The Eastern Cape government needs more than R150-million over the next three years to address some of the problems it faced before 2002, an interim report said on Wednesday.
The report states that the education department needed more than R37-million, social development over R93-million and roads and public works was short of more than R20-million.
These figures were needed in December 2003, according to the report released at Parliament on Wednesday.
Asked about revised figures and the transfer of funds, Public Service Commission director-general Mpume Sikhosana said he could not comment on them as there was a process in place.
”There is a process that has been put in place, I cannot comment on the outcome right now,” he told journalists.
”National Treasury is now centrally involved in this whole process as a decision of the Cabinet, and they are assisting all these departments to deal with their backlogs… ”
President Thabo Mbeki appointed an interim management team (IMT) in November 2002 to help the departments of health, education, social development and, roads and public works.
The IMT comprised of Sikhosana, senior officials from the Department of Public Service and Administration and the office of the premier of the Eastern Cape.
The report was to be released in March this year, but was withheld to allow a new Cabinet to be appointed after the elections in April, Sikhosana said.
”It was better to actually wait until the [new] people were in place,” he said.
”But more importantly, the proposals were suggesting that the intervention continue. The decision was taken to provide a progress report rather than a closure report.”
Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi added: ”There was actually nothing cooked or changed.
”We indeed also felt … that it was better to present a report having found solutions to some of the issues, and now you see work in progress.”
Fraser-Moleketi said Education Minister Naledi Pandor was in charge of a team which sought to resolve some of the problems in the Eastern Cape education department.
”What want to reflect confidence and capacity to take issues forward,” Fraser-Moleketi said.
A watchdog body called on government in June to immediately release the final report of the IMT. The findings of the IMT would assist legislature oversight committees in their work, the Public Service Accountability Monitor said then.
Sikhosana said the success achieved had been uneven as the IMT started its work when the budgets had already been allocated, and funds were not available for some of the problems. – Sapa