Chairperson of the Portfolio on Public Service and Administration
Honourable Members of the Portfolio on Public Service and Administration
Deputy Minister in the Presidency: Honourable Buti Manamela
Members of the National Planning Commission
Members of the Audit Committee
Members of the Business Community present
Leadership of the South African Football Association
Youth representatives
Student Representatives from institutions of higher learning
Distinguished guests
Fellow South Africans
Introduction
It is an honour to present the Budget Vote of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), including the budget for National Youth Development Agency. When I presented the Budget Vote last year, the department was newly established and therefore did not include the NYDA. The processes have now been concluded and the NYDA is now an entity under the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. I have subsequently delegated youth development issues to the Deputy Minister who will present on the work we are doing regarding youth development.
The creation of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and the National Planning Commission was intended to create capacity at the centre of government to drive planning and development. The work of the new department is about progressively putting in place building blocks for a capable developmental state. We are building a state that intervenes on behalf of the poor in our society to address the inequities of the past and putting our economy on a qualitatively different path. We are mindful of the fact that developmental states are a product of hard work and determination. We will not rest until all South Africans fully enjoy the fruits of our freedom.
Our mandate remains focused on giving direction on the implementation of the National Development Plan-NDP, monitoring its implementation and evaluating the impact of government programme. Furthermore, the department is focusing on institutionalising long term planning.
The coming of age of South Africa’s hard-won democracy
Honourable Members, South Africa recently celebrated twenty one years of democracy. On 27 April 1994 a new nation emerged from the ashes of apartheid and hundreds of years of systematic oppression of the black majority. Twenty one years later, South Africa is indeed a very different country, imbued with the values of equality and freedom, which are at the heart of our democracy.
The freedom we enjoy today is a result of a bitter struggle fought on a number of fronts and for which many compatriots paid the ultimate price. South Africa owes a great debt to our African brothers and sisters on the continent who stood by us in our historic fight for freedom and justice.
In the past few weeks our democratic values have been severely tested by the shameful attacks directed at foreign nationals. We deeply regret the loss of human life and the suffering that was visited on many hundreds of both South Africans and non-South Africans. Government has moved with speed to bring peace and stability and restore South Africa’s image as a custodian of democratic values and principles. We are determined to restore normality and in this regard, the President has appointed an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on migration, which has been tasked with ensuring that all aspects of migration are handled efficiently, including the social, economic and security aspects.
Planning
Honourable members, the term of the current National Planning Commissioners comes to an end in May this year. We recently hosted a farewell ceremony for the outgoing Commissioners, where the President and Deputy President thanked them for the sterling work they have done in developing the country’s National Development Plan. In thanking them, President Zuma said:
“As a country and government, we owe these men and women a huge debt of gratitude for serving their country with distinction… they are South Africans of a high calibre who when called upon to undertake the national task, they did not hesitate, they came in and did their best”
Some of the National Planning Commissioners are present today and on behalf of the country, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Commissioners for their self-less service to our country.
In March this year, we published a call for nominations of candidates to be considered for appointment to the second National Planning Commission. The President will consider the nominees and appoint men and women who will carry forward this important work for the next five years.
The National Development Plan
In the July 2014 Budget Speech, we identified coordination and the monitoring of implementation of the National Development Plan as most important priority for the Department for the next five years. The Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014 – 2019 forms the basis of the monitoring work we do. The MTSF is structured around the fourteen priority outcomes, which cover the key priorities of the NDP – ranging from quality basic education to nation-building and social cohesion. The MTSF identifies the important actions required to implement the aspects of the NDP for which government is responsible over the next five years.
Honourable members, we have dubbed 2015 the year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to Advance Economic Freedom. Our struggle against poverty, unemployment and inequality relies on our ability to implement, monitor and evaluate the impact that government policies are having on the lives of all South Africans. This requires good statistics. I have directed DPME and Statistics South Africa, whose Budget Vote is being tabled tomorrow, to ensure the seamless integration of data for, planning, monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the state is better able to deliver better and faster results.
Radical economic transformation remains a critical focal area, coupled with a concerted focus on improving service delivery, the performance of the public service and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of local government.
As part of this work, we have assessed national and provincial strategic and annual performance for their alignment with the NDP and other prescripts. Broadly, both national and provincial departmental plans are aligned to the NDP although more work needs to be done to ensure that departments craft strategic objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). As the maxim goes, “what gets measured gets done”; and therefore what is not measured, does not get done.
Monitoring the implementation of the National Development Plan
Honourable members, our monitoring function has various elements. Firstly, the President has entered into performance agreement with all Ministers, based on the roles, responsibilities and targets outlined in the MTSF. The agreements directed ministers to ensure that the relevant actions and targets in the MTSF are reflected in the performance agreements of Directors General and cascaded to all officials. Our job is to monitor, on behalf of the President, the implementation of the commitments made in those agreements.
The President has also appointed coordinating Ministers for each of the outcomes, who are tasked with driving and coordinating the implementation and presenting evidence-based progress reports to Cabinet at least three times a year.
Secondly, Cabinet is using the MTSF as the basis for monitoring the implementation of the NDP. In the previous financial year, two progress reports were tabled in Cabinet. The progress reports are also made available to the public through the Programme of Action website.
The progress reports broadly show that some progress has been made in a number of outcomes. The reports indicate that there is good progress made in ensuring that South Africans live for longer. This is partly attributed to the antiretroviral programme, whose successful implementation is testament to what we can achieve when we work together. In education, there is progress made in Annual National Assessment results pertaining to literacy and numeracy. Despite this progress, quality remains an area of concern for both sectors, a matter that is receiving the relevant departments’ attention. There is limited progress regarding safety and security, economic growth and employment creation and rural development and land reform. This too, is receiving the relevant departments’ focused attention.
Thirdly, in collaboration with National Treasury, the Department convenes performance dialogues with sector departments to review progress in achieving performance and financial targets set in their annual performance plans.
Lastly, in keeping with our commitment to support parliament in its oversight role, we have tabled several planning, monitoring and evaluation reports to various portfolio committees.
Monitoring Local Government Performance
Honourable members, the President said in his State of the Nation Address in February 2015 that “Local government is everybody’s business. We have to make it work.” As a Department, we are making our own contributions to make local government work better to improve the quality of life of our people. DPME initiated an assessment of management practices tailored for municipalities. The initiative is referred to as the Local Government Management Improvement Model (LGMIM). The model and approach is intended to measure the institutional performance of municipalities across a number of key performance areas.
In 2013-14, we piloted and tested this approach in 12 municipalities. In 2014-15, we planned to assess 20 municipalities but exceeded this target and assessed 30 municipalities. In the 2015- 16 financial year, we intend to enrol a further 25 municipalities for assessment. The department will work with provincial departments of Co-operative Governance in rolling out this initiative to the rest of municipalities. The results of the assessments are intended inform the Back to Basics programme which was launched by the President last.
Monitoring management practices in departments
Honourable Members, as we said last year, building a capable developmental state and forging a disciplined, people-centred and professional public service are one of the key pillars of the NDP. The Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) is one of the initiatives that we have introduced to monitor management practices within national and provincial departments. We do this because we understand that without improving management practices in the public service, the delivery of services to our people will fall short of our expectations.
In the past year, 155 national and provincial departments conducted self-assessments on their management practices. A recent evaluation indicates that the MPAT is a sophisticated, assessment of management practice, comparable with the best known international examples. Thus far it has been received by departments with high rates of participation. Stakeholders value this relatively unique assessment tool and find its assessments useful for improvement planning. We have committed to introducing significant design improvements to allow MPAT to become more than a compliance assessment. Such improvements in the conceptual design are needed, particularly to draw the relationship between good management practices and good public outcomes.
Monitoring the payment of suppliers within 30 days
One of the areas where government has been found wanting is the payment of suppliers within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice. A comparative analysis of national departments between 2013 and 2014 showed that there has been an improvement in the average number of invoices paid within 30 days. However delays in payment still remain a major challenge, with significant negative impact on small business, on growing the economy and on employment creation.
For instance, national departments reported 155 572 invoices worth R3.8 billion which were paid after 30 days. However, at the same time, 62 887 invoices older than 30 days worth R2.1 billion had not been paid. Provincial departments for the same period reveal a marginal improvement of 5% in the average number of invoices paid within 30 days. Provinces reported 241 332 invoices worth R13.4 billion which were paid after 30 days and 356 079 invoices worth R21.8 billion invoices older than 30 days which were not paid.
Cabinet has approved the establishment of a special unit to proactively address the payment of suppliers within 30 days from receipt of a legitimate invoice. The Unit will be located within DPME and will work with National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration.
Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring
Honourable Members, we are building a monitoring and evaluation culture in the civil service. In this regard, we have introduced a system of unannounced frontline service delivery monitoring visits, the Presidential Hotline and more recently, Citizen-based monitoring.
During the recent Imbizo Focus Week, we conducted announced and unannounced visits to municipal licensing centres, youth centres, police stations and victim empowerment centres. We have raised concerns about the period of time that people have to wait in long queues before they receive services. It is totally unacceptable that in some instances, citizens have to wait for more than four hours to be served. Citizens have called for the introduction of online systems, to significantly cut long queues and make use of digital equipment. As government, we must modernise our systems so that we are better able to provide quicker and better services to citizens.
Presidential Hotline
The Presidential Hotline continues to provide a platform for our people to lodge their queries and complaints about the quality of service they receive from government. To date we have recorded 207 000 complaints and queries at the Hotline, of which 35% are general queries and 65% are complaints about services. I can report that, for all complaints and queries we received, 94% are recorded as resolved and 11 661 (6%) remaining to be resolved. The nature of complaints that we receive mainly involves labour relations and employment (20%), land and housing (15%), local government, basic services and utilities (13%), crime and justice (10%).
We regularly report to Cabinet and give feedback to departments and provinces about how many complaints have been received and resolved. We undertake telephonic satisfaction surveys to ask citizens to rate their experience of the Hotline. To date we have surveyed 23 000 people and the results are on average 70% of people rate the service as good to fair and 35% poor.
Citizen-Based Monitoring
We are continuing to work with departments to implement the Frontline Service Delivery monitoring programme. In addition to the Msinga and Phutadijaba initiatives which we reported last year, we have expanded this pilot to 10 facilities in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo provinces. During 2015, we will roll this out to facilities in Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape and Mpumalanga where we intend to target a combined total of at least 16 facilities. The involvement of citizens in the delivery of services is a major point of emphasis in the NDP.
Operation Phakisa
Honourable members, we have made major strides in the implementation of Operation Phakisa. In the oceans economy, actions have been identified to unlock R177 billion contribution to GDP by 2033.
Four key initiatives have been identified as critical to realise the immense potential of the oceans economy and contribute to radical economic transformation as outlined in the MTSF. They include supporting the expansion and implementation of various aquaculture initiatives, exploring offshore oil and gas reserves, increasing investments in marine manufacturing and marine transport, and ensuring a coordinated approach to marine protection and governance.
Progress recorded since the launch of the Oceans Economy Operation Phakisa includes the following:
- commitment of R7 bn of public sector investment in our ports by Transnet Ports Authority
- R9.2 bn of public and private investment in the construction of a new berth in Saldana Bay, the extension of the Mossgas Quay and the refurbishment of the Offshore Supply Base.
- the Department of Trade and Industry has designated that working vessels must meet a 60% local content target
- various aquaculture projects have been launched that are benefiting many rural communities by enabling them to make a living from our seas and inland fresh water reserves.
Furthermore, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has developed skills implementation plans aligned with these initiatives.
The second Operation Phakisa initiative introduced in 2014 was within the health sector. The focus of this initiative is on improving the quality of services in primary health care. We call this the Ideal Clinic initiative. A detailed plan for improving service delivery in public sector clinics in all provinces has been developed and approved by the National Health Council.
Operation Phakisa Labs will also be conducted in the mining and education sectors. In mining, the focus will be on increasing investment, transforming the sector and improving the mineral beneficiation to drive radical economic transformation. In education, the focus will be on increasing the role of Information and Communication Technology to enhancing basic education.
Testing proposals in the NDP through pilot projects
During the July 2014 budget speech, we mentioned some of the pilot initiatives supported by the National Planning Commission.
National Education Collaboration Trust
We have made good progress on the National Education Collaboration Trust’s (NECT). This initiative is being implemented in eight districts in Limpopo, Eastern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga. A total of 4 262 schools are benefiting.
Continental and regional collaboration
The President is the political champion of the African Union Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI), and in particular the North South Road and Rail Corridor and linkages between the Northern and Southern parts of the continent. As part of supporting the President on PICI, I chair the Inter Ministerial Committee made up of Ministers in South Africa whose departments are involved in different infrastructure projects on the continent.
In collaboration with Southern African Development Community (SADC), we have also initiated an informal community of practice for planners to enable planning agencies in the region to exchange notes on planning.
Evaluation of government programmes
Honourable members, as I mentioned on 21 July 2014, we have to constantly reflect on whether our programmes are achieving what they were intended to achieve, whether we are doing the right things, whether we are being effective, efficient and providing value for money and how we can improve. In collaboration with government departments, we commission academic and research institutions to undertake evaluations which are later tabled to Cabinet and Parliament. Departments are expected to develop improvement plans that address key issues raised in the evaluations.
During 2014-15, six evaluation reports were completed and submitted to Cabinet. We aim to initiate at least eight evaluations during the current financial year. To date, we have a total of 39 evaluations underway or completed covering around R50 billions of government expenditure. As these evaluations feed through into the system we should see a major contribution to improving the effectiveness of government’s programmes. We are now launching the call for evaluations for 2016-17 with a target of 8 evaluations for 2016-17.
Honourable Members, the first completed evaluations are making a significant difference. For example:
- The first evaluation on Early Childhood Development has resulted in a new ECD policy being developed and gazetted in March 2015. Among others, the focus will be on improving the quality of Grade R to maximise its impact on poor children and in poorly performing provinces, and strengthening the training and development of Grade R teachers. This has the potential to make a major difference to our children.
- An evaluation of the Business Process Outsourcing Scheme of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was undertaken to investigate whether the Business Process Services (BPS) Incentive Programme offered by the dti, is achieving its key objectives, namely job creation and increasing foreign direct investment. The programme aims to attract investment and create employment in South Africa through off-shoring activities. At its inception in 2011, it was envisaged that it will result in the creation of a total number of 15 149 jobs over 3 years. The evaluation sought to assess whether this outcome is being achieved.
Key findings indicate that since the start of the incentive scheme, over 9000 jobs have been created and that the Business Process Service sector is a key sector for attracting investment and creating new jobs especially in the 18-35 age group, where job creation for young people is most needed. The evaluation has resulted in a redesign and re-launch of the scheme, to strengthen identified challenges.
- The evaluation of Grade R showed the importance of improving the quality of provision and not just expanding coverage. DBE is making significant efforts to the improve quality of provision through improving the qualifications of Grade R teachers.
Many evaluations are having significant impacts even before they are finished and made public. The Evaluation of Nutrition Interventions for Children under Five, which recently served in Cabinet, showed that there is a significant problem of stunting for children under 5 (21%). This evaluation directly informed the inclusion of a target, within the Medium Term Strategic Framework, to reduce stunting to 10%. The Urban Settlements Development Grant evaluation has led to a revised grant framework, implementation guideline and M&E framework even before the report is public.
The evaluations for 2015-16 cover a range of programmes and systems like the Mining Charter, the Agricultural Extension Recovery Plan, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), the Asset Forfeiture Unit Sub-programme, the Non-Profit Organisations Regulatory Framework and Legislation), the National Drug Master Plan, the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Act, the Service Delivery Improvement Planning System, the evaluation of the national evaluation system and DPME’s citizen-based monitoring programme, among others. In essence, we are also evaluating our own programmes, thus ensuring that we practice what we preach.
Capacity Development and Knowledge sharing
Capacity building is an NDP imperative. As part of our capacity building and international liaison in the field of planning monitoring and evaluation, we have organised and engaged in a number of events. For example:
- In March this year, we launched the International Year of Evaluation and a number of events are planned in South Africa through the year. This will culminate in the flagship SAMEA Conference in October 2015.
- In June 2014 and March 2015, in collaboration with the World Bank we co-hosted International Knowledge Sharing Workshops, whereby the following countries participated: Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
These international sessions serve as a platform for DPME to share knowledge with peers from fellow African countries about how the various planning, monitoring and evaluation programmes are designed and implemented, the difference they are making, and what is being learned from both success and challenges experienced
Internationally, we are recognised as a key player in the area of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. Our National Evaluation Policy Framework has been translated into Russian and has been used as far away as Kyrgyzstan and Bhutan. We work closely with the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA), the Public Service Commission and other partners such as the African Evaluation Association (AfREA), the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), the international Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR), and the International Initiative on Impact Evaluation (3ie).
We are humbled by the interest shown by other countries on our programmes and we commit to constantly improving the way in which we work, and our tools and guidelines.
Administration
In the last financial year the department placed emphasis on ensuring that at least 90% of all funded posts were filled, and that the work force of the department was skilled, competent and representative of the demographics of the country. At the end of the 2014/15 financial year the department had 268 funded posts of which 245 posts (91.4%) were filled resulting in a vacancy rate was 8.6% or 23 posts.
In the 12 month period from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 the department had a 9% turnover rate. The main reason for the exits was officials leaving due to promotions or pursing other career opportunities. The employment equity statistics at the end of the 2014/15 financial year were, with respect to people with disability: 1.6% and Women at SMS level: 50%.
Honourable members, the department obtained clean audit opinions for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 financial years. The audit for the 2014/15 financial year is underway and we are again looking forward to a positive audit opinion.
Budget
The budget allocated to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for the 2015/16 financial year is R717.7 million. The budget is divided into five programmes:
- Administration: R69.8 million;
- Outcomes monitoring and evaluation: R85.6million;
- Institutional performance monitoring and evaluation: R59.6 million;
- National planning: R88.2 million;
- National youth development: R414.5 million. This includes a transfer payment to the National Youth Development Agency of R409.8 million.
Honourable members, we urge you to approve the 2015/16 Budget for Vote 8.
Conclusion
Finally I wish to thank the President, the Deputy President, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Chairs and Members of the Portfolio Committees, the Commissioners of the NPC, the former Director-General Dr Sean Phillips, the acting Director-General of DPME, the acting Head of the Secretariat of the National Planning Commission, my office, senior management and all officials present today for providing us with support.
I thank you
Enquiries:
Bonnie Ramaila
Cell: 0725737583
