Statistics Act, 1999
R 385
Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999)RegulationsTreasury Regulations for Departments, Constitutional Institutions and Public EntitiesPart 6 : Frameworks15. Banking, cash management and investment |
| 15.1 | Control of the national and provincial revenue funds [Sections 11 and 21 of the PFMA] |
| 15.1.1 | Each treasury is responsible for the effective and efficient management of its revenue fund. |
| 15.1.2 | Each treasury must ensure that its revenue fund always has sufficient money for appropriated expenditure and direct charges to meet the progressive cash flow requirements. |
| 15.1.3 | Each revenue fund consists, at any point in time, of all cash balances of the fund, derived from the relevant treasury’s operating, investing and financing activities. |
| 15.2 | Bank account configuration [Sections 7 and 21 of the PFMA] |
| 15.2.1 | The bank account configuration for the National Revenue Fund comprises an Exchequer bank account, a Paymaster-General bank account with the South African Reserve Bank, the four tax and loan accounts with commercial banks, and any other bank account opened to facilitate the management of the National Revenue Fund. The National Treasury may open additional accounts on such terms and conditions as it may determine. |
| 15.2.2 | Each provincial revenue fund must have a bank account configuration that consists of at least an Exchequer bank account and a Paymaster-General bank account, opened with a commercial bank. |
| 15.2.3 | Each head of a provincial treasury must nominate one bank account, which is under the control of the provincial treasury and is part of the provincial revenue fund, as the accredited account into which all transfers from national departments must be deposited. |
| 15.2.4 | If the accounting for a department necessitates a separate bank account, the relevant treasury may approve one sub-account within the Paymaster-General account of the relevant revenue fund. Such sub-accounts remain an integral part of the bank account configuration of the relevant revenue fund. |
| 15.3 | Deposits into the revenue funds [Sections 13 and 22 of the PFMA] |
| 15.3.1 | In terms of sections 11(3) and 21(2) of the Act, money is paid into a revenue fund by depositing it into a bank account in accordance with the configuration requirements prescribed above. |
| 15.3.2 | Money deposited into the Paymaster-General account must immediately be available to the relevant treasury for funding expenditure or investment according to its central cash management responsibilities. |
| 15.4 | Responsibilities of the South African Revenue Service [Section 12 of the PFMA] |
| 15.4.1 | The South African Revenue Service must supply the relevant treasury with an annual revenue projection no later than the tenth working day of March preceding the start of the financial year. It must also submit the actual collection for the preceding month and an updated monthly revenue projection for the remainder of the year, no later than the 15th working day of each month. |
| 15.4.2 | For purposes of section 12 of the Act, the South African Revenue Service must implement measures to ensure that all taxes, levies, duties, fees and other money due to and collected by it for a revenue fund are accounted for and deposited daily into the relevant fund. The relevant treasury must be informed daily of such revenue and its standard revenue classifications. |
| 15.5 | Responsibilities of departments [Sections 13 and 22 of the PFMA] |
| 15.5.1 | All revenue received by a department must be paid daily into its Paymaster-General account or, for amounts less than R500, as soon as practicable, but at least by the last working day of the month. |
| 15.5.2 | No provincial department may receive transfers from a national department or public entity directly; such funds must be deposited into the nominated banking account of the province as required by paragraph 15.2.3. |
| 15.5.3 | Money collected by a department, which is not classified as revenue, must be paid into the department’s Paymaster-General account and accounted for in its ledger. This includes money received for agency services provided to another department. |
| 15.6 | Withdrawals from and investments in revenue funds [Sections 7(4) and 24(3) of the PFMA] |
| 15.6.1 | Provincial treasuries may, in accordance with section 24 of the Act, temporarily invest surplus money in the provincial revenue fund in an account in South Africa, approved as part of the bank account configuration of the fund. |
| 15.7 | Requisitioning of funds by departments |
| 15.7.1 | When requesting the transfer of appropriated funds, accounting officers of national departments must submit such requisitions to the National Treasury, in accordance with approved cash flow estimates, at least four full working days before the end of the month preceding the month in which the funds are required. Provincial treasuries may determine their own time-scales in this regard. |
| 15.7.2 | Provincial treasuries will receive their grants from the National Revenue Fund in accordance with the payment schedule determined in terms of the annual Division of Revenue Act. |
| 15.8 | Surrender of voted surplus funds |
| 15.8.1 | At the end of each financial year, and after the books of account of a department have been closed, the accounting officer must surrender to the relevant treasury any unexpended voted money, for re-depositing into the Exchequer bank account of the relevant revenue fund. |
| 15.9 | Accounting and reporting |
| 15.91.1 | Each treasury must account daily for the cash movements of all bank accounts in the books of its revenue fund. |
| 15.10 | Banking and cash management |
| 15.10.1 | General [Sections 7 and 21 of the PFMA]. |
| 15.10.1.1 | The accounting officer is responsible for establishing systems, procedures, processes and training and awareness programmes to ensure efficient and effective banking and cash management. |
| 15.10.1.2 | For purposes of this regulation, sound cash management includes – |
| (a) | collecting revenue when it is due and banking it promptly; |
| (b) | making payments, including transfers and subsidies to other levels of government and non-government entities, no earlier than necessary, with due regard for efficient, effective and economical programme delivery and the government’s normal terms for account payments; |
| (c) | avoiding prepayments for goods or services (i.e. payments in advance of the receipt of the goods or services), unless required by the contractual arrangements with the supplier; |
| (d) | accepting discounts to effect early payment only when the payment has been included in the monthly cash flow estimates provided to the relevant treasury; |
| (e) | pursuing debtors with appropriate sensitivity and rigour to ensure that amounts receivable by the government are collected and banked promptly; |
| (f) | accurately forecasting the institution’s cash flow requirements so that the National Treasury can optimise its central cash management responsibilities on behalf of the government; |
| (g) | timing the in and outflow of cash; |
| (h) | recognising the time value of money, i.e. economically, efficiently and effectively managing cash; |
| (i) | taking any other action that avoids locking up money unnecessarily and inefficiently, such as managing inventories to the minimum level necessary for efficient and effective programme delivery, and selling surplus or underutilized assets; |
| (j) | performing bank reconciliations on a daily basis to detect any unauthorised entries; |
| (k) | ensuring that dishonoured warrant vouchers and cheques are followed up immediately; and |
| (l) | the separation of duties to minimise the incidence of fraud. |
| 15.10.2 | Cash flow |
| 15.10.2.1 | The accounting officer must annually submit to the relevant treasury a breakdown of anticipated revenue and expenditure in the format determined by the National Treasury, no later than the last working day of February preceding the financial year to which it relates. |
| 15.10.2.2 | Provincial treasuries must submit to the National Treasury, by the 15th working day of March, projections of their expenditure, revenue and borrowings, in a format determined by the National Treasury. |
| 15.10.2.3 | Once such amounts have been approved, modified as necessary after consultation with the relevant treasury, the accounting officer may not draw from the revenue fund more than the amount approved for a month, without prior written approval from the relevant treasury. |
| 15.10.2.4 | Should the accounting officer need to adjust the approved projections, the proposed adjustments must be motivated to the relevant treasury for evaluation against the availability of funds in the Exchequer. |
| 15.10.3 | Banking arrangements [Section 7(2) of the PFMA] |
| 15.10.3.1 | Institutions may not open a bank account without the written approval of the relevant treasury. Only bank accounts approved after 1 April 2001 shall be considered as valid. |
| 15.10.3.2 | The National Treasury will negotiate with the approved clearing banks for appropriate banking services on a regular basis for national departments and constitutional institutions. |
| 15.11 | Private money, private bank accounts and cashing private cheques |
| 15.11.1 | Private money may not be deposited into an official bank account, except in accordance with the provisions relating to money held in trust for other persons or bodies, nor may state money be paid into a private bank account. |
| 15.11.2 | The safekeeping of private money or personal possessions in a state safe or strongroom is prohibited. However, an accounting officer or an official authorised by the accounting officer may approve arrangements for safeguarding personal effects reasonably held on official premises in the course of official duty (e.g. by providing lockable rooms for staff). |
| 15.11.3 | State money may not be used to cash private cheques. |
| 15.12 | Warrant vouchers, cheques and electronic payments [Section 76(2)(h) of the PFMA] |
| 15.12.1 | Accounting officers of departments must assign authority in writing to officials to approve warrant vouchers, cheques or electronic payments. |
| 15.12.2 | Only authorised officials may sign hand-drawn vouchers or cheques and must initial the counterfoils. |
| 15.12.3 | All payments in excess of R2 000 must be effected electronically unless otherwise approved by the relevant treasury. Payments may not be split to circumvent this regulation and any non-compliance with this regulation constitutes financial misconduct. |
| 15.12.4 | All warrant vouchers and cheques must be crossed "NOT NEGOTIABLE" and "NOT TRANSFERABLE" between parallel lines. The cancellation of crossings is not permitted. |
| 15.12.5 | When an issued warrant voucher or cheque is lost, stolen or damaged, an instruction to stop payment must immediately be issued to the responsible bank. Once confirmation has been received that the cheque was stopped, the transaction must be reversed and a new warrant voucher or cheque issued and accounted for. |
| 15.12.6 | All cashed warrant vouchers of national departments that have not been captured on the respective financial systems will be returned as unpaid. |
