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PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM

PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM BRIEFING ON THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT 2011/12 12 February 2013. PRESENTATION OUTLINE. Introduction Application of M&E System Feedback on the implementation of PSC recommendations

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PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM

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  1. PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM BRIEFING ON THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT 2011/12 12 February 2013

  2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE • Introduction • Application of M&E System • Feedback on the implementation of PSC recommendations • Financial Management • Expenditure vs Performance • Development orientation • Accountability • Professional Ethics • Transparency • Good HR practices • Employment Equity • Concluding remarks 2

  3. INTRODUCTION • The Public Service Commission (PSC) is required by the Constitution to provide an evaluation of the extent to which the values and principles governing public administration, contained in section 195, are complied with. • An indicator-based tool was developed that produces a summary assessment of the performance of a department against each of the nine values and principles. • The tool was applied to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in the 2010/11 cycle and the results of the assessment was presented to the Portfolio Committee on 14 September 2011. • The PSC has now been requested to brief the Committee on the assessment/evaluation of the Department and the progress made with the implementation of particular recommendations made by the PSC in 2010/11. 3

  4. INTRODUCTION • We have not since 2010/11 re-assessed the department (the PSC does not assess all departments each year). • In this presentation we have updated some of the assessments, using more recent data from- • Annual report for the 2011/12 financial year • Other data available, e.g. PSC tools, DPSA and Vulindlela 4

  5. APPLICATION OF THE M&E SYSTEM The PSC applied its M&E system in the Department in the 2010/11 evaluation cycle. Our scores for the Department on each Constitutional Principle then were: 5

  6. FEEDBACK ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS 6

  7. FEEDBACK ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS 7

  8. FEEDBACK ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS 8

  9. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT • Audit opinions by the Auditor General (AG) for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform: • In 2011/12, the AG– • found that the Department did not have adequate systems in place to maintain records for all state land situated in the former TBVC states and self-governing territories in the immovable tangible capital asset register; • noted that legal claims against the Department amounting to R2 042 million are subject to the outcome of legal proceedings; and • found that in respect of compliance with laws and regulations, the Accounting Officer did not take effective steps to prevent irregular, as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. 9

  10. EXPENDITURE VS PERFORMANCE • Spending for 2011/12 was within the generally accepted margin of 2% set by National Treasury. • Although almost the entire budget is spent, the achievement of predetermined outputs (45%) is still fairly low. • The following are the major reasons for the under-spending on the operational budget in 2011/121: • Difficulties in filling professional posts, for example, surveyors. • Restitution process challenges such as community/boundary disputes. • Institutionalising the Comprehensive Rural Development Plan (CRDP). • Integration of infrastructure plans. 1 2011/12 Annual Report 10

  11. EXPENDITURE VS PERFORMANCE (cont) • There was a noticeable (15%) improvement in performance against pre-determined objectives from the 2010/11 financial year. • With regard to reporting on performance information in 2011/12, the AG found that- • 46% of the indicators were not well defined in that clear, unambiguous data definitions were not available to allow for data to be collected consistently. • 30% of the actual reported performance was not verifiable. This was due to a lack of monitoring and review of the recording of actual achievements by senior management. • Indicators and targets were not suitably developed. • The AG mentioned that there were significant internal control deficiencies in 2011/12. 11

  12. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION • The Department contributed to poverty reduction projects through the CRDP and the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) grant • The CRDP assisted 3058 households with clean drinking water, created 10049 employment opportunities, and capacitated 3819 beneficiaries in enterprise development. • The LRAD has redistributed 392,850 hectares of strategically located land, which benefitted at least 310 projects and 1 211 beneficiaries. • 277farmers were capacitated through agricultural training programmes. 12

  13. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION • These achievements should be seen in the context of the scale of the problem the Department is facing in its efforts to resolve the land question. • There are 2920 rural wards across the country and 6,5 million rural households with greater levels of poverty than their counterparts in the city. • In 2011/ 12 the department profiled 57 wards and 97 577 households under its rural development programme. • The cost per household of the Department’s interventions are also high. • The Department would require innovative programme designs to make an impact on rural development on a significant scale. DPME: Mid-Term Review of the Priorities of Government. March 2012 13

  14. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION • Indeed both the CRDP and the RADP (Recapitalisation and Development Programme) are clearly still developing their programmes, such as the integration of infrastructure plans across spheres of government, the deployment of new technologies, and engagement of strategic partners and mentors. • Interpretation and coordination is notoriously difficult to achieve – the Department is institutionalising its CRDP management system. • The Department is developing new administrative practices. • If the Department continuously tests and improves practices, it will become more effective in the future. 14

  15. ACCOUNTABILITY • If accountability is to be practiced in the public service, EAs and HoDs should visibly support performance management processes and ensure that these cascade down to other levels in the SMS. • Submission of the PA of the HoD by the due date: • The current HoD qualified for evaluation in the 2011/12 financial year. No evaluation documentation has been submitted. • The submission of the HoD’s PA on time is a positive indication of the example set from the top. 15

  16. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS • To root out corruption and maladministration, matters of ethics and integrity should be addressed: • 32 cases of alleged irregularities were under investigation by internal audit in 2011/12. • The Special Investigating Unit investigated 36 cases of alleged irregularities in certain land reform projects in 2011/12. • 87cases were referred from the National Anti-Corruption Hotline to the Department. • However, the feedback and closure rate in respect of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline cases as at December 2012 requires improvement: 16

  17. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS (cont) • Financial Disclosure Framework – For the last four financial years the Department failed to submit FD forms to the PSC by the due date of 31 May 2012. • The compliance rate AFTER the due date has also not been on the required level. There has been significant improvement in 2011/12, with only one form outstanding. • While there has been an improvement, the department must target 100% by the due date! 17

  18. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS (cont) • In the 2011/12 financial year, the PSC found that 21%of SMS members in the Department may have potential conflicts between their private interests and their official responsibilities. 18

  19. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS (cont) • Manage precautionary suspensions in cases of serious misconduct. • Financial misconduct cases reported to the PSC revealed that- • In the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 financial years, the Department reported 5 cases each year. • The number of cases of financial misconduct is low given the AG’s finding that the Department did not take effective steps to prevent irregular, as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. 1 As at August 2012 19

  20. TRANSPARENCY • The Department’s Website is user friendly and most documents are easily accessible. • The Manual on Access to Information is easily accessible and available in the official languages. • The annual report is a key accountability mechanism, but it only serves to promote transparency if it is readily available. • The Department’s Annual Reports for previous financial years are available on its Website. • As on 31 January 2012, the 2011/12 AR was accessed through the Government Information Website, but there is no link to the document on the Department’s own Website and it is not uploaded on the Website. 20

  21. GOOD HR PRACTICES • The vacancy rate as at 31 March 2012 was 11.47% and increased to over 18.5% in December 2012. • The high vacancy rate for the Department was due to attrition, and the stringent requirements for the filling posts in the Occupational Specific Dispensations. • In the 2011/12 FY an amount of R 496 306 418.80 (6%) of a total budget of R 8 136 697 billion was spent on consultants for 48 different services. 1 Vulindlela as at December 2012 2 DPSA’s Public Service Management Watch as at June 2012 21

  22. GOOD HR PRACTICES (cont) • Extract from Public Service Regulations • An EA may employ persons additional to the approved establishment where- • the incumbent of a post is expected to be absent for such a period that her or his duties cannot be performed by other personnel • a temporary increase in work occurs • (c) it is necessary for any other reason to temporarily increase the staff of the department • A high % of staff is held additional to the establishment, which could be attributed the implementation of the revised approved structure following the finalisation of the turnaround strategy referred to in the Department’s Annual Report. • Contract appointments used strategically can be of benefit to the State in terms of savings as well as providing an opportunity to access talent and potential without any commitment beyond a contractual obligation. 22

  23. EMPLOYMENT EQUITY • Public administration must be broadly representative of South African people, with employment and personnel management practices based on ability, objectivity fairness and the need to redress the imbalances of the past to achieve broad representation. 23

  24. CONCLUDING REMARKS • Colonial and apartheid land dispossession is the major underlying cause of poverty and inequality in South Africa. Land reform cannot fail. • Improvements have been made in respect of some of the values and principles, but serious concerns remain around the department’s governance and management performance. • The sustained failure to get a clean audit must be addressed. • The performance management process requires urgent attention. Requires clear, unambiguous and measurable indicators, and appropriate management action on poor performance. • The PSC would like to see the Department do more to actively and aggressively manage its integrity system and relentlessly follow up on and close cases of corruption. • It should be recognised that the Department is developing new processes and these take time to bed down. • The Department has undertaken re-engineering to fast-track the implementation of its programmes. • However, continuous restructuring negatively affects the Department’s performance in its core functions of CRDP and RADP – implementing a new structure, strategy and appointing 68 new senior managers diverts attention from core business. 24

  25. Siyabonga enkosi PSB Website: www.psc.gov.za National Anti-Corruption Hotline for the Public Service: 0800 701 701

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