Later this afternoon, we will be tabling the Budget Vote of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in the National Assembly. We are excited to have the opportunity to account to Parliament and people of South Africa for how we have used the resources allocated to us in the past year and share our plans for the new fiscal year.
The time allocated for the Budget Vote speech does not give us enough time to provide all the necessary details. For this reason we have decided to use this media briefing to give members of the media a preview of the speech. We encourage members of the media to consult the Annual Reports and Annual Performance Plans of the DPME and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) for the details.
The National Planning Commission will host a media briefing on Friday 22 April in Johannesburg, to discuss its plans for the year ahead. Details of the briefing will be provided by our communications team.
This is the year in which we mark 20 years since the adoption of our Constitution and 40 years since the Soweto Student uprisings which changed our country forever. We see these as milestones in a journey of transforming our society. They remind us of the past we fought against and of the type of society we committed ourselves to become when our leader President Mandela said during his inauguration as President in 1994: “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world”.
Towards the end of last year and early this year we experienced events such as the explosion of racism in our public discourse. We have also experienced the attacks against foreign nationals last year; the escalation of the campaign by our young people in institutions of higher learning for an end to their exclusion and humiliation in higher education institutions.
They are also calling for true transformation of institutions and curricula. These events remind us of the challenge that still lies ahead of us.
We have made significant progress in improving the lives of our people.
Overview
Poverty
Head-count poverty has been dramatically reduced between 2001 and 2011, for example in Msinga in KZN it moved from 60% to 37% and in Westonaria (Gauteng) the poverty gap which measures intensity dropped from 47% to 45%.
Education
Post-school enrolment has increased steadily with over 969 000 students in 2014. The NSFAS budget has also increased from R441 million in 1999 to R9.2 billion in 2015
Health
Life expectancy has increased from 57.1 years in 2009 to 62.9 years in 2014. The under-5 Mortality Rate has decreased from 56 deaths per 1000 live births in 2009, to 39 per 1000 live births in 2014.
Access to basic services
Access to water increased from 61% in 2001 to 90% in 2014. Households receiving free basic water services increased from just over 7 million in 2007 to nearly 12 million in 2013.
In 2014, 86% of households had access to electricity and over 2 million households benefited from the indigent policy which provides free electricity to our people who cannot afford it.
Economic performance
We are presenting this Budget Vote at a time when the performance of the South African economy continues to be disappointing with downward revisions to the growth forecast. South Africa’s growth last year was the lowest in 17 years with the exception of 2009. The Reserve Bank projects a GDP growth rate of 0.8%, while inflation is outside the target band of 3-6%.
We have a toxic combination of very slow growth and high inflation (stagflation) with the latter prompting the Monetary Policy Committee to raise interest rates which will put growth recovery under severe pressure.
There is a danger that our sovereign credit rating will be downgraded by ratings agencies.
Times are hard, but we should not lose heart. Working with social partners, Government is pressing ahead with the implementation of the Nine Point Plan which is expected to start showing results in the next two years.
Programmes
Planning
President Zuma appointed the second National Planning Commission in September 2015. The Commission has organised its work into three priority areas. They are: (a) proposing new and strengthening existing measures aimed at enhancing the quality of life of South Africans; (b) investigating and proposing ways to ensure the country has an expanded, inclusive, efficient and fairer economy; and (c) undertaking research and engaging institutions responsible for developing the capacity of state, enhancing leadership and engaging the citizenry to actively participate in the implementation of the NDP.
30 days payment of legitimate invoices
During 2015/16, 44 service providers reported cases of non-payment of invoices. As a result of DPME’s intervention, more than R41 million was paid to some of the service providers.
Operation Phakisa
Some of the achievements of Operation Phakisa are as follows:
- Investments amounting to about R17 billion in the Oceans Economy has been unlocked;
- Over 4 500 jobs have been created in the various projects of the Oceans Economy;
- Over R7 billion has been allocated by Transnet National Ports Authority to improve our ports;
- The health sector has been successful in creating 280 Ideal Clinics in 2015/16, within the group of 1 139 clinics identified for this financial year;
- In order to be declared an Ideal Clinic there are standards to be met. The number of clinics scoring over 70% have increased from 139 to 445. The number of clinics scoring less than 40% have decreased from 213 to 90 within the period of one year.
- The Delivery Lab Reports for Operation Phakisa – in Basic Education and Galvanising growth in the Mining Sector have been finalised.
Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIAS)
Approximately 117 proposals were subjected to SEIAS, comprising of 65 Bills, 16 Regulations, 25 policies and 11 plans and frameworks.
Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring and Support
The Presidential Hotline logs an average of 2000 cases per month. The cumulative resolution rate for Hotline cases stands at 98%.
In addition, in the past year, we assessed over 100 facilities and conducted improvement monitoring in 120 facilities.
Programme Evaluations
A total of 45 evaluations were completed, or are underway, covering roughly R75 billion of fiscal allocations. Nine new evaluations will be undertaken in 2016/17.
National Spatial Development Framework
The fragmentation of the planning function is a matter that has bedevilled our government for some time. I am pleased to announce that in discussions with Ministers of Rural Development and Land Reform and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs we have agreed that the planning functions be relocated.
This agreement includes that DPME will take over the responsibility for driving and producing the National Spatial Development Framework, a plan which will indicate what aspects of our NDP will happen where and when across our whole country.
Youth development
Progress has been made in the implementation of the National Youth Policy (NYP) 2020. In each of the NYP 2020 key pillars, notable progress has been achieved. The pillars are: (a) economic participation and transformation; (b) education, skills development and second chances; (c) health care and combating substance abuse; (d) nation building and social cohesion; and (e) optimising the youth development machinery.
A need has been identified to expand and better coordinate a National Youth Service Programme (NYSP). The draft NYS Framework will be submitted to Cabinet shortly before being released to the public for consultations. This programme is important for building skills, fostering social cohesion and providing opportunities for young people in building the nation.
The NYDA has also made achievements in improving governance, operations and creating youth development opportunities. The NYDA will spend R72 million in programmes to facilitate economic participation for young people. R87 million has been set aside for programmes in education, skills development, health and well-being representing a 44% budget increase.
The greatest increase in the NYDA budget is for the National Youth Service programme with budget increase from R22 million to R53 million.
The NYDA’s role will be to provide technical assistance and training to design, develop and implement National Youth Service programmes. This is to ensure that the vision of a million young people in service programmes by 2020 is realised.
Impressive as the progress we have made is, we need to do much more.
In the financial year 2015/16, the Department started the process of a review of its strategy and organizational arrangements to play a more effective role in coordinating, guiding and supporting the work of government.
Our key areas of focus for 2016/17 going forward will be based on the following:
- Improve alignment of the National budget to key priorities as outlined in the NDP and the MTSF ((2014-2019);
- Ensure that plans for key strategic sectors such as water are developed and implemented;
- Expand monitoring at service delivery points;
- Support the work of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and strengthen mainstreaming and monitoring of the youth policy across spheres of government and other organisations.
- Monitor, report and intervene on the payment of suppliers within 30 days commitment;
- Strengthen collaboration with Statistics South Africa (StatSA) to identify key indicators for the outcomes and create a credible data center for effective monitoring.
Budget
The department has been allocated additional funding of R218.6 million over the MTEF, to compensate for cost of living increases and to provide additional capacity in the Department to monitor the work of government. This raises the department’s budget for the 2016/17 financial year to R827.7 million, which includes a transfer payment to the National Youth Development Agency of R405.8 million.
It is worth mentioning that the department has obtained clean audit opinions for the previous three financial years. The audit for the 2015/16 financial year is underway, and we are eager to continue the track record of clean audits and good governance.
We will also intensify our communication efforts, working with GCIS to ensure that our people know about the NDP so that they can play active role in its realization. We hope that the media with partner with us in this endeavor.
Conclusion
What is happening in society are obstacles along the journey towards a destination we embarked on in 1994. Obstacles have to be removed; challenges confronted and defeated. As President Mbeki said during his inauguration in 1999 using the metaphor of the Comrades Marathon: "Those who complete the course will do so only because they do not, as fatigue sets in, convince themselves that the road ahead is still too long, the inclines too steep, the loneliness impossible to bear and the prize itself of doubtful value."
We adopted the NDP as vision and long-term plan in 2012 because we understood that this is a long journey we are on. It serves as our blueprint that guides the actions we take.
The road ahead maybe rocky and at times uncertain. But we have the NDP to guide us towards prosperity. We need all South Africans to put their shoulder to the wheel and play their part. We depend on all sectors of society to work together to move South Africa forward.
I thank you.
