ATC131101: The 2013 Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the National Treasury, dated 30 October 2013

Finance Standing Committee

The 2013 Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the National Treasury, dated 30 October 2013

The Standing Committee on Finance, having assessed the performance of the National Treasury for the 2012/13 financial year, and the first quarter of the 2013/14 financial year reports as follows:

Introduction

In terms of section 5(2) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act (No. 9 of 2009), committees must annually submit Budgetary Review and Recommendation Reports for tabling in the National Assembly for each department. A Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report must provide an assessment of a department’s service delivery performance given available resources, an assessment on the effectiveness and efficiency of a department’s use and forward allocation of available resources, and it may include recommendations on the forward use of resources.

The Mandate and Role of the Committee

The Standing Committee on Finance was established in terms of section 4(1) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act. The mandate of the Committee is conferred to it by the Constitution, legislation, the standing rules or a resolution of the House, including consideration and report on the following:

· The national macro-economic and fiscal policy;

· Amendments to the fiscal framework, revised fiscal framework and revenue proposals and Bills;

· Actual revenue published by the National Treasury; and

· Any other related matter set out in the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act.

Furthermore, the mandate encompasses the committee’s function to legislate, conduct oversight on the Executive’s actions and its entities. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act makes provisions for a procedure for this committee to amend money bills.

Methodology.

In complying with section 5(2) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, the Standing Committee on Finance held a meeting on the 2012/13 Annual Report of National Treasury. The Office of the Auditor-General was also invited to give input during the Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report process. The report therefore reflects key issues that were identified by the Committee.

Mandate and role of National Treasury

The National Treasury is responsible for managing South Africa’s national government finances, and draws its mandate from Chapter 2 of the Public Finance Management Act, together with Chapter 13 of the Constitution, 1996. National Treasury continued to monitor the impact of the global financial crisis and was able to find appropriate responses (interest rates were cut five times, increased the pace of government expenditure etc).

The budget process was enhanced as a result of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, and National Treasury’s capacity was increased by creating a division handling international and regional economic policy.

The legislative mandate of the National Treasury includes developing and prescribing measures to ensure equitable resource allocation and proper expenditure control in each sphere of government, as well as to ensure that this function is executed in a transparent manner. The National Treasury does this by advocating and ensuring adherence to the following guidelines and procedures:

· Generally Recognised Accounting Practice;

· Uniform Expenditure Classifications;

· Uniform treasury norms and standards;

As the custodian of state funds, the National Treasury is therefore responsible for coordinating departments’ budgets in all spheres of government. The Treasury’s role in this regard is to ensure that appropriated funds are transferred to departments for implementation of government priorities, and that government expenditure is continuously monitored.

The primary function of the National Treasury is to support economic growth and development, promote good governance and social progress through fostering accountable, economical, efficient, equitable and sustainable management of public finances. A concomitant commitment to maintain macroeconomic and financial sector stability and ensure effective regulation of the economy is delineated in the Department’s legislative mandate [1] .

Strategic Overview of National Treasury

The National Treasury is responsible for managing South Africa’s national government finances and draws its mandate from Chapter 2 of the Public Finance Management Act, together with Chapter 13 of the Constitution.

National Treasury contributes directly to outcomes 4 (Decent employment through inclusive economic growth ), 9 ( A responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system ) and 12 ( An efficient, effective and development oriented public service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship ) of the 12 outcomes that directly address the main strategic priorities of the South African government.

In his 2013 statement of policy and commitment, the Minister of Finance reiterates National Treasury’s commitment to enabling South Africa’s economic recovery as well as maintaining social expenditure. The net result is a projected real increase in the growth of expenditure of 2.3 per cent. The Minister stated that “ apart from interest payments, the fastest-growing expenditure category over the next three years will be real capital spending. Increasing investment in infrastructure will boost the economy’s capacity and efficiency, and improve the living standards of all South Africans ” [2] .

The Strategic goals of the department outline its plan for realising its mandate over the medium term. These goals are critical in informing the structure of the department’s programmes and remain unchanged from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2012/16).

In this regard, the department lists the following strategic objectives:

· Prepare, finance, publish and monitor the execution of the annual national budget to provide accurate and clear financial information and associated indicators of service delivery and performance;

· Improve techniques employed to monitor and analyse public expenditure by further refining applicable financial management frameworks and policies to ensure the appropriate use of available public financial resources for social and economic development, and infrastructure investment;

· Contribute to improved capacity in the areas of financial management and resource planning in government through various skills development programmes tailored for these purposes;

· Contribute to the development of a stable and robust financial sector that leads to continued economic stability and growth by continuing to monitor financial sector performance and developing financial sector policies and regulatory frameworks;

· Support infrastructure and urban development through various programmes including the infrastructure development improvement programme, the neighbourhood development partnership programme and the cities support programme, among others;

· Promote public private partnerships as a financing alternative for development, where feasible; and

· Enhance supply chain management in government through the establishment of the chief procurement office, which will provide a blueprint in addressing supply chain principles in order to reduce wastage and maximise value-for-money in the public sector. [3]

To give effect to its strategic goals, the department has organised itself into the following programmes:

· Administration;

· Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research;

· Public Finance and Budget Management;

· Asset and Liability Management;

· Financial Systems and Accounting;

· International Financial Relations;

· Civil and Military Pensions, Contributions to Funds and Other Benefits;

· Technical Support and Development Finance;

· Revenue Administration; and

· Financial Intelligence and State Security.

In the department’s Strategic Plan 2012/16, the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, notes the transition of the department’s medium term expenditure framework towards economic growth, investment and job creation [4] .

This was reflected in the department’s restructuring of its programme architecture in 2011 from nine programmes to the present ten programmes [5] . In particular, the creation of a specialised programme to deal with economic policy, tax, financial regulation and research, may prove relevant in assisting the department in fulfilling its mandate.

The only significant alterations to the strategic objectives of the department have been classified by National Treasury as operational adjustments in response to the evolving economic environment. The adjustments refer to the activation of two reforms that have been under consideration for several years, namely the Government Technical Advisory Service (GTAC) and the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO).

The GTAC was established in 2012 with the mandate of providing technical support and advice to public entities to improve the quality of public spending. Once the GTAC is fully staffed and operational it will necessitate amendments to the structure of Programme 8: technical and Management Support and Development Finance. Essentially it is envisaged that the GTAC will operate with a greater degree of autonomy than the Technical Assistance Unit that is currently operating with National Treasury [6] .

The OCPO was announced by the Minister of Finance during his 2012 budget speech and was expected to be operational within months. The OCPO will fall under the ambit of the National Treasury and aims to modernise the procurement system across all public entities. The system proposed should be fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. The 2013/17 Strategic Plan indicates intention to launch the office as a functioning service in the National Treasury. The OCPO will bring credibility to the government’s intention to fight corruption, and will be introduced as a new Programme in the National Treasury during 2014/15. National Treasury has advised that this will result in adjustments to Programme 5: Financial Accounting and Reporting with other Programmes set to be effected to a lesser extent [7] .

In the department’s latest Strategic Plan 2013/17, the need to do things differently is stressed. To this effect, the department had adopted a forward-looking strategic view to inform the actions needed to usher the South African economy out of the doldrums of the financial crisis that has plagued economies worldwide over the past five years [8] .

In this regard, it is important to recognise that the 2013/14 budget was the first budget formulated under the guise of the recently adopted National Development Plan (NDP). As is recommended by the NDP, National Treasury has begun to give effect to the recommendation to shift expenditure from consumption to capital expenditure [9] .

The NDP explicitly states that the target for gross fixed capital formation as a percentage of GDP is 30 per cent by 2030, with public sector investment reaching 10 per cent of GDP [10] . It is envisaged that this strategic shift in expenditure will enhance the capacity of the economy to grow and create jobs as well as enable the more efficient delivery of basic services to the general public.

Other significant developments include the reviewing of the tax system, which is to be led by Judge Dennis Davis. The department recognises the pivotal role played by the tax system in promoting economic growth. In addition, the department is seeking to restructure the tax system in such a way that the hitherto erosion of the tax base via tax avoidance behaviour is militated against.

According to a statement released by the department, it was advised that " the committee will, in its work take into account recent domestic and global developments and, in particular, the long term objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP) ” [11] .

Other new developments include a renewed focus on the improvement of the quality of public spending through an expenditure review conducted in collaboration with the Department of Performance Management and Evaluation (DPME), the promotion of employment through the long heralded tabling of the youth employment tax incentive as well as the continued advancement of sovereign interests [12] .

Policy Priorities for 2013/14

National Treasury is committed to aligning its policy priorities with those delineated in the National Development Plan. In order for the objectives of The National Development Plan (NDP) to be realised, a stable and enabling macroeconomic environment platform is required [13] .

In his 2013 budget speech, Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan stressed the importance of the NDP by stating that it “ outlines interventions that can put the economy on a better footing. The target for job creation is set at 11 million by 2030 and the economy needs to grow threefold to create the desired jobs ” [14] .

A prominent feature of the NDP is it’s prioritisation of the development of infrastructure for economic growth and employment.

National Treasury recognises that Public-Private-Partnerships will be an imperative in securing the required investment necessary to facilitate the R827 billion infrastructure programme announced by Minister Gordhan in his 2013 budget speech.

Several initiatives are to be undertaken in the coming year in this regard. The Neighbourhood Development Partnership Programme is specifically mentioned by the department as an effective tool in ameliorating derelict township infrastructure through partnerships with the private sector.

In terms of job creation, the department has established the Jobs Fund to facilitate sustainable job creation through the co-financing of projects approved by the fund.

Finally, the National Treasury intends to focus expenditure on what it describes as a “multipronged approach [15] ” to building state capacity.

Budget allocation Snapshot

Table 1: Expenditure per programme: 2012/13

Programme	Budget				Nominal Rand change	Real Rand change	Nominal % change	Real % change
R million	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2012/13-2013/14		2012/13-2013/14
Administration	315.2	341.7	348.6	368.7	26.5	8.4	8.41 %	2.66 %
Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research	116.5	145.9	151.2	158.0	29.4	21.7	25.24 %	18.59 %
Public Finance and Budget Management	241.4	252.3	260.8	270.2	10.9	- 2.5	4.52 %	-1.03 %
Asset and Liability Management	280.5	2 995.2	3 342.6	3 117.7	2 714.7	2 555.9	967.81 %	911.18 %
Financial Systems and Accounting	664.7	724.6	756.2	779.8	59.9	21.5	9.01 %	3.23 %
International Financial Relations	1 039.1	1 112.5	1 206.2	1 261.3	73.4	14.4	7.06 %	1.39 %
Civil and Military Pensions, Contributions to Funds and Other Benefits	3 266.6	3 497.0	3 722.8	3 967.9	230.4	45.0	7.05 %	1.38 %
Technical Support and Development Finance	1 998.1	2 777.8	3 623.3	3 115.8	779.7	632.4	39.02 %	31.65 %
Revenue Administration	9 149.4	9 534.4	9 983.7	10 335.6	385.0	-120.6 %	4.21 %	-1.32 %
Financial Intelligence and State Security	3 982.1	4 174.6	4 346.3	4 494.8	192.5	-28.9 %	4.83 %	-0.73 %
TOTAL	21 053.6	25 556.0	27 741.8	27 869.9	4 502.4	3 147.2	21.4 %	14.95 %

Source: National Treasury – Vote 10 (2013)

The overall budget for the National Treasury was increased by 21.4% for the 2013/14 financial year. The vast majority of the growth was as a result of the 967.81% increase in the budget for the Asset and Liability Management programme for the recapitalisation of the Land and Agricultural Bank, Postbank and the Development Bank of South Africa.

Other notable changes included a 25.24% increase in the budget for Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research programme as well as a 39.02% increase in planned expenditure for the Technical Support and Development Finance programme.

The following detailed programme analysis will assess the relationship, since 2009, between the growth in a programme’s budget and the extent to which the programme has achieved its set targets.

The department’s budgetary allocations for 2014/15 are scrutinised within this context.

Detailed Programme Analysis

The detailed programme analysis incorporates the quarterly expenditure reports from 2011/12 to 2012/13, the annual reports from 2009/10 to 2012/13 as well as the corresponding Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans.

The information has been arranged and presented to delineate the following:

1. The mandate and objectives of the programme;

2. the programme budget in relation to a trend analysis of its overall performance over the last four years; and

3. The performance outcomes of the department in relation to its planned performance targets.

8.1 Administration

Purpose : Provide leadership, strategic management and administrative support to the department.
Measurable objectives : The programme aims to ensure effective leadership, management and administrative support to the National Treasury through continuous refinement of organisational strategy and structure in line with appropriate legislation and best practice [16] .

Table: Programme 1 Budget Allocations

	Programme 1: Administration
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance
	242 800	248 700	281 067	26 533	9.4%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	19.2%	2.4%	2.3%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	12.1%	-1.9%	-2.7%
Planned targets achieved	92% (11 out of 12)	95% (18 out of 19)	92% (11 out of 12)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	321 138	55 079	21.9%	23 036	7.2%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	14.3%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	8.6%
Planned targets achieved					30% (15 out of 47)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
341 700	339 500	-2 200	20 975	24.7%	348 600	7.5%
	5.7%				2.7%
	0.1%				-2.8%	2.0%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

Growth in the budget for the Administration programme has been erratic since 2009. Periods of positive real growth in budget allocations (see 2009/10) have been followed by periods of negative real growth (see 2010/11 – 2011/12). The budget increase in 2012/13 has been followed by a relatively smaller real increase in 2013/14.

Whilst the main appropriation for 2013/14 represents a 0.1% real increase in comparison to the previous year, it is 14% higher than the 2009 budget after taking inflation into account.

Notably, the negative real budget growth from 2009/10 – 2010/11 was accompanied by a high standard of service delivery as exemplified by the percentage of planned targets achieved over the period.

Figure 1: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

Of concern is the fact that nearly 10% (R26.5 million) of the allocated budget for 2011/12 went unspent [17] . However, as at the end of the 2012/13 financial year, the programme had registered an improved 7.2% (R23 million) shortfall on expenditure.

Given that high levels of service delivery have already been achieved on relatively lesser budgets, the recent real increases in the Administration budget would be expected to yield significant marginal benefits in terms of service delivery. The outcomes of future annual reports will therefore be of particular interest to the committee in this regard.

The most significant increases in the budget for 2013/14 can be found in the Office Accommodation sub-programme which increases by R19.4 million, constituting a 20.1% real increase. This is significant given that this sub-programme represents the 2nd largest expenditure category within the Administration programme.

The department explains that this increase is to provide for the continued commitment for office accommodation as well as the installation of an uninterrupted power supply system, a generator and a public announcement system [18] .

A significant portion of the expenditure on consultants falls under the Corporate Services sub-programme, and has grown at above inflation (average growth of 6.8%) since 2009. To remedy this trend, National Treasury has committed to increasing expenditure on Corporate Services in 2013/14 by only 1.7% [19] . This implies the department plans to spend less in real terms on consultants in the next year. The committee welcomes this development and will request a detailed “reduction plan” from the department to decrease expenditure on consultants whilst developing “in-house” capacity.

The department remains committed to building additional capacity ‘in-house’ in order to reduce the demand for external expertise whilst not compromising the standard of service delivery.

The payments for capital assets budget has increased substantially from R14.2 million in 2011/12 to R21.8 million in 2012/13 with payments projected to contract to R12.1 million in the 2013/14 financial year. The increase is predominantly as a result of the rise in expenditure on machinery and equipment. The department advises that the sharp increase in expenditure in this regard relates to the building of capacity in the enterprise risk management function, upgrading the security system and improving office accommodation where required [20] .

Growth in current payments from 2011/12 to 2012/13 has been driven primarily by a 16 per cent rise in compensation of employees. This rise follows the 18.4 per cent increase from 2010/11 to 2011/12. The department has committed to a 5.3% increase in expenditure on compensation of employees from 2012/13 to 2013/14 in an attempt to better align the growth in compensation with inflation growth [21] .

Performance Evaluation

The departments strategic objectives and 2012/13 performance targets, as outlined in its 2012/16 Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan, were congruent with the performance targets stipulated in its 2012/13 Annual Report.

The department’s programme 1 achieved 32 per cent [22] of its performance targets in their entirety throughout the 2012/13 financial year. This outcome is partially as a result of the methodology employed in the reporting of performance information. Ambiguous performance information, relating to specific performance targets, resulted in several targets being recorded as not achieved.

Several units within the programme appeared to struggle with the implementation of internal policies and the development and implementation of frameworks. The Corporate Services unit did not achieve the majority of its knowledge management and Information and communications technology (ICT) targets. Considering that this unit received the lions-share of the programme’s funding (R107.2 million), its failure to deliver warrants explanation and redress.

The Management Unit’s performance was moderate with a troubling failure to ensure that 30 per cent of its Internal Audit staff posses a CIA/CISA (Certified Internal Auditor/Certified Information Systems Auditor) qualification. The department’s explanation that 40 per cent of its staff hold professional qualifications related to the audit domain was insufficient and failed to speak to the set performance target [23] .

In addition, there are several cases where the department’s performance targets were ambiguous and did not meet the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic And Time-Related) criteria. In such cases it is difficult to evaluate the department’s performance on the specific target. The department’s target of fully (100 per cent) implementing its Talent Management Framework is an example of this point. The department lists several specific indicators in response to what is a vague target.

This is concerning given that the department specifically targets Human Resources Management as a key area of focus over the next three years. In its strategic plan it states that “ Human Resources Management will continue to enhance efficiencies of the services it provides to the department. The critical focus will be on anchoring and maintaining an integrated, progressive and innovative HR Strategy. A sharper focus will be on partnering with business units to ensure operational progress with specific focus on attracting, developing and retaining high-performing and scarce skills. ” [24]

Another example is in the case of the programme’s target of maintaining the two-day in-year monitoring reporting, with effective awareness and monitoring of spending. Again the department provides several specific achievements which do not appear to directly address the target in question [25] . This makes it difficult to evaluate the department’s performance with regards to this performance target.

Based on a review of the department’s Annual Report and the corresponding Annual Performance Plan, the department has managed to achieve only one of its three financial management performance targets [26] .

8.2 Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research

· Purpose : Provide specialist policy research, analysis of legislation and advisory services in the areas of macroeconomics, microeconomics, taxation, and the financial sector regulatory system.

· Measurable objectives : The programme provides policy advice to promote growth, employment and macroeconomic stability. This includes conducting macroeconomic and revenue forecasts for the annual budget and the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), and the development of a tax and financial sector policy legislative framework [27] .

Table: Programme 2 Budget Allocations

	Programme 2: Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance
	71 900	86 100	210 364	69 897	33.2%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	1.6%	19.7%	144.3%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-5.5%	15.4%	139.3%
Planned targets achieved	75% (15 out of 20)	74% (14 out of 19)	72% (23 out of 32)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	122 508	8 230	8.9%	11 274	9.2%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-41.8%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-47.5%
Planned targets achieved					69% (9 out of 13)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
145 900	119 700	-26 200	9 225	30.8%	151 200	16.0%
	-2.3%				26.3%
	-7.9%				20.8%	10.5%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

After a 144.3% increase in the budget for the Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research programme in 2011/12, the budget was reduced the following year due to under-expenditure of 33.2%. Following on from the under-expenditure of 8.9%, on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure, and 9.2% under-expenditure, on planned Q1 – Q4 expenditure, in the 2012/13 financial year, the programme’s main appropriation for 2013/14 was 7.9% less in real terms [28] .

The budget for 2013/14 represents a 36% real increase in comparison to the budget of 2009 after taking inflation into account.

Notably, the positive real budget growth from 2009/10 – 2011/12 was accompanied by a relatively high and consistent standard of service delivery as exemplified by the percentage of planned targets achieved over the period.

Figure 2: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The most significant increases in the budget for 2013/14 can be found in the Economic Policy sub-programme; which increases by R5.9 million, constituting an 18.8% real increase. This is significant given that this sub-programme represents the 2nd largest expenditure category within the Economic Policy, Tax, Financial Regulation and Research programme.

The department explains that more than 60% of the programme’s expenditure is dedicated to the Financial Sector policy, Tax policy and Economic policy sub programmes. As a result, more than half of the programme’s expenditure is on compensation of employees whilst a further 22.9% is on goods and services [29] .

Nearly half of spending on goods and services is on consultants, with expenditure in this regard increasing by R4.8 million between 2009/10 and 2012/13.

Performance Evaluation

The departments strategic objectives and 2012/13 performance targets, as outlined in its 2012/16 Strategic Plan and Annual Performance plan, were congruent with the performance targets stipulated in its 2012/13 Annual Report.

The units operating under Programme 2 generally delivered on set performance targets. Overall, the Programme achieved 9 of its 13 targets, an achievement rate of 69 per cent.

The performance targets specified in the department’s Annual Performance Plan and Annual Report for programme 2 are difficult to evaluate given the vexed nature of determining the practical impact of economic and policy research.

This is exemplified by the performance information stated in the department’s Annual Report in response to the Economic Policy Unit’s target of improving benchmarking within the Unit. The department needs to develop a methodology for developing and evaluating targets relating to economic and policy research in order to enable effective oversight.

The department, in its strategic report 2012/16, stated that the financial sector policy unit will devote substantial resources to the implementation of the twin peak regulatory reforms and other proposals contained in a February 2011 policy document, “ A Safer Financial Sector to serve South Africa better ” [30] .

In accordance with this strategic objective, the department’s Annual Performance Plan set the 2012/13 performance target in this regard as ensuring that the “Twin Peaks” model of regulatory oversight is implemented in the 2012/13 financial year [31] . A thorough legislative process has resulted in this target being delayed. The department has since published a road map towards implementation. The committee remains committed to ensuring that the twin peak regulatory reforms are introduced speedily subsequent to the conclusion of the relevant legislative processes.

Another critical issue being dealt with by the Units within Programme 2 relates to the Tax and Financial Sector Policy Unit’s target of reforming retirement policy to promote increased access to financial services. The department’s strategic report indicates that during the 2011/12 financial year, the Economic Policy Unit will work with the Tax and Financial Policy Division to consider proposals on how households and companies can increase savings [32] .

The Tax and Financial Sector Policy Unit was expected to have finalised proposals to reform retirement policy by the end of the 2012/13 financial year [33] . However, other than hosting a global policy forum on the issue, it is not clear that the department has finalised its policy proposal in this regard.

Whilst it is acknowledged that the draft Tax Laws Amendment Bill currently before the committee addresses these issues to some degree, it is not clear whether the Bill represents the department’s full suite of retirement reforms.

Overall, Programme 2 continues to maintain a high standard of service delivery, although a miniscule drop in standards should be noted since the 2009/10 financial year. This could in part be explained by vague performance reporting and as such, the propensity exists for the planned targets achieved metric to normalise in the future.

8.3 Public Finance and Budget Management

Purpose : Provide analysis and advice on fiscal policy and public finances, intergovernmental financial relations, and expenditure planning and priorities. Manage the annual budget process and provide public finance management support.
Strategic objective : Promote growth, social development and poverty reduction through sound fiscal and financial policies, and the effective, efficient and appropriate allocation of public funds [34] .

Table: Programme 3 Budget Allocations

	Programme 3: Public Finance and Budget Management
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	145 400	160 300	209 878	13 449	6.4%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	1.9%	10.2%	30.9%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-5.2%	5.9%	25.9%
Planned targets achieved	69% (29 out of 42)	74% (29 out of 39)	74% (40 out of 58)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	247 315	14 257	7.8%	20 375	8.4%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	17.8%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	12.1%
Planned targets achieved					70% (58 out of 83)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
252 300	213 500	-38 800	12 475	23.4%	260 800	12.4%
	-13.7%				22.2%
	-19.3%				16.7%	6.9%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

Following modest growth in the budget for the Public Finance and Budget Management programme, the programme’s budget increased by 25.9% and 12.1% in real terms for 2011/12 and 2012/13 respectively. In contrast to the increases in recent years, the main appropriation for 2013/14 represented a 19.3% real reduction in planned expenditure in comparison to the previous year. This reduction can be attributed to a severe cut in the budget for the Programme Management for Public

Finance and Budget Management sub programme. The remaining four sub programmes received above inflation increases for the current financial year [35] .

The main appropriation for 2013/14 represents a 20% real increase in comparison to the budget of 2009 after accounting for inflation.

Service delivery has been stable since 2009. Notably, the 25.9% real budget growth in 2011/12 did not result in any significant movement in the percentage of service delivery targets achieved. The real increase in the appropriation for 2012/13 (12.1% in real terms) appears to have been accompanied by relatively consistent service delivery standards.

Figure 3: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

Under-expenditure in this programme appears to have been relatively small in comparison to other programmes, although the shortfall in planned expenditure for 2012/13 was 8.4%. This is an increase from the 6.4% of the previous year.

The department explains that spending over the medium term will focus on building capacity within the programme in order to provide better support to the national, provincial and local spheres of government [36] . The department makes specific reference to their objective of offering such support with regard to financial management, including budgeting and expenditure management.

Notably, the 2013/14 budget allocation for the Public Finance and Budget Management sub programme has been halved. This sub programme is responsible for the delivery of the programme’s key objectives including the coordination of the budget and the production of the Division of Revenue Bill for the three spheres of government [37] .

The department should detail the cost saving measures applied with regard to this sub programme and explain how these measures are likely to impact on the programme’s ability to deliver on its key objectives.

Performance Evaluation

The performance of the units within Programme 3 was generally good, which resulted in 70% of planned targets for the 2012/13 financial year being achieved. However, some of the performance targets within Programme 3 did not satisfy the SMART criteria. Examples come from the targets for the Public Finance Unit, which lists “ Timely and relevant analysis and advice ” as a performance target. The department needs to develop a methodology to allow for the setting and measuring of performance targets for programme 3 to allow for effective oversight.

A further example is the use of the phrase “phasing-in”. Such a phrase gives no indication as to what phase the particular target should have reached by which date. Again, this renders proper oversight difficult.

Some leeway should be granted to the department with regard to several performance targets which set difficult to achieve goals that may be challenging, if not impossible to achieve in their entirety. The department should be commended for striving for perfection. However, this does have the effect of lowering the programme’s percentage of planned targets achieved metric.

A typical example is the Budget Office’s target of ensuring that all 278 municipalities comply in full with the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulations (MBRR).

The department advise in their Annual Performance Plan (2012/16) that “ over the medium term period, expenditure (in Programme 3) is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent to R254.7 million, mainly due to increased spending on compensation of employees, which is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 6.3 per cent from R141.2 million to R169.6 million, in line with inflation projections ” [38] .

Compensation of employees expenditure has increased at an average annual rate of 19.7 per cent (compared to the planned 6.3 per cent) since 2011/12 [39] .

8.4 Asset and Liability Management

· Purpose : Prudent management of government’s financial assets and liabilities.

· Measurable objective : Manage government’s annual funding programme in a manner that ensures prudent cash management and an optimal portfolio of debt and other fiscal obligations. Promote and enforce prudent financial management of state-owned companies through financial analysis and oversight [40] .

Table: Programme 4 Budget Allocations

	Programme 4: Asset and Liability Management
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	31 053	20 814	825 860	3 953	0.5%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-50.0%	-33.0%	3867.8%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-57.1%	-37.3%	3862.8%
Planned targets achieved	74% (26 out of 35)	96% (46 out of 48)	84% (48 out of 57)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	282 807	2 264	0.9%	4 602	1.6%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-65.8%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-71.5%
Planned targets achieved					83% (53 out of 64)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
2 995 200	2 995 200	0	-1 970 200	-163.1%	3 342 600	154.9%
	959.1%				11.6%
	953.5%				6.1%	149.4%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The budget allocations for the Asset and Liability Management Programme have been highly volatile since 2009 as a result of the intermittent recapitalisation requirements of Eskom, the Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa, Postbank as well as the Development Bank of Southern Africa. These funding requirements fall under the Financial Investments sub programme.

Expenditure on the remaining five sub programmes is largely inconsequential in comparison to the allocations for Financial Investments. Nevertheless, these sub programmes have experienced modest growth since 2009.

Service delivery from 2009/10 to 2012/13 has fluctuated from good to exceptional with the percentage of planned targets achieved having stabilised at 83% in 2012/13. In fact, there appears to be little correlation between the amount of funds allocated for capital injections in a given year and the level of planned targets achieved.

Given the weighting of the Financial Investments sub programme, the figure below highlighting the growth in the real budget allocations for this programme, should therefore be understood as representing the fluctuating recapitalisation needs of the aforementioned entities.

Figure 4: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

2011/12 and 2013/14 can be viewed as years in which large scale recapitalisation was required, as is the case for the upcoming financial year.

In 2013/14, R800 million will be transferred to the Land and Agricultural Development Bank as part of the R3.5 billion in capital injections allocated to the entity over the period 2009/10 – 2014/15 [41] . The rest of the R2.9 billion in capital transfers budgeted for in this sub programme will be made up of transfers to Postbank and the DBSA [42] . The funding requirements for these entities will see a further R2.8 billion set aside over the medium term.

Performance Evaluation

The units within Programme 4 performed well and managed to achieve 83 per cent of their planned targets for 2012/13.

The majority of the planned targets were well phrased and enabled the effective assessment of their actual implementation.

The vast majority of the debt metrics monitored by the State remained within their set targets. The State was also able to raise adequate funds in both domestic and foreign markets to fund the budget deficit.

South African debt service charges were met in full and the department’s ongoing engagement with credit rating agencies on these issues surrounding the state of South Africans Sovereign debt is encouraging. The department advises in its strategic report (2012/16) that debt service costs for 2012/13 will be maintained below 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product [43] .

8.5 Financial Systems and Accounting

· Purpose : Promote and enforce transparency and the effective management of revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities in departments, public entities, constitutional institutions, municipalities and municipal entities.

· Measurable objectives : This programme aims to facilitate accountability, governance and oversight by promoting effective, efficient, economic and transparent management of revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities in each sphere of government [44] .

Table: Programme 5 Budget Allocations

	Programme 5: Financial Systems and Accounting
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	542 700	559 100	608 020	103 159	17.0%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	99.0%	3.0%	8.7%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	91.9%	-1.3%	3.7%
Planned targets achieved	94% (30 out of 32)	90% (35 out of 39)	69% (33 out of 48)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	686 335	-43 678	-11.9%	46 898	6.8%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	12.9%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	7.2%
Planned targets achieved					54% (29 out of 54)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
724 600	641 000	-83 600	51 250	32%	756 200	6.9%
	-6.6%				18.0%
	-12.2%				12.5%	1.3%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

After a near doubling of the budget for the Financial Systems and Accounting budget in 2009/10, the budget has remained relatively stable in real terms with the only notable exception being the 7.2% real growth in 2012/13 and the recent 12.2% reduction in real terms in 2013/14. The initial proposed budget for 2013/14 was identical to the 2012/13 budget after compensating for inflation. However, the actual realised main appropriation for 2013/14 is substantially lower than the previous year and represents a 3% real decrease in comparison to 2009.

In 2011/12, the programme under-spent on planned expenditure by 17%, which amounted to just over R100 million [45] . By the end of the 2012/13 financial year, the department had improved this figure with under-expenditure of 6.8% or R46.9 million. The department should provide an explanation for the volatility in actual expenditure in relation to planned expenditure as there appears to be a disconnect in this regard.

Another issue of concern is the substantial drop in service delivery standards from the laudable levels in previous years as can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The most significant increases in the budget for 2013/14 can be found in the Audit Statutory Bodies sub-programme, which increased by R10.6 million, resulting in a 29.5% real increase. The department explains that this is due to an increase in the capacity of the sub-programme as well as the phased implementation of the integrated financial management systems. However, this sub-programme makes up a relatively small proportion of the overall budget for the programme.

The largest portion of the budget goes to the Financial Systems sub-programme which makes up nearly 60% of the overall budget. Real growth in this sub-programme is flat for 2013/14.

The core objectives of the programme are predominantly addressed through this sub-programme. These objectives include improving the regulatory framework for all spheres of government as well as building capacity to ensure compliance with legislation and reporting policies.

The recently released Auditor General’s report for 2011/12 revealed that of the 536 audited national and provincial entities, 22% received clean audits, 55% received financially unqualified audits, 14% received qualified audit opinions, 3% were given adverse opinions whilst 6% remain outstanding due to non-submission of financial statements [46] .

Performance Evaluation

The business units operating within Programme 5 fully achieved 29 out of 54 planned targets [47] . This outcome is partially as a result of the methodology employed in the reporting of performance information. Ambiguous performance information, relating to specific performance targets, resulted in several targets being recorded as not achieved.

The Financial Systems Unit achieved the least number of planned targets achieved in their entirety. The Unit only managed to fully accomplish one out of its 11 performance targets. In the department’s explanations, the vast majority of the modules intended for rollout on 2012/13 were delayed for various reasons. In all cases, the net result is that implementation has not taken place.

The Financial Systems Unit received the bulk of the programme’s budget (R405.9 million) in 2012/13. To assist the unit with these challenges, it has received a 7.8 per cent increase in its budget allocation from last year to the current financial year. Notably, the budget for payments for capital assets such as machinery, equipment, software and other intangibles increased by 99.8 per cent from 2011/12 to 2012/13.

The Financial Management Policy and Compliance Improvement Unit did to fully deliver on selected planned targets. In particular, the Unit did not develop and maintain fraud and corruption prevention frameworks by the intended date (31 March 2013). The performance information provided by the department in response to this target did not adequately address the predetermined goals. The committee however welcomes the establishment of the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) within National Treasury. The OCPO will have the overall responsibility for monitoring procurement across government and is expected to greatly enhance financial management and compliance within government institutions.

8.6 International Financial Relations

· Purpose : Manage South Africa’s interests in shaping regional and global policies that advances the economic, financial and development objectives of our country, and those of Africa.

· Measurable objectives :

o Advance South Africa’s interests specifically, and those of Africa more generally, through regular strategic analysis, engagement and negotiation at financial and economic forums.

o Increase Africa’s voice and South Africa’s influence in international institutions and forums.

o Lead the reform of the governance and administration structures of African institutions.

o Promote integration and strengthen links within Africa by creating an enabling environment for economic activity [48] .

Table: Programme 6 Budget Allocations

	Programme 6: International Financial Relations
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	576 400	558 700	876 839	19 052	2.2%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	-3.1%	56.9%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	-7.4%	51.9%
Planned targets achieved	88% (7out of 8)	100% (4 out of 4)	100% (5 out of 5)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	1 040 498	123 342	60.5%	38 718	3.7%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	18.7%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	13.0%
Planned targets achieved					54% (13 out of 24)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
1 112 500	37 200	-1 075 300	-2 300	-24.7%	1 206 200	15.9%
6.9%					8.4%
1.3%					2.9%	10.4%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

After a minor reduction in the budget for this programme in 2010/11, allocations were increased by 51.9% in real terms in 2011/12 followed by gradually diminishing increases in 2012/13 and 2013/14. The budget allocation for 2013/14 appears to represent the levelling off of the budget for this programme at a level 58% larger than the 2009/10 budget after accounting for inflation.

Figure 6 shows the programme to have achieved exemplary service delivery standards over recent years with an unfortunate reversal in that trend in 2012/13.

Figure 6: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The department reports that 96.8% of the programme’s expenditure goes towards transfer payments to foreign governments and international organisations to “ meet the country’s international obligations ” [49] .

As of the end of the 3rd quarter 2012/13, the programme had varied from its planned expenditure target by 60.5%. The shortfall then fell to 3.7% by the end of the fourth quarter due to the nature of expenditure through transfer payments.

The primary financial obligations of the programme in the 2013/14 financial year are the recapitalisation of the African Development Bank and African Development Fund and the proliferation of the circulation of Rands to the common monetary area in accordance with the compensation agreement.

The Common Monetary Area Compensation sub-programme increases by R51.8 million or 3% in real terms to R653.9 million for the upcoming financial year [50] .

Transfers to the African Development Bank and African Development Fund increase by R26.6 million or 5.4% real terms to R268.6 million for 2013/14 [51] .

Performance Evaluation

The planned targets in Programme 6 are given effect by one division – International and Regional Economic Policy. The division has two chief directorates, namely African Economic Integration and International Finance and Development. The two chief directorates fall under the sub-programme International Economic Cooperation. The other sub-programmes are essentially responsible for transferring funds to various institutions in accordance with South Africa’s participation in the various associated forums [52] .

It is difficult to glean too much from the planned targets achieved data presented in figure 6 due to the inconsistency in the methodology applied by the department in reporting on planned targets. Prior to the 2012/13 financial year, the department had traditionally summarised Programme 6’s performance targets in fewer than ten target milestones. This however, is not the case for the 2012/13 financial year in which approximately 24 targets were reported on.

The disaggregation saw the assessed performance of the units within Programmes 6 experience a downturn, only achieving 13 out of 24 planned targets in full.

In general, the problem’s were not based on a lack of progress, but instead a lack of the full realisation of the planned target.

There are, however, a few key areas of concern worth focusing on. The planned target of developing the policy on One-Stop Border Posts and submitting it to Cabinet for approval was not achieved. This is not to say that no progress was made, but that no activity took place in terms of realising this target. However, given the widely acknowledged need for regional integration, the slow progress in this regard remains a challenge.

Other challenges include the slow progress made in several key negotiations including: developing South Africa’s new policy position on the new Revenue Sharing Formula (RSF) and developing a policy with regard to financial and technical assistance to African countries.

8.7 Civil and Military Pensions, Contributions to Funds and Other Benefits

· Purpose : Provide for the processing and payment of pensions to members and their dependants in terms of various statutes, collective bargaining agreements and other commitments.

· Measurable objective :

o To increase the level of client satisfaction through operational excellence.

o To enhance service delivery through enabling technology and well-documented processes in such a way that the results can be measured, monitored, and evaluated within a specific timeframe.

o To have an efficient corporate governance and financial management framework for the administration of the programme.

o To develop core skills and human capabilities to deliver professional and efficient administration services [53] .

Table: Programme 7 Budget Allocations

	Programme 7: Civil and Military Pensions, Contributions to Funds and Other Benefits
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	4 955 100	2 697 800	3 776 909	462 736	12.3%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	112.6%	-45.6%	40.0%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	105.5%	-49.9%	35.0%
Planned targets achieved	33% (2 out of 6)	78% (7 out of 9)	50% (5 out of 10)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	3 345 872	643 121	24.8%	8 157	0.2%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-11.4%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-17.1%
Planned targets achieved					43% (6 out of 14)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
3 497 000	51 900	-3 445 100	12 875	99.2%	3 722 800	-5.6%
4.5%					6.5%
-1.1%					1.0%	-11.1%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

In the 2009/10 financial year, the budget for this programme increased by 105.5% in real terms from 2008/09. Thereafter, budget allocations post the 2009/10 financial year have continued to exhibit high levels of volatility.

In 2010/11 the budget allocation was halved, followed by a 35% real increase in 2011/12 followed by another reduction in 2012/13 amounting to 17.1% in real terms. The 2013/14 budget allocation was therefore the exception to the rule in that it represented a significantly smaller decrease in real terms of just 1.1% in relation to the previous year.

As Figure 7 uses the relatively larger 2009/10 budget as its base, all subsequent budgets appear to be significantly discounted allocations. The budget for 2013/14 represents a 42% reduction on the 2009/10 budget after accounting for inflation.

Figure 7: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The ability of the programme to deliver on planned targets has been equally erratic with levels fluctuating from lows of 33% in 2009/10 to highs of 78% in 2010/11. This is in part due to the relatively lower number of set targets in comparison to other programmes, which effectively means that the service delivery record of the programmes is highly sensitive to unfulfilled targets.

A pivotal issue of concern is the under-spending experienced in this programme throughout most of the financial year, which registered at 12.3% in 2011/12 and was at 24.8% at the end of the 3rd quarter in 2012/13. The department has however made significant progress in this regard by adequately addressing this trend by the end of the 2012/13 financial year.

Given that 98.6% of the programme’s expenditure is in the form of transfer payments’ to households, 46.2% of which goes towards post-retirement medical scheme contributions, the under-expenditure in past years was as a result of backlogs in benefit payments. .

Performance Evaluation

Programme 7 has endured through several challenges in recent years. This has culminated in the amendment of the legislation governing military pensions, namely the Military Pensions Act 84 of 1976 which was tabled in Parliament during the second quarter of 2012 [54] .

The department indicated in its strategic plan 2012/16 that the programme has embarked on a modernisation agenda, and will in the next five years modernise and automate services. It is expected that this process will have the impact of improving the quality of service delivery [55] .

The percentage of planned targets that can be verified as having been accomplished has moved from 50 per cent in 2011/12 to 43 per cent in 2012/13.

The standard of reporting on performance information relating to the programme was sporadic, with some targets being specific and measurable, whilst others highly ambiguous.

The programme should however be commended for significantly improving the percentage of benefits paid on time as well as for accurately paying 98.8 per cent of all benefits. This is no doubt the outcome of the modernisation programme and represents a significant achievement.

Challenges do however remain, particularly with respect to the department’s target of responding to 80 per cent of customer calls within the prescribed service level agreement. The department achieved 74 per cent of the target in this regard due to capacity shortages.

Furthermore, the performance information associated with two outputs was not adequate to infer performance. The 2012/13 target milestone outlined in the department’s Annual Performance Plan 2012/16 and Annual Report 2012/13 did not specify a percentage level as is indicated in the associated measurement standard.

8.8 Technical Support and Development Finance

· Purpose : Provide specialised infrastructure development planning, improve financial management and implementation support, and provide technical assistance to aid capacity building in the public sector.

· Measurable objectives : Promote public and private investment in infrastructure and public services by providing technical support for organisational strengthening and capital expenditure planning. This includes advising on public-private partnerships, project management, infrastructure service delivery and financing alternatives for capital projects [56] .

Table: Programme 8 Budget Allocations

	Programme 8: Technical Support and Development Finance
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	5 310 700	1 471 300	4 641 940	1 778 644	38.3%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	-72.3%	215.5%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	-76.6%	210.5%
Planned targets achieved			85% (11 out of 13)

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	1 999 636	307 103	19.7%	5 345	0.3%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-56.9%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-62.6%
Planned targets achieved					75% (15 out of 20)

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
2 777 800	-	-	-	-	3 623 300	-7.4%
38.9%					30.4%
33.3%					24.9%	-12.9%
				-

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

Budget allocations for the Technical Support and Development Finance Programme have been highly volatile due to the funding of various projects over recent years. A good example is the once off R4.2 billion provincial transfer for the Gautrain loan in 2009/10. The implementation of the jobs fund though the Employment Creation Facilitation Fund sub-programme has also contributed to the volatility.

Funding for the jobs fund though the Employment Creation Facilitation Fund sub-programme has increased in 2013/14 by R666.1 million, representing a 107% real increase.

The Local Government Financial Management and Skills Development Grant, Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant and Employment Creation Facilitation Fund sub-programmes together account for 87.6% of the total expenditure in the programme [57] . In fact, the Employment Creation Facilitation Fund sub-programme alone accounts for 45.3% of total expenditure.

The challenge of under-expenditure within this programme in recent years has been remedied, with under-expenditure in the 2012/13 financial year of only 0.3%.

Despite the under-expenditure in previous years, Figure 8 reveals that the programme managed to meet 85% of its set targets in the 2011/12 financial year. Service delivery data for previous financial years does not exist due to the sub-programme being introduced in its current form in 2011/12.

Figure 8: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

Performance Evaluation

Programme 8 continued its stellar performance in terms of delivering on planned targets (75 per cent), albeit at a marginally lower level than the 2011/12 financial year.

In general the performance information was excellent insofar as it met the prescribed SMART criteria.

A notable exception was the performance information relating to establishing and implementing an effective governance framework as well as a monitoring and evaluation toolkit.

A further area of concern relates to the Infrastructure Delivery Capacity programme which aimed to train 108 people per province as well as ensure that 40 per cent of the Infrastructure Delivery Management (IDM) toolkit is used by the provinces. From the performance information provided, it appears as if the department did not meet the standards it set for itself in its Annual Performance Plan 2012/16.

8.9 Revenue Administration

Purpose : To allow the South African Revenue Service to provide core tax administration services and maintain the information technology services that support operations. Activities include branch operations, tax payer audits, call centre operations, processing operations, debt management and information technology support [58] .

Table: Programme 9 Budget Allocations

	Programme 9: Revenue Administration
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	7 148 400	8 142 200	8 653 573	0	0.0%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	13.9%	6.3%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	9.6%	1.3%

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	9 149 374	-11 249	-0.2%	0	0.0%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	5.7%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	0.0%

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
9 534 400	-	-	-	-	9 983 700	6.9%
4.2%					4.7%
-1.4%					-0.8%	1.4%

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The Revenue Administration programme is entirely made up of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) sub-programme which provides funds to provide core tax administration services and maintain IT services that support its operations [59] .

The Revenue Administration programme has the largest budget in the department amounting to R9.5 billion in 2013/14.

After a 9.6 per cent real increase in the budget allocation for transfers to SARS in 2010/11, the allocations have remained flat since with a marginal reduction in real terms for the 2013/14 financial year. A further real reduction of 0.8 per cent is expected in 2014/15.

According to the department, the increase in 2010/11 was primarily due to “ heightened border control activities, the start of specific customs projects, the graduate recruitment programme and the modernisation of ICT systems ” [60] .

The subsequent moderate increases can be seen in Figure 9, where it is evident that the budget allocation for 2013/14 represents a 9 per cent increase on the 2009/10 budget in real terms, with this figure reducing to 8 per cent in 2014/15.

Figure 9: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

8.10 Civil and Military Pensions, Contributions to Funds and Other Benefits

Purpose : Allocation of funds to combat financial crime including money laundering and terror financing activities, and to gather intelligence for purposes of national security, defence and combating crime [61] .

Table: Programme 10 Budget Allocations

	Programme 10: Financial Intelligence and State Security
	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Audited outcome R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	3 193 900	3 488 200	3 755 021	0	0.0%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	9.2%	7.6%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	-	4.9%	2.6%

	2012/13
	Adjusted appropriation R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q3 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q3 planned expenditure	Shortfall on planned Q1 - Q4 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 - Q4 planned expenditure
	3 982 121	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Nominal growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	6.0%
Real growth in budget allocation (yoy %)	0.3%

2013/14					2014/15	2009/10 - 2014/15
Budget Estimate R' 000	Main Appropriation R' 000	Virement R' 000	Shortfall on planned Q1 expenditure R' 000	% Variance on Q1 planned expenditure	Budget estimate R' 000	Compound average annual growth rate (%)
4 174 600					4 346 300	6.4%
4.8%					4.1%
-0.8%					-1.4%	0.8%

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The Financial Intelligence and State Security programme has the second largest budget in the department as of the 2013/14 financial year at R4.2 billion, with this figure decreasing in real terms by 1.4 per cent in 2014/15.

The primary objectives of the programme centre on the “combating of money laundering activities and terror financing activities” [62] .

In this regard, the programme is comprised of two sub-programmes, namely the Financial Intelligence Centre and the South African Secret Services (SASS). In 2013/14, R3.97 billion or 91.4% of the budget for this programme was transferred in its entirety to the South African Secret Services account.

Due to the substantial size of the SASS’s budget allocation (13.8% of National Treasury’s budget); an analysis of its real growth trend is appropriate.

Since 2009/10 and prior to the 2013/14 financial year, the budget allocation for the South African Secret Services (SASS) has consistently increased at levels above inflation.

The compound real average annual growth rate of the programme across the period 2009/10 – 2013/14 has been 1.4%.

Figure 10 captures the above inflation growth by revealing that the budget allocation for the 2013/14 financial year is 7% higher than it was in 2009/10, after accounting for inflation. It is important to note that this figure is set to decrease to 6 per cent in 2014/15.

Figure 10: Budget Growth versus Planned Targets Achieved

(Source: National Treasury 2009 - 2013)

The department has however embarked upon a gradual reduction in the allocation to the SASS over the medium term. In this regard, the department has committed to reducing the transfer to the SASS by R61.8 million in 2013/14, which represents a 7.3% reduction in the budget after accounting for inflation.

9. An Overview of the 2012/13 Annual Report of the department

9.1 Financial Statements

The department’s cash and cash equivalents position deteriorated substantially from 2011/12 to 2012/13, going from R2.3 billion to R110.8 million following a net decrease in cash and cash equivalents of R2.19 billion [63] .

The deterioration is primarily the result of the negative cash flow generated from operating activities of R2.33 billion. This appears to have occurred for two reasons. The first relates to the amount of annual appropriated funds received, which resulted in a 12.6 per cent reduction in comparison to the previous financial year. The second cause of the reduction was the R6.67 billion surrendered to the Revenue Fund which represented a 71.2 per cent increase from 2011/12 to 2012/13 [64] .

As a percentage of Total Revenue, compensation of employees has increased from 2.51 per cent in 2011/12 to 2.80 per cent in 2012/13.

An assessment of the current ratio [65] (current assets/current liabilities) reveals that the department has improved drastically from 1.0 in the 2011/12 financial year to 5.8 in 2012/13. The improvement is the result of the department paying down the voted funds to be surrendered to the Revenue Fund from R2.4 billion in 2011/12 to R158 million in 2012/13 [66] . The department is therefore highly liquid and should not encounter any problems servicing its existing short term debt obligations.

The department’s debt-to-asset ratio (total debt/total assets) has improved from 3.65 per cent in 2011/12 to 0.36 per cent in 2012/13. This means that in 2012/13, only 0.36 per cent of the department’s assets were funded by debt. The balance sheet of the department remains healthy despite total assets declining by 2.6 per cent.

Cash flow from investing activities remains negative from the last period, which is indication of the department’s intent to invest in capacity generating capital assets (the department invested approximately R20 million in capital assets in 2012/13, which is an increase from the R9 million investments in 2011/12). The department has again embarked on new issues of loans to the value of over R400 million.

Payment for consultants, contractors and agency/outsourced services increased by 69 per cent from R248 million in 2011/12 to R419 million in 2012/13. Similar increases occurred for entertainment (23 per cent increase) and travel and subsistence (20 per cent increase) [67] . The committee therefore welcomes the announcement by the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, in the 2013 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), to cut expenditure by senior officials on items such as cars‚ air travel‚ accommodation and entertainment [68] .

The department recorded no irregular expenditure for a second year running as well as reduced its fruitless and wasteful expenditure to zero.

The Auditor General (AG) found that there were no material findings on the annual performance information with respect to its usefulness and reliability. The Auditor General therefore found that the performance information was a fair and accurate reflection of the department’s performance [69] .

The AG found that the department had achieved an unqualified audit with emphasis on matters relating to the provision raised with respect to the Government Employees Pension Fund in which the figure had to be restated in order to comply with the amendments made to the Government Employees Pension Law [70] .

There were also other findings including that the financial statements submitted had not been prepared in material respects in accordance with the requirements of section 40(1) (b) of the PFMA. The auditors identified “material misstatements” in the submitted financial statements in respect of non-current assets and various disclosure notes [71] . These were subsequently corrected by management.

The AG subsequently highlighted that the department’s leadership had failed in its task to review the annual financial statements to avoid the material misstatements already mentioned.

Furthermore, the AG expressed that management did not comply with the financial reporting framework in preparing the financial statements and did not fully comply with the regulatory requirements of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) Act, 88 of 1998.

9.2 Human Resources

The department has a vacancy rate of 8.2 per cent with the most notable vacancies prevalent in Programme 1 (8.4 per cent), Programme 2 (9.1 per cent), Programme 3 (13.2 per cent) and Programme 6 (10.5 per cent) [72] .

The administration programme is short of 33 staff members whilst the fiscal and budget group programme is short of 35 staff members.

The vast majority of the vacancies exist in the highly skilled supervision (10.7 per cent vacancy rate) and senior management (8.4 per cent vacancy rate) salary bands. Out of the 907 funded posts at these two levels, 90 vacancies exist (9.9 per cent vacancy rate) [73] .

The turnover rates of staff in the department continue to be elevated at 10.9 per cent. Highly skilled production, highly skilled supervision, senior management service band A and senior management service band C all recorded turnover rates in excess of 10 per cent with the latter exhibiting a rate of 30.8 per cent. 93 out of 825 staff members in salary levels 6-12 either terminated their employment or transferred out of the department [74] .

61.6 per cent of all terminations were due to resignation, 13.6 per cent due to the expiry of employment contracts and 18.4 per cent left for employment in other public service departments.

Interestingly, the departments revealed that no skilled workers (levels 3-5) had been promoted to another salary level in the 2012/13 financial year whilst only 2.3 per cent of the 306 highly skilled production staff received promotions [75] .

A further observation relates to the use of sick leave by the various salary bands. In particular, it is notable that 100 per cent of senior management employees (all 166 employees) used sick leave in the 2012/13 financial year. This amounted to the loss of 100 working days. This is higher, in terms of working days lost, than all the other salary bands despite the fact that the senior management salary band is the second smallest in terms of staff numbers. For example, the highly skilled supervisions employees total 379, but only used 95 days sick leave in 2012/13 [76] .

One final issue relates to the employee reported to have been suspended for 365 days at a cost of R649 000 [77] . This warrants explanation by the department.

10. Deliberations

Following the interaction with the National Treasury, the Standing Committee on Finance required clarity on the following matters:

The Committee thanked the National Treasury for the report.
The Committee sought clarity on the irregular appointment of service providers, learnership, jobs fund and job creation, intergovernmental relations and service delivery agreements, as was highlighted in the presentation.
The Committee wanted clarity on the appointment of staff additional to establishment, and wanted to know if the National Treasury considered itself to be a profit-making organisation, since it had reported savings in money that should have been used for service delivery.
The Committee noted that the management of local government needed to be improved. Clarity was sought on what National Treasury considered to be an unqualified audit report.
The Committee emphasized that the National Treasury should pay careful attention to its asset and liability management programme.

11. Responses by National Treasury

With regard to questions raised and comments made by the Standing Committee on Finance, the National Treasury responded/commented as follows:

The people that National Treasury employed had impacted positively on the performance of the organisation.
The internship programme helped students gain employment and work experience, and some students had been employed on a full time basis across departments within the organization.
Not much information was available on the Jobs Fund, but information gathered on this was still underway. National Treasury made an undertaking that this information will be made available to the Committee within due course.
Improvement programmes for intergovernmental relations were in place, although it is an ongoing process.
The National Treasury, as far as possible, tried to comply with relevant legislation for audit purposes.

12. Conclusion and Recommendations

Based on the deliberations with National Treasury, the Standing Committee on Finance recommends that the Minister of Finance should ensure the following:

12.1 The National Treasury provide the House with a report detailing the following, as listed

per programme:

Programme 1 :

Clarify why the Corporate Services unit did not achieve its ICT related performance targets. Considering the unit’s relatively large budget of R107.2 million, detail how the department intends to ensure that the unit improves its performance;

The explanation as to why it did not ensure that 30 per cent of its Internal Audit staff posses a CIA/CISA qualification and explain what it intends to do to address its lack of capacity in this regard;

Explain the extent to which it has implemented its Talent Management Framework as this is not clear in its annual report;

Explain the extent to which it has maintained the two-day in-year monitoring reporting, with the purpose of raising the effective awareness and monitoring of spending; and

Explain why its Financial Management Unit did not cut costs on goods and services sufficiently so as to meet the 30 per cent savings target (the unit reportedly only managed to save 12 per cent).

Programme 2:

Detail its progress with regards to finalising its full set of proposals relating to retirement reforms.

Programme 3:

Detail the cost saving measures applied with regards to the Public Finance and Budget Management sub programme and explain how these measures are likely to impact on the programme’s ability to deliver on its key objectives; and

The plan to ensure that the vast majority of the 278 municipalities comply with the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulations (MBRR).

Programme 4:

Provide a detailed forecast of South Africa’s net debt, provisions and contingent liabilities over the medium term.

Programme 5:

The plan to reverse the downward trend in compliance with legislation relating to reporting policies within the Financial Systems sub-programme;

Explain the lack of implementation in Programme 5. In particular the inability of the Financial Systems Unit to implement planned modules;

Provide clarity on the expected finalisation date for the implementation of the fraud and corruption prevention framework; and

Programme 6:

The plan to fast track the advancement of South Africa’s interests in key forums in accordance with planned targets set by the department; and

Explain the slow progress made with respect to establishing a policy on One-Stop Border Posts. The explanation should include delivery timeframes in this regard.

Programme 7:

The plan to expedite the remedying of the extensive under-expenditure seen in the Civil and Military Pensions, Contributions to Funds and Other Benefits programme.

The plan to ensure that the customer call centre is adequately capacitated to carry out the obligations inferred by the relevant service level agreement.

Programme 8:

An overview of the status of the Local Government Financial Management and Skills Development Grant, Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant and Employment Creation Facilitation Fund sub-programmes, specifically outlining how the funds allocated in this regard are being utilised to achieve their objectives; and

In relation to the Infrastructure Delivery Capacity programme, the plan to ensure that 108 people are trained per province and that 40 per cent of the Infrastructure Delivery Management (IDM) toolkit is used by the provinces.

The explanation for the R303 million unspent funds residing in the Employment Creation Facilitation Fund as is detailed in the Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure. The department should identify the causes for and the plan to remedy the significant delays in finalising contracts with successful applicants and the difficulties experienced by funded projects in proving results and achieving contracted outcomes.

This report should be submitted within 90 days of the adoption of this report by the House.

12.2 The National Treasury should ensure that all programmes have measurable objectives

and expected outcomes.

12.3 The National Treasury provide the House with a report with proposals to strengthen

National Treasury’s human resource system within 90 days of the adoption of this report by the House. The report should specifically address the following:

The department’s plan to remedy the vacancies prevalent in the highly skilled supervision and senior management salary bands;

The department’s plan to retain skilled employees;

The effect these vacancies have had on the department’s ability to deliver on its performance targets;

The reason for the lack of promotions amongst levels 3-8 employees. In 2012/13, only seven out of 372 employees in those salary bands received promotions. This seems low compared to the 9.2 per cent and 7.8 per cent promotion rate apparent in levels 9-16;

The department’s explanation for the fact that 100 per cent of their 166 senior management employees used sick leave in 2012/13. Relative to the highly skilled supervisions employees, who total 379 but only used 95 days sick leave in 2012/13, this represents a substantial deviation from the norm;

The justification behind the suspended employee who has reportedly been suspended for 365 days at a cost of R649 000 to the department. In addition, the report should indicate if there are any plans for the employee to either resume employment or be terminated;

The “reduction plan” to gradually reduce expenditure on consultants by developing ‘in-house’ capacity; and

The plan to reign in above inflation growth in expenditure on compensation of employees.

12.4 The National Treasury provide the House with a detailed report on interventions to

rectify errors highlighted by the Auditor General, including:

The explanation with regards to the increase in the payment for consultants, contractors and agency/outsourced services by 69 per cent from R248 million in 011/12 to R419 million in 2012/13;

The explanation with regards to similar increases which occurred for expenditure in relation to entertainment (23 per cent) and travel and subsistence (20 per cent); and
The reasons for the failure of management to adequately review the financial statements before submitting them to the AG.

This report should be submitted within 90 days of the adoption of this report by the House.

Report to be considered.

[1] National Treasury (2013).

[2] Ibid.

[3] National Treasury (2013).

[4] National Treasury (2012).

[5] National Treasury (2010).

[6] National Treasury (2013).

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] National Development Plan (2012).

[11] National Treasury (2013).

[12] National Treasury (2013).

[13] National Planning Commission (2012).

[14] Budget Speech (2013).

[15] National Treasury advocates for the targeted expenditure on growth enhancing initiatives including but not limited to infrastructure development, skills development, and business focused tax incentives.

[16] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[17] National Treasury (2013).

[18] National Treasury (2013).

[19] Ibid.

[20] National Treasury (2012).

[21] National Treasury (2012).

[22] Performance targets assessed in this report are only considered achieved if the performance information provided by the department explicitly states that the target has been obtained in its entirety.

[23] National Treasury (2013).

[24] National Treasury (2012).

[25] National Treasury (2013).

[26] National Treasury (2013).

[27] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[28] National Treasury (2013).

[29] National Treasury (2013).

[30] National Treasury (2012).

[31] Ibid .

[32] Ibid .

[33] Ibid .

[34] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[35] National Treasury (2013).

[36] National Treasury (2013).

[37] Ibid.

[38] National Treasury (2012).

[39] Ibid .

[40] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[41] National Treasury (2013).

[42] Ibid.

[43] National Treasury (2012).

[44] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[45] National Treasury (2013).

[46] Auditor General South Africa (2013).

[47] Performance targets assessed in this report are only considered achieved if the performance information provided by the department explicitly states that the target has been obtained in its entirety.

[48] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[49] National Treasury (2013).

[50] National Treasury (2013).

[51] Ibid.

[52] National Treasury (2012).

[53] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[54] National Treasury (2012).

[55] Ibid.

[56] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[57] National Treasury (2013).

[58] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[59] National Treasury (2013).

[60] Ibid.

[61] Sourced directly from National Treasury’s Strategic Plan (2013/17).

[62] National Treasury (2013).

[63] National Treasury (2013).

[64] Ibid .

[65] Indicates the extent to which the claims of short-term creditors are covered by assets that are expected to be converted to cash in a period roughly corresponding to the maturity of the liabilities.

[66] National Treasury (2013).

[67] Ibid .

[68] 2013 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (2013).

[69] Auditor General (2013).

[70] Ibid .

[71] Ibid .

[72] National Treasury (2013).

[73] Ibid .

[74] Ibid .

[75] Ibid .

[76] National Treasury (2013).

[77] Ibid .

Documents

No related documents

ATC131101: The 2013 Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the National Treasury, dated 30 October 2013

Finance Standing Committee

Documents

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