Public Finance Management Act, 1999

{{Short description|Law in South Africa}}

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| short_title = Public Finance Management Act, 1999

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| long_title = To regulate financial management in the national government and provincial governments; to ensure that all revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities of those governments are managed efficiently and effectively; to provide for the responsibilities of persons entrusted with financial management in those governments; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

| citation = [https://www.gov.za/documents/public-finance-management-act/ Act No. 1 of 1999]

| territorial_extent = Republic of South Africa

| enacted_by = Parliament of South Africa

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| date_assented = 2 March 1999

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| date_commenced = 1 April 2000

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| status = in force

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The Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (PFMA; Act No. 1 of 1999) is the primary public finance management law in South Africa. It delineates standards for expenditure, accounting, and reporting for public entities. Its scope is generally limited to entities of national and provincial governments.{{Cite web |title=Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 |url=https://www.gov.za/documents/public-finance-management-act |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=South African Government}}{{Cite book |last1=Moeti |first1=Kabelo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=putTW2pR9AwC&q=public+finance+management+act |title=Public Finance Fundamentals |last2=Khalo |first2=Titos |date=2007 |publisher=Juta and Company Ltd |isbn=978-0-7021-7294-6 |language=en}} A piece of framework legislation, its implementation is governed by regulations and directives produced by the National Treasury.{{Cite book |last1=Wildeman |first1=Russell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwNXEAAAQBAJ&q=public+finance+management+act+south+africa |title=Implementing the Public Finance Management Act in South Africa: How Far Are We? |last2=Jogo |first2=Wellington |date=2012-02-29 |publisher=African Books Collective |isbn=978-1-920409-82-1 |language=en}}

The act was drafted by the first post-apartheid government to modernise public finance management standards and comply with Section 216 of the Constitution of 1996.{{Cite web |date=20 March 2001 |title=Public Finance Management Act: briefing |url=https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/414/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=Parliamentary Monitoring Group |language=en}} It replaced and superseded various pieces of apartheid-era legislation subsidiary to the Exchequer Act, 1975. In particular, the new public finance management framework was viewed as a necessary complement to the service-delivery focus of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, given that previous legislation focused on expenditure control to the detriment of reporting and accounting on the basis of non-financial service-delivery outputs. The act has been viewed as inspired by the New Public Management paradigm.{{Cite web |last=de Vos |first=Dirk |date=2018-09-13 |title=Time to dump the red-tape Acts that govern public finances |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-09-14-time-to-dump-the-red-tape-acts-that-govern-public-finances/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}

Since its commencement in April 2000, the PFMA has been amended several times, notably by the [https://www.gov.za/documents/public-finance-management-amendment-act Public Finance Management Amendment Act, No. 29 of 1999].