Gauteng oversight committees give updates of department budgets

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature [GPL] hosted a virtual house sitting to discuss a number of points on 18 June.

The virtual house sittings give Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs)the opportunity to debate and vote on budgets as presented. Committees of the legislature tabled their budgets for the fourth quarter.

Gauteng Provincial Legislature oversight report

Chairperson of the committee Bonginkosi Dhlamini delivered the fourth quarterly report for the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He said that there were 23 performance targets for the fourth quarter and managed to achieve 18 of these.  “In terms of the budget expenditure performance for the period under review (fourth quarter), the GPL was allocated R180.1 million and spent only R144.8 million, which represents an 80 per cent expenditure pattern.”

He explained that the GPL should have spent 100 per cent of its allocated budget and it is essential that budget spending correlated with performance and target attainment. “It is noted that compensation of employees contributed to the underspending due to unfilled vacancies, intern positions and delays in the 2018/19 pay progression for employees.”

Office of the Premier oversight report

Dhlamini also delivered the report for the office of the premier. He said that these reports help facilitate performance monitoring and corrective action to enhance oversight of the financial performance of government institutions.

He said that R173 million was allocated for the quarter under review and R199.6 million was spent, reflecting overspending of 15 per cent. This was attributed to the payment of additional Life Esidimeni claims.

There were 332 claims made, of which 266 were paid and 66 are still undergoing assessment and verification. He added that another contributing factor to the overspend was a transfer to Harambe [Youth Employment Accelerator] which was meant to happen in the third quarter but could not be finalised due to prolonged contractual finalisation.

He said that despite an improvement in the APP targets[ annual performance plan] targets from 75 per cent in the previous quarter to 87 per cent, the committee is still concerned about the impact Tshepo One Million [which aims to give unemployed youth skills, job opportunities and entrepreneurship development] is making in the province as it only achieved one of two targets in the fourth quarter.

He added that 96 per cent of the national anti-corruption hotline cases were resolved. “The committee applauds the office of the premier for its initiative of digitalising the hotline and the introduction of the internet cell service application to reduce the number of calls lodged and ensure a speedy resolution of cases.”

Dlamini added that the premier’s office procured 40 per cent of its services from companies owned by women, exceeding their 30 per cent target. They also spent 14 per cent of their budget on companies owned by youths and 6 per cent spent on companies owned by people with disabilities.

He added that the committee is concerned about the lack of migration of Tshepo One Million beneficiaries into stable jobs. He said that the office of the premier should provide a report on what measures have been put in places to ensure the integration of these beneficiaries into stable jobs.

Co-operative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements Portfolio Committee’s Oversight Report

Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi delivered the  Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Portfolio Committee’s oversight report on the fourth-quarter performance.

Mokgethi said that the department reported an expenditure of R128 million, which was 66 per cent of the allocated budget of R194 million.  The departments total budget of R562 million, the department’s expenditure was R495 million.

She explained that of the four programmes by the department, the underspending was linked to Programme 3 Development and Planning. Programmes 1,3 and 4, which included administration, local governance and traditional institutional development achieved almost all the planned targets during the fourth quarter.

For Programme 3 Development and Planning the department realised 85 per cent of planned outputs. She said that the department did not report measures to be put in place to ensure that these targets were met.

The department reported that municipalities used their own money to connect electricity to over 9 000 households in 23 informal settlements.

Mokgethi said that the committee recommends that the department provides responses to these following point by 30 August. These points include factors that contributed to underspending, measures in place to combat this and the municipal projects which were initially budgeted for among others.

For the Department of Human Settlements, Mokgethi said during the fourth quarter, the department appropriated R2.3 billion and managed to spend R1.8 billion, which translates to an overall expenditure of 79 per cent. The department should have spent 100 per cent of its budget.

There were a number of townships were outstanding projects were not completed. The procurement budget goal was to spend 30 per cent of its budget with women-owned businesses however this target was not met. Only 2.9 per cent of the 20 per cent goal to spend with youth-owned businesses was achieved.

There was a plan to approved over 7 000 beneficiaries for available housing however only 1 290 were allocated. “The reason for the deviation is that majority of projects have not provided beneficiaries with adequate houses.”

The department had a goal of 500 hostel community residential units however none of these were achieved. There were four urban renewal projects planned however these targets were also not achieved.

Mokgethi said that there was an asset worth R148 000 that was purchased that was not accounted for in the budget. She said that the department needs to explain what this was for. There were a number of other points that Mokgethi said would need to be explained by the department including a progress finalisation report on ‘Project Bank’ and a list of contractors employed for oversight purposes.

Social Development Portfolio Committee’s Oversight Report

Refiloe Kekana provided the oversight report for the Department of Social Development. She said that the department is focusing on strengthening intervention programmes and the implementation of various initiatives.

The department funds five programmes which included administration, social welfare services, children and families, restorative services and development and research. The department has been allocated R5.4 billion and spent 93 per cent of this budget.

“The committee noted with concern that the department has underspent by [over R400 million] with the bulk of it coming from development and research.”

According to the department, these funds were appropriated to cater for the provision of services that would better the lives of vulnerable groups and create opportunities for them to be self-reliant.

Under the fourth quarter over 7 000 opportunities were created in-home and community-based care centres through the extended public works programme. Over 41 000 vulnerable households were provided with psycho-social support.

Kekana said that the community was concerned that no school uniforms were distributed during the period and only 228 852 dignity packs were distributed, compared to the goal of 464 000.

“The community recommended that the department should provide a detailed plan with realistic timelines on how and when the process of distribution of school uniforms will commence. This report should be submitted to the committee by 31 July.”

A list of schools to benefit from this project should also be submitted. A progress report on the distribution of the dignity packs has also been requested.

*Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).