is to produce significantly re‐costed budgets from 2022/23.