In a democratic society that encourages a citizen-state relationship premised on public participation in the constitution, and as a way of enabling the division of power through a system of ‘checks and balances’ between government and its citizens, it is of paramount importance that citizens understand the nature of this relationship and their respective roles. This is what the SPII Budgeting for Change Project aims to achieve at its core: to capacitate ordinary citizens with the necessary knowledge to negotiate and perform their role in this relationship.

The primary purpose of this submission is to highlight areas within the selected programmes that are in need of concerted interventions in relation to budgeting and planning, following the tabling of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), the Adjustments Estimates and Adjustment Appropriations Bill by the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni on 24 October 2018.

Six months after the beginning of the financial year, an Adjusted Budget is tabled which shows how government is planning to change its spending plans to deal with any unexpected circumstances. Unused funds, including the money from its rainy day fund and money which departments do not think that they are going to spend, are moved or removed through the Adjusted Budget.

The aim of this training is to ensure that government planning, programming and budgeting contributes to the advancement of gender equality and the fulfilment of women’s and girls’ rights. The objective of this manual is to enable participants to identify and adopt necessary interventions to address gender gaps in government policies, plans and budgets. We anticipate that these generic skills will be applicable at all levels of government and may be applicable in other contexts.

This Report documents the research findings, as well as the emerging issues that participants identified as being critical for the future work around a Decent Standard of Living (DSL) in South Africa.