Question no: 633
Mrs S P Kopane (DA) to ask the Minister of Social Development:
(1) Whether, with reference to the funding granted by the board of the National Development Agency in the 2007/08 financial year, any sustainable income generated projects were established in any of the nine provinces; if not, why not; if so, (a) what amount was allocated to each of these projects, (b) what was the nature of each of the funded projects and (c) which civil organisations received funding in any of the provinces;
(2) Whether signed contracts and business plans exist for each project; if not, why not;
(3) Whether any evaluation has been conducted on the funded projects; if not, why not; if so, (a) what were the outcomes of each and (b) how often are these evaluations done;
(4) Whether all of the funded projects can account for the funds they have received; if not, (a) why not, (b) which projects cannot account for all the funds that they have received, (c) what is the total value of the funds that cannot be accounted for each of the projects and (d) what steps have been taken with regard to each situation?
Reply:
Honourable member,
(1) Yes, the National Development Agency (NDA) approved 78 projects in the 2007/08 financial year. Out of the 78 projects, 61 were income generating, 15 food security and two (2) capacities building respectively. The duration of the projects ranges from 12 to 36 months. All projects were approved based on comprehensive viability assessment and potential for institutional and financial sustainability.
(a) And (b) Refer to a full list of all projects approved by the NDA board in 2007/08 in the annexure. The list provides location of province, project name, district municipality, sector, number of direct and indirect beneficiaries, and the approved amount.
(c) All projects listed in the enclosed annexure received funding from the NDA in 2007/08. All projects funded in 2007/08 financial year are civil society organisations as the NDA only provides funding to civil society organisations.
(2) Yes, contracts have been signed with all approved projects and business plans were submitted as part of the adjudication process. The board has requested submissions of specific business plans linked specific trenches.
(3) No, formal formative (mid-term review) and summative evaluations have not been conducted as most projects have been in operation for approximately 11 months.
(a) The evaluation outcomes for the projects approved in 2007/08 are not available as both the mid-term review and summative evaluations have not been finalised.
(b) The mid-term review is conducted after 12 months of project implementation and the final evaluation is commissioned at the end of the project. All projects have dedicated approved budget for evaluation. However, all the projects have been consistently monitored in accordance with our standard operating procedures on grant making.
(4) (a) No, the NDA has uncovered potential irregularities in the management of Funds;
(b) Thuthukisikhono Development Club in KwaZulu-Natal. The total grant approved for this project is R2 752 579.
(c) The NDA has to date disbursed R825 773 to the project. Of this amount, R411 000 was transferred by the project to a service provider for the construction of poultry houses. The houses have still not been constructed.
(d) The NDA has taken the following steps in respect of funds that could not be accounted for.
* A compliance audit was conducted by the NDA
* Further funding to the project has been suspended until the funds paid to the service provider are returned to the project, or alternatively the poultry houses are constructed
* The strategic partners in the project have been consulted and informed about the NDA position
* The community has indicated that they cannot afford to have funding to the project withdrawn by the NDA and have undertaken to remove the official implicated in the irregularity.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
21 September 2009
