Division of Revenue Act, 2023 (Act No. 5 of 2023)Chapter 6 : General31. Liability for costs incurred in violation of principles of cooperative governance and intergovernmental relations |
| (1) | An organ of state involved in an intergovernmental dispute regarding any provision of this Act or any division of revenue matter or allocation must— |
| (a) | comply with section 41 of the Constitution and Chapter 4 of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005 (Act No. 13 of 2005); and |
| (b) | if it decides to institute judicial proceedings against another organ of state, within 10 working days of its decision, notify the National Treasury, the relevant provincial treasury, the Department of Cooperative Governance and the Auditor-General, of the details of compliance with Chapter 4 of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005, including an explanation of the failure to resolve the dispute. |
| (2) | If a dispute is referred back by a court in terms of section 41(4) of the Constitution, due to the court not being satisfied that the organ of state approaching the court has complied with section 41(3) of the Constitution, the expenditure incurred by that organ of state in approaching the court must be regarded as fruitless and wasteful. |
| (3) | The amount of any such fruitless and wasteful expenditure must, in terms of the applicable procedures in the Public Finance Management Act or the Municipal Finance Management Act, be recovered, without delay, from every person who caused the organ of state not to comply with section 41(3) of the Constitution. |