Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Social Development Thuliswa Nkabinde responds to a query from the public
On Friday October 28 the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements faced tough questions about its performance over the 12-month period and plans for the year ahead during a public presentation of its 2015/2016 Annual Report to the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs & Human Settlements Portfolio Committee — questions which will allow for richer insight into the successes and failures of the plans, and for improved awareness as to how to achieve these goals in the year to come.
The strategic goals for the Department have changed in recent years, as it focuses on Mega Human Settlements Projects based around increasing housing density, integrated service infrastructure and smart city technology. Gauteng sent a delegation to a conference in Surat, India on sustainable development and smart cities to help achieve these goals; the portfolio committee queried why a second fact-finding mission to China was cancelled.
Housing
The committee heard that the Department built 14 969 new housing units over the course of the 2015/2016 year and provided services to a further 10 048 stands in informal settlements. However, the housing programme missed its targets by 39% over the course of the year. Overall, the Department only hit 54.75% of its delivery targets for the year, compared to more than 80% for the year before.
Achievements
That’s not to say there weren’t some achievements: 8 860 title deeds were handed over and 128 hectares acquired for new housing. In its annual report, the Department said delays in the procurement process and failed requests for top-up funding were some of the reasons why plans were not met. The portfolio committee also questioned some discrepancies in the reported statistics in the final annual report. These queries should be resolved in the upcoming committee meeting.
On the administrative side, the Department over-achieved on some of its training goals, but missed targets to fill positions within four months, and to resolve 80% of all disciplinary procedures within prescribed timelines. It also achieved most targets for its anti-fraud and corruption programme; the committee recommended setting a time frame for workshops budgeted for, but not held.
Although the Department failed to meet its target to ensure that half of its senior management services are female, it came close with 46.8% representation. It also missed its target of filling 3% senior management positions with people with disabilities.
In the supply chain, the committee noted that the Department has consistently struggled to hit targets for procurement from small businesses, and failed to train 30 young entrepreneurs to enter the supply chain. In one forthright comment, the committee said the Department needs to be realistic in setting targets in order to avoid shifting them into the following year. The committee also raised concerns that R167-million of the department’s R5.6-billion budget had not been spent.
Overall the human settlements department had missed numerous targets and goals, but the plans set in place by the committee to assess the situation more deeply will allow for greater understanding of the obstacles and improved planning going forward.
Scopa examines Gauteng deparments’ annual reports
The Standing Committee for Public Accounts in Gauteng had a breakaway session with the auditor-general to scrutinise Gauteng departments’ annual reports for the last financial year. The committee was briefed by the auditor-general on the audit outcomes of the Gauteng provincial departments (GPG) with regard to annual financial performance reports.
The committee is satisfied with the audit outcomes of seven departments, namely: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Legislature, department of social development, Cogta, department of e-Government, Gauteng treasury and the department of economic development, and 10 entities, namely: the Gauteng Tourism Authority, Gauteng Gambling Board, Gauteng Housing Fund, Gauteng Film Commission, Gautrain Management Agency, Dinokeng Trading Entity, Gauteng Partnership Fund, the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng Partnership Fund and Gauteng Infrastructure Financing, which managed to sustain and improve their financial performance by obtaining clean audits in their 2015/16 annual reports.
The clean audits departments and entities were found by the auditor-general to have produced quality financial and performance reporting that was free of material misstatements.
However, though eight Departments (Health, Education, Human Settlements Affairs, Roads and Transport, Community Safety, Agriculture and Rural Development, Infrastructure Development and Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation and five entities (Gauteng Enterprise Propeller, g-Fleet, cost Recovery Trading Entity, Medical Supplies Depot and Gauteng Growth and Development) obtained unqualified audit opinions, Scopa is concerned with the lack of improvement in the audit outcomes of some of these Departments and entities, as they received findings on matters such as predetermined objectives and compliance with legislation.
Other areas of concern for the standing committee cited by the auditor-general were procurement without competitive bidding and non-compliance with procurement process requirements by various Departments.
Scopa further noted an increase in irregular expenditure incurred by various Departments amounting to R6.5-billion and accruals due to commitments towards housing and educational projects.
The standing committee has resolved to take a tougher stance on irregular expenditure and will pay attention to investigations as well as implementation of consequence management by the Departments.
Hearings
Scopa has also resolved to send questions and convene hearings with all the departments and entities that received unqualified audits with material findings. The first hearings will be convened with departments falling under social cluster such as health, education and sports, arts, culture and recreation; economic cluster such as entities under the Economic Development Department, Agriculture and Rural Development and Infrastructure Departments comprising Human Settlement Affairs, Roads and Transport and Infrastructure Development.
The annual report process will conclude when the standing committee tables the report in the legislature before the end of the 2nd term.
Generally Scopa would like to commend the departments for the overall improvement in their audit outcomes and initiatives by the department of treasury in providing support to accounting officers and intervening in key areas to improve and maintain the clean audit outcomes.
Gauteng Department of Social Development on track
While the Gauteng Department of Social Development has received a clean audit, the portfolio committee has raised concerns that department appears to have failed in filling budgeted vacant posts — in the midst of challenges around unemployment.
In a pubic meeting held at the Orange Farm Community Hall on Friday, October 28, the committee also noted that although the department received a clean audit report, there was still a need for a robust oversight and evaluation of the extent to which such results have contributed to positive service delivery, that is, checking if the clean audit report translates to improved service delivery.
The Department was allocated the amount of R 3 997 139 000 during the 2015/2016 financial year, of which it only spent R3 942 241 000, representing an under-spend of R54 898 000.
The funds allocated for the Department mainly cater for the provision of services that will better the lives of vulnerable groups, particularly women and children, and create opportunities for them to become self-reliant.
While most budgeted posts still remain vacant, the committee said the performance of the Department seems to be improving in the filling of social worker posts when compared to the previous financial year.
A total of 1 541 social workers are reported to have been appointed, exceeding the 1 282 reported in the previous financial year, with 572 auxiliary social workers appointed. One of the reasons for the increase in the budget for the year under review was to accommodate the newly absorbed social work graduates.
According to the committee, the Department reported during the budget process that an amount of R99-million has been set aside for new construction projects, which include among others, an inpatient rehabilitation centre, a shelter for women and children and various other integrated facilities.
The committee also noted that there was a growing pattern of welfare dependents, which may in future require more funding for the Department, and that there were acute delays in the completion of foster care cases. This has been attributed to the challenges around the requirements of courts and availability of relevant child documentation. In the deliberations of the first quarterly report, the Department confirmed that the number of new cases of foster care was on the increase.
Additional reporting by Charles Molele