Media statement on the Limpopo provincial government executive council meeting
The Executive Council of Limpopo, led by Premier Chupu Mathabatha and attended by all Members of the Executive Council (MECs) met on Wednesday, 07 August 2019 and discussed the program of government amongst others.
The Executive Council was briefed and adopted the programme of the Women’s Month which was launched in Phalaborwa on the 1 August 2019. The Theme for this year’s celebrations is “25 Years of Democracy, Growing South Africa together for the Emancipation of Women”. The Provincial Celebrations will be held at Makhuvha Stadium near Thohoyandou in the Vhembe District 09 August 2019.
The Executive Council adopted Program of Action of five (5) clusters which are Economic, Infrastructure, Social, JCPS and G&A Cluster.
Amongst issues adopted and approved by EXCO include;
The essence of the Limpopo Development Plan which expires soon, is to improve standards of living and to reduce poverty, unemployment and unacceptable levels of inequality. The Economic Cluster aims to achieve this program through sustainable economic development and transformation, and the focus will be on mining, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing, as well as empowering SMMEs and cooperatives. There’s also need to strengthen the support towards identified Growth Point areas.
* The Expanded Public Works Cluster targets for the 2019/2024 Phase IV included a minimum target of 5 million job opportunities over the five year period. These targets are spread over a 2019 MTEF, with projections for the outer years Medium term Strategic Framework. The Limpopo province is allocated a minimum target of 475,358 Work opportunities.
The work opportunities have been allocated for each Sector in the Limpopo Province as follows:-
i. Infrastructure Sector: 9,439 work opportunities;
ii. Environmental Sector: 3,119 work opportunities;
iii. Social Sector: 17,179 work opportunities;
iv. Non-State Sector (CWP): 28,250 work opportunities;
v. Non-State Sector (NPOs): 8,613 work opportunities;
vi. Municipal Sphere: 26,038 work opportunities; and
The Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure will be responsible for the overall co-ordination of the EPWP Programme.
* The Infrastructure Cluster Programme of Action highlighted the key programmes that will be implemented in the 2019/20 financial year. The Executive Council directed as follows:
- The following projects should henceforth be reported as stand-alone items and progress reports thereto tabled before EXCO on a quarterly basis;
1. Elimination of pit latrine in schools.
2. Construction of the Academic hospital.
3. Relocation of the legislature to Polokwane.
4. Relocation of the Sekhukhune District offices to Jane Furse, and
5. Construction of the State Theatre.
The Social Cluster Program of Action 2019/20
The Executive Council approved this program of Action which highlighted key programs for the financial year.
Justice, Crime, Prevention and Security CLUSTER 2019/20
The Executive Council approved the JCPS Cluster program of Action for 2019/20 and directed as follows:
1. The Provincial Community Safety dialogue needs to be convened in collaboration with members of the Civil Society so as to deal with issues relating to the escalation of crime and the spate of killings of community leaders in the Province, and
2. That the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster should prepare a submission on the framework for the convening of the Provincial Dialogue on Community safety for tabling in the next EXCO meeting.
Civil Society Funding Framework
A memorandum of the funding of the civil society funding Framework for the Limpopo provincial Aids Council was presented to the Executive Council meeting. The memorandum highlighted the following;
- Currently there is no framework even at national level on the funding mechanism used to support Civil Society sector financially. The National development Agency (NDA) has a legislative mandate to grant funding to Civil Society Organisations (CSO) that are implementing projects or programs aimed at meeting development needs of poor communities and strengthening the institutional capacity of other CSOs involved in direct service provision to poor communities.
- During its previous sitting, the Provincial Aids Council resolved that a Civil Society Funding Framework should be developed to provide guidelines on the funding of activities and operations of the civil society.
- The Director-General of the Province subsequently appointed a Task Team comprising of senior officials from the following departments, namely Office of the Premier, Provincial Treasury, Health, Education, Social Development, CoGHSTA and the National Development Agency (NDA) whose brief was to develop the Civil Society Sectors funding framework;
- The District AIDS Council in Municipalities were consulted during the development process to gather information in relation to the operations of Civil Society sectors at District and Local levels;
- The purpose of the Civil Society Funding Framework is to guide and regulate the financing of Civil Society Sectors’ representatives within the AIDS Councils at Provincial, District and Local levels; and
- The funding is meant to enable Civil Society representatives to attend AIDS Council meetings, Civil Society Forum meetings, Civil Society sector specific meetings and workshops. The funding will also be utilized by the civil society sector representative to perform other important tasks related to AIDS Council such as organizing dialogues and summits for various members of the public as part of advocacy, information education and awareness and social mobilisation.
- The Executive Council also approved the Limpopo provincial Budget process as presented.
Recognition: Senior Traditional Leaders
The Executive Council approved the recognition of Sebela Maile Clifford as Senior Traditional Leader under Sebela Traditional Community in terms of Section 12(1)(a) & (b) of Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act No. 6 of 2005 and that be remunerated accordingly.
The Executive Council also approved the recognition of Mugivhi Mutheiwana Joseph as Senior Traditional Leader of Hamutsha Traditional Community in terms of Section 12(1) (b) of Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act No. 6 of 2005 and that be remunerated accordingly.
Findings of the Forensic Investigation Conducted at the Modimolle-Mookgophong Municipality
A memorandum providing a report on the investigations of allegations of irregularities pertaining to payments and procurement processes at the Modimolle Mookgophong Local Municipality was presented to the Executive Council meeting. The Executive Council directed as follows:-
That the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, together with the Legal Services Unit in the Office of the Premier should interrogate the report, and where necessary the law enforcement agencies should be roped in to proceed with the investigations where acts of criminality are suspected.
Central Audit Committee 4th Quarter Report for 2019/20
The Central Audit Committee (CAC) 4th quarter report of the 2019/20 financial year was presented to the Executive council meeting. The meeting highlighted the following:-
a) Governance structures:-
- The provincial government still has serious challenges in terms of employment equity, where the number of female Senior Management Services (SMS) members is not yet at the required 50% level.
- The CAC recommended that the departments should implement their employment equity plans so as to meet the Provincial SMS targets for females.
b) Risk management:-
- The Province has challenges with the implementation of controls and risk mitigation measures as most risks keep appearing on the Provincial Risk register with high residual risk exposure.
- There is a need for commitment to implement controls and mitigation measures in order to manage the identified risks.
c) Financial management:-
- The Audit Committee is concerned with the huge amounts of accruals and payables of approximately R600 million in the Department of Health.
- There is a serious need for the re-engineering exercise to be undertaken in the Department of Health so as to deal with the root causes that result in continued accruals.
d) Internal controls:-
- Internal audits show that departments are slow in implementing internal audit recommendations.
- The Executive Council needs to monitor the situation and ensure that internal audit findings are given priority by the respective departments.
e) Clean audit:-
- For the 2018/19 audit outcomes no department’s audit opinion has regressed, and there was an improvement for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and COGHSTA from Qualified to Unqualified Audit Opinion.
- The following departments retained Unqualified Audit opinion with findings, namely Community Safety, Social Development, Transport and Office of the Premier.
- The Provincial treasury retained a Clean Audit Opinion.
f) Pre-determined objectives:
- Most departments did not do well in achieving their service delivery targets though they had spent their budget allocations.
- There is a need for Departments to ensure the efficient and effective use of resources in order to deliver the required services.
Revenue and Expenditure Report for April 2019/20
A memorandum on the revenue and expenditure report for the Provincial Administration for the period ending 30 June 2019 was presented to the Executive Council meeting. The memorandum highlighted the following:-
a) Overall provincial expenditure was R16.8 billion representing 24.1% of the R69.5 billion allocated budget;
b) Compensation of Employees (CoE) recorded an expenditure of R11.9 billion or 24.3% of the total budget of R49.2 billion;
c) Goods and Services recorded an expenditure of R2.4 billion or 23.5% of the total budget of R10.1 billion;
d) Transfers and Subsidies recorded an expenditure of R2.2 billion or 27.2% of the total budget of R8.2 billion;
e) Payment for Capital Assets recorded an expenditure of R242.3 million or 12.0% of the total budget of R2.0 billion;
f) Conditional Grants recorded an expenditure of R1.6 billion or 17.5% of the total budget of R9.1 billion;
g) Provincial Infrastructure recorded an expenditure of R963.9 million or 17.2% of the total Provincial infrastructure budget of R5.6 billion; and
h) The total Provincial Own Revenue target for 2019/20 financial year is R1.316 billion. As at the end of June 2019 the Province had collected an amount of R306.1 million or 23.2% of the annual revenue target.
30-Day Invoice Payments Report for April 2019/20 [Provincial Treasury]
A memorandum on the payment of Invoices within 30 days for the period ending 30 June 2019 was presented to the Executive Council meeting. The memorandum highlighted the following:-
a) The percentage of invoices paid within the prescribed 30 days of receipt during April 2019 was 90.66%, which was 9.34% below the 100% compliance rate set for all departments;
b) The following two (D) Departments paid all their invoices recorded in the month within 30 days, namely Office of the Premier (369 invoices) and Provincial Treasury (304 invoices); and
c) A cumulative total of 505 invoices older than 30 days had not yet been paid by the following Departments, namely Education (45 invoices), Health (381 invoices), Transport (64 invoices) and Sport, Arts and Culture (15 invoices).
Enquiries:
Kenny Mathivha
Cell: 082 450 1331
E-mail: mathivhak@premier.limpopo.gov.za
