The Budgetary
Review and Recommendation Report of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children,
Youth and People with Disabilities, dated 21 October 2011
1. Introduction
Section 77 (3) of the Constitution of South Africa provides for an Act
of Parliament which will provide for a procedure to amend the money bills
before it. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, 2009
(Act 9 of 2009) thus enables Parliament to amend aspects related to tabled
money bills. The objectives of the Bill are twofold:
1.1 The role of the Committee
The mandate of the Committee on Women, Children, Youth and People with
Disabilities is to legislate, conduct oversight of the Executive, promote
public participation, facilitate international agreements and review matters of
public interest in relation to the Department of Women, Children and People
with Disabilities.
Section 5 (1) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters
Act, No 9 of 2009 requires that the National Assembly, through its Committee,
must annually assess the performance of each national department, with
reference to the following:
·
Medium term estimates of expenditure, its strategic
priorities and measurable objectives,
·
Prevailing strategic plans,
·
Expenditure report relating to such department
published by National Treasury in terms of section 32 of the Public Finance
Management Act,
·
Financial statements and annual report of such
departments,
·
Reports of the Committee on Public Accounts relating
to the department and
·
Any other information requested by or presented to a
House or Parliament.
Section 5 (2) makes provision for
the annual submission of the budgetary review and recommendation report (BRRR)
for tabling in the National Assembly for each department. It is expected of the
BRRR to report on the following:
·
Assessment of the department’s service delivery
performance given the available resources;
·
Assessments on the effectiveness and efficiency of the
department’s use and forward allocation of available resources; and
·
May include recommendations on the forward use of
resources.
In order to enable the Committee to
take informed decisions on the performance of the Department of Women, Children
and People with Disabilities for the financial year 2010/11, the committee
consulted the following reports and documents: Section 32 reports of National
Treasury, considered and analysed annual reports, Reports of the
Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), the Constitution of the Republic of
South Africa. All this information assisted the committee to decide on the
performance of the Department.
1.2 The Department
The mandate of the Department of Women, Children and People with
Disabilities is to drive the Government’s equity, equality and empowerment
agenda on women, children and people with disabilities especially in poor and
rural communities.
The mission is to create an enabling environment that translates
constitutional obligations, policies and legislative frameworks into
realization of gender, disability and children’s rights.
The vision of the Department is a fully inclusive society free from
unfair discrimination, inequality, abuse and exploitation.
According to the 2010/11 annual report, the Department is governed by
all the laws that inform equality, empowerment, human rights and human dignity
processes.
These include:
·
The Constitution of the
·
Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair
Discrimination Act No 4 of 2000.
·
Commission for Gender Equality Act No. 39 of 1996.
·
Divorce Amendment Act No. 116 of 1998.
·
Maintenance Act No. 9 of 1998.
·
Domestic Violence Act No. 116 of 1998.
·
Labour Relations Act No. 56 of 1995.
·
Employment Equity Act No. 38 of 2005
·
Children’s Act No. 38 of 2005.
·
Children’s Amendment Act No. 41 of 2007.
·
Social Assistance Act No.6 of 2008.
2. Department’s
Strategic Priorities and Measurable Objectives
2.1
Strategic Plans of the Department
For the year 2010/11, the Department of Women, Children and People with
Disabilities did not have a strategic plan and annual performance plan that
were tabled and adopted by Parliament. It is therefore difficult to measure the
Department’s performance as there was no approved objectives and performance
indicators against which to measure.
2.2
Measurable Objectives of the Department
In terms of the annual report of the Department for 2010/11, the
Department highlighted the programmes and objectives of each programme.
However, it should be noted that it is difficult to measure the objectives
given the absence of the strategic plans for 2010/11 and annual report for
2009/10.
The programmes are as follows:
2.2.1.
Programme 1:
Administration
According to the Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) for 2010, the
purpose of the programme is to provide leadership, management and
administrative support to the Minister and other branches in the Department.
However, according to the annual report for 2010/11, the Department reported
that this programme was non existent in 2010/2011 as it was reliant on the
Presidency’s Corporate Services for support.
2.2.2
Programme 2:
Women Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE)
According to the ENE 2010, the purpose of WEGE is to facilitate the
translation of the national and international instruments into empowerment and
socio-economic development programmes as well as to oversee and report
comprehensively on the national realization of women’s rights and the
progressive realization of equality.
The ENE describes the objectives as focusing on the empowerment of women
by:
·
Mainstreaming women empowerment and gender equality
considerations into governance processes at all three spheres of Government.
·
Developing and maintaining a monitoring and evaluation
framework.
·
Adapting international and continental instruments
into local gender equity initiatives.
·
Developing and managing women empowerment and gender
equality catalytic projects.
·
Facilitating public private partnership in the
interest of women.
2.2.3
Programme 3:
Children’s Rights and Responsibilities
According
to the ENE (2010), the purpose of Children’s Rights and Responsibilities
programme over the MTEF period is to ensure the realisation of children’s
rights and responsibilities by:
2.2.4
Programme 4:
Rights of People with Disabilities
The ENE (2010) notes that
the Rights of People with Disabilities programme is aimed at strengthening
strategic leadership and management of the national and international
instruments for the realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities and
aims to ensure the progressive realisation of the rights of such persons over the MTEF period by:
3. Analysis
of the Department’s Prevailing Strategic and Operational Plan
As indicated previously, the Department of Women, Children and People
with Disabilities did not have strategic and operational plans and therefore it
was not possible to undertake an analysis in this regard.
4. Analysis of
the Department’s Annual Report and Financial Statements
4.1. Administration programme
performance
According
to the ENE (2010) the purpose of the Administration Programme is to provide effective
leadership, management and administrative support services to the Minister and
other branches in the Department. A total of R24.5 million was allocated to
this programme, constituting 25 per cent of the total budget appropriation. At
the time (2010/2011), it was envisaged that this allocation would be primarily
used to set up the then new Department, which included expenditure on
recruitment of staff, capital expenditure for the renovation of premises,
information technology infrastructure, operating and support systems for the
new Minister and mandate implementation costs. Other than financial
information, no other information is available in the 2010/2011 annual report
about the Administration programme. The Department only reported that this programme
was non-existent in 2010/2011 as it was reliant on the Presidency’s Corporate
Services support. Despite the reported “non-existence” of the programme the
Department still managed to incur deficits for this programme as presented in
Table 1. It is important to note that of the four programmatic areas, the
Administration programme is allocated, by far, the greatest amount of funds
apart from the allocation to Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) as per Vote 7
of the ENE (2010).
It
is therefore problematic that the Administration programme has not been
reported on in the 2010/2011 annual report. The Department would therefore need
to provide the significant gaps in information in this regard and report on the
objectives of the Administration programme, its key performance indicators and
deliverables in this regard. Further, the programme’s status as a
“non-existent” programme is far from ideal as this is in essence a misnomer if
expenditure has been incurred. It is also not possible for any department to exist
without an administrative programme and the Department is required to change
the status of the programme in future and report on performance in this regard.
This is in the interests of holding it accountable for expenditure in this
regard.
Table 1: Administration budget and
expenditure as per Annual Report 2010/2011
|
Main appropriation R’000 |
Adjusted appropriation R’000 |
Actual amount spent R’000 |
Over/under expenditure R’000 |
|
24
524 |
8
627 |
37
457 |
(8
830) |
The Department indicated that the over-expenditure
was due to the following circumstances and issues:
-
Unplanned overseas travel and accommodation, including
payments for stakeholders that were not initially provided for and travel
expenditure for officials seconded to the Department.
-
Costs for re-advertising posts.
4.2 Women Empowerment and Gender
Equality programme performance
The
annual report presents the objectives of the Women Empowerment and Gender
Equality (WEGE) programme as a means to provide strategic leadership, guidance
and programmatic measures on the promotion of women’s rights. The objectives as
described in the annual report are as follows:
-
Objective 1: To monitor and evaluate the delivery of
Government on national, regional and international mandates for women’s empowerment
and gender equity.
-
Objective 2: To plan, coordinate and advocate for programmes
on women’s empowerment and gender equality.
The
table below identifies some of the indicators and targets set out to achieve
these objectives. In order to monitor the Department’s performance in this
regard, in cases where targets were partially fulfilled or incomplete, the
performance is marked as “not achieved”, where the targets have been completely
met, this is marked as “target achieved.”
While
the objective is to monitor and evaluate delivery of Government on national,
regional and international mandates, the report in this regard seems largely
limited to participation at various meetings at the expense of more substantive
delivery in this regard.
Table 2: Review on WEGE performance
2010/2011
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
1: To monitor and evaluate delivery of Government on national, regional and
international mandates for women’s empowerment and gender equity. |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
Compliance
with international, regional and national commitments |
Report
on progress made on the Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) |
Target
achieved |
|
Coordinate
|
Target
achieved |
|
|
Preparations
and coordination of participation in the United Nations Commission on the
Status of Women (UNCSW) |
Target
achieved |
|
|
Coordinate
|
Target
achieved |
|
|
Bill
on Gender Parity drafted |
Not
achieved: it is not clear as to what the progress in the drafting or
completion of this Bill. It is also unclear as to whether or not this is the
same as the Gender Equality Bill |
|
|
SADC
Protocol ratified |
Not
Achieved: While this target was not achieved for the financial year under
review, the target was achieved in the next financial year |
|
|
Ensure
that |
Target
partially achieved: this target has too many deliverables that are connected
to at least four international and regional treaties. The Department should
separate each piece of legislation with corresponding targets. |
|
|
Ensure
gender mainstreaming in Government programmes, projects and policies |
This
target is too broad and is meant to be a continuous and overarching objective
instead of a target. |
|
|
Ensure
women’s access to full employment and decent work |
Target
partially achieved: while the Department has done some work toward achieving
this target, a considerable amount of work still has to be done in order to
achieve this mammoth task. The Department should consider creating more
specific targets in relation to women’s employment. |
|
|
Engender
the SETAs |
This
target is too broad and requires a more comprehensive target in this regard. |
|
|
Coordinate
the nomination of skilled women in relevant SETAs |
Target
achieved |
|
It
is important to focus on international treaties, however, what appears to be
lacking in fulfilling objective 1 is an emphasis on domestic legislation and
national commitments that aim to fulfil women’s empowerment and gender
equality. Targets such as “Ensure women’s access to full employment and decent
work” and “engender the SETA’s” are unclear and cannot be accurately measured
unless the Department clearly states how they will achieve this.
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
2: To plan, coordinate and advocate for programmes on women’s empowerment and
gender equality |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
Draft
concept on the proposed Advisory Council on Violence Against Women and Girls |
Draft
document consulted with stakeholders. |
Target
achieved |
|
Establish
Women’s Empowerment fund |
Annual
report targets are not clearly outlined in the annual report |
Not
achieved: the Department has not report on any progress regarding this
target. |
|
Coordinate
the Sanitary Dignity Campaign |
Annual
report targets are not clearly outlined in the annual report |
Partially
achieved: the targets were not clearly outlined in the annual report,
however, the Department had done some work in this regard based on the
information presented in the past. Recommendations regarding this target will
be unpacked under the recommendations section. |
|
Women’s
economic empowerment facilitated through anti-poverty programmes and
programmes addressing women’s access to SMME and into formal sector economy |
Annual
report targets are not clearly outlined in the annual report |
Not
achieved |
While
the Department appears to have met some of its targets as stated in its annual
report, it should be noted that a large proportion of the targets reported on
was not presented in the ENE (2010). The lack of an annual performance plan and
strategic plan further compounds this issue as there is no way of monitoring
indicators and objectives in this regard.
4.2.1 Women Empowerment and Gender
Equality budget and expenditure
WEGE
was allocated a total of R58.9 million, constituting 60 per cent of the
Department’s total budget. Upon initial inspection it would appear that WEGE
was disproportionally resourced in relation to other programmes, which have
only received R7.1 million each. However, upon closer scrutiny, it becomes
evident that WEGE, in fact, received a similar allocation to the other two
programmes. Of the R58.9 million allocated to WEGE, R 51.9 million (i.e. 88 per
cent of the programme budget) was taken up by transfer payments to the Commission
for Gender Equality, leaving the programme with just over R7 million to achieve
its objectives.
The
table 3 below represents the budget expenditure of the WEGE programme as
presented by the Department for 2010/2011 ending March 2011.
Table 3: WEGE budget and expenditure
as per Annual Report 2010/2011
|
Main appropriation R’000 |
Adjusted appropriation R’000 |
Actual amount spent R’000 |
Over/under expenditure R’000 |
|
7
047 |
8
480 |
8
869 |
(389) |
Based
on this table, the Department has overspent by R389 000 on the WEGE programme.
Despite the overspending that occurred in the programme, the Department did not
meet all its targets and reported that WEGE faced challenges related to human
resource shortages as well as limited finances. The annual report indicates
that over-expenditure was incurred during Women’s Day celebrations that had not
been budgeted for as it was previously hosted by the Department of Arts and
Culture and the Department of Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs. It
must be noted that similar concerns were raised during the previous financial
year. Over-expenditure was also related to travel costs for attending the
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women conference.
4.3 Children’s Rights and
Responsibilities programme performance
In
its Annual Report 2010/2011 the Department’s two key objectives were not
clearly stated in its budget vote. These objectives are:
-
Objective 1: Promote human dignity and advance child
survival, protection and development.
-
Objective 2: To coordinate, monitor, evaluate and advocate
on child rights delivery.
The
following table identifies the indicators and targets set out to achieve these
programme objectives.
Table 4: Review on Children’s Rights
and Responsibilities performance 2010/2011
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
1:Promote human dignity and advance child survival, protection and
development |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
Child
Friendly Communities Model implemented in 36 Municipalities |
Development
and roll-out of the Child Friendly cities Model |
Not
achieved |
|
Comprehensive
child protection strategy |
Comprehensive
plan of action for children’s rights and responsibilities for 2010 FIFA
Soccer World and Beyond implemented |
Target
achieved |
|
Rapid
surveys on children’s rights and responsibilities gaps in sister departments
and development of a tool to audit the needs of structures such as child
rights focal points |
Not
achieved |
|
|
Development
and implementation of Plan of Action for 1 Goal: Education for All Children
in |
This
target is too broad. The Department has to consider focusing on measurable
and achievable targets. In terms of this target, the Department should assist
with the monitoring and evaluating its outcomes. |
|
Only
one of the targets for this objective was met, the annual report indicates that
some of these objectives were not fulfilled because of limited human resources
and limited finances. While the objective is aimed at promoting human dignity
and advancing child survival, protection and development, the targets did not
necessarily directly relate to fulfilling these rights. It is for this reason
that the Department has to ensure that all targets and indicators are related
to its overall objective.
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
2: To coordinate, monitor, evaluate and advocate on child rights delivery |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
National,
regional and international reports compiled and submitted as per schedule |
The
final refinement of the AU and the UN reports |
Not
achieved |
|
Children’s
rights focal points established |
Increased
child participation |
This
target is too broad and is meant to be a continuous and overarching objective
instead of a target. |
|
Advocacy
for children’s rights focal points |
Not
achieved |
|
|
Sanitary
Dignity for indigent women and girls promoted |
Partially
achieved: the work done by this Department does not completely fulfil the
overall objective that is to coordinate, monitor, evaluate and advocate on
child rights delivery. |
|
While
the Department presented on the progress of their targets, a large proportion
was not completely achieved. The Department noted that variances in achieving
their set goals were related mainly to human resource shortages and limited
finances. Similar to WEGE, despite its over-expenditure, this programme could
not fulfil most of it activities due to budget constraints and lack of human
resources.
4.3.1 Children’s Rights and
Responsibilities budget and expenditure
The
table below represents the budget expenditure of the Children’s Rights and
Responsibilities programme as presented by the Department for 2010/2011 ending
March 2011.
Table 5: Children’s Rights and
Responsibilities budget and expenditure as per Annual Report 2010/2011
|
Main appropriation R’000 |
Adjusted appropriation R’000 |
Actual amount spent R’000 |
Over/under expenditure R’000 |
|
7
134 |
8
568 |
8
735 |
(167) |
The
Department explains that over-expenditure for this programme was incurred as a
result of local and overseas travel for seconded officials, however no further
explanation is provided in this regard.
Table 6: Children’s Rights and
Responsibilities budget and expenditure as per National Treasury report 2011
|
Main appropriation R’000 |
Adjusted appropriation R’000 |
Actual amount spent R’000 |
Over/under expenditure R’000 |
|
7
134 |
8
568 |
11
313 |
(2
747) |
Table
6 represents the expenditure outcome as presented by National Treasury. There
appears to be a vast difference in the variance of expenditure reported in the
National Treasury’s Section 32 report 2010/2011 and the Department’s Annual
Report for 2010/2011. National Treasury estimated approximately R 2.5 million
more in terms of over expenditure than indicated by the Department. National Treasury’s commentary of the
Department included notes stating that it had failed to provide reasons for
over-spending. National Treasury added that the Department had also not
provided performance and expenditure reports for projects and programmes
undertaken during 2010/2011.
4.4 Rights of people with Disabilities programme performance
In
its 2010/2011 annual report, the Department’s three key objectives for this
programme are:
-
Objective 1: To protect and promote human dignity and
equality of persons with disabilities.
-
Objective 2: To create an enabling environment for
empowerment, advancement and socio-economic development of persons with
disabilities.
-
Objective 3: To prevent and eliminate all forms of unfair
discrimination against persons with disabilities
Table 7: Review on Rights of People
with Disabilities programme performance 2010/2011
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
1: To protect and promote human dignity and equality of persons with
disabilities. |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
Draft
National disability policy development and implemented |
National
Disability Policy to be popularised and implemented in 9 provinces |
Not
achieved |
|
The
UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and implemented in 9
provinces |
Not
achieved |
|
|
Special
schools audit |
Not
achieved (see recommendations with regard to this target) |
|
|
Responsive
intervention to institutions for people with disabilities |
Achieved:
While this target was achieved, it should be noted that this target is too
broad and is meant to be a continuous and overarching objective instead of a
target. |
|
|
Poor
households targeted for social assistance |
Achieved
|
|
Objective
1 relates to protecting and promoting human dignity and equality of persons
with disabilities. This is an essential objective in realising the rights of
people with disabilities, however, only one of the 5 targets were achieved.
Given that this programme had under spent its budget allocation, it is
concerning that the Department did not meet all the targets for this objective.
It is concerning to note that in terms of the programme for people with
disabilities, only 34% of the budget was spent.
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
2: To create an enabling environment for empowerment, advancement and
socio-economic development of persons with disabilities. |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
An
enabling environment for empowerment and advancement of people with
disabilities created |
Increased
employment equity target |
Not
achieved |
|
Oversee
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the anti-poverty strategy |
Achieved:
While this target was achieved, it should be noted that this target is too
broad and is meant to be a continuous and overarching objective instead of a
target. |
|
|
Research
completed, published and implemented |
Study
results to be used to increase employment equity target |
Achieved |
Objective
2 focuses on creating an enabling environment for empowerment, advancement and
socio-economic development of persons with disabilities. The targets that
focuses on increased employment should be more refined, targets that are too
broad, will make it more challenging for the Department to achieve.
|
Objective |
||
|
Objective
3: To prevent and eliminate all forms of unfair discrimination against
persons with disabilities |
||
|
Indicator |
Target |
Performance |
|
An
enabling environment for empowerment and advancement of people with
disabilities created |
MOU
and partnership with DTI on Economic empowerment |
Not
achieved |
|
Sports
facilities in provinces meet accessible standards |
Achieved:
while this target was achieved, a lot more has to be done in achieving this
target in relation to achieving the overall target that is to prevent and
eliminate all forms of unfair discrimination against persons with
disabilities |
|
|
Advocacy
campaign conducted in 9 provinces |
Not
achieved |
|
Objective
3 appeared to have all its listed targets as retrospective outputs. This means
that after the event or action was complete it was listed as a target. This is
particularly problematic in terms of monitoring progress as it will always be
seen as achieved especially when it was an unplanned activity.
4.4.1 Rights of People with
Disabilities budget and expenditure
The
table below represents the budget expenditure of the Rights of People with
Disabilities programme as presented by the Department for 2010/2011 ending
March 2011.
Table 8: Rights of People with
Disabilities budget and expenditure as per annual report 2010/2011
|
Main appropriation R’000 |
Adjusted appropriation R’000 |
Actual amount spent R’000 |
Over/under expenditure R’000 |
|
7
133 |
8
566 |
2
910 |
5
656 |
The
Department explains that under-expenditure for this programme was incurred.
This was attributed to human resource shortages as well as limited finances in
order to achieve the planned activities.
Table 9: Rights of People with
Disabilities Programme budget and expenditure as per National Treasury report
2011
|
Main appropriation R’000 |
Adjusted appropriation R’000 |
Actual amount spent R’000 |
Over/under expenditure R’000 |
|
9
565 |
8
566 |
1
779 |
6
789 |
Table
9 represents the expenditure outcome as presented by National Treasury. This
table shows that the Department had spent even less on people with disabilities
than reported in its annual report.
5.
Consideration of Reports of Committee on Public Accounts
During the year under review (2010/2011),
the Department for Women, Children and People
with Disabilities had not appeared before the Committee on Public Accounts and as such
no reports are available in this regard.
6. Consideration of Other Sources of Information
A number of sources were used to
analyse the strategic and operational plans of the department. These include:
·
The State-of-the-Nation address
The President, in his 2010
State of the Nation Address highlighted Government’s commitment to socially
vulnerable groups by stating that the defining feature of the current
administration will be that of understanding and responding to the needs of the
people of South Africa, ensuring in particular that women, children and persons
with disabilities are able to access developmental opportunities.
The President outlined five strategic priorities for
2010, namely:
These strategic priorities all bear relevance to
women, children and persons with disabilities in
7.1 Reports of the Auditor-General of
The
Auditor-General findings indicated that the Department received an unqualified
audit opinion. There was however a number of matters of emphasis highlighted.
These matters speak to challenges with regard to irregular and unauthorised
expenditure, weak reporting mechanisms and non-compliance with laws and
regulations. These matters of emphasise
highlighted the following in this regard:
·
Insofar as over-spending is concerned, most funds were
over-spent in the administration programme.
·
Unauthorised expenditure to the amount of R3.7 million was
incurred due to over-spending, while an amount of R 6.6 million was disclosed
as irregular expenditure.
From
the report by the Auditor-General it appeared that the Department, despite
receiving an unqualified audit opinion, still had numerous challenges,
particularly in relation to financial management and compliance with laws and
regulations. The issues highlighted below are of particular importance for the
Committee to consider in relation to the Department’s performance.
·
In terms of strategic
planning and performance management:
-
No strategic plan was prepared, subsequently leading to a
lack of synergy between objectives, indicators and targets for programmes. In
addition the AGSA highlights that no valid performance management processes and
systems to record and measure actual performance exist.
·
Compliance with laws and
regulations:
-
No procedures for quarterly reporting as required by Treasury
Regulation were established, meaning that no effective performance monitoring,
evaluation or corrective action could occur. In addition, poor internal control
measures for performance management were in existence.
-
No monthly reports were submitted to track current and
planned expenditure.
·
Procurement, contract
management and expenditure management:
-
Services were procured from and/or tenders awarded to
suppliers did not provide tax clearance from SARS
-
Payments to creditors were not always made within the
required period, i.e. 30 days from the receipt of an invoice (as per the PFMA)
-
Effective steps to prevent and detect irregular and
unauthorised expenditure were not taken.
·
Human resource and
compensation management:
-
Senior management did not enter into performance agreements
for the year under review.
-
Inadequate human resource planning resulted in the
Department not meeting its human resource requirements.
a)
Governance:
- The Department did not undertake a risk assessment as required by
treasury and as a result mechanisms to mitigate risk, mismanagement, irregular
and unauthorised expenditure were not in place.
In
a presentation to the Portfolio on Women, Children, Youth and Person’s with
Disabilities, the AGSA highlighted the following contraventions committed by
the department in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. No.1 of 1999
(PFMA). The tables below highlight the numerous incidence of the Department’s
non-compliance with the PFMA.
|
Category of finding |
Act |
Description |
|
Strategic planning and performance management |
PFMA 38(1)(a) (i) and (b) TR 5 |
b)
Strategic plan not
prepared which is consistent with MTEF. c)
Strategic plan not
compliant with prescripts. d)
Quarterly reporting
ineffective. e) No systems for AoPO. |
|
Budgets |
PFMA 39, 40 and 43 |
f)
Expenditure not in
accordance with the vote. g)
Utilization of
capital savings to defray current expenditure. h) Non-submission of monthly revenue and expenditure reports to National
Treasury. |
|
Annual
financial statements, performance and annual reports |
PFMA 40(1)(b) |
i)
Financial statements
submitted were subject to material and/or significant adjustments. |
|
Audit committee and internal audit |
PFMA 77 TR 3 |
j)
Audit committee and
internal audit functions were not in place. |
|
Expenditure
management |
PFMA(38(1)(c)(ii) TR 9.1.1 |
k) Unauthorised and irregular expenditure were not prevented and detected
by the department. |
|
PFMA(38(1)(f) TR 8.2.3 |
l) Payments due to creditors were not always m) settled within 30 days from receipt of an invoice. |
|
|
Procurement
and contract management |
TR
16A9.1 |
n) Awards made to suppliers in the absence of o) tax clearance certificates. |
|
Human
resource and compensation management |
PSR TR |
p) Human resource planning not undertaken. q) Performance agreements not in place for senior managers. r) Payroll certificates not signed by persons in charge of pay points. |
|
Revenue management |
TR 11.2.1 |
s) Not all money due to the department had been collected. |
7.1.8
Recommendations by the Auditor General of
AGSA made the following recommendations to the Department:
·
There is a need for the implementation of an adequate
review of financial statements prior to submission for audit to ensure
compliance.
·
The Department should develop a system to ensure that it
procures goods and services in a transparent, cost effective and efficient
manner. Compliance to laws and regulations should be adhered to during
procurement in order to prevent irregular expenditure.
·
Despite a concerted effort to ensure payments are
affected within 30 days, instances of non compliance were still noted. Action needs
to be taken against non-complying individuals as the processes are in place and
just required adherence thereto.
·
Risk management needs to ensure compliance with
required laws and regulations.
·
Governance structures need to be given priority to
provide oversight over financial, performance, governance and compliance
matters.
·
Vacancies at senior levels need to be filled to ensure
critical line functions are accountable to senior management and internal
controls are implemented.
7.1.9
Internal controls
The AGSA observed the following with regards to internal controls of the
Department:
·
Inadequate monitoring controls to ensure proper
implementation of the processes of planning, budgeting, implementation and
reporting and to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
·
Inadequate monitoring controls to ensure funds were
utilized in accordance with the approved budget and for the purpose for which
they were intended.
·
Ineffective in-year monitoring of compliance with laws
and regulations.
·
Staff members preparing financial statements did not
fully understand the requirements of the financial reporting framework and
inadequate review of financial statements by senior management prior to
submission for auditing.
·
Risk assessment not conducted and governance structures
as prescribed were not in place.
8.
Committee’s Observations
Having interacted with the Department and the AGSA’s office, the Committee
made the following observations:
a)
Committee’s
observations in terms of the engagement with the AGSA:
·
The Committee noted the findings and recommendations
as presented by the AGSA.
Department’s
response:
The Department responded as follows to the AGSA’s concerns:
·
On Audit
Committee & Internal Audit
-
The Audit committee was appointed on the 01 October
2011.
-
Interviews for the Director, Internal Audit were
conducted on the 06 October 2011 and the appointment would be finalized soon.
·
In terms of
strategic planning and performance management
·
The Department had drafted the strategic plan for 2011-2014
and the annual performance plan 2011-2012/12 to ensure that the concerns of the
AGSA are addressed.
·
Human
resource and compensation management
·
The Human resource Plan had been submitted to DPSA as
required by the Public Service Regulations.
·
Performance Agreements for SMS members for 2011/12 had
been submitted.
·
Pay-points had been created as per the Treasury
Regulations 8.3.4.
·
Procurement
& Contract Management
· Support
staff had been appointed since June 2011 in Supply Chain Management to solve
these matters as well as the Director: Supply Chain Management.
· Supply Chain
Management policy documents had been finalised and are being implemented.
· All service
providers are now expected to produce tax certificates.
·
Internal
control
·
Leadership
The Department had appointed staff
on management level to ensure compliance with applicable laws and to ensure
monitoring controls are in place for sound financial management.
·
Governance
The Risk Assessment would be done as
soon as the Internal Audit component is up and running in consultation with all
relevant business units.
b)
General
·
The Committee noted that the Department did not have a
strategic plan and an annual performance plan for 2010/11 thus making it
difficult for the Committee to measure the Department’s performance against approved
objectives.
·
The Committee noted that a lack of leadership within the
Department was concerning hence it would appear that there was no guidance
provided to support officials within the Department for the period under review.
·
The Committee noted with concern that the Department
objectives, targets and respective indicators did not always correlate with
each other thus evaluating progress hereto very difficult. In most instances,
the targets identified were too broad, unrealistic and did not clearly link to
how the achievement of such an endeavour would give effect to the Department’s
mandate. Overall concern by the Committee was that in most instances the
targets were not achieved.
·
The Committee observed that most of the activities the
Department reported on as achievements related to the development of draft
concept papers, attendance at meetings and conferences, collaborations and consultations
– the outcomes of which were unclear. Hence the Committee questioned how such
activities would impact on and improve the lives of women, children and persons
with disabilities in the country.
·
The Committee was concerned that it appeared as if the
Department was relying largely on the information obtained from other
Government Departments in order to monitor and evaluate outcomes in relation to
women, children and persons with disabilities. This was considered problematic
for the Committee as it would appear the Department was to some extent
reporting on the achievements of what other Government Departments had implemented
as opposed to the monitoring and evaluation hereto.
·
The Committee was concerned at how the Department will
achieve its mandate given that the mandate involved 3 sectors across all
Government Departments. It was also unclear as to what the exact nature of the
relationship between the Department for Women, Children and People with
Disabilities and the Ministry for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation was.
Department’s response:
a)
The Department has subsequently developed a strategic plan
(2011-2014) and an annual performance plan (2011-2012).
b)
The Department noted the Committees concern regarding
conferences and responded that the recent Women’s Conference and the Disabled
Peoples' International 8th World Assembly yielded important resolutions which
will definitely have an impact on improving the lives of women and persons with
disabilities in
c)
The Department has hosted several meetings in terms of the
national gender machinery, children’s machinery and national disability
machinery.
c) Programme related observations
Administration
·
The Committee noted that the Department stated in
their annual report for financial year 2010/11 that Programme 1: Administration
was non-existent as the Department was reliant on the Presidency’s Corporate
Service support and raised a concern in this regard.
WEGE
·
The Committee queried what the relationship between
the Department and the Commission for Gender Equality was insofar as ensuring
that there is no duplication in terms of the WEGE programme.
·
The Committee requested a progress report on the
establishment of the Women’s Empowerment Fund.
Children’s Rights and
Responsibilities
• The Committee noted that
the only 9000 beneficiaries will benefit with regards to the sanitary dignity
campaign. The overall concern in relation to this initiative was whether in
fact such an endeavour gives effect to the Department’s
mandate in the manner in which it was being implemented. Furthermore, the
Committee queried what criterion was applied for selecting the beneficiaries
and if indeed the dignity of the girls were maintained when the sanitary towels
were dispensed. Overall, the Committee was concerned about the sustainability
of the campaign and its effectiveness based on the Committee’s oversight
observations in the
·
The Committee was concerned as to how the target of
“Education for all Children in
Rights of People with
Disabilities
·
The Committee noted with concern that the Department
had under-spent on the programme for the rights of people with disabilities. Poor
delivery in this regard was hugely problematic given the dire needs of people
with disabilities in the country and of issues that arose during the
Committee’s oversight visits to various provinces.
·
In addition, the Committee reminded the Department
that it was the lead Department insofar as the rights of persons with
disabilities was concerned and as such should prioritise reaching
the 2 per cent employment target for persons with disabilities.
·
The Committee was concerned that developing a
questionnaire to undertake an audit of special schools was in and by itself
insufficient progress for a year. Furthermore, based on the Committee’s
engagement with the Department of Basic Education on matters related to
children with disabilities and schools it is unclear as to what the Department
for Women, Children and People with Disabilities intends doing in this regard
as an audit has been previously undertaken by the Department of Basic
Education. Thus once again bringing into question the duplication of
initiatives that the Department for Women, Children and People with
Disabilities wanting to undertake when such initiatives have been done by
another Department.
Department’s response to programmatic issues:
·
The Department noted that the CGE does not report to
but it is accountable to Parliament. In terms of Vote 7, the CGE’s funding
allocation falls within the WEGE programme hence the Department makes a
financial transfer in this regard.
·
The Department had entered into several Memorandums of
Understandings with various Departments not only in relation to the Sanitary
Dignity Campaign but also other initiatives such as the Child Friendly Cities
Initiative and Women’s economic empowerment.
·
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
(UNCSW): The Department paid for travel and accommodation for 7 officials to attend the UN Commission on the Status of
Women. The Department reported that the UNCSW focused on rural development and
the theme for the Department will be empowering women in rural areas.
·
The Department is working with the Department of
Economic Development on the Women’s Empowerment Fund and would report on
progress to the Committee.
·
The Department acknowledged the concerns regarding the
programme pertaining to people with disabilities and indicated that the
Minister and the Director General had engaged on the matter and a plan was in
place to address the issue. In addition, the Department indicated that it had
currently appointed a Chief Director to lead the programme for children and
people with disabilities.
9.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Committee congratulated the Department on receiving
an unqualified audit opinion but noted with concern the emphasis of matters as
stipulated by the Auditor General of
10.
Recommendations
The
Committee recommends that:
General
a) The
Department addresses concerns as highlighted by the Committee and report on
progress accordingly in terms of the in-year monitoring reports.
b) The
Department’s objectives, targets and indicators should be linked accordingly to
clear time frames bearing in mind the overall mandate. These targets should be
reviewed so that they are more specific and narrow.
c) The
Department should strengthen relationships with other Government Departments
and civil society through engagement with the national gender machinery,
children’s machinery and national disability machinery.
AGSA
findings
d) The
Department take heed of matters of emphasis as highlighted by the AGSA, as well
as promptly implement recommendations and corrective measures as set out by the
AGSA in its audit report on the Department. Hence, the Department should
provide the Committee with the action plan that gives effect to the Auditor General’s
Programme
performance
e)
The Sanitary Dignity Campaign requires review insofar
as the Department’s role is concerned – that is co-ordination. In addition, the
impact of the campaign should be assessed to determine its sustainability and
effectiveness. The dignity, privacy and respect of the beneficiaries (young
girls) must be ensured.
f)
The outcomes of attendance at conferences, meetings
and collaborations should be more apparent in its reporting on progress.
g)
In terms of the target related to “Education for all
children in
h)
In terms of treaty compliance and monitoring of key
legislation, the Department should separate each piece of legislation/treaty
with corresponding targets when reporting progress.
i)
The Department, as a matter of urgency should address
the challenges in relation to human resource constraints, particularly for the
Programme for Persons with Disabilities.
j)
The Department needs to provide clarity on the status
and nature of the various MOUs it had signed.
Report to be considered.