THE ANC managed to instil discipline in its MPs after it mustered the required majority to pass the Budget in the National Assembly yesterday.
This followed two attempts last week where the ANC failed to get a quorum in the House to approve the Division of Revenue Bill.
During yesterday’s sitting in the National Assembly, the ANC managed to get 228 MPs to back the bill, while 86 other MPs rejected it.
ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu had insisted that members were going to ensure there was a quorum yesterday to approve the bill. The failure last week left the party open to attacks from opposition parties, who accused it of fighting battles in Parliament.
They said the divisions in the ANC were so clear that its members were turning on each other in the business of running Parliament.
The National Treasury had warned that failure to approve the bill could impact negatively on service delivery.
The bill has now been referred to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for concurrence, but the late submission has led to delays in the programme of the council.
The ANC said last week the programme of the NCOP would be delayed by a week due to events in the National Assembly which led to the bill being aborted.
The national departments, provinces and municipalities needed additional funds to carry out several projects. If there were further delays in Parliament to get the Budget passed, it would have affected the implementation of some of the projects.
The Medium-term Budget policy statement was tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in October. It has to be approved by both houses of Parliament for the adjusted funds to start rolling in at departments and entities.
After last week's drama, the ANC decided to take action against its MPs who absconded from the House. However, it would not disclose the number of MPs who are to face its internal disciplinary committee.
The NCOP has the next three weeks to pass the Budget after the National Assembly decision.
This will be in time to avoid any funds not being processed to relevant departments across the state.