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National Treasury: Draft PFMA and related laws Amendment Bill 2026
- 05 November 2026
- Law
- South African Accounting Academy
Summary:
The draft Public Finance Management (PFMA) and Related Laws Amendment Bill, 2026 has been published for public comment by the National Treasury alongside the 2026 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), to improve safeguards for public money and strengthening public finance management.
Article:
The draft Public Finance Management & Related Laws Amendment Bill seeks to:
- clarify ‘the responsibilities of accounting officers, boards and executive authorities’
- strengthen National Treasury’s ‘ability to act against financial misconduct and persistent non-compliance’
- ‘protect accounting officers who make lawful decisions in good faith’, and
- strengthen ‘the governance of financially distressed public entities’.
The Draft Public Finance Management and Related Laws Amendment Bill, 2026, formally repeals the Exchequer Act, 1975 (regarded as the Legacy Act), but goes well beyond the fiscal anchor. It proposes extensive amendments to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), changes to the Money Bills and Related Matters Act and the Financial and Fiscal Commission Act, and an amendment to the Public Audit Act. A separate draft Bill proposes changes to the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The PFMA has not been amended in the last 26 years, exposing critical gaps across governance, fiscal policy and accountability.
The legislation specifically covers:
- Parliament and provincial legislatures
- Independent institutions established by the South African Constitution
- Chief executive officers, accounting officers, boards, and executive authorities within those state bodies, updating responsibilities and governance structures
The main objectives of the Draft PFMA Bill are:
- Fiscal Anchor: Introduces a statutory fiscal anchor to enshrine budget discipline into law, making it harder to abandon fiscal stability during changing economic or political shifts while allowing each administration to define objectives within its electoral mandate.
- Expenditure Discipline & Oversight: Strengthens rules governing expenditure, reporting transparency, and financial accountability across national and provincial spheres of state.
- Virements and Voting Structure: Addresses how Parliament votes by main division/programme and restricts the movement (virement) of funds between programmes.
- Financial Reporting: Targets delays in the submission of government financial statements to improve compliance with Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP).
Published alongside the draft Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Amendment Bill, 2026
Access the 16-page memorandum accompanying the draft legislation, which explains how the fiscal anchor would work in practice, at https://www.treasury.gov.za/DocumentsForComments/Memo%20on%20Objects%20of%20Public%20Finance%20Management%20Related%20Laws%20Amend.pdf .
Comments are due by 29 January 2027.
Click here to download the document:
https://static.pmg.org.za/261021Public_Finance_Management_and_Related_Laws_Amendment_Bill_2026.pdf
Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:
- The PFMA is yet another piece of legislation that your relevant national and provincial departmental clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with. If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
- The Draft Public Finance Management and Related Laws Amendment Bill, 2026 applies to the national and provincial spheres of government and public entities under their ownership control.
- As an auditor and independent reviewer, you need to be aware of the latest legislation and proposed amendments to legislation in the public sector.
Relevance to Your clients:
- The Draft Public Finance Management and Related Laws Amendment Bill, 2026 applies to the national and provincial spheres of government and public entities under their ownership control.
- These clients should be aware of the latest legislation and proposed amendments to legislation in the public sector.