ATC141023: Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report of the Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency dated 23 October 2014
NCOP Women, Children and People with Disabilities
Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report of the
Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency dated 23 October 2014
The Portfolio
Committee on Women in the Presidency, having considered the performance and
submission to National Treasury for the medium term period of the Department of
Women, Children and People with Disabilities, reports as follows:
1.
Introduction
1.1.
Mandate of
Committee
The mandate of the Committee on Women, Children and
People with Disabilities was 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.
1.2.
Description of
core functions of the Department
The Department for Women, Children and Persons with
Disabilities (hereafter referred to as the Department) was established to
emphasise the need for equity and access to development opportunities for
vulnerable groups in South African society. This Department was created in May
2009 to replace the former national multi-agency structures in the Presidency
which lacked sufficient financial and human resources and the necessary
authority to co-ordinate and oversee their mandates. The purpose of the Department
is to drive the Governments equity, equality and empowerment agenda with
regard to marginalised groups and historically disadvantaged communities in
each of the three sectors.
According to the Departments revised Strategic Plan
2013-2014, its vision refers to an empowered society that upholds the rights
of women, children and people with disabilities. The mission of the Department
is to mainstream the rights and empowerment of women, children and people with
disabilities through advocacy, institutional support and capacity development,
monitoring and evaluation.
The Departments strategic objectives are aligned to the following
programmes:
Administration;
Women,
Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE);
Childrens
Rights and Responsibilities (CRR); and
Rights
of People with Disabilities (RPD).
1.3.
Purpose of the
BRR Report
The Money
Bills Procedures and Related Matters Amendment Act (No. 9 of 2009) sets out the
process that allows Parliament to make recommendations to the Minister of
Finance to amend the budget of a national department.
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. Section 5 (2) makes
provision for the annual submission of the budgetary review and recommendations
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 departments service delivery
performance given the available resources;
·
Assessments on the effectiveness and efficiency
of the departments 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 2013/2014, the Committee consulted the following reports and
documents: Section 32 reports of National Treasury, the Department of Women,
Children and People with Disabilities Annual report 2013/2014, Reports of the
Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) and the State of the Nations Address
2014. All this information would assist the Committee to decide on the
performance of the Department.
1.4.
Method
In complying with Section
5 (2) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, Act No 9
of 2009, the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and people with
Disabilities held a meeting on the 2013/2014 Annual Report of the Department of
Women, Children and People with Disabilities on 14 October 2014. The Office of
the Auditor-General was also invited to give input during the budget review and
recommendation report process on 14 October 2014. The Committee was also briefed
and deliberated on the quarterly reports for 2013/2014 and the first quarter
report for 2014/2015. As such, this report therefore includes key issues that
were identified by the Committee.
1.5.
Outline of the
contents of the Report
This report provides
an analysis of the financial and programmatic performance of the Department of
Women, Children and People with Disabilities. The analysis takes cognisance of
what Governments key priorities are and how these affect women, children and
persons with disabilities in the country in order to determine what progress
has been made as well as identify the gaps and challenges that have to be
addressed.
2.
Overview of the key
relevant policy focus areas
2.1 Implications of the July 2014 State of the
Nation Address
The
President announced the establishment of the Department for Women in the
Presidency and the relocation of Programme 3: Childrens Rights and Responsibilities
and Programme 4: Rights of People with Disabilities to the Department of Social
Development. The purpose of the new Department was to elevate womens issues
and interests to lead, coordinate and oversee the transformation agenda on
womens socio-economic empowerment, rights and equality through mainstreaming,
monitoring and evaluation. As such, the Department of Women in the Presidency
is the custodian of women empowerment and gender equality.
2.2 Budget Review, MTBPS
The
budget of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities grew
from R172.2 million in the 2012/13 financial year to R198.3 million in the
2013/14 financial year.
Programme
|
Budget (R million)
|
||||
2011/12
|
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
2015/2016
|
|
Administration
|
42.8
|
63.8
|
91.6
|
97.5
|
102.9
|
Women, Empowerment and Gender
Equality (WEGE)
|
78.2
|
79.5
|
82.9
|
91.7
|
96.3
|
Children's Rights and
Responsibilities (CRR)
|
10.2
|
13.5
|
9.9
|
12.2
|
13.5
|
Rights of People with
Disabilities (RPD)
|
12
|
15.4
|
13.9
|
17.1
|
17.6
|
TOTAL
|
143.1
|
172.2
|
198.3
|
218.5
|
230.3
|
·
Although this was a nominal increase of 2.85 %, when inflation is taken
into account the budget has actually been decreased by 2.60 %. Thus, in real
terms the Department had less funding to work with than it had in the previous
financial year.
·
This Departments budget constituted a mere 0.013 % of the overall
national budget. In the previous financial year the Women, Empowerment and
Gender Equality (WEGE) programme consumed most of the budget at 55 %, however,
the majority of this budget was transferred to the Commission for Gender
Equality (CGE) as reflected in this financial year. In 2013/2014 financial year
however, the administration programme consumed 46 % of the budget.
·
In terms of economic classification, 66 % of the budget (R131.6 million)
was allocated to current payments, 61% of which was allocated for compensation
of employees. The balance (R51.3 million) was allocated for expenditure on
goods and services. In addition, 31.8% of the budget has been allocated to
Transfer Payments.
2.3 Outcome-based approach - Delivery agreement
targets for 2013/2014 and
2014/15
According
to the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, self-assessment
score-card per national department the performance areas are measured through
management standard/s. The Department of Women, Children and People with
Disabilities scored as follows
·
Critical areas of weakness: The Department of
Women, Children, and People with Disabilities were both down on the related
Governance standards of Ethics, Fraud, Internal Audit and Risk.
2.4
Overview of
revised Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plans
The Department for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities was
established to emphasise the need for equity and access to development
opportunities for vulnerable groups in South African society. This Department
was created in May 2009 to replace the former national multi-agency structures
in the Presidency which lacked sufficient financial and human resources and the
necessary authority to co-ordinate and oversee their mandates. The purpose of
the Department was to drive the Governments equity, equality and empowerment
agenda with regard to marginalised groups and historically disadvantaged
communities in each of the three sectors through an integrated approach to
accelerate the realisation of their human rights.
The Department draws its mandate from the Constitution and the 2009
Presidential proclamation establishing the Ministry and Department. The mandate
of the Department was to:
-
Ensure
equity and access to development opportunities for the vulnerable groups
in the South African society
-
Monitor
other Government departments to ensure the mainstreaming of gender,
childrens rights and disability considerations into all programmes of
Government and other sectors
-
Monitor
the extent to which the social and economic circumstances of women,
children and people with disabilities are improved.
The Departments strategic goals over the medium term were to
[1]
:
-
Coordinate and
facilitate the process of establishing the National Council Against Gender
Based Violence.
-
Mainstream womens
empowerment and gender equality, childrens rights and disability.
-
Consider Governments
policies and governance processes.
-
Monitor and evaluate
the mainstreaming of womens empowerment and gender equality, children`s
rights and disability considerations into governments policies and
governance processes.
-
Coordinate institutional
support and capacity development programmes for the promotion, protection
and advancement of women, children and people with disabilities.
2.5
Overview
of key developments in the organisational and service delivery environments of
Department for 2013/14 and 2014/15 MTEF cycle
In its presentation on the strategic plan in May 2013, the Department
identified the following strategic outcomes for the 2013/14 financial year:
Empowerment of women,
children and people with disabilities, facilitated for equitable access to
public and private programmes and services;
The rights of women,
children and people with disabilities realised; and
An increase in gender-based violence interventions
and violence against women, children and people with disabilities decreased.
In
the medium term, the Departments spending priorities were intended to be the
development of key sectoral policies on womens empowerment, as well as the
improvement of the Departments administrative capacity. The Department
allocated 42.2% of its total budget to the programme for Women Empowerment and
Gender Equality, in anticipation of the implementation of the Womens
Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill. As 72% of this budget (about R67.2
million) accounts for transfers to the Commission for Gender Equality, only
about 27.2% of the budget (R25.1 million) is left for the implementation of
programmes focusing on gender equality.
3.
Summary of previous key financial and performance recommendations of
Committee
3.1.
2013/14 BRRR
recommendations
Herewith a
summary of the key financial and non-financial performance recommendations made
by the Committee in the 2013 BRR report progress made in this regard, tabulated
below. The Minister of Finance responded to two of the recommendations made by
the Committee as noted in the 2013 BRRR.
Table 1: Reflecting back on BRRR 2013
2013 Recommendation
|
Progress and challenges
|
Financial performance
a)
It
is encouraged that the Department submit monthly reports to the Committee as
this will aid with oversight.
b)
All outstanding matters related to the
Turn-Around Strategy must be reported on to the Committee on a monthly basis.
c)
The Department must implement and adhere to
stringent daily and monthly financial controls.
d)
The Department must ensure that all funds that
are appropriated are utilised optimally to avoid under or over-expenditure.
e)
The Department is requested to provide the
Committee with regular reports for activities that incur Travel and
subsistence costs. These initiatives should clearly indicate the purpose of
the trip, the size of the delegation, the cost incurred, the outcomes of the
trip and an action plan as to how resolutions will be implemented.
|
Monthly Reporting
a)
Initially the Department submitted monthly
reports to the Committee but then stopped -it is unclear as to why. The AGSA
has noted lack of effective on daily and monthly controls as a problem.
Turn-around Strategy
(TAS)
b)
The Department has briefed the Committee on
progress with regards to implementing the TAS. This in turn the DG has indicated
contributed to the success of the Department in becoming more effective and
efficient. However, it is unclear as to what if any are the outstanding
matters of the TAS and by when will these be fully implemented.
Financial management
c)
Despite measures which the Department indicated
it has implemented - adherence to stringent daily and monthly controls was
cited as a problem by the AGSA.
|
Human Resource
a)
All key funded vacancies must be filled.
b)
The Departments skills audit must be completed
by December 2013 and an action plan of what is required to address the skills
deficit must be developed before the end of this financial year. This must be
submitted as part of the Departments Annual Performance Plan and revised
Strategic Plan to National Treasury for the coming financial year.
c)
The Committee reiterated the importance of
compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and National Treasury
Regulations by the Department and that failure of officials in this regard
must be dealt with expeditiously.
d)
Given the Auditor Generals findings pertaining
to the lack of internal controls and non-compliance with laws and regulations
as required by Treasury Regulations, training is essential for staff and
communicating policies and procedures to ensure that all staff are aware of
these.
e)
The Department must have a personal development
plan that is linked to a performance contract for all staff.
f)
Funding for personal development must be
increased and should not be used for any other purpose but what it was intended
for and ring-fenced.
g)
The Department must ensure that key vacancies
within the core Programmes (2, 3 & 4) are filled. In terms of the revised
human resource structure that would be submitted to the Minister of Public
Service and Administration, the Department must address the inequity between
support and core staff ratio. The policy development, research, institutional
support and capacity development, stakeholder engagement and advocacy
initiatives currently located in Programme 1 and costed for should be
mainstreamed and relocated into Programmes 2, 3 and 4 respectively in order
to enhance the performance of the core programmes
|
Vacancies
a)
The Department has been able fill key vacancies
but there are some still outstanding.
b)
The Department has submitted a new organogram to
the DPSA and NT for approval which have yet to be presented to the Committee.
Skills Audit
c)
The Department has highlighted the challenges in
trying to undertake and complete the skills audit. The outcome of which would
have a direct bearing on the proposed new structure for the Department as
this would inform the Department as to what the skills deficits are. The
Department would need to ascertain what capacity is required in order for the
Department to operate optimally so as to give effect to its mandate.
Compliance with policy
and laws
d)
The Department indicated that officials had
received training on the PFMA. However it is unclear as to how the Department
has dealt with officials that have not complied with the PFMA and National Treasury
Regulations.
Performance
Development Plan
e)
The Department indicated that all staff have
performance contracts which are linked to a performance development plans.
f)
Funds were appropriated for staff development.
Support
staff vs Core staff inequity
g)
It is still unclear as to how the Department has dealt
with the inequity between support staff (mostly located in Programme 1:
Administration) vs core staff (located in Programme 2, 3 & 4).
|
Infrastructure
a)
The Department should continue its discussion
with the Minister of Public Works to expedite all matters related to
accommodation of all staff within one building.
b)
All outstanding matters as noted in the
Committees oversight report pertaining to the visit to the Departments
offices should be addressed.
|
a)
The Department indicated that the conditions of
offices have improved.
|
Performance of Programme 1
a)
The Committee reiterated that more needs to be
done to improve the image of the Department through marketing.
|
The Department has a functional website and the disability programme
submits information via an electronic info-alert system.
|
Collaboration
a)
The Department (WEGE Programme 2) must strengthen
collaboration with the Commission for Gender Equality to avoid the
duplication of activities.
b)
The Department must strengthen collaboration with
the Public Service Commission and the Department of Public Service and
Administration.
c)
Collaboration between programmes within the
Department must be strengthened and this must be clearly articulated in the
next Annual Performance Plan.
|
The Department indicated that it continues to engage with all
stakeholders to strengthen collaboration.
|
Monitoring and evaluation
a)
The Department must disseminate gender audit
reports and make findings available.
b)
The Department must disseminate monitoring
reports on Governments compliance with the 2% employment equity target for
persons with disabilities.
|
a)
Department been able to conduct gender audit
reports
b)
The Department indicated to the Committee that it
should engage with the Department of Public Services and Administration and
PSC regarding Governments progress of the 2% target.
|
Implementation of policies
a)
The Department must devise an action plan that clearly
outlines by when and how the key policies that have been developed will be
disseminated to all Organs of State. All Government Departments must be
provided with an indication of how the policies should be implemented and
what type of information the Department would require for monitoring and
evaluation in this regard.
b)
The Department must clearly identify what the
proposed outcomes and key performance indicators are for each campaign it
intends embarking on. This should be established at the beginning of the
financial year with estimated costs for each initiative. All campaigns must
be evaluated and reports developed. An assessment of all campaigns must be
done on annual basis to determine the impact.
|
Integrated Monitoring and
Evaluation Strategy, Mainstreaming Framework, Advocacy Strategy &
Institutional Support and Capacity Building
a)
All the policies were finalised but the
implementation by Government structures is unclear.
National
Plan of Action for Children (NPAC), Draft National Disability Rights Policy,
National Policy for Womens Empowerment and Gender Equality
a)
The NPAC was finalised.
b)
The disability policy and womens empowerment and
gender equality policy is in draft form and will be finalised.
|
Treaty compliance framework and timeframes
a)
The Department must ensure that a plan is in
place and communicated with Departments well in advance as to what
information is required in the form of data/indicators in preparation for the
upcoming country reports. This plan must be made available to the Committee
and reflect in the next Annual Performance Plan and revised Strategic Plan.
b)
The Department must make every effort to ensure
compliance with treaty deadlines.
c)
The Department should submit country reports to
Parliament in advance to enable adequate time for the Committee to engage
with the content.
|
a)
The UNCRC and ACRWC reports were finalised and
the latter has subsequently been deposited at the AU.
b)
The UNCRPD country report was completed but has
yet to be submitted to the UN Committee.
|
National Council on Gender-Based Violence
a)
The administration and co-ordinating functions of
the Council should remain within Programme 1: Administration and National
Treasury should ensure that adequate funding is allocated in order to
function optimally.
b)
The content matters currently residing within the
Council that pertain to the research, development of the national plan to
deal with gender-based violence, monitoring and evaluation of the plan as
well as advocacy initiatives should be mainstreamed into Programme 2, 3 and 4
|
Location
a)
The Minister will make a pronouncement in this
regard and inform the Committee
.
Funding
b)
The Department that it received funding from National
Treasury but this was inadequate.
Mainstreaming
c)
It is unclear what the extent of the mainstreaming
has been.
|
4.
Overview and assessment of
financial performance
This
section provides an overview and assessment of reported financial performance
for 2010/2011 to 2015/2016; overview of finances for 2013/2014 as well as
projected financial needs or areas needing improvement in terms of spending for
the 2014/15 MTEF.
4.1.
Overview of Vote
allocation and spending (2010/11 t0 2015/16)
Table 2: Overview of allocation
and spending
|
||||||||
Programme
|
2010/11
|
2011/12
|
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
2015/16
|
||
Outcomes
[2]
|
Outcomes
[3]
|
Outcomes
[4]
|
Main
|
Adjusted
|
Outcomes
|
Estimates
|
Estimates
|
|
Prog 1
|
37 458
|
67 105
|
80110
|
91.6
|
92 511
|
82 599
|
97.5
|
102.9
|
Prog 2
|
60 816
|
77 196
|
77 572
|
82.9
|
82 643
|
84 472
|
91.7
|
96.3
|
Prog 3
|
7 742
|
8 735
|
12 006
|
9.9
|
9 383
|
9 230
|
12.2
|
13.5
|
Prog 4
|
11 038
|
2 910
|
9 554
|
13.9
|
13 775
|
11 148
|
17.1
|
17.6
|
Total
|
77 542
|
109 919
|
165 861
|
198.3
|
192 849
|
187 449
|
218.5
|
230.2
|
4.2.
Financial Performance
2013/14
4.2.1
Quarterly
spending trends, Adjustments for 2013/14, Post adjustment virement, Final total
and programme expenditure
The Department
received a final appropriation of R198.3 million for the 2013/14 financial
year. This included the transfer amount of R63.0 million for the Commission for
Gender Equality (CGE), leaving the Department with an operating budget of
R135.3 million. The Department reports under-expenditure to the amount of R10.9
million.
The figure below
depicts the spending trends for the Department per programme. It is evident
that most of the under-expenditure occurred in the Administration programme
(R7.3 million) and the Rights of People with Disabilities programme (R2.5
million). The Department ascribes the under-expenditure primarily due to vacant
posts.
Figure 1: Spending trends per programme 2013/14
In May 2013 the
Department presented its strategic plan and associated budget to the Portfolio
Committee on Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities and indicated how it
intended spending the budget, namely;
·
Administration 39%
·
WEGE 10%
·
CGE 32%
·
CRR 5%
·
RPD 7%
·
Intersectoral coordination and International
Relations 3%
·
Research and Policy Development 2%
·
Communications 2%
As such, outside
of the transfer to the CGE, the greatest proportion of the budget was to be
spent in the Administration programme at 39% of the allocation. In terms of the
actual spending trends, herewith a summary the based on the report of the
accounting officer in the annual report.
-
Administration 40%
-
WEGE 11%
-
CGE 34%
-
CRR 5%
-
RPD 6%
Hence, it is
evident that the Department had spent more than its projected allocations in
all programmes except in the Childrens Rights and Responsibilities programme
(where it spent the projected 5%) and in the programme for the Rights of People
with Disabilities (where it spent less than the projected 7%). It is not clear
where the funding allocations for communications, research and policy
development and inter-sectoral coordination and international relations were
subsumed.
4.2.2 Donor funding
The Department
indicates that it had received donor funds in kind to the value of R5.153
million. This is approximately R2.25 million more than in the previous
financial year. It reports that the funding was primarily used to drive and
implement programmes in relation to gender-based violence and economic
empowerment. However, in Annexure 1I: Statement of gifts (as reflected in the
Annual Performance Report of 2013/2014), donations and sponsorships received,
the value of donor funding amounts to R5.796 million. If one adds to the amount
in Annexure 1I the amount of R647 000 received from UNICEF in Annexure 1J,
it brings the total amount of donor funding to R6.443 million. There are also
items received which have no monetary value attached. It appears that the
largest contributors of donor funding and sponsorships are the National Lottery
Board (R2.5 million), the UNFPA (R1.6 million), UNICEF (R647 000) and the
UNPRPD (R636 000).
Figure 2: Donor Funding 2013/14
The Department
reports that due to insufficient funding it was necessary to establish
partnerships and work collaboratively where possible. Although this is
commendable, it is also concerning that some of the funding by donors was
towards core activities of the Department for which adequate funding was
available. For example, the Department received R585 000 from the United
Nations Programme on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNPRPD) for the
disability disaggregation of the National Disability Policy and the development
of an Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, while under-spending on its budget
in Programme 4 and not achieving planned targets.
4.2.3
Programme
1: Administration
The
purpose of the Administration programme is to provide effective leadership, management
and administrative support services. The objective is to provide comprehensive
and integrated strategic leadership, management and governance support to
ensure that the goals and objectives of the Department are effectively
executed. The Department aims to achieve these objectives through the following
sub-programmes: Ministry, Management (including strategic management,
intersectoral and international coordination, research and policy development,
internal audit, secretariat for the National Council against Gender-based
Violence), Corporate Services (Communications, Legal Services, Resource
management and financial management
Administration
financial information
Table 3: Programme 1 allocation and expenditure
Sub-programme name
|
Final Appropriation
|
Actual Expenditure
|
(Over)/ under expenditure
|
|
R000
|
R000
|
R000
|
Ministry
|
25 258
|
24 9722
|
286
|
Management
|
20 050
|
17 547
|
2 503
|
Corporate services
|
35 638
|
30 936
|
4 702
|
Office Accommodation
|
9 024
|
9 023
|
1
|
Total
|
89 970
|
82 478
|
7 492
|
4.2.4
Programme
2: Women Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE)
The purpose of this programme is to facilitate national and
international instruments into empowerment and socioeconomic development
programmes as well as overseeing and reporting comprehensively on the national
realisation of womens rights and the progressive realisation of equality.
The main strategic objectives of this
programmes aim to:
·
Mainstream womens empowerment and gender equality
considerations into governments policies and governance processes;
·
Monitor and evaluate the mainstreaming of womens
empowerment and gender equality considerations into governments policies and
governance processes; and
·
Coordinate institutional support and capacity
development programmes.
The Department aims to achieve these
objectives through three sub-programmes namely, Policy and Planning for Gender
Equality; Mainstreaming and Capacity Development for Gender Equality; and Monitoring
and Evaluation and Research for Gender Equality.
Womens Empowerment and Gender Equality financial information
This programme was allocated R85.285 million, however R63.080 million of
this amount constitutes the transfer payment to the Commission for Gender
Equality, leaving the programme with an operating budget of approximately R22
million.
Table 4: Programme 2 allocation and expenditure
Sub-programme name
|
Final Appropriation
|
Actual Expenditure
|
(Over)/ under expenditure
|
|
R000
|
R000
|
R000
|
Advocacy & Mainstreaming
|
8 942
|
8 932
|
10
|
Institutional Support and Capacity Development
|
4 091
|
3 969
|
122
|
Monitoring & Evaluation
|
9 172
|
8 491
|
681
|
CGE
|
63 080
|
63 080
|
0
|
Total
|
85 285
|
84 472
|
813
|
4.2.5
Programme 3:
Childrens
Rights and Responsibilities
The purpose of this programme is to ensure the realisation of childrens
rights and responsibilities by:
-
providing leadership
and support for planning, coordination and oversight over the MTEF period;
-
reporting
comprehensively on childrens rights policies and legislation over the
MTEF period;
-
developing and
maintaining a childrens rights and responsibilities monitoring and
evaluation framework
over the MTEF
period; and
-
participating in
sectoral coordination and in country childrens rights forums over the
MTEF period.
The Department
has identified the three sub-programmes, namely; Policy and Planning,
Mainstreaming and capacity development and Monitoring and evaluation.
Childrens Rights and
Responsibilities financial information 2013/2014
The following is
a table taken from the Departments Annual Report in relation to the
Programmes financial situation:
Table 5: Programme 3 allocation and expenditure
Sub-programme name
|
Final Appropriation
|
Actual Expenditure
|
(Over)/ under expenditure
|
|
R000
|
R000
|
R000
|
Advocacy & Mainstreaming
|
3 406
|
3 315
|
91
|
Monitoring & Evaluation
|
2 940
|
2 898
|
42
|
Institutional Support and Capacity Development
|
3 017
|
3 017
|
0
|
Total
|
9 363
|
9 230
|
133
|
4.2.6
Programme 4: The
Rights of People With Disabilities
The
purpose of this programme is to:
Facilitate
the translation of national and international instruments into empowerment and
socio-economic development programmes, and to oversee and comprehensively report
on the realisation of the rights of people with disabilities to equality. The
programme has the following sub-programmes:
Advocacy and Mainstreaming,
Institutional Support and Capacity Building and Monitoring and Evaluation.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Programme financial information
The following is a table taken from the Departments Annual Report in
relation to the Programmes financial situation:
Table 6: Programme 4 allocation and expenditure
Sub-programme name
|
Final Appropriation
|
Actual Expenditure
|
(Over)/ under expenditure
|
|
R000
|
R000
|
R000
|
Advocacy & Mainstreaming
|
3 845
|
2 706
|
1 139
|
Monitoring & Evaluation
|
2 590
|
1 868
|
722
|
Institutional Support and Capacity Development
|
7 259
|
6 574
|
685
|
Total
|
13 694
|
11 148
|
2 546
|
It is concerning that the budget continues to underspend on the
programme on the rights of people with disabilities.
4.2.7
Director Generals report on funding situation and Auditor General of
South Africa (AGSA) report
These are extremely important observations by the AGSA, which should
have been addressed by the Turn-around Strategy (TAS) of the Department.
The Department received an
unqualified audit opinion from the AGSA with emphasis of matter.
·
The AGSA found that the statements submitted
for auditing were not fully prepared as per the prescribed requirement by the
Public Finance Management Act (No 1 of 1999). They stipulated that material
misstatements were found, which were subsequently corrected, after the submission
thereof.
·
Insufficient internal controls were in
existence to ensure complete and accurate financial statements; and
·
Even though the Internal Audit Unit was
established, it was not adequately resourced and did not function as intended.
[5]
·
Funded vacant posts were not filled within 12
months as required by Public Service regulations.
The Director-General indicates that no unauthorised expenditure was
incurred for the 2013/14 period. However the Department incurred irregular
expenditure to the value of R3.872 million and fruitless and wasteful
expenditure of R15 000.
The irregular expenditure is attributed to only partial compliance with
supply chain management processes, while the fruitless and wasteful expenditure
is as a result of penalties charged on cancellations of flights and hotel
accommodation.
However, in the Auditor-Generals report and in the financial statements
[6]
it appears that the Department in fact has a total amount of R41 000 in
fruitless and wasteful expenditure R26 000 relating to the previous year
and R15 000 relating to the 2013/14 financial year. Also, in terms of
irregular expenditure, the financial statements indicate an amount of R3.947
million, with the bulk of the irregular expenditure relating to travel agency fees
(R2.345 million) and the remainder relating to SCM processes (R1.183) and human
resource management (R419 000). The Department reports that there are
investigations underway to address the SCM process related irregular
expenditure but does not indicate what is being done with regards to the other
irregular expenditure.
These are important observations by the AGSA,
which (i) were also identified by the AGSA in the 2012/13 financial year, and
(ii) should have been addressed by the turn-around strategy of the Department.
4.3.
Financial
performance 2014/15
4.3.1 Overall Financial Performance
·
The total budget for the year 2014/2015 is R218
million (including funds for the CGE)
·
Actual expenditure for Quarter 1: R46.949 million
·
Department spent 21% for
the 1
st
Quarter of the 2014/15 financial year.
·
The
largest element of operational expenditure to the end of quarter 1 in 2014/15
was R22 million spent under the Administration programme mainly on compensation
of employees and goods and services.
The
next largest element was R3.8 million under the Women Empowerment And Gender
Equality programme, followed by R2.7 million under the Rights of People With
Disabilities programme, again primarily for compensation of employees and goods
and services.
In terms of budgetary allocations for the 2014/15
period, the Departments allocation and programme budgets are as follows:
Table
7: Overview of budgetary allocations 204/2015
Programme
|
Budget (
R million)
|
||||
2011/12
|
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
2015/2016
|
|
Administration
|
42.8
|
63.8
|
91.6
|
97.5
|
102.9
|
Women, Empowerment and Gender
Equality
|
78.2
|
79.5
|
82.9
|
91.7
|
96.3
|
Children's Rights and
Responsibilities
|
10.2
|
13.5
|
9.9
|
12.2
|
13.5
|
Rights of People with
Disabilities
|
12
|
15.4
|
13.9
|
17.1
|
17.6
|
TOTAL
|
143.1
|
172.2
|
198.3
|
218.5
|
230.3
|
General Performance Commentary: 2014/2015
·
The Department achieved 18 out of 30 targets in the
1
st
Quarter.
Table 8: The
financial performance for Programme 1: Administration
Allocation
|
Cost
Drivers
|
Quarter
4 Targets
|
R 23.8 million
(actual expenditure: R22.04 million)
|
Compensation of employees & goods and
services
|
12/16 targets met (75%)
|
·
73.1% of operational expenditure from April
to June was on Administration,
representing
R22 million, mainly for compensation of employees and goods and services.
Expenditure under this programme has
increased by R2.6 million, or 13.6%, when compared with the same period last
year primarily due to additional spending on compensation of employees.
·
Compensation of employees is the main cost
driver in the programme. Of the total spending of R22 million in this
programme, compensation of employees accounted for R13.4 million or 63% of the
total programme spending. Another cost driver in the programme is goods and
services, which represents R8 million or 36% of the total spending in this
programme. The main spending items on goods and services are travel and
subsistence, property and lease payments to the Department of Public Works
(DPW) for the leasing of office accommodation as well as audit fees which
provide for payments to the Auditor-General for audit services rendered to the
Department.
Table 9: The
financial performance for Programme 2 (WEGE)
Allocation
|
Cost
Drivers
|
Quarter
4 Targets
|
R 20.4 million
(actual expenditure: R20.6 million over
expenditure of R200 000)
|
Compensation of employees & goods and
services
|
3/7 targets met (42.8%)
|
·
Operational
expenditure to the end of quarter 1 was R3.8 million, the majority of which was
spent on compensation of employees and goods and services (mainly for travel
and subsistence).
Expenditure under this
programme has increased by R0 million, or 0.4%, when compared with the same
period last year primarily due to additional spending on compensation of
employees. Spending on compensation of employees spending represents R2.2
million or 58%, whilst spending on goods and services represents R1.6 million
or 42% of the total programme spending.
Table
10: The financial performance for Programme 3 (CRR)
Allocation
|
Cost
Drivers
|
Quarter
4 Targets
|
R 2.377 million
(under-expenditure of R758 000)
|
Compensation of employees & goods and
services
|
3/5 targets met (60%)
|
·
Operational expenditure to the end of quarter
1 was R1.6 million, the majority of which was spent on compensation of
employees. Expenditure under this programme has increased by 0.9 per cent, when
compared with the same period last year primarily, which is well within the
inflationary adjustments. The total spending on compensation of employees
amounts to R1.3 million or 81 % of the total programme spending.
Table
11: The financial performance for Programme 4 (RPD)
Allocation
|
Cost
Drivers
|
Quarter
4 Targets
|
R
4.210 million
(under-expenditure of R1.53 million)
|
Compensation of employees & goods and
services
|
1/2 targets met (50%)
|
·
Operational expenditure to the end of quarter
1 was R2.7 million, the majority of which was spent on compensation of
employees and goods and services (mainly for travel and subsistence, and venues
and facilities).
Expenditure under this
programme has increased by R0.5 million, or 22.4 %, when compared with the same
period last year primarily due to additional spending on compensation of
employees.
·
The department reported 2 more filled
positions during the first quarter, when compared with an average of 10 posts
that were reported during the same period of the previous year. Of the total
R2.7 million spent in this programme, compensation of employees spending
amounts to R1.8 million or 66 %.
4.4.
2015/16 MTEF
financial allocations
The Department has
indicated that additional funding is required for the National Council Against Gender-Based
Violence. Moreover, the Department is in transition given the relocation of
Programme 3 and 4 to the Department of Social Development and the
reconfiguration of the Department itself now located within the Presidency. Hence,
the Department intends submitting a revised human resource structure to the
Department of Public Service and Administration for consideration.
4.5.
Concluding
comments on financial performance
The Committee concurs with
the findings of the AGSA and made the relevant recommendations in this regard.
Furthermore, the Committee is acutely aware of the scourge of gender-based
violence in the country, the challenges pertaining to gender mainstreaming,
mainstreaming from a child rights perspective and disability mainstreaming.
Adequate resources are required to undertake effective monitoring and evaluation
in this regard. Moreover, resources have to be utilised optimally to ensure the
desired outcomes are achieved. Notwithstanding this, a more focussed approach
for the Department of Women in the Presidency would greatly enable the
Department to achieve its desired outcomes.
5.
Overview and assessment of
service delivery performance
5.1.
Service delivery
performance for 2013/14
Table 12: Overall Performance
Programmes
|
Programmes Name
|
Targets Achieved
|
Targets Not Achieved
|
Total targets
|
% of targets Achieved
|
% of targets not achieved
|
Total targets %
|
Programme 1
|
Administration
|
10
|
3
|
13
|
77%
|
23%
|
100%
|
Programme 2
|
WEGE
|
10
|
0
|
10
|
100%
|
0%
|
100%
|
Programme 3
|
CRR
|
10
|
1
|
11
|
91%
|
9%
|
100%
|
Programme 4
|
RPD
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
40%
|
60%
|
100%
|
Grand Total
|
32
|
7
|
39
|
82%
|
18%
|
100%
|
|
Departmental
% Achieved and Not
Achieved
|
82%
|
18%
|
100%
|
·
As per the 2013/14 Annual Performance Plan, the Department
achieved 32 (82%) out of 39 planned annual targets and 7 (18%) were not
achieved.
·
In 2010/11 the Department`s performance of targets
achieved was 40%, in 2011/12 it was 60%, in 2012/13 it was 70% and in 2013/14
scored 82%.Thus during the year under review (2013/2014), the Departments
performance improved by 12% compared to the previous financial year 2012/13.
·
A comparative analysis of the overall performance
of the Department per-programme during the financial years 2012/13 and 2013/14
indicates an overall improvement. During 2012/13 the Administration`s
performance of targets achieved was 71%, in 2013/14 it was 77%; the WEGE
Programme in 2012/13 was 82% and in 2013/14 scored 100%; the CRR Programme in
2012/13 was 93% and in 2013/14 91%; the RPD Programme in 2012/13 was 31% and
2013/14 40%.
5.2
Programme 1: Administration
The
purpose of the Administration programme is to provide effective leadership,
management and administrative support services. The objective is to provide
comprehensive and integrated strategic leadership, management and governance
support to ensure that the goals and objectives of the Department are
effectively executed. The Department aims to achieve these objectives through the
following sub-programmes: Ministry, Management (The secretariat for the NCGBV
is also located in this sub-programme, Core Programme: Corporate Service and Office
Management.
5.2.1 Review on Administrations
performance 2013/2014
The Department has in previous years continually identified a number of
risks which impact on its ability to meet its targets. Amongst these are human
resource constraints and a lack of effective governance systems, both of which
were to be addressed by the Departments turn-around strategy. The Departments
human resource and governance status and challenges are highlighted below.
5.2.3 Human Resources
During the period under the review, the Department had a funded
establishment of 151 approved posts, of which 133 were filled and 18 vacancies
remained. The Department therefore reports a vacancy rate of 11.9%.
Approximately 66% of the staff complement was female. In terms of occupational
categories in which women were employed in the Department, 43.1% are employed
as clerks, 28.4% are employed in the legislators, senior officials and managers
category and 20.4% are employed in the professionals category. The Department
met and exceeded the 2% target for employment of people with disabilities
reaching 4.5% (7 out of 133 employees). As in previous years, the majority of
employees are employed in the Administration programme which has 111 approved
posts of which 97 are filled. Personnel costs are therefore also highest under
this programme at R45.7 million (which amounts to 70.8% of personnel costs.
Personnel costs for the remaining three programmes amounts to R18.7 million.
When reviewing the personnel costs by salary band it appears that more than
half of the personnel costs (56.7%) is spent on the senior management levels,
followed by 21.9% which is spent on salary levels 9-12 (highly skilled
supervision positions).
In terms of staff turnover, a total of 19 persons left the Department in
2013/14 through either resignation (6), transfers to other departments (5) or
as a result of contracts expiring (7). One person was dismissed due to
misconduct. Insofar as additions to the staff complement is concerned, a total
of 46 persons were appointed or transferred into the Department. It must be
noted however that 16 of these appointments were temporary contractors. The
Department also indicates in its annual report that 1 employee had been on
suspension for the duration of the financial year at a cost of R653 000.
The Department also provides an overview of the use of consultants.
Consultant services were used for 5 projects between 1 April 2013 and 31 March
2014 to the value of R1 586 196. A breakdown on the number of
consultants employed per project is only provided for one of the projects.
[7]
In terms of staff development, although the Department has not been able
to provide access to all training and skills development opportunities
identified by staff, it has made significant gains. In 2012/13 the Department
only provided 43 training opportunities out of 152 skills programmes identified
by staff. During the 2013/14 financial year the Department managed to improve
on the provision of training and skills development by providing more training
opportunities than had been identified by staff (i.e. staff identified 73
skills development programmes and the Department provided access to 82). Two
staff members in senior management posts received performance rewards to the combined
value of R93 000. No staff members in the lower salary bands received
performance-related rewards.
In 2012/13 the Department indicated that it had not been able to
implement an Employee Assistance Programme. It still has not managed to achieve
this during the 2013/14 financial year but has in the interim appointed an
Employee Health and Wellness Coordinator and hosts quarterly wellness days for
staff.
An area of concern, however, remains the non-compliance with the
prescripts for the filling of senior management service (SMS) posts. The
Department had not managed to fill all vacant SMS positions within the
financial year. Another concern is that the Department indicates on page 82 of
the annual report that of the 35 persons employed in SMS positions, only 19 had
concluded/signed performance contracts by the end of May 2013 as required.
Reasons provided for this include:
-
A
lack of orientation on the required template to be used for performance
contracting;
-
Capacity
constraints and competing priorities resulted in challenges between
supervisors and supervisees to discuss and agree to the contracted
performance, and
-
A
culture of performance management and development needs to be
institutionalised in the Department.
5.2.4 Governance
The Department reports that during the period under review it was able
to strengthen its risk management and internal functions through the
appointment of a Director of risk management and a functional audit committee.
The annual report provides an overview of the activities undertaken by the
audit committee as well as areas of concern identified for the Department to
address. Amongst these is slow progress in the implementation of agreed to
corrective plans to address control weaknesses, as well as performance indicators
which do not meet the SMART
[8]
principles.
This is reiterated by the AGSA which highlights that there are still
significant internal control deficiencies that resulted in non-compliance with
legislation. Furthermore the AGSAs report also finds that the management of
the Department did not implement effective controls to ensure accurate and
complete financial statements. It also states that the internal audit function
did not submit quarterly reports detailing the performance against the annual
internal audit plan to the audit committee as required by Treasury regulations.
Thus, although the Department reports improvements in internal audit
functioning, the AGSA points out that internal audit is not sufficiently
capacitated an issue that was also raised in the previous financial year.
The Accounting Officer in her report indicates that the Department had
made significant improvement in ensuring compliance with supply chain
management processes. This has reportedly led to a reduction in the number of
incidents of irregular expenditure. However the AGSA points that in terms of
procurement and contract management there are instances where contracts and
quotations were awarded to bidders based on points given for criteria that
differed from those stipulated in the original invitation for bidding and
quotations in contravention of Treasury regulations.
Administration programme
performance
·
Out of 13 planned targets, Programme 1 achieved
10 targets, 77% achieved while 3 targets (23%) not achieved. The table below
provides a summary of all targets achieved for this programme.
Table
13: Programme 1 - Targets achieved for 2013/2014
Performance Indicators
|
Planned Targets Achieved
2013/14
|
Number of Internal Audit reports issued on the 3 year rolling plan
|
4
|
% of management Action plans followed up and verified
|
100%
|
% of deviation on expenditure against allocated funding
|
5% (not in excess of )
|
% of reduction of vacancy rate
|
7%
|
Annual Stakeholder Forum coordinated
|
1 Annual Stakeholder Forum
|
Communication Plan (with regard to marketing and
branding) implemented
|
Communication Plan
Developed and implemented
|
Number of
Evidence based
research projects (empowerment, violence and survival) on women, children and
people with disabilities undertaken
|
3
|
Number of Research analytic reports on the status of women, children
and people with disabilities produced
|
6
|
Number of
Strategic
documents(Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plan (APP)and Annual Report
developed
|
3
|
Risk management
maturity level improved
by implementing a Risk Register and Quarterly Risk Assessment Reports
compiled
|
Risk Register developed
|
·
Herewith a synopsis of targets not achieved in
this programme.
Table
14: Programme 1 - Targets not achieved 2014/2015
Target Not Achieved
|
Reasons for deviation
|
365 Day Plan of Action coordinated
|
Monitoring tool for 365 was not developed due to the fact that the
CEO
of the National Council for GBV
joined the Department in the middle of the financial year
|
Staff satisfaction rate conducted through survey
|
Only 2
nd
quarter was measured due to management decision
that survey should not be conducted until recommendations from staff on
improvements has been received and implemented
|
Reports on events
coordinated and produced
|
Not all events
took place as the focus of Department changed to gender-based violence on
vulnerable women and children and the international rural day of women was
prioritised.
|
5.3
Programme 2: Womens Empowerment And Gender
Equality
The purpose of
the Womens Empowerment and Gender Equality Programme is To facilitate the
translation of national and international commitments into empowerment and
socio-economic development programmes, and to oversee and report
comprehensively on the national realisation of womens rights and the
progressive realisation of equality
The
Department aims to achieve these objectives through three sub-programmes: Advocacy
and Mainstreaming,
Monitoring and Evaluation and
Institutional Support and
Capacity Development.
5.3.1 Review on Womens Empowerment
and Gender Equality performance 2013/2014
·
The Department has achieved all of the targets it had set for this
programme in the 2013/14 financial year.
·
Programme 2 achieved 10/10 targets
(100% achieved)
Table 15: Programme 1 Targets achieved for 2013/2014
Performance Indicators
|
Planned Target
2013/14 (all achieved)
|
Number
of
programmes on WEGE Policy
coordinated
|
8
|
Number
of Programmes on womens socioeconomic opportunities and development
coordinated
|
5
|
Number of advocacy campaigns
on Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission
|
1
|
Number of status report on
programmes for women empowerment & gender Equality
|
3
|
Number of provincial
programmes reports on implementation of women
empowerment & gender
equality monitored
|
4
|
Number of compliance reports
to regional, continental and international
commitments
|
2
|
Number of Capacity building
and institutional support programmes
facilitated and coordinated
|
3
|
Number of
initiatives on Institutional Support and
Capacity Development Framework undertaken
|
3
|
Number of National Gender
Mainstreaming (NGM) programmes
Coordinated
|
4
|
Number of initiatives for
young women in (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
fields coordinated
|
4
|
5.4 Programme 3: Childrens
Rights and Responsibilities
The purpose of the Childrens Rights and
Responsibilities Programme is To promote, advocate and monitor the progressive
realisation of childrens rights through Governments policies and programmes.
This programmes aims to achieve this through the following set of objectives
namely:
-
Advocacy and Mainstreaming:
Facilitate and coordinate the mainstreaming and advocacy of
childrens rights considerations into Governments policies.
-
Institutional Support and Capacity Building:
Coordinate and facilitate an integrated approach to the provision
of capacity building and institutional support of childrens rights.
-
Monitoring and Evaluation:
Monitor, evaluate and report annually on the realisation of
childrens rights in line with the Constitution, national, continental and
international obligations.
5.4.1 Review of Programme
3: Childrens Rights and Responsibilities
·
out of 11 planned targets, Programme 3 achieved 10
targets (91%)
while 1 target (9%) was
not achieved
·
Herewith a summary of all achievements:
Table
16: Programme 3 Targets achieved for 2013/2014
Performance Indicator
|
Planned Targets Achieved
2013/14
|
Number of Municipalities work shopped on Mainstreaming Strategy
|
2
|
Number of social campaigns on rights of children conducted
|
3
|
Number of child participation sessions held on
empowerment
|
2
|
Number of access to education and ECD
programme conducted
|
2
|
Number of Children`s Rights Machineries convened
|
3
|
M&E Strategy finalised
|
M&E Strategy
finalised
|
M&E data systems developed
|
M&E data systems
developed
|
Number of status report on key child rights
priorities
|
1
|
Number of regional and international periodic
reports produced and deposited
|
2
|
The following table provides a synopsis of the target not achieved and
the reason for the deviation.
Table 17: Programme 3 - Targets
not achieved
2014/2015
Target Not Achieved
|
Reasons for deviation
|
Child-friendly cities/communities model launched
|
Consultation with identified municipalities for piloting took longer
than expected.
|
5.4
Programme 4: Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
The
purpose of this programme is to:
Facilitate the translation of national and international instruments
into empowerment and socio-economic development programmes, and to oversee and
comprehensively report on the realisation of the rights of people with
disabilities to equality.
The programme has the following
sub-programmes:
·
Advocacy
and Mainstreaming:
To mainstream
disability considerations into Governments policies and governance processes.
-
Institutional Support and Capacity
Building:
To
monitor and evaluate the mainstreaming of disability considerations into Governments
policies and governance processes.
-
Monitoring and Evaluation:
To coordinate institutional support and capacity development into
programmes.
5.4.1 Review on Rights of
People with Disabilities programme performance 2013/ 2014
·
out of 5 planned targets , Programme 4 achieved 2
targets (40%)
while 3 targets (60%) were
not achieved
Herewith a summary of all achievements:
Table
18: Programme 4 Targets achieved for 2013/2014
Performance Indicator
|
Planned
Target 2013/14
|
Transversal policy and legislation to promote, protect and uphold the rights
of people with disabilities in place
|
Draft National
Disability Policy (NDP) developed
|
Number of transversal projects that mainstream
disability considerations supported
|
6
|
Herewith a synopsis of targets not achieved in this programme.
Table 19: Programme 4 - Targets not achieved
Target Not Achieved
|
Reasons for deviation
|
Number of disability rights campaigns coordinated
|
Due to capacity constraints
|
Draft universal access framework finalised
|
Due to capacity challenges and delays in contracting technical
expertise by the OHCHR
|
Number of reports on the
status of people with disabilities published
|
Delays in
finalising baseline studies due to ethical clearance requirements at
Universities
|
5.5
Service delivery performance for 2014/15
5.5.1
Quarterly
performance assessments
·
The department planned a total of 30 targets for
the first quarter and achieved 18 targets (60%) while 12 targets (40%) were not
achieved.
·
Programme 1:
This programme achieved
12/16 targets met (75%). Targets not achieved were attributed to
GBV Awareness
baseline study was put on hold subject to the
review of the target;
delay in submission of invoices from service providers; the
communication strategy has been place on hold subject to the confirmation of
the new mandate and the same applies to the research agenda. The Department
cites the meeting held on the draft NSP by the advisory committee as a key
achievement.
·
Programme 2:
This programme achieved
only 3/7 targets met (42.8%). The guidelines
on the 50/50 parity principles were not compiled
as the focus was on research to develop the guidelines. This target was shifted
to Quarter 3. The Department was unable to reach the target of 5 000 women
due to insufficient consultations and dialogues convened. The womens economic
programme target was not achieved as the Department partnered with different
stakeholder as initially envisaged.
T
he target pertaining to
Consultation on the Draft Reviewed of National Policy on WEGE conducted
and the finalisation of and consultation on the Mainstreaming Strategy was not
achieved as there was a shift in focus. The target on mainstreaming has thus
been shifted to Quarter 4. The programme cites the attendance at events and
hosting of taking a girl child to school as its main achievements.
·
Programme 3:
This programme achieved
3/5 targets met (60%). The programme attributed the non-delivery on targets to
the reconfiguration process with the Department of Social Development. The
presentation of the Child Friendly Communities Framework as well as the plans
related to Child Protection Week as achievements. Moreover, the programme cites
the community dialogue awareness raising campaign with SASSA for the
distribution of social assistance (community of Mmadditlhokoa) as another
achievement.
·
Programme 4:
This programme achieved
1/2 targets met (50%). It is of concern that this programme had only two
targets to achieve which is very little and was only able to achieve 1. The
programme cites the hosting of the National Disability Rights Machinery as an
achievement.
t
o this end, the Draft Policy as well as National
Disability Rights M&E Policy Framework was discussed at the machinery
meeting.
Outstanding Matters:
·
The Department provided no clear indication as to
how it dealt with unmet targets in the previous quarters.
5.6
Concluding
comments on service delivery performance
The Department has made
progress with the implementation of the TAS. Some vacant positions were filled
during the 2013/2014 financial period. Nonetheless, the core programmes namely
2, 3 and 4 have significantly less staff than Programme 1 focussed on Administration.
However, these core programmes are responsible for key outcomes of the
Department and have to be well resourced and capacitated. Notwithstanding, this
performance of Programme 4 as compared to 2 and 3 is of concern and requires
attention. All matters related to Programme 3 and 4 would need to be clearly
communicated to the Department of Social Development.
Notwithstanding all the achievements
cited in the Departments Annual Report for 2013/2014, the following highlights
of significant achievements were also brought to the attention of the
Committee:
·
UNiTE Campaign to Say No To Violence Against Women
and Girls popularised in all provinces, culminating to the launch of the
Orange World!
Signing of the Western
Cape Declaration
·
Annual Stakeholder Forum held with focus on ECD and
Responsible parenting in Diepsloot
·
Techno Girl Alumni which allows for support to be
provided to the girls to enter tertiary institutions and
supported to continue their studies in the
STEM fields with the aim of assisting them with job placements thus ensuring as
sustainable initiative
·
The Department in association with the Airports
Company of South Africa and Wheelchair Tennis South Africa held a media
conference to welcome back the South African US OPEN QUAD champion, Lucas
Sithole
·
The Department in partnership with MTN Foundation
SA handed over accessible computer (ICT) centre to Bartimea School for the
Blind and Deaf.
·
The South African Government, led by the Department
of Women Children and People with Disabilities (DWCPD), in partnership with the
Albinism Society of South Africa (ASSA), hosted the first ever conference on
albinism to focus on the rights of persons with albinism.
·
Coordinated National Disability Rights Awareness
Month.
6.
Finance and Service
delivery performance assessment
This
section provides a synopsis of the service delivery performance against
spending patterns for 2013/14 and 2014/15.
·
In the 1
st
Quarter of
2014/2015, 35.8% of expenditure to this point was under transfers and subsidies
and 64.2% on departmental operations. Of operational expenditure, 61.9% was on
compensation of employees, 33.2% on goods and services, and zero was spent on
interest and rent on land.
1.9% of
expenditure was on payments to capital assets.
·
The largest portion of operational
expenditure by the end of Quarter 1 in 2014/15 was R22 million spent under the
Administration programme mainly on compensation of employees and goods and
services.
The next largest proportion
was R3.8 million under the Women Empowerment And Gender Equality programme,
followed by R2.7 million under the Rights of People With Disabilities
programme, again primarily for compensation of employees and goods and
services.
·
Operational expenditure has grown
at a nominal rate of 11.7%, (R3.2 million), when compared to the same period in
the previous financial year.
Rand value
expenditure growth has been greatest in the Administration programme, mainly
driven by increased spending on compensation of employees. The Rights of People
with Disabilities and Women Empowerment and Gender Equality programmes show the
next highest growths also primarily due to increases in spending on
compensation of employees.
7.
COMMITTEES OBSERVATIONS
AND RESPONSE
7.1
Technical issues
·
The Committee noted it concerns about the late
tabling of the Annual Report by the Department.
·
The structure and layout of the 2013/2014 Annual
Report continues to improve as compared to previous reports.
7.2
Mandate,
Mission, Vision:
·
The mandate, mission and vision of the Department
in the Annual Report of 2013/2014 reflects the programmes pertaining to
children and persons with disabilities but subsequently the Department of Women
in the Presidency was established. Notwithstanding this, the Committee acknowledged
that transfer of responsibilities and functions to the Department of Social
Development but was concerned about how the Department of Women would ensure
that all initiatives would continue in these programmes and corrective action
would be implemented as recommended where necessary.
·
Broadened Scope
: The Committee was
concerned about the broadened scope of the Department as reported by the DG
insofar as focussing on all policies and laws that relate to the socio-economic
empowerment of women. Whereas before
it
the focus was more in terms of the Department of Trade and Industry economic
empowerment of women.
7.3
Governance and operational issues
-
AGSA
findings
: The Committee
was concerned by the repeat audit findings of the AGSA for the Department
and the lack of consequence for not addressing issues of concern that were
brought to managements attention.
-
Internal
controls
: The Committee
was concerned whether there were mechanisms to address the challenges
pertaining to internal controls as observed by the AGSA. This was with specific
reference to non-compliance of the PFMA and National Treasury Regulations.
It also brought into question the effectiveness of the internal audit
structures within the Department and the CGE to address issues at the
onset as opposed to matters escalating to a formal investigation.
-
Top-heavy
structure
: The Committee
was concerned about the top heavy structure of the Department yet the
performance outcomes were not at the desired levels. This brought into
question the ability/competency of existing staff to deliver on the
objectives.
·
Irregular expenditure
: The Committee noted with
concern the irregular expenditure incurred with regards to travel agency fees
as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure due to penalties for cancelled
flights and accommodation.
-
TAS:
The Committee
welcomed the developments and progress made with regards to the implementation
of the Turn-Around Strategy but questioned whether there were any
outstanding matters and by when these would be completed.
7.4 Infrastructure
·
The Committee noted the challenges previous
identified in the 4
th
Parliament and acknowledged the progress
report by the Department to address the concerns.
7.5 Human Resources
·
Vacancies
: The Committee
welcomed the filling of key vacant positions but was still concerned with posts
that have yet to be filled.
-
Compliance with appointment timeframes
:
The Committee questioned whether the Department had implemented controls to
ensure adherence to the filling of vacancies within the specified period
required.
-
Appointment
procedures
:
The Committee noted with
the concern the effectiveness of appointment procedure processes and
questioned if these were adhered to, whether the right person for job
was identified when the Department indicated capacity constraints as a
reason for not being able to deliver on targets not achieved.
·
Structure of
Department
: The Annual Report 2013/2014 reflects the organisational structure that
includes Childrens Rights and Responsibilities and Rights of People with
Disabilities, however it would be important for the Committee to ascertain what/if
any changes are envisaged for the Department of Women in the Presidency in the
new MTEF cycle.
·
Resignations/termination
of contracts
: The Committee noted with concern the number of resignations and the
termination of contracts and the impact of this would have on service delivery.
·
Performance
Bonus
: The Committee was concerned that performance bonuses were issued to 2
officials in light of the overall performance of the Department and impact of
initiatives undertaken.
7.6
Service
delivery performance
·
Transitional
arrangements
: The Minister and the Director General (DG) makes reference to key activities
in the Child Rights and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Programmes (3 &
4) in the opening remarks of the Annual Report 2013/2014 but it is unclear as
to what the hand over process is to the Department of Social Development in
this regard nor what assurance there would be that all initiatives will be
continued.
·
Unmet Targets
: The annual
report analysis provides details as to which of the targets have not been met.
It would be important for the Committee to ascertain, what plans and timeframes
are in place to address all unmet targets bearing in mind what the Department
had presented to the Committee in terms of the Quarter 1 briefing for
2014/2015.
-
Performance
outcomes
: The Committee
was concerned that the Department presented events instead of service
delivery performance outcomes and questioned whether the Department
responded to the socio-economic challenges faced by women, children and
persons with disabilities in the country. The Committee urged the
Department to ensure that there was strategic alignment to national
priorities.
-
Value
for money
: The Committee
indicated that the presentation on the Annual Report did not provide
sufficient information to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of
performance. The Committee questioned the value for money in terms of
programmes reported on as the Department appeared to have spent most of
the budget on compensation of staff and events.
-
Image
and Marketing of Department
:
The Committee was concerned that the programmes of the Department was not
known by the community. To this end, the Department was requested to
strengthen their awareness campaigns e.g. techno-girl programmes.
-
The Committee was concerned that the annual
report was not an accurate reflection of all the work undertaken by the
Department as this was not reflected in their annual report but in the
DGs presentation. This was with particularly reference to work done in
relation to persons with disability and Programme 4.
-
ECD
: More information was requested on the
Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme implemented in Diepsloot (i.e.
the NGOs the Department partnered with in the area) and internship
programmes (i.e. criteria for interns, information on how to access
internship opportunities within the Department).
·
Impact of campaigns
: The Committee questioned
the impact of the campaigns undertaken by the Department and whether any follow
up was conducted after every event.
·
WEGE Bill
: The Minister
and the DG makes reference to the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill as
approved and finalised by the National Assembly and the National Council of
Provinces (NCOP). And as such this will require the Department to introduce
processes and procedures for developing regulations, guidelines and measures
for compliance and non-compliance. However, it is important to note that the
NCOP had proposed amendments to the Bill and thus the NA would need to
reconsider what has been proposed in order to finalise it. Moreover, in a prior
briefing with the Committee, the Minister had indicated that the Department
would be consulting further on the Bill before reintroducing it to Parliament.
The Committee was clear that the Bill had lapsed and as such the Annual Report
provided an inaccurate account of the status of the Bill.
7.7
Financial
performance including funding proposals
The Committee welcomed the
unqualified audit opinion issued by the Auditor General for the Departments
2013/2014 Annual Report but remained concerned about the emphasis of matter.
·
The Committee welcomed the fact that the Department
did not overspend in its overall budget. The Committee noted with concern the
under-expenditure in light of all targets not being met for the respective
programmes.
·
Investigations
: The Annual
Report 2013/2014 refers to Claims against the Department (Annex 3B), p 139 and
p 154. It would be important for the Committee to gain clarity from the
Department in this regard and ascertain what if any remedial action is still
required. Furthermore, the Annual Report 2013/2014 refers to the Fluxmans
Report as a process thats been completed with a briefing to the former
Portfolio Committee in the 4
th
Parliament. However, it is important
to note that the former Minister had indeed briefed the former Committee in
November 2013, however at the time indicate that there were processes still
underway in relation to matters of the Fluxmans Report which had to be
completed.
·
Donor activity
: The Annual
Report 2013/2014 provides an overview of donor funding for various initiatives
related to the Childrens Rights and the Rights of People with Disabilities
Programme. Given the transfer of functions in this regard to the Department of
Social Development, it would be important for a comprehensive handover of donor
activities and reports in this regard.
·
National Council
on Gender-Based Violence:
The Committee noted with concern the matters
related to funding of the Council to give effect to its mandate despite the
allocation from National Treasury and donor funds.
·
Minister
of Finance response to previous BRRR:
The
Minister of Finance responded as follows:
BRRR: The department must ensure that all funds
that are appropriated are utilised optimally to avoid under- and
over-expenditure.
Response: The
department overspent its budgets for 2010/11 and 2011/12 but underspent in
2012/13 and in the first two quarters of 2013/14. The National Treasury is
working with the office of the Chief Financial Officer to ensure that the
problem of overspending does not become one of underspending and below-targeted
performance outputs.
The Standing
Committee on Public Accounts still has to decide how the department is going to
fund the overspending in 2010/11. The department has not yet submitted a formal
report to the National Treasury on unauthorised expenditure in 2011/12.
BRRR: The administration and co-ordination of the National Council on
Gender-Based Violence should remain within Programme 1: Administration, and the
National Treasury should ensure that adequate funding is allocated in order to
function optimally.
Response: An
allocation of R20.4 million has been provided over the 2014 MTEF period for the
department to establish the council. The National Treasury has asked the
accounting officer to make sure that the departments commitments do not exceed
the funds allocated for the council.
7.8
CGE Matters
Notwithstanding,
the fact that the CGE is a Chapter 9 Institution, only accounts to Parliament
vis-a-vis the Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency) and that the
Department merely transfers its funds, the Committee deemed it important to
note the following observations:
7.8.1
Governance
·
The Committee was concerned
about the recurring problems identified by the AGSA as per previous financial
years and that actions should be taken against the transgressors. This was with
specific reference to non-compliance of the PFMA and National Treasury
Regulations.
·
The Committee indicated
that more discussions are required regarding holding to account senior
management and the role of the board/plenary which is comprised of CGE
committees e.g. oversight committee, finance committee, audit committee,
governance committee.
7.8.2
Finance
·
The
Committee was concerned about the financial management within the CGE and the
structures responsible for ensuring that the recommendations from the AGSA are
implemented and not repeated.
7.8.3
Programme
-
The Committee was concerned as to whether
the CGE were reaching their goals and questioned the value for money in
relation to the programmes being implemented.
8
Recommendations
The Minister of Women in the Presidency should ensure that the following
recommendations are implemented.
8.1 Transitional Matters
·
The Department should provide a progress report on
all transitional matters related to Programme 3 and 4 insofar as financial,
human resource, operational and programme issues are concerned.
·
The Department should provide a status report on
all changes implemented as result of the transfer of functions of Programme 3
and 4 to the Department of Social Development.
8.2 Audit Action Plan
-
The Department should develop action plans
that relate the recommendations made by the AGSA. These action plans
should address the root cause of the problems. All action plans should be
submitted to the Committee with the 2
nd
Quarterly Report for
2014/2015.
-
The Department should monitor and evaluate
the implementation of action plans. As such, progress reports in this
regard should be submitted to the Committee on a monthly and quarterly
basis.
8.3 Financial performance
·
In-Year
Monitoring Reports
: The Department is requested to submit
quarterly reports to the Committee in line with National Treasury Regulations.
·
Turn-Around
Strategy
: All outstanding matters related to the Turn-Around Strategy should be
reported on to the Committee with the 2
nd
Quarterly Report for
2014/2015.
-
Daily and Monthly Reporting
: The Department should implement and adhere to stringent daily and
monthly financial controls and report challenges to the internal audit in
this regard all of which must be presented to the Committee in the
quarterly reports.
-
Risk
Management
: The Department
should provide the Committee with a detailed report on the implementation
of risk management controls it which should include the staffing structure,
risk management systems, challenges identified and remedial action.
-
Spending Trends
: The Department should
monitor spending patterns and ensure that this is keeping with what has been
outlined in the respective Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans.
To this end, the
Department is requested to provide the
Committee with detailed financial reports for activities on a quarterly
basis. These financial reports should clearly indicate the purpose of the activity
as it relates to the objectives outlined in the APP and the expenditure
incurred. In instances, where the Department incurs expenditure for events
nationally and internationally, the size of the delegation should be
included and details pertaining to Travel and subsistence.
8.4 Human Resource
·
Vacancies
: All key funded
vacancies should be filled within the specified time allocation, in instances
where this is not complied with the Department should clearly identify within
the quarterly reports to the Committee reasons for failure to comply and
remedial action taken to mitigate.
·
Skills Audit
: The Department
should provide the outcome of skills audit, an action plan of what is required
to address the skills deficit and the impact on the proposed new structure for
the Department. This must be submitted as part of the Departments Annual
Performance Plan and revised Strategic Plan to National Treasury for the coming
financial year.
·
Organogram
/
Revised HR structure
: In terms of the
revised human resource structure that would be submitted to the Minister of
Public Service and Administration, the Department must address the inequity
between support and core staff ratio.
·
Resignations/Dismissals/Termination
of contracts
: The Department to provide a written report on the reasons
for dismissal of staff, resignations, termination of contracts and its subsequent
impact on service delivery
.
8.5
Governance
·
The Committee reiterated the importance of
compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and National Treasury
Regulations by the Department and that failure of officials in this regard must
be dealt with expeditiously. To this end, the Department to report on how it
deals with transgressors and what remedial action is taken. This should be
presented in the quarterly reports.
8.6
Infrastructure
·
The Department should provide a status report on
the infrastructure of the Department, progress insofar as addressing previous
challenges are concerned as identified by the Committee in the 4
th
Parliament.
8.7
Performance related recommendations
8.7.1 SMART principle
-
The Committee should interrogate the
targets/objectives of the Department and CGE to ensure that these targets
are SMART and achievable.
8.7.2 Collaboration
·
The Department should ensure improved collaboration
between Programme 1 and 2 as well as with the CGE and all other relevant organs
of State as well as civil society.
8.7.3 Monitoring and evaluation
·
The Department should provide an annual update on
progress of gender equality in South Africa in relation to targets identified
within the APP and Strategic Plan.
8.7.4
Events/Campaigns/Conferences
·
The Department should inform the Committee of all
initiatives it intends undertaking in order for Portfolio Committee Members to
attend where possible.
·
The Department should
provide the Committee with reports of all initiatives undertaken by outlining
the cost
incurred (as per the recommendation on spending trends), the purpose of initiatives
and its relation to the APP, the outcomes of the initiative, number of intended
beneficiaries and an action plan as to how resolutions/outcomes will be
implemented.
8.7.5 Implementation of policies
·
The Department should brief the Committee on a
quarterly basis on the progress of implementation of policies developed
.
8.7.6 Treaty compliance framework and timeframes
·
The Departments should improve on the compilation
and quality of country reports by ensuring that all stakeholders are aware of
the information required.
·
The Department should ensure that country reports
are submitted within the specified timeframes as required by the relevant reporting
bodies
.
·
The Department should report back to Parliament on
feedback received on country reports and action plans developed in this regard.
8.7.7 National Council on Gender-Based Violence
·
The Department should provide a status report on
the Council location, financial and programme performance at the 2
nd
Quarter Report briefing.
8.8 Legislative and Policy Reform
·
Women and Gender
Equality Bill
: The Department to provide the Committee with plan for dealing with
Bill in the current financial year.
·
National Policy
on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality
: The Department to finalise
this draft policy and cost it and brief the Committee accordingly.
·
National Gender
Policy Framework
: The Department to provide a report on the status of this policy and
the intersection with the draft
National
Policy on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality
.
8.9
CGE
8.9.1
Finance
-
Spending
Trends
: The CGE to
assess if these organs of State are spending on what has been outlined in
the respective Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans.
-
Action
plans
: The CGE should
develop action plans that relate to the recommendations made by the AGSA.
These action plans should address the root cause of the problems. All
action plans must be submitted to the Committee with the 2
nd
Quarterly Report for 2014/2015.
8.9.2
Governance
-
The CGE should inform the Committee what
actions taken to deal with transgressors of policies and laws and overall
poor performance delivery. This should be reported back to the Committee
within quarterly reports.
9
Summary of reporting
requests
Table 20: Reporting requests
Reporting
matter
|
Action
required
|
Timeframe
|
Monthly
reports encouraged as per the AG recommendation
|
Written report
|
By the
15
th
of every month for previous month
|
Quarterly
reports
|
Written
report
Briefing
|
At
briefing of 2nd quarterly report
|
Audit
outcomes -
Details
of audit action plan
|
Written
report
Briefing
|
At
briefing of 2nd quarterly report
|
Skills
audit
|
Written
report
Briefing
|
At
briefing of 2nd quarterly report
|
HR: vacancies,
dismissals, termination of contracts
|
Written
report
Briefing
|
At
briefing of 2
nd
quarterly report
|
Impact reports of
initiatives (campaigns, events, workshops, conferences etc.)
|
Written
report
|
30 days
after an event has taken place
|
10.
Appreciation
The Committee
having engaged with the Department, the Commission for Gender Equality and the
Auditor-General of South Africa on the performance of these organs of State for
2013/2014 appreciates the inputs received and hereby submits this report.
Report to be considered.
[1]
Estimates of
National Expenditure 2013, National Treasury
[2]
The Main appropriation is reflected under
section 2.3 of this document.
[3]
The Main appropriation is reflected under
section 2.3 of this document.
[4]
The Main appropriation is reflected under
section 2.3 of this document.
[5]
Page 100 of the
Annual Report.
[6]
Page 142 of
Annual Report
[7]
Refer page 94 of
the Annual Report
[8]
SMART: specific,
measureable, achievable, relevant and time-based
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