Most government departments have failed to submit their annual reports on service delivery to the HRC
Fred Esbend
The South African Human Rights Commission has identified gross ineptitude among heads of government departments as the number one contributory factor hampering effective social service delivery.
This shocking public disclosure emerged during its hearings held in Port Elizabeth last week, where it was revealed that only 15 out of 68 governmental departments across the country had submitted their annual protocol reports to the commission last year.
The reports, which are mandatory, allow for various organs of the state to annually compile and submit protocols outlining plans on how, among others, the respective departments intend to improve on social delivery, what their budgetary needs were as well as detailing difficulties encountered in delivering these services.
These protocols and questionnaires are submitted to the commission, which in turn makes them available to Parliament for discussion and debate. This information is critical to the Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel in determining his budget allocation for each province.
The departmental heads for health, welfare and education in the Eastern Cape, North West, Northern Province, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces were lambasted by the commission’s legal head, Mogambri Moodliar, accusing them of having a “lackadaisical attitude”.
The commission has been on a province-by-province “roadshow” in a bid to get to the bottom of the problem of poor governance and service delivery. During the hearings a senior Eastern Cape educational head admitted to the commission that his department lacked the necessary expertise to deal with issues pertaining to protocols.
In response to this charge, deputy director general for education Gcinile Qokweni proposed to the commission that the responsibility of auditing a department’s activities be outsourced to specialists, most likely the private sector. National commissioner lllCharlotte lllMcClain lllretorted lllthat Qokweni set up a workshop with the commission to educate management in his department about their constitutional obligations.
Tom Manthata, an Eastern Cape commissioner, said the department’s failure to comply was not because of a lack of resources, but a question of not having the right people around with sufficient qualifications. He also expressed his grave concern at the growing number of high court judgements being delivered against the education department and the costs involved.
In referring to remarks made in judgements in the Eastern Cape by Judge Frank Kroon and Judge Johan Froneman, who described the educational staff as “hiding behind their labour and not performing”, he asked Qokweni if he was aware of the judgements, to which Qokweni replied: “I seem to remember … It is unfortunate”.
Qokweni submitted an apology saying that while he had taken up his position as deputy director general only five months ago, the Department of Education has been beset with inter-departmental problems for years, and this largely owing to a lack of communication.
He said the department had changed its superintendent generals six times so far and, as a result, there was no stability within the department.
Qokweni’s lament before the commission contrasted sharply with the plight of his department’s superintendent general, Modidima Mannya, who was forced to flee the province after receiving numerous death threats as a result of his stern attempts to root out corruption in the department.
The provincial Department of Health also did not escape the criticism of the commission. A fierce dialogue between the department’s acting head, Dr Thobekile Mjekevu, and the commissioners ensued over the authenticity of the report, with the latter claiming that the department submitted an old 1998-1999 report.
McClain reprimanded Mjekevu for submitting an old and “incomplete and incomprehensible report on basic health care and services provided for children”.
“This borders on fraud. We find that very problematic,” she said.
Mjekevu admitted to the charge on the grounds that he had been led to believe it was the correct report.
“I must also confess that I did not go through it carefully before submitting it,” he said.
Mjekevu, who assumed the position after the suspension of the departmental head on charges of misconduct, blamed the bungling on the lack of communication on the matter and tension in the department.
Both departments were ordered to submit complete outstanding reports by February 12, failing which the commission will take legal steps.