REPORT OF THE
SELECT COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - 3RD AD 4TH QUARTER PUBLIC
HEARINGS ON CONDITIONAL GRANTS AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
1. Background
The Select
Committee on Finance embarked on the Public hearings on Conditional Grants and
Capital Expenditure (3rd and 4th
Quarter Provincial Reports). The MECs of the relevant Departments were required
by the Committee to report on the following:
2.
Introduction
This report of
the Select Committee on Finance is divided into two parts.
Part one of the
report covers key issues that emerged during the course of the 3rd
Quarter Public Hearings on Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure (16-25
January 2006).
Part two of the
report deals with the 4th Quarter Public Hearings on Conditional
Grants and Capital Expenditure and key issues that emerged during such hearings
(2-8 May 2006).
The following stakeholders were invited to
make presentations before the Committee:
PART
ONE
3. Hearings on the 3rd Quarter Conditional
Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report
by the
National and Provincial Treasuries
3.1 Report by the National Treasury
The National Treasury gave
an overview on the outcome of Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure. The presentation covered the provincial
spending for the first 8 months (1 April to 30 November 2005) of 2005/06 financial
year as follows:
·
It
was reported that the spending was at R136, billion (62,1%) of adjusted (R
219,2, billion).
·
The
highest rate of spending was in Kwazulu-Natal (63, 2%), Northern Cape and
Mpumalanga at 63, 15.
·
Free
State and Gauteng being the lowest at 60, 8.
3.2. Report by the North-West Provincial Treasury
The Department of
Provincial Treasury reported that the total spending on conditional grants in
the 3rd quarter was at 65,5%, with Department of Sport spending less
than 50% and Department of Agriculture being the lowest at 1,2%. The Department
informed the Committee that under spending was projected in the Department of
Agriculture and also in the Department of
Health. The Department indicated that only 1,2% was spent in the Department
of Agriculture during the first three quarters and that little spending would
take place for the rest of the year. The Department went further to say that in
North West there “was no Department of Agriculture”, as the new Head of
Department (HOD), Senior Managers and some officials had been on suspension
since June 2005.
3.3.
Report by the Limpopo Provincial Treasury
The Department gave an overview of the
cumulative spending patterns for Health, Social Development, Sport and
Recreation, Agriculture conditional grants, Housing and Provincial
Infrastructure Grant. The Department informed the Committee that it had managed
to increase the expenditure per quarter as follows:
Ř R40.67 million
(6.27%) in the first quarter,
Ř R106.391 million
(22.1%) in the second quarter, and
Ř R241.860 million
(43.5%) in the third quarter.
On Provincial Infrastructure Grant, the
Department indicated that only 40.2% had been spent. The Department indicated
that this was due to the fact that projects started very late because some of
the Departmental business plans were changed. The Department concluded by
indicating that most of the Departments were unlikely to spend their full
Provincial Infrastructure Grants (PIG) in this financial year.
3.4 Report by the Mpumalanga Provincial
Treasury
The Department gave analysis on trends in
allocations, transfers and actual expenditure of conditional grants, capital
and infrastructure expenditure as follows:
3.5 Report by the Northern Cape Provincial
Treasury
The
Department gave a broad overview on the following:
·
The
total expenditure amount to R3, 336 billion.
·
Projected
net under spending of R42 million or 1% of the adjusted budget.
·
Three
Departments project to under spend on their adjusted budget.
·
Material
underspending projected to occur in:
Ř
Social
development by R45 million, and
Ř
Department
of Agriculture and Land Reform by R41million.
3.6 Discussion
Committee
Concerns and Comments
·
To
what extent were the provinces utilising Section 18 of the Public Finance
Management Act, which placed the powers on the Provincial Treasuries to assist
the struggling Departments.
·
Whether
North West Provincial Treasury had established, the Budget Committee, as they
had indicated in their appearance before the Committee in 2005.
·
Concerned
about low spending trends on the conditional grants, especially by Department
of Agriculture- North West.
·
What
mechanisms were they going to employ in order to monitor under spending in their respective Provinces.
·
Whether
big business was involved in supplying the required building materials for
government projects.
·
North
West Provincial Treasury was requested to provide clarity on the involvement of
the Independent Development Trust (IDT) in some of the infrastructure
developments.
·
Clarity
was sought on financial management problems by the Northern Cape Roads and Public
Works, which the Committee raised in the previous hearings.
·
The
Mpumalanga Provincial Treasury responded that Section 18 of the PFMA could not
be implemented by their Department alone. They would also need the intervention
and support the Executive Council, and this issue was raised in their
Provincial Lekgotha.
·
The
North West Provincial Treasury responded by saying that the interpretation of
Section 18 was ambiguous; this issue was still debated in their Province.
·
The
North West Provincial Treasury replied that the Budget Oversight Committee had
been established and was operational.
·
The
North West Provincial Treasury reported that, the Department of Agriculture was
being assisted by the Department in addressing their challenges.
·
The
Limpopo Provincial Treasury conceded that, the issue of underspending was
affecting poor people on the ground as it affects service delivery, hence the
Department had intervened politically to unblock the unblock -ages.
·
The
Northwest Provincial Treasury indicated that it had approached the South
African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) and the Independent
Development Trust (IDT) to assist Departments in order to ensure proper
planning for infrastructure.
·
Northern
Cape Provincial Treasury responded by indicating that the issue with the
Department of Roads and Public Works had been referred to the Premier and the
MEC of Public Works.
3.7 Report by the Western Cape Provincial Treasury
The Department briefed the Committee on the
Conditional grant Allocations, Transfers, Conditional Grant –Cash flow
management, Monitoring transfers, Division of Revenue, Expenditure, Monitoring
Expenditure, and on Service delivery. On shortcomings of the Division of
Revenue the Department, highlighted the following:
Committee concerns and Comments
4. Hearings on the 3rd Quarter Conditional
Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report
by National
Treasury and Provincial Departments-Health
4.1 Report by the Provincial National Treasury
The
National Treasury reported that the total Provincial Health spending was at
R29, 4billion or 62, 3% against R47, 1billion adjusted budget. The Department
indicated that there had been an increase of R3, 9billion or 15, 4% compared to
the previous year. The Department stated that the lowest rate of health
spending was in Limpopo (55,6%) and Gauteng (61,6%), with Northern Cape (66,1%) and Mpumalanga (65,5%) reflecting
the highest rate of spending in health. The National Treasury reported that the
health personnel spending was at R16, 7billion or 65, 2% (R25, 6bn adjusted
budget).
The Department indicated that capital spending was at R1, 7billion or 42, 1%. The Department stated further that there had been an increase of 59, 9% compared to spending for the same period last year. The Department reported that the lowest rate of capital spending was in Limpopo at 27,9% and Free Sate at 35,3% and with Mpumalanga at 58,4% and Kwazulu Natal at 49% reflecting the highest rate of capital spending in health.
On
Conditional Grants it was reported that five or more
Provinces had spent less than 50% for the following grants:
·
Hospital Revitalisation.
The National Treasury stated
that the majority of grants reflected spending within the 50% and 70% range
against the Division of Revenue Act.
4.2 Report
by the Kwazulu-Natal provincial Department of Health
The Provincial Department reported that a total of
R114, 042 million had been received for Comprehensive HIV and Aids grant, 97%
had already been spent on this grant. The Department stated that 35% of R223,
939 million grant for Hospital Revitalisation had been spent, a rollover of
some R99 million would be requested in 2005\2006.The Department stated that it
intended using private developers rather than Provincial Department of Public
Works. The Department said that proposals would be forwarded to the Executive
Council for approval.
On the
Forensic Pathology Services grant the Department indicated only 5% of 24,9
million was spent, this was attributed to the late receipt of funding. The
Department indicated that rollover of approximately R22 million would be
requested. On Provincial Infrastructure, the Department reported that Ithala
had advised that of the approximately R58 million provided, R33 million would
not be spent this financial year and would be returned to the Department.
4.3 Report by the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Health
The
Provincial Department of Health, gave a summary of actual expenditure of all
conditional grants .It was reported that the following grants had spent less
than 50% :
The Provincial Department
reported that the total expenditure of all the grants at the end of the third
quarter was 67%. For under expenditure on Hospital Revitalization grant, the
Department of Health informed the gathering that it was due to the failure by
service providers to obtain guarantees timeously and also poor performance by
some contractors. The Department had put in place mechanisms to address the
problem of under-spending of some of the conditional grants. The Department
assured the Committee that in the 4th quarter the situation would
improve.
4.4 Report by the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Health
The Department projected under expenditure in the
following grants:
The Department indicated that the projected
underspending on the Coroner Services grant was reported to the Provincial
Treasury and EXCO and the Department would apply for rollover funds. The
Department reported that under-spending on Hospital Revitalization was due to
contract payments not speedily processed and contracts\tenders not finalised.
The Department informed the Committee that this grant would under-spend by R47
million. The Department would apply for rollover funds.
Committee concerns and Comments
4.5 Report by the Free State Provincial Department of Health
The Department of Health indicated that the following
grants had an expenditure of less 50%
(as at 31 December 2005):
The Department was concerned about the Revitalisation
and infrastructure grants, and was giving special attention in trying to
improve the expenditure on these two grants. The Department indicated that they
had a close working relationship with Department of Public works, Roads ad
Transport.
4.6 Report by the North West Provincial Department of Health
The Department gave an overview on the current status
of conditional grants as follows:
performance of conditional grants.
Committee concerns and Comments
4.7 Report by the Limpopo provincial Department of Health
The
Department reported that the conditional grants had been the major source of
the capital expenditure of the Department with an average of 53% of the funds
used being provided from the conditional grants and 47% equitable share.
·
The
Hospital Revitalisation grant together with the Provincial infrastructure grant
had provided the bulk of the capital used for facility upgrades, maintenance
and provision of new clinics.
·
On
the Expenditure on Hospital Revitalisation, the Department had surrendered R10
million to the National Department of Health with a request to increase the
allocations for 2006/ 07 year.
·
The
expenditure on this grant dependent on the progress made by contractors.
·
The
capacity of emerging contractors and the availability of building materials had
been a constraint on the completion of the contractors.
4.8
Report by the Northern Provincial Cape Department of Health
Briefed the committee on the
performance of conditional grants in the Province as follows:
Committee concerns and Comments
4.9
Report by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health
The Western Cape Provincial Department stated the
following:
Ř
Slow
performance of contractors, and
Ř
Late
approval of business plans.
Committee concerns and Comments
5.
Hearings on the 3rd Quarter Conditional Grants and Capital
Expenditure: Report by National Treasury and Provincial Departments-Social
Development
5.1
Report by the National Treasury
The
National Treasury outlined spending in social services, capital expenditure and
on conditional grants as follows:
-
Investigation and prosecution of fraudulent
activities.
-
Comprehensive review of all temporary disability
grants.
-
Implementation of systems that provides updates on key
indicators for how the programme is being administered, including early warning
indicators.
-
Piloting, finalising and implementing a new disability
assessment tool.
Social
Assistance Administration Grant
Social Assistance Transfers Grant
·
Social
Development spent R33 409m or 64,2% of the R52 023m allocation.
·
Transfers
amounted to 69,3%.
·
The
Highest being Mpumalanga at 71,2%; Limpopo at 66,7% and North West 65,9%.
·
The
Lowest were Free State at 59,5%; Gauteng 60,1% and Northern Cape at 62,9%.
Integrated
Social Development Services Grant
HIV and Aids Grant
5.2.
Report by the Free State Provincial Department of Social Development
Free
State Provincial Department forwarded the following reasons for under
expenditure on Capital, HIV and Aids, Integrated Social and Development
Services Grant:
5.3 Report
by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Social Development
Gauteng
Department of Social Development briefed the Committee on the current spending
of the conditional grants as follows:
·
Reported that
61% had been spent of the total allocation as at the end of November 2005, the
Department projected to spent less than the total allocation by an amount in
excess of R 200m.
·
The
Department had furthermore been spending significantly less than the current R
12million that had been spent on Social Relief of Distress (2004/05 R 820 000
was spent)
Social Assistance
Grants (Administration)
Integrated Social
Development Services Grant
The Department
briefed the Committee on the expenditure for third quarter on all the grants
that were being administered by it as follows:
Committee
concerns and Comments
5.5
Report by the North West Provincial Department of Social
Development
The
North West Provincial Department of Social Development gave a brief overview on
the following issues:
5.6
Report by the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Social
Development
The Department gave a summary on the expenditure of all conditional grants. HIV and Aids (community based care) was at 74%, the expenditure was reported to be in line with the acceptable target. The Department indicated that the Integrated Social Development Services grant was at 80%. The Department indicated that the administration grant had spent 50% of the budget. The reasons for under spending were attributed to the non appoint of staff, delays in the acquisition of office space and the procurement of office equipment, which was dependant on the processes of SASSA.
Committee
concerns and Comments
·
Clarity was sought on whether community based organisations had received
training in business plan drafting.
·
Clarity sought on why only 60% was spent in capital projects, what was
going to happen to the remaining 40%
·
The Department was required to outline their working relationship with
Public Works.
·
The
North West Department responded that there were currently busy trying to get
people that would be assisting communities in drafting the business plans. The
remaining 40% of the capital budget would be spent in the next financial year.A
Committee had been established to deal with the problems between these Departments
5.11 Report by the Limpopo Provincial Department of Social
Development
The Limpopo Provincial
Department highlighted the followings:
·
Indicated
that the Department was responsible for capital planning while Department of
Public Works was the implementing agency.
·
Reported
that IDT had also been engaged to assist in implementing capital works
projects.
·
Projected that the funds on capital works
would be fully expended at the end of the year.
·
Projected
that the HIV and AIDS grant would be utilised by the end of the year.
·
Reported
that SASSA grants would not be utilised and saving of R74million was
anticipated. Indicated that this was due amongst other things to late
advertisement of posts for SASSA and non-splitting of SASSA function from the
Department.
5.12 Report by the Western
Cape
Provincial
Department of Social Development
The Department of Social
Development in the Western Cape gave a briefing on the conditional grants and
on factors influencing spending trends. The Department highlighted, the delay
in the approval of an establishment for SASSA and late approval of business
plans as one of the factors influencing spending trends in some of the grants.
5.13 Discussion
Committee concerns and
Comments
·
Concerned
by the underspending in the Limpopo Department. Requested the Department to
indicate mechanisms that were in place in rectify the situation.
·
Concerned
with the late approval of business plans.
·
The
Department of the Western Cape was requested to give details of the NGO’s that
were receiving HIV and AIDS grants and to indicate to whom they account.
·
The
Department of the Western Cape was requested to indicate their working
relationship with the Department of Public Works.
·
Sought
clarity on whether there was any likelihood of under expenditure if so; what
steps were they taking together with their Provincial Treasury in
addressing the problem.
·
The
Committee recommended that the Provincial Departments should engage with the
National Department regarding the progress and implementation of SASSA.
·
The
Limpopo Provincial Department reported that they were involved in negotiations
with the National Treasury in order to increase its actual grant Provincial
allocation.
·
The
Western Cape responded that the issue of late approval of business plans was
raised with the National Departments and there was an agreement that this
problem should not persist. All the NGO’s were accounting to the Department.Reported
that the Department was enjoying a good-working relationship with the
Department of Public Works.
6.
Hearings on the 3rd Quarter Conditional Grants and Capital
Expenditure: Report by National Treasury and Provincial Departments-Education
6.1
Report by the National Treasury
The National Treasury reported that the spending was at R46, 7billion or 64,6% against R72, 2billion adjusted budget. The National Treasury reported further that an increase of R4, 5billion or 10, 7% compared to the previous year. The Department indicated that the Lowest rate of education spending were in Free State and North West (63,6%), with Northern Cape (67,4%) and Limpopo (65,6%) recorded the highest rate of spending in education. The National Treasury stated that the education Personnel spending was at R38, 7billion or 66, 4% (R58, 2billion adjusted budget).
The National Treasury reported that the Capital spending was at R1, 3billion or 39,6%. The National Treasury stated that there had been a marginal decrease of 0,9% compared to spending last year; the lowest rates of capital spending were in Kwazulu-Natal (20,7%) and Mpumalanga (30,8%) .The Western Cape (58,4%) and North West (56,9%) reflected the highest rate of capital spending in education
.
6.2 Report by the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of
Education
·
On HIV and
AIDS grant, reported that the Department had spent 79% of its allocated amount
for 9 months of the 2005/06 financial year and were to spend all funds
allocated to them by 31 March 2006.
·
Said that the relevant stakeholders had been
taken on board on the implementation of the Life Skills education in schools.
·
Indicated that the Department was to spend
all allocated funds for 2005/06 on school nutrition.
·
The
Department had spent only 19% of the allocated amount on infrastructure
development projects and 49% of the allocated amount on capital projects
for 9 months of the 2005/06 financial year.
·
Reported
that the Department’s projects were monitored by projects Managers that were
appointed by the Department of Public Works, since the Department did not have
the capacity to monitor the projects.
6.3 Report by the Limpopo Provincial
Department of Education
The Department reported that the expenditure on HIV and Aids grant was at 32.7%. The Department indicated that underspending was as a result of HIV and AIDS related activities that took place only during weekends and school holidays in trying to avoid disruption on learning and teaching at schools. The Provincial Department indicated that spending on Provincial Infrastructure grant was at 51,9%. The reason forwarded for low expenditure was
due to the fact that the business plan, which was available at the beginning of the financial year, was adjusted in order to cater for pressing infrastructure needs like learners under trees and in shacks.
6.4 Report by the North West Department of Education
The Department
reported that the expenditure spending on capital was at 68.5% as at the end of
the 3rd quarter. The Department indicated that the reasons for under
expenditure were problems with the advertised tenders. The Department spent
78.3% on infrastructure by the end of the 3rd Quarter. The
Department reported that the spending pattern on infrastructure projects was on
track and all projects would be completed on time.
6.5 Report by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Education
The Provincial
Department reported that the Department expenditure as at the end of the 3rd
quarter was 72,8% of the total available budget. The Department reported that
it was doing well in administering HIV\AIDS and conditional grant. The
Department indicated that the HIV\AIDS conditional grant allocation to
education had remained relatively static in comparison with broader HIV\AIDS
spending.
Committee concerns and Comments
·
The Western
Cape Department indicated that they had model plans but what affected their
implementation were the terrain and the size of the land.
6.6 Report by the Kwazulu Natal Provincial Department of Education
The
Department projected the total expenditure of 98, 3% of budget by the end of
the financial year. The Department reported that the conditional grants
represented 3, 8% of the Budget for 2005/06. Informed the Committee that the
Department had formed a joint task team with Department of Public Works, in
order to ensure service delivery on infrastructure developments. On HIV and Aids grant the Department
reported that the expenditure was at 102%.
The reasons forwarded
for over-expenditure were as follows:
Ř
Payment for
funds committed in previous financial year rollover approved by Provincial
Treasury for R13, 055,000 which was to cover commitments incurred in previous
financial year.
The Department
reported that the reasons for under
expenditure on National School Nutrition Programme was due to the late transfer
of the additional funding in August, that had landed the Department in a
situation where not the entire amount would be spent by the end of financial
year. The Department projected that expenditure on the grant was 100% of total
allocation.
Committee
concerns and Comments
7.1 Report by the National Treasury
The National Treasury reported that the spending on housing was at at R4, 6billion or 54,3% of an adjusted budget of 8,5billion. The National Treasury stated that the sector projected to overspend by R188, 3million or 2, 2%. On Integrated Housing and Human Settlement Grant, National Treasury indicated that Northern Cape at 88,3%, North West at 81,1% and Western Cape at 63,3% were the highest, the Lowest being Limpopo (53,5%) Mpumalanga (53,7%); and Free State (55,3%).
On Human Settlement and
Redevelopment Grant, the National Treasury
reported that Housing had spent R31, 1 million or 127,4% of the R24, 4million allocation the Highest being Limpopo at 383,6%; Western Cape 131,4% and Free State stood at 98%, with Gauteng being the lowest at 6,4%.
7.2
Report by the Free State Provincial Department of Local Government and
Housing
The
Department explained the expenditure of all conditional grants being
administered by it as follows:
Committee
concerns and Comments
·
How
was the Department dealing with the issue of scarce skills, and whether project
consolidate was assisting in this regard
·
Concerned
about the expenditure that was below 50%.
·
Whether
the Department was working with their own Provincial Treasury in trying to curb
the problem of over\under expenditure
·
Whether
that were any municipalities that had been accredited by the Department.
·
The
Committee expressed its disappointment on the non-attendance by Kwazulu-Natal,
Eastern Cape and North West Housing Departments.
·
The
Department responded by indicating that skills analysis was done through the
project consolidate in all the Provincial sectors.
·
Conceded
that there had been a lack of communication between their Provincial Treasury
and the Department, however it was reported that Treasury was now sitting in
their meetings to observe how the money was being spent.
·
Reported
that most of the municipalities lacked capacity, but the Department was working
hard in addressing the issue.
·
Indicated
that there had been lots of improvement in the Province, and promised the
Committee that in the 4th quarter the Free State Department of
Housing would give a detailed report on the improved expenditure by the
Department.
7.3
Report by the Limpopo Provincial Department- Local Government and Housing
The
Department gave an overview on the following issues:
7.4
Report by the Mpumalanga Provincial Department- Local Government and
Housing
The Department gave
an overview on the allocations, transfers and actual expenditure of conditional
grants as follows:
·
The
Department had an under expenditure of R29, 445 million as at 31 December 2005
the total unspent amount was R127, 323 million.
·
Reported that
in terms of the projection made the Department should had been at 75% per.
·
Reported that
percentage achieved was 66%. Indicated that 52.3% of the contracts were
cancelled due to non-performance of the contractors.
·
Reported that
the Technical Directorate responsible for project management, engineering services,
quality control and inspections had a vacancy rate of 71%.
·
This had
resulted in the slow delivery of houses and slow payments of contractors and
developers.
·
The Housing
Performance and Human Settlements had a vacancy rate of 68% and 31% respectively.
·
Reported that
the department was constrained by the unavailability of funding to ensure that
the posts were filled.
·
The
Department had consulted the Provincial Treasury to revise the equitable share
in order to deal with this problem.
7.5
Report by the Northern Cape Provincial Department- Local Government and Housing
The
Department stated that the
budget allocation for 2005/06 was R79 917million,84% of that budget had been spent as at December 2005.
The Department reported that projected budgeted
amount for the 3rd quarter was R25 910million and the actual expenditure was
R16 067million. The Department indicated that there was the lack of capacity at
municipal level to implement housing projects. The department reported that
there was inadequate operational budget to enable it to fill the vacant posts
on the approved structure.
The Department
stated that the capacity of the data lines in the Province had also affected
the on-line subsidy administration in the Province.
7.6
Report by the Western Cape Provincial Department- Local Government and Housing
The Department
stated that it had R532 million available for 2005/06 financial year. The
Department reported that R76 million had been budgeted for N2 ring fenced fund.
Excluding N2 ring fenced fund, the Department’s expenditure was reported to be
at 78%. The Department said that about 9,394 houses were built and 13,161 sites
were serviced by end of December. The department indicated that the expenditure
exceeded projections at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Department reported
that the National Department had deviated from the transfer schedule and
transferred extra funding in April/May.
It was anticipated by the Department that 16,000 houses were to be built and 18,000 sites were to be serviced by March 2006.The Department indicated that the greatest challenge facing the Department was insufficient funding.
8. Hearings on the 3rd Quarter Conditional
Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report by the Provincial
Departments-Agriculture
8.1 Report by the Free State Provincial Department- Agriculture
Gave a brief overview on all the
following grants being administered by the Department, the Comprehensive
Agricultural Support Programme (CASP),the Land Care Programme (LCP)
,Agricultural Disaster Management (ADM) and the Provincial Infrastructure Grant
(PIG).Reported that the progress at
farm level was being monitored by the extension staff. Indicated that the
Department had entered into a number of service level agreements with various
stakeholders.
Committee
concerns and Comments
8.2
Report by the Eastern Cape Provincial Department- Agriculture
The Department indicated that advance
proper planning was still a challenge. The Provincial Department informed the
Committee that a big propotion of their budget was a rollover from last
year.The Department reported that they were providing assistance to the
emerging farmers. The Committee was informed by the Department that the Eastern
Cape Development Cooperation (ECDC) was also assisting the emerging farmers in
accessing the market. The Department indicated that they were working very
close with their Provincial Treasury in making sure that their expenditure was
acceptable. On food security ,the Department had a programme called
siyazondla,this was their pilot project which based in Umbashe District
Municipality.
8.3 Report by the Limpopo Provincial Department-
Agriculture
The Department briefied the Committee on
the perfomance of the conditional grants administered by the Provincial
Department as follows:
·
Indicated
that expenditure in CASP stood at 58% , whilst drought aid was at 100% and Land
Care at 51%.
·
Reported
that the Depatment was still experiencing engineering and project management
capacity on capital projects at municipal level.
·
The Department was addressing the issue by
putting the necessary mechanisims in order to rectify the constraits.
Committee
concerns and Comments
8.4
Report by the North West Provincial Department- Agriculture
The Department reported that R33,million
was allocated for CASP and the expenditure was R1,3 million, drought relief was
allocated R16,million with the expenditure of R0 and on the support to communal
farmers R0 was spent of the allocated budget of R5,million.The Department
stated that the reasons for under funder expenditure would be attributed to the
capacity constraits within the department.
Committe concerns and Comments
9.1 Report by the North West provincial
department- Sport and Recreation
Gave a break down on the Building for
Sport and Recreation Programme( BSRP),by
outlining all the projects the department was undertakingThe Provincial
Department indicated that under this
grant no under-spending was projected.On mass participation programmee the Department
reported that the expenditure was at 84% .
Committee
concerns and Comments
9.2 Report by the Limpopo Provincial
Department- Sport and Recreation
The Department reported that the Limpopo Siyadlala programme was
allocated R1 million for the financial year 2004\2005.The programme absorbed 32
coordinators.In the current financial 38 cordinators were employed.R75 000 out
of the total budget of R2,6 million was not spent.
Committee concerns and Comments
9.3
Report by the Gauteng Provincial Department: Sport and Recreation
Briefed the Committee on the mass
participation programmee , competitive sport and also on capital expenditure as
follows:
·
Reported
that on the competitive sport the Department had received an allocation of
R35million for upgrade of four competitive stadia.
·
Rand
Stadium and HM Pitjie Stadium were
amongst those stadiums that were to receive upgrading.
·
Informed
the Committee that the advent of the Municipal Infrastructure Programme
impacted on Departmental allocation of
funds towards infrastructure developments projects.
·
Went further to say that the funding was
allocated towards the upgrading of projects linked to the Mass Participation
Programme.
·
The
Department gave a number of reasons for under/overexpenditure on some of the
conditional grants and the interventions thereof to address this probleum.
Committee
concerns and Comments
·
Sought
clarity as to why the Provincial Department was involved in upgrading stadiums
that were financially viable, what would be the role of South African Football
Association (SAFA) in that regard.
·
Committee
expressed its concern in the involvement of the Provincial Department on
competitive sport.
·
The
Department was requested to provide the Committee with their strategic plan
that would outline the objectives of the Department’s involvement in
competitive sport.
10.
Hearings on the 3rd Quarter Conditional Grants and Capital
Expenditure: Report by the Provincial Department-Public Transport, Roads and
Works and South Africa Local Government Association (SALGA)
10.1 Report by Gauteng Department of Public Transport,
Roads and Works
The Department outlined the conditional
grant expenditure for 2001/2003 to 2005/06 as follows:
Committee concerns and
Comments
10.2 Report by South African Local Government Association
(SALGA) on the Accreditation of Municipalities
11. Recommendations
PART TWO
1. Hearings on the 4th Quarter Conditional
Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report by the National and Provincial
Treasuries
1.1 Report by the National Treasury
The National
Treasury‘s presentation covered provincial preliminary outcome (as at 31March
2006) for the 2005/06 financial year. The National Treasury reported that the
spending was at R214, 8 billion (98, 0%) of adjusted budget (R219, 2billion).
The Department indicated that the highest rate of spending was in Kwazulu Natal
at 99, 8%; Western Cape and Eastern Cape at 98, 6%, with Free State at 94, 4%
and North West at 95, 8% being the lowest.
1.2
Report
by the Gauteng Provincial Treasury
The Gauteng
Provincial Treasury reported on the spending for 2005/06 financial year and
conditional grants spending by stating the following:
·
Net underspending amounted to R885 million and
represented 3% of adjusted budget.
-
Education
at R395 million
-
Social
Development at R424 million
-
Housing
at R91 million
-
Finance
at R71 million
-
Continue to
hold individual meetings with Departments showing significant underspending and
overspending,
-
Conduct training and address identified gaps,
-
Create a public finance unit that will specifically focus on monitoring
the Departments spending and evaluating their performance,
-
Ensuring value for money and efficiency,
-
Detailed analysis and interrogate Departments expenditure,
-
Providing guidance and advise Departments on any issues relating to
budgets spending and delivery,
Identify training needs and provide it where necessary,
-
Financially assist Departments to capacitate their Chief Financial Officers, and
-
Introduction of non-compliance strategy.
·
The Gauteng
Provincial Treasury responded by indicating that the 78 million was money paid
by departments into the precinct account .Reported that the Provincial
government was planning a precinct from where all Departments would operate.
Stated further that there had been underspending because work on the precinct
had not progressed as originally planned.
·
Sought
clarify as to what role, were the Standing Committees playing in monitoring the
performance of the Departments.
·
The
Department responded by stating that the Standing Committees often call
Departments to account. The Department also indicated that it would be
imperative for the Select Committee on Finance to interact with the Standing
Committee on Finance in order to asses the extent to which that Committee was
playing its oversight role.
·
Concerned
that there were no time frames on the interventions that had been put in place
by the department.
·
The
Department indicated that a Director, had been appointed to oversee the
implementation of the non-compliance strategy and that the Department would
report on the progress in the 1st quarter results of 2006/7
financial year.
·
Sought clarity
as to when, were the offices of the Chief Financial Officers CFOs) going to be
adequately capacitated, and how soon would the Committee expect changes
especially with regard to misallocation of funds,
·
The
Department indicated that there was a CFOs forum in the Province, which dealt
with a number of issues such as that
of capacity constraints.
1.3. Report by
Free State Provincial Treasury
The Free State
Provincial Treasury gave an analysis on the provincial expenditure as follows:
-
Provincial
Adjusted Budget amounted to R5, 703
billion
-
Preliminary
expenditure including Social Security grants amounted to R5, 078 billion or 89 % of Adjusted Budget.
-
Decreased to
87, 3 % of Adjusted Budget excluding Social Security grants.
-
Net under
expenditure amounted to R625 million or 11 % of adjusted allocation for conditional
grants.
1.4 Report by
the Northern Cape Treasury
The Northern Cape
Provincial Treasury gave a broad overview on the expenditure as follows:
-
Social
Services at R74 million;
-
Provincial
Treasury at R28, 5 million and
-
Department
of Agriculture and Land Reform at R25, 2 million.
-
Health at
R60, 363 million or 6% of the adjusted budget.
-
Office of
the Premier at R0, 359 million or 4% of the adjusted budget.
·
Total
Spending on Capital Expenditure amounted to R314, 9 million or 90% of the
adjusted budget. Under expenditure of R34 million or 10% of the adjusted
budget.
·
Expenditure
on Conditional grants amounted to R1, 918 billion or 99.7% of the available
funds have been spent as at 31 March 2006.
The Limpopo
Provincial Treasury gave an overview on the performance of the conditional
grants by indicated the following:
-
Late
advertisement of posts for South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).
-
Non-splitting
of the SASSA function from the department resulting in savings
-
Late
acquisition of leased property.
-
The
Departments were submitting monthly reports on conditional grants spending.
-
Achievability
exercises were conducted in order to look at the spending trends.
-
The unit was
not fully staffed owing to the evaluation of the newly created posts.
-
It was
envisaged that the unit would have sectoral analysts looking at all Departments
with and without conditional grants.
Committee
concerns and Comments
The Eastern Cape
Provincial Treasury reported the following in its presentation on the
performance of the conditional grants:
-
Late
finalization of business plans.
-
Litigation
in revitalization tender.
Committee
concerns and Comments
The Western Cape
Provincial Treasury was not allowed by the Committee to present, as neither the
MEC nor the HOD were present. The Committee made a decision that the Eastern
Cape should be regarded as their
special project as soon as there was a clear picture on what was
happening in the Province.
2. Hearings on the 4th
Quarter Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report by the Provincial
Departments of Heath
2.1 Report by the National Treasury
The National
Treasury outlined the spending in Health, capital expenditure and conditional
grants as follows:
2.2 Report by the Kwazulu Natal Provincial Department of Health
The
Department gave a summary on the expenditure of all conditional grants by
stating the following:
-
KZN
Public Works,
-
Ithala
Development Corporation, and
-
Independent
Development Trust.
2.3 Report
by the Free State Provincial Department of Health
The Free State
Provincial Department of Health gave a brief assessment on the Department’s trends in allocations, transfers, actual
expenditure of conditional grants, capital expenditure of the department and
monitoring capacity thus far, for 2005/06.
The Department reported that the Hospital
Revitalization expenditure was at 82%.
The Department said that there had been an agreement with Public Works,
Roads and Transport in order to reach consensus on agreed-upon targets. The
Department indicated that lack of funding to complete existing projects in the
new financial year had impacted on the underspending.
On the Integrated
Nutrition Grant, the Department reported that the expenditure was at 100%.
2.4 Report by the North West Provincial
Department of Health
The
Department reported the following in its presentation regarding the performance
and administration of conditional grants:
2.5 Report by the Limpopo Provincial
Department of Health
The Department reported that the conditional grants had
been the major source of the capital expenditure of the Department with an
average of 53% of the funds used being provided from the conditional grants and
47 % from Equitable Share.
The
Department reported that the equitable share had provided only 20% of the funds
for buildings with 80% being sourced from the conditional grants.
The
Department indicated that the Hospital Revitalization grant together with the
Provincial Infrastructure Grant had provided the bulk of the capital used for
facilities upgrades, maintenance and provision of new clinics.
2.6
Report by the Eastern
Cape Provincial Department of Health
The Eastern Cape Provincial Department of health gave an overview on the Conditional Grants Expenditure for 2005/06 by stating the following:
Committee
concerns and Comments
3. Hearings on the 4th Quarter
Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report by the Provincial
Departments of Social Development
3.1 Report by the National Treasury
The
National Treasury reported that the spending was at R58, 0 billion or 96, 7%
against R60, 0 billion of the adjusted budget .The Department indicated that
there had been an increase of R7, 0 billion or 13,8% compared to the previous
year. The Department reported that the lowest rate of spending was in Free
State at 89, 4% and North West at 93, 0%
The
National Treasury reported that Limpopo was at 99, 0% and Kwazulu Natal at 98,
8% reflected the highest rate of spending.
The
Department indicated that the sector had underspent by R2, 0 billion
The
Department stated that the underspending was linked to
key initiatives in order to address the following
3.2 Report by the Limpopo Provincial Department of Social Development
The Limpopo Provincial Department of Social
Development briefed the Committee on the spending of conditional grants as
follows:
-
Social
Grants Arrears,
-
Child
Support Grant Extension, and
-
Food
Security / Integrated Social Services.
-
Late
advertisement of Posts for SASSA and non-filling of the posts due to a SASSA
decision.
-
Non-splitting
of the SASSA function from the Department resulting in savings.
-
Late
acquisition of leased property.
3.3 Report by the North West Provincial Department of
Social Development
The Department
briefed the Committee on the expenditure for fourth quarter on all the grants
that were being administered by it as follows:
-
The service
provider was only approved in October 2005.
-
All food
parcels have already been distributed and service provider billed the
Department in March 2006.
3.4 Report by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Social Development
The Department gave a summary on the expenditure of
all conditional grants as follows:
·
The
National HIV and AIDS was spent entirely for the 2005/06 financial year.
·
This could
be attributed to long established relationships that existed with service
providers that have been rendering t services on behalf of the Department.
The integrated Social Development Service Grant was introduced in the financial
year under review as a replacement of the Emergency Food Security program.
·
79% of the
Allocation for the 2005/06 financial year was spent as at the end of the
financial year as the business plan for the programme was concluded by the
Province and approved by National Department in August 2005.
An allocation on capital and maintenance budget was R 24,420,000 million.
·
A transfer
to the Department of Transport Roads Public Works was at R24, 4 million.
3.5 Report by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Social Development
The Western Cape
Provincial Department of Social Development highlighted the following issues in
its presentation:
Committee
concerns and Comments
The Committee will need to monitor the issue off
pensioners being ripped off by the” loan sharks” and shop owners. The Members
of the Committee were urged to monitor this issue in their respective
constituencies.
4. Hearings
on the 4th Quarter Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure:
Report by the Provincial Departments of Agriculture
4.1
Report
by the National Treasury
The National
Treasury gave an overview on the following:
-
Spending
of this grant had been subsumed in the spending of a range of programmes and
therefore no reporting was required.
-
However,
provinces reported spending of R265, 7 million or 106,3% (86,0% including
provincial roll-overs) of R250 million allocation (R309 million including
provincial roll-overs)
-
Transfers
amounted to 100, 0%.
-
Highest
expenditure was in Free State at 172,9%; Eastern Cape at 141,1% and Limpopo at
125,0%.
The Lowest: was North West at 13, 0%; Northern Cape 69, 7% and Gauteng at 79, 9%.
4.2
Report
by the Northern Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture
The Department
reported that a total of R81 million from the equitable share of 83 million had
been spent. Indicated further that total of 38 million of the conditional grant
allocation of R58 million had been spent.
The Department stated that the Northern Cape Province was struggling to recruit and retain good and relevant scarce skills. Lack of Agricultural engineers and Industrial Technicians (competition with industry and recruitment by Private sector) was also reported as a problem the Department was facing.
4.3
Report
by the North West Provincial Department of Agriculture
The Department
stated that the expenditure on the Comprehensive Agricultural Support programme
was at 13% with the Land Care expenditure at 29%. The Department indicated that
the under expenditure in relation to both the Land Care and CASP was mainly due
to one or more of the following factors:
4.4
Report
by the Western Provincial Department of Agriculture
The Department
informed the Committee that the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme
had received R19.26 million with R19, 38 million being spent. The Department
reported that an amount of R121 000 had been transferred from their equitable
share to make up the short fall. The Department reported that this was due to
the lack of capacity to spend. The Department stated further that the budget
was not enough to appoint such staff.
4.5
Report
by the Free State Department of Agriculture
The Free State
Department of Agriculture gave an overview on the expenditure of Comprehensive
Agricultural Support Grant, Land Care Programme, Agricultural Disaster
Management and Provincial Infrastructure Grant. The Department indicated that
they were large spikes in spending in the third and fourth quarter due to a
problem in the work ethic in the organisation and due to the fact that
some of the implementation systems were
not up to standard.
4.6
Report
by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture
The Gauteng
Department of Agriculture reported that the total Landcare spending for
2005/2006 was100%. The budget for the Comprehensive Agricultural Support
Programme was R 5 727 000.The grant per farmer was limited to R150 000 00.
4.7
Report
by the Limpopo Department of Agriculture
Three major projects in three districts were implemented.
There was community participation under Extended Public Works Programme.
Committee
concerns and Comments
5. Hearings on the 4th Quarter Conditional Grants and
Capital Expenditure: Report by the Provincial Departments of Roads and
Transport.
5.1 Report by
the National Treasury
The
National Treasury reported that the Provinces have spent R4; 72 billion
or 108,0% of R4, 35 billion adjusted capital budgets for the Roads and
Transport Sector.The
Department stated that the lowest rate of capital spending was in Free State at
77,0%) and North West at 95,6%). The National Treasury reported that Gauteng
was at 185, 7% and Kwazulu Natal at 106, 0% reflected the highest rate of
capital spending. The Department indicated that Gauteng spending
was constant at 66,8% for December, January and February and had increased by
105,2% in March to 185,7%. The Department indicated the largest capital budgets
(adjusted) were for Limpopo at 111, 7% and Free State at 60, 1%. The National Treasury
reported that the lowest capital budgets (adjusted) were for Western
Cape at 0, 7% and Gauteng at 4, 5%.
5.2 Report by the Kwazulu Natal Department of Roads
and Transport
The Department informed the Committee that despite
the budget increases received over the past years and the increases proposed
over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework period the Department remained
woefully under funded for the execution of its mandate. The Department said
that it required additional funding to address the network backlog. The Department stated further that the
backlog had two components viz. securing a minimal equity road network, and
restoring the network to its true asset value by increasing the level of
maintenance expenditure. The Department
informed the Committee that it proposed to implement a 5-year strategy that
required an annual additional budget of R2, 4 billion.
The Department indicated that their total budget was
R1 747 712 with actual expenditure at R1 747 724. This showed 0.001% over
expenditure.
5.3 Report by
the Western Cape Department of Roads and Transport
The Western Cape Department reported that the actual
spending of the Provincial Infrastructure Grant was 100%. The Department stated
that they were still facing the problem of capacity constraints. The Department
reported that there were shortages of personnel with public transport
expertise.
Committee
concerns and Comments
5.4 Report by the Northern Cape Department of Roads and Transport
The Northern Cape
Department of Roads and Transport reported the following in its presentation:
5.5 Report by the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport
The Department
sated that their infrastructure management was
structured as follows:
Committee concerns and Comments
5.6 Report by
the Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport
The Department
reported that it had spent its whole conditional grant budget of R675330
million for the fourth quarter. The Department indicated that R1, 3 billion was
spent on roads infrastructure, which was 49% of their conditional grant
allocation.
5.7 Report by the Gauteng Department of Roads and
Transport
The
Department reported that they were the recipients of the Provincial
Infrastructure Grant from National Treasury.
The Department said that the grant was used for
maintenance and rehabilitation of roads.
The Department
indicated that an amount of R147 911 million had been received in conditional
grants, a total amount of R122 117 million had been spent which translated to
an expenditure of 83%.
Committee concerns and Comments
6.
Hearings
on the 4th Quarter Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure:
Report by the Provincial Departments of Local Government and Housing
6.1 Report by the North West Department of
Local Government and Housing
The average delivery per year was 12 000 of completed
houses.
For the 2005/2006 target of 22 000, the Department
included a figure of 10 000 for the two pilot projects.
The Department
forwarded the following reasons for under expenditure (2004/2005):
-
Lack of
implementation capacity at Municipal level
-
Departmental
decision 2002
-
Hands off
approach of department
-
Lack of
management information
-
Non-compliance
with contractual conditions
-
Blocked
projects
-
Forward
planning
-
Delays in
processing claims (Province/Municipalities)
6.2
Report
by the Northern Cape Department of Local Government and Housing
The
Northern Cape Provincial Department reported that the budget allocation for
2005/06 was R79, 917million, R82; 524 million
(103%) was spent as at March 2006.The Department stated that the
budgeted amount for the 4th quarter was R12, 886 million and the actual
expenditure was R15, 493 million
The
Department said that the Human Settlement Roll-over of 3,180million from
2004/05 to 2005/06 had been spent.
6.3
Report
by the Limpopo Department of Local Government and Housing
The Limpopo
Department Local Government and Housing gave an overview on the expenditure of
the following grants:
The Department reported that in 2005/2006 financial
year, units were distributed along 26 Municipalities in the Province. The
Department held further that Project Managers were deployed at those 26
Municipalities to manage the projects. The Department informed the Committee
that it was experiencing capacity constraints due to unfilled Project Managers
positions.
6.4
Report
by the Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housing
The
Department reported that 100% of available funds had been spent. The Department
reported that a sum of R 456 million was allocated for conditional grants, a
sum of R77 million was a rollover and R40 million was from the Provincial
Funds.
The
Department stated that about 16,053 houses had been built and 18,412 sites
serviced.
Committee
concerns and Comments
7. Hearings on the 4th Quarter
Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report by the Provincial
Departments of Education
7.1
Report by the Eastern Cape Department of
Education
The Department
said that the expenditure on HIV and Aids had improved as the grant had only
under spent by R700 000; the under spending was due to the problems pertaining
to invoicing. The Department stated further that when they started with the HIV
and Aids programme, they had problems pertaining to staffing and the Department
was hard at work in trying to resolve this issue of capacity as it had
adversely affected the monitoring of expenditure.
7.2
Report
by the Northern Cape Department of Education
The Department indicated that the
HIV and AIDS grant was R 2,318 million at the expenditure of 88%. The Department held that the budget for the
National School Nutrition Programme was R 31,033 million and the expenditure stood at 93%. The Department said that the Infrastructure Capital budget was R30, 6 million and the expenditure was 88%.
The
Department indicated that conditional grants had contributed significantly to
service delivery. The Department stated that it intended to make incremental
additions from the vote line budget to enable it to eventually become
independent of these grants.
7.3
Report
by the Free State Department of Education
The
Department indicated that the HIV and Aids budget was R8, 4million and the
expenditure on the grant stood at 94%. On the National School Nutrition
Programme, the Provincial Department informed the Committee that the budget was
R 68, 5 million with the expenditure of 88,5%. The Department indicated that the
budget from own infrastructure grant was R79, 7million at the expenditure of
92%; Provincial Infrastructure grant budget was R60, 5 million, and expenditure
was at 101.7%.
7.4
Report
by the Limpopo Department of Education
The Department
reported that the National School Nutrition Programme had spent R191 million of
a budget of R204 million (93%). The Department reported that on HIV and Aids
their plans were ineffective as they were unable to spend the whole allocation.
The Department assured the Committee that changes would be made for this year’s
allocation and the performance of this grant would improve. The Department
stated that on infrastructure, R235 million was spent out of budget of R264
million.
7.5
Report
by the North West Department of Education
The Department
indicated that the financial performance of the Department had drastically
improved in 2005/6 compared to 2004/5.The Department held further that the
improved performance was as a result of rigorous monitoring and pressure that
had been brought upon by the all responsible managers.
The Department
indicated that the performance of Conditional grants had shown an improvement
from 86.5% to 97.4%, capital expenditure from 65.9% to 94.7% and Infrastructure
from 67.7% to 98.8%. The Department reported that the expenditure was 97% on
the HIV and Aids programme and 98% on infrastructure.
7.6
Report
by the Western Cape Department of Education
The Department
informed the Committee that their initial budget for construction and
maintenance was R188, 472 million, but was adjusted upwards to R373, 808
million. The Department stated that R20 million was earmarked for provision of
classrooms in “Black African” schools. The Department indicated that an amount
of R777 000 had been set aside for the establishment of a Project Management
Unit to manage the additional classroom allocation in “Black African “areas.
The Department
reported that the Western Cape was receiving approximately 48 000 new
immigrants each year. The Department stated further that approximately 18
additional schools needed to be built per year, in order to accommodate the
school going children of these immigrants. The Department indicated that the
allocated budgets did not provide for this need.
7.7
Report by the Kwazulu Natal Department of
Education
The Department
reported that an amount of R837 million was spent on infrastructure out of the
budget of R854 million. Stated further that the under- spending was in repairs
and maintenance. The Department indicated that R44 81 million had been received
for HIV and Aids programme had had overspent by 11%.
The Department
stated that they had monthly reporting systems and regular meetings were held
with districts as the HIV and Aids programme had been spread out to various
directorates.
The Department
indicated that that the allocation for the National School Nutrition Programme
was R198 849 million with R198 980 being spent.
Committee
concerns and Comments
8. Hearings on the 4th Quarter
Conditional Grants and Capital Expenditure: Report by the Provincial
Departments of Sport and Recreation
8.1
Report
by the Eastern Cape Department of Sport and Recreation
The Department
reported that the conceptualization of the Siyadlala Mass Participation
programme had equipped the Department with an effective tool for resuscitation
and development of sports and recreation in the province and the country. The
Department stated that the programme allowed for interventions in areas where
there was no participation due to lack of resources. The Department gave a
detailed presentation on the province’s achievements in terms of performance
against goals, budget and quality.
8.2
Report
by the Northern Cape Department of Sport and Recreation
The
Department reported that the budget for the Mass Sport and Recreation
Participation Programme was R2, 640 million, with the total expenditure of R2,
492 million (94%).
The
Department indicated that the underspending of R148, 000 for 2005/2006 was due
to the following reasons:
-
Resignations of coordinators (due to permanent
employment).
-
Delays
in appointment of some coordinators.
Savings on some of the budgeted items such as training of coordinators, holiday programmes and other MPP games.
The Department indicated that the
programme
was sustainable only on the basis of conditional grant and this was proving to
be a challenge.
8.3
Report
by the Kwazulu Natal Department of Sport and Recreation
The Department
indicated that the budget for the Mass Participation programme was R1 Million
and it had increased to R2, 640 million in 2005/06 and had also seen a
substantially increase to R10, 7 million for 2006/07.The Department indicated
that the number of hubs had increased from five hubs in 2004/05 to nine in
2005/06.The Department stated that the Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme
would continue to be treated as a priority programme by the province.
8.4
Report
by the Western Cape Department of Sport and Recreation
The Department
said that there had been an increase in the conditional grants from R1 million
in 2004/5 to R2, 6 million in 2005/6. The Department stated that it had
expanded its programmes in order to cover all six regions. The Department
indicated that the decrease in the capital grant allocation made it impossible
to cover the backlog in facilities in the disadvantaged communities.
Committee
concerns and Comments
Following
presentations by the relevant Provincial Departments the Committee instructed
the Departments to comply with the Division of Revenue Act, specifically the
section that deals with the Provincial Infrastructure Grant as there were
Provinces that were not adhering to that aforesaid section. In the 1st quarter public
hearings on conditional grants the Committee will focus on the quality of
spending, impact of spending and also on the value for money. The Committee
will also monitor the expenditure of the Provincial Equitable Share. The
Committee was highly disappointed by the non-appearance of all the Mpumalanga
Provincial Departments that were requested to brief the Committee.
Observations
Recommendations