MPUMALANGA EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Public Hearing on Conditional Grants: Select Committee on Finance, 6 June 2005.

Data on the Conditional Grants for the 2004/2005 financial year.

Conditional Grant

Allocation in R'000

Transfers Received in R’000

Expenditure in R’000

Amount surrendered to Provincial Treasury in R'000

School Nutrition Programme

R 64,079

R 64,079

R 62,696

R 1,383

HIV/Aids

R 9,772

R 9,772

R 9,772

R 0

Infrastructure Development

R 102,068

R 102,068

R 54,774

R 47,354

 

Assessment of the above Grants for the 2004/2005 financial year

1. School Nutrition Programme

The department experienced an under expenditure of R 1,383 million or 2% on the allocated amount. This was mainly due to some service providers that could not be paid by 31 March 2005 due to invoices that were received late. These invoices have been paid in the current financial year and copies there off have been given to the Provincial Treasury to request that the expenditure of these invoices be rolled over. The department achieved the following:

 

2. HIV/Aids

The department has spent the total allocation received for this Conditional Grant. The department had to supplement funds from its equitable share, the budget allocated for HIV and Aids in the workplace, to compliment this program. The department in the past financial year manage to achieve the following:

 

3. Infrastructure Development

The department manage to spend only 46% of the allocation on this Conditional Grant. The reasons for this huge under expenditure was due to the fact that the appointment of contractors by the joint bid committee of Education and Public Works, was only done by the end of August 2004 and then only about 80% of the planned projects were adjudicated on. The department has entered into a service level agreement with the Provincial department of Public Works. The list of priorities was given to the department of Public Works for them to draw up the specifications and to appoint the consultants. Unfortunately these consultant were late in there submissions for contractors to be appointed. The department has after the statement by the Minister of education and the Minister of Public Works following a joint Minmec meeting during April 2005, has put in place plans not to have a repeat of the past financial year. Quarterly reports will now be submitted to political heads at a provincial and national level. The department has also planned to have technical capacity appointed over a period of time. Those contracts that were committed and not completed by 31 March 2005, has been requested to be rolled over to the current financial year.

4. Reports and Business plans

The department has as required by DORA submitted Reports on a monthly basis and has submitted its business plans for the 2005/2006 Conditional Grants.