The mandate and the role of the Independent Development Trust (IDT) are to support Government in the implementation and management of development programmes. The work of the IDT is geared to impact on wards poverty reduction, job creation and local economic development which are priority areas for the Government.

The organisation adopted a set of strategic objectives which it would pursue and to which it would apply its resources in an effective, efficient and equitable manner. This document is a presentpresentation ofs the following:

• A summary of the organisational performance against the 2002/03 Corporate targets
• A summary of the C corporate targets for 2003/04 financial year
• The Bbudget for the 2003/04 financial year
• Challenges and opportunities for the IDT

1. OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

The IDT, through its vision of becoming the leading development agency in South Africa and the Region aims to support, advance and influence the Government’s development agenda by assisting with the delivery of development programmes to the poorest of the poor. The IDT is in a position to deliver a distinctive development service in an environment that encourages learning and growth. This is supported by the high calibre of leadership and h personnel uman thatcapital that the IDT possesses.

During 1998/9, Since its inception in 1990, the IDT was charged with has transformationed from a temporary grant making agency into a development programme management and implementation organisation.

 

The transformation process was concluded by the end of 1998 with the new vision, mission, core business, organisational structure and business processes in place. Development programme management, harnessing / leveraging resources

and enhancing institutionall

 

delivery capacity were consequently identified as core business areas for the transformed IDIT.

The IDT engages all these core business areas depending on client and programme needs. Through its value add, the IDT has positioned itself to become the leading as the premier development support agency and remain to the Government and therefore remains relevant to the development agenda.

2. ISSUES OF COMPLIANCE

The IDT is a currently Schedule 2 Public Entity established in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (Act 1 of 1999). The IDT has been successful in complying with legislative requirements for public entities, – for example:

• Corporate Plan and the Budget: The IDT successfully prepared a Corporate Plan and the Budget for the 2002/03 financial year which . These were presented to and approved by the Minister of Public Works on the 20^th February 2002.
• Shareholders Compact Agreement: This agreement which is a statutory requirement was accepted and signed by the Minister and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.
• Auditing: The Office of the Auditor General audits the IDT to confirm the financial status and performance of the organisation.
• Performance and Reporting: The IDT reports to the Minister on a quarterly and annual basis to the Minister. Besides these reports, the IDT also conducts formal mid and year-end performance reviews.
• Employment Equity Act: The IDT fully complies with the requirements of this act.
• Skills Development Act: The IDT complies fully by submitting the Skills Development Pplans, and progress reports as required by the Act
• Black Economic Empowerment: The IDT has a Targeted Procurement Policy to promote Black Economic Empowerment through the procurement of goods and services.

The year gone by (2002/03 financial year) has been both challenging and successful for the IDT. Corporate performance against the Corporate Plan was generally satisfactory. While targets were exceeded in some instances, there were areas where performance was below targets. The IDT has since put in place plans for corrective action to address areas of unsatisfactory performance. The following is an indication of some of the achievements of the IDT in the 2002/03 financial year.

• .The organisation has systems and processes in place which allow for the movement of huge volumes of money efficiently.
• The organisation has strategies in place tohe attract and retain a human capital base with the right skills at the right time and at the right cost.

1. LOOKING AHEAD – Corporate Plan for the 20FY 03/04 financial year

Firstly, as the provincial and local government consolidates their role of managing implementation, coupled with significant shift in fiscal allocations from national to these spheres of government, the IDT’s programme portfolio has followed suite. In the 1999/2000 financial year all the programmes that the IDT managed were funded by national departments, but in 2003/04 it is anticipated that only 50% of these programmes will be nationally funded. This will have implications for how the IDT allocates its internal resources.

As indicated earlier, the IDT has offices strategically located throughout the country and is thus able to respond to the development priorities in all provinces. However, some IDT offices such as the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State Province are currently under-utilised.

Secondly, there is increasing demand for the IDT to support development planning processes in order to improve development outcomes, and thus, the impact of programmes. This emphasis has been enhanced by government’s adoption of the ISRDP, and the appointment of the IDT to support implementation. The IDT is thus also called upon to support coordination and integration efforts of government. In response to this the IDT has had to balance its programme management and development capabilities and capacity.

Thirdly, as government continues to shift its emphasis from policy to implementation and from improving access to improving quality of services, its own capacity to manage and drive this new focus is coming under pressure. This is more so given that democratic and developmental local government in South Africa only came into effect on December 2000, yet the primary role of service delivery rests with this sphere of government. As such the IDT is increasingly playing an important role in augmenting and enhancing government capacity.

There are a number of challenges that the IDT faces in the process of supporting government in the implementation of development programmes.

Firstly, in most instances the IDT is not engaged by client departments at the planning phase. This limits the scope of the IDT’s impact. Also sometimes this delays implementation because certain gaps are identified when the programme is supposed to be implemented.

Secondly, in most instances the IDT is late in a financial year to assist government in the implementation of its programmes. For example, in the Food Security Programme the IDT was only approached in February 2003 for a R230 million programme to be delivered by 3-March-03. This places tremendous pressures on the IDT’s resources and poses a high degree of risk in terms of quality of output and achievement of a full range of socio-economic objectives. Under such tight timeframes, for example, the use of emerging service providers and training gets compromised.

Thirdly, by their very nature infrastructure programmes require lead times and more so when one also endeavours to achieve socio economic objectives. In order to minimise roll-overs it is important that planning, including tender processes and allocation of sites is completed before the end of the previous financial year. This enables implementation to commence in April. Instead the infrastructure PIA agreements continue to be concluded too late, despite the MTEF allocations being known to client departments.

Fourthly, the challenge of delivery capacity at different levels in government has been emphasised earlier. This impacts on the ability of the IDT to deliver and it manifest itself in different ways, for example, delayed disbursement of programmes funds to the IDT.

Fifthly, it is important to note the low absorptive capacity of communities. This requires extensive social facilitation and training before and during programme implementation and after the completion of the programme. In most instances this is not into built into programme

planning and timeframes. Fror example in the poverty relief programme of the Department of Social Development, monitoring data is showing that the speed of expenditure at project level is very low. The speed by which the IDT disburses funds has to be dictated by the speed of expenditure at project level. Failure to do so would simply be ‘dumping’ funds on projects. Thus understanding brings totally different meaning to the concept of ‘budget roll over’.

Sixthly, having come out of a major transformation process, the IDT itself has not completed the process of consolidating and aligning its business systems and processes to its new role. The same applies to its culture. Also, the impact of the IDT depends on its ability to attract and retain appropriate skills. The skills shortage in the fields of programme management, development planning and strategic planning affect the IDT, like all other organisations.

6. CHALLENGES FOR THE IDT

Although the previous financial year is viewed as a successful one, there are challenges that the IDT faces - among others are the following:

1. Late engagement by clients: The scope for the IDT’s impact is limited by the late engagement (by the client) after the planning phase has been concluded. This usually impacts the duration of the project as certain gaps re identified leading to delayed programme implementation.
2. Undue pressure: Insufficient time that is allowed by clients in some cases to deliver programmes places undue pressure on the IDT’s resources. For an example, in the Food Security Programme, the IDT was only approached in February 2003 for the delivery of a R 230 m programme by 3^rd March 2003. This places the quality of the output and the achievement of a full range of socio-economic objectives at risk.
3. Disregard of the MTEF allocations by client departments: By their very nature, infrastructure programmes require lead times more so when one also has to achieve socio economic impacts. It is important that planning should be completed before the end of the previous financial year so as to minimise roll-overs and allow for implementation to start in April. Infrastructure programme implementation agreements continue to be concluded too late putting the IDT in a difficult position.

 

 

 

4. Low community absorptive capacity: In most cases, the low absorptive capacity of the communities is not built into the planning and programmes time frames. This impacts on the performance of the IDT in such cases. It should be noted that an extensive social facilitation and training exercises need to be carried prior and after implementation.

The IDT has demonstrated in the 2002/03 financial year that it plays a significant role in supporting the Government to deliver on the Development Agenda with focus on poverty alleviation, job creation and local economic development especially in the poor areas.

The IDT looks at the year ahead with enthusiasm and energy to deliver against the targets of the 2003/04 Corporate Plan. Delivery in this regard will be seen through the impact that IDT will make on the lives of the poor in South Africa and the Region.

1. Late engagement by clients: The scope for the IDT’s impact is limited by the late engagement (by the client) after the planning phase has been concluded. This usually impacts the duration of the project as certain gaps re identified leading to delayed programme implementation.
2. Undue pressure: Insufficient time that is allowed by clients in some cases to deliver programmes places undue pressure on the IDT’s resources. For an example, in the Food Security Programme, the IDT was only approached in February 2003 for the delivery of a R 230 m programme by 3^rd March 2003. This places the quality of the output and the achievement of a full range of socio-economic objectives at risk.
3. Disregard of the MTEF allocations by client departments: By their very nature, infrastructure programmes require lead times more so when one also has to achieve socio economic impacts. It is important that planning should be completed before the end of the previous financial year so as to minimise roll-overs and allow for implementation to start in April. Infrastructure programme implementation agreements continue to be concluded too late putting the IDT in a difficult position.
4. Low community absorptive capacity: In most cases, the low absorptive capacity of the communities is not built into the planning and programmes time frames. This impacts on the performance of the IDT in such cases. It should be noted that an extensive social facilitation and training exercises need to be carried prior and after implementation.