Committee addresses departments performance concerns
On Tuesday, 9 February 2021, the Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on CoGTA & Human Settlements finalised its analysis of the Gauteng Department of CoGTA & Human Settlements’ performance for the 2019/2020 Financial Year.
After interrogating the Auditor General’s (AG) report received on Thursday, 4 February 2021, the Committee submitted its concerns to the two Departments on their performance, summoning them to appear before it for questions. Both CoGTA and Human Settlements Departments appeared before the Committee on Tuesday to give presentations on their Annual Report and respond to concerns raised.
The AG’s report acknowledged strides made by the Department of Human Settlements to improvement its audit outcome, following last year’s qualified opinion. However, the Committee is concerned with the reported increase in the Department’s irregular expenditure; and has called for a turnaround strategy to address this. Amongst other things, the Committee also asked that the Department outlines its measures to improve the participation of SMMEs, particularly those owned by designated sectors in the economy.
Furthermore, the Department had to provide a breakdown of its performance interventions on areas of underperformance including: Legacy Project housing Units; Hostel Construction; Hostel Detailed Planning; Hostel CRUs rectified; Hostel Maintenance; Title deeds registration (Pre, Post, and New) etc. Overall, the Committee called the Department to provide detailed accounts on the misalignment of targets achieved and budget spent.
The Committee is cognisant of persisting housing issues within the Human Settlements Department and is committed to continuously holding the Department and Municipalities accountable for addressing these.
Regarding the Housing and the Gauteng Partnership funds, the AG believed that the latter underperformed (with audit findings), which has been the case for two past financial years. The Committee is concerned about the Housing Fund’s Increase in irregular expenditure in the current year from R0 to R11 704 448; and requires the Department to tighten controls in this regard.
With regards to the Gauteng Partnership Fund, the AG found that its performance regressed to unqualified with material findings on non-compliance with laws and regulations. This is mainly due to goods and services with a transaction value below R500 000 which were procured without obtaining the required price quotations. The Departments and its entities were warned on the implications of questionable procurement practices; and reiterated the requirement for compliance with standard Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes as outlined in the Public Financial Management Act.
Committee Chairperson Kedibone Diale congratulated the Department of CoGTA on another clean audit with no qualifications. The AG reported that CoGTA’s Management maintained the good practice of performing adequate reviews on the financial statements and performance reporting, which contributed to the sustained clean audit outcome. Key controls over SCM were also adequately implemented as there was a decrease in irregular expenditure.
Upon appearing before the Committee yesterday, the Department presented a detailed performance breakdown on some of their key targets; as requested by Members of the Committee. The Portfolio Committee welcomed statistical breakdown on the notable achievement of 33% of the planned 40% of Employment Equity target for Women in Senior Management Service (SMS) positions for the 2019/2020. The three metros and Rand West Municipality also appeared before the Portfolio Committee to outline their expenditure for the 2019/20 FY; as well as respond to concerns emanating from the AG’s report. The Committee is pleased with the level of cooperation and compliance to Cooperative Governance displayed by all reporting entities throughout this process.
On behalf of the Committee, Diale expressed the Committee’s satisfaction in the Departments’ commitment to good governance, transparency and accountability. She urged both Departments to be wary of irregular expenditure and Procurement trends that could lead to mismanagement of funds. The Committee remains committed to exercising Oversight; through making recommendations for improvement in the service delivery of the Departments, entities and municipalities. “We have the responsibility to ensure the implementation of these recommendations; and will conduct due oversight to ensure those mandated to deliver services to the people of Gauteng do so with transparency and accountability”, said Chairperson Diale.
The Annual Report process forms part of the Committee’s oversight mandate; assessing the Departments’ performance in line with the annual allocation to ensure Departments deliver on their Annual Performance Plans in line with service delivery needs of the people of Gauteng. Responses provided to its concerns will ultimately form part of the Committee’s oversight work on the 2 Departments, to ensure improved performance in the new financial year (2020/2021).
The session was open for the virtual participation of stakeholders.
For interview queries please contact, Ms Pfano Bulasigobo:
Cell: 060 533 1982
E-mail: PBulasigobo@gpl.gov.za
