Update on Public Sector Education and Training Authority Investigation; Update on Govtec Conference; Postponement of Reports

Meeting report

Outstanding Minutes
The Chairperson tabled five outstanding minutes for consideration. These were dated 18, 24, 25 August 2010 and 1, 8 September 2010.

The Committee went through all the minutes’ page-by-page.

No objections were raised and they were all approved with no amendments.

Update on Investigation
The Chairperson informed Members that the Department of Public Service and Administration had promised to forward a report of the Price Waterhouse Coopers forensic investigation following a request by the Committee. Initially, the report had been submitted to the Public Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) and then later to the Department

The investigation came in the wake of a forensic audit that had revealed that fraud had been perpetrated in 2005 by a Finance Manager in PSETA, who had since been convicted and sentenced. At least R1.4 million was defrauded, and an additional amount of R10.8 million was unaccounted for. Investigations into this were ongoing.

Ms H Van Schalkwyk (DA) expressed a strong need to ratchet pressure on the Department to forward the report as soon as possible citing that the Committee was used to unfulfilled promises. There should be a deadline.

Ms F Bikane (ANC) recalled that the Committee had not received any feedback about the unaccounted R10. 8 million and that detailed information had been requested from the Department about this.

The Chairperson noted that the matter had been raised consistently and would be followed up.

Feedback on Govtec Conference
It was noted that Ms Bikane and Ms Van Scalkwyk had represented the Committee at the conference. They were asked to share provide Members with an update.

Ms Van Schalkwyk said the conference was a constructive one. Other Committees of Parliament were involved, namely Public Service & Administration; Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; Science and Technology .The Conference was held from 5-8 September 2010. The focus of GovTec 2010 was on ICT delivering value. It was held to assist unlock the potential of Government's current and future investments in information and communications technology (ICT). Delegates were given an opportunity to analyse critical success factors to achieving sustainable IT value and get a snapshot of international experiences and insight into lessons learnt by other countries.

Ms Van Schalkwyk and Ms Bikane were unable to attend the conference on its last day because they had to return back to Parliament in time for the President’s response to parliamentary questions

Ms Bikane added that there was a steering Committee meeting held to discuss the Personnel Salary System (Persal).

Outstanding Reports
The Chairperson tabled the report on the oversight visit to the Public Administration and Management Academy (PALAMA) and the State Information and Technology Agency (SITA) for consideration.

Ms Van Schalkwyk raised concerns about the exclusion of the names of opposition party members under the subheading Delegation, citing that it could had a negative effect to the parties they represented in Parliament.

Ms Bikane noted that there had been a problem of communication and as a result some Members were not able to go on the visit. She therefore proposed that some form of introductory statement be included in the report to indicate that there were obstacles that prevented some Members from being part of the trip.

The Chairperson agreed with this suggestion and added that a response was needed from the Secretary on the problems encountered. The problem should not be allowed to repeat itself again. The report would not be finished until the Committee receive the response from the Secretary.

It was decided that the Committee would also not consider the report on the study tour to Ghana and Indonesia.

Committee Programme
Ms A Dreyer (DA) noted that the planned trip tour to China coincided with her party’s parliamentary caucus.

indicated referring to an arranged Study Tour to China on the 1 -5 October 2010, that her party Parliamentary Caucus would have a meeting on 29 – 3 October 2010. And the matter had be raised long time ago.

The Chairperson replied that it was always a challenge to set up a programme that would suit all Members.

Ms Bikane requested that a researcher be consulted to gather information regarding the powers of Public Service Commission from various countries. The Committee would use this information when it meets on 27 October 2010. She recalled that the Public Service Commission in Indonesia had more powers.

The Chairperson thanked Members for their participation and support.

The meeting was adjourned.