Appropriations 2224 2.
Appropriations 2224 3.
The strategic plan of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) was tabled on the 09 March 2011 and referred to the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children, Youth and People with Disabilities on the 01 June 2011 for consideration and report. The Committee engaged with the National Youth Development Agency on this matter on the 23 March 2011.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NYDA presented the strategic plan of the NYDA.
Category 1 was identified as youth who were unskilled and unemployed. These were identified as young people who may have passed matric or dropped out of school but with no vocational skills.
Category 2 was identified as youth who were skilled and unemployed, employed but unskilled and those in skills programmes.
Category 3 was identified as skilled and employed and those in self employment.
National Youth Service and Social Cohesion Promote youth social dialogue and create opportunities for young people to serve their communities.
Objectives: -To promote opportunities for young people to serve their communities. -To create a platform for young people to participate in and benefit from democratic processes. -To develop capacity building materials for youth development practitioners. -To create and support social networks. -To benefit young people.
Economic participation -To enhance the participation of young people in the economy through targeted and integrated programmes.
Objectives: -To provide business support to young people. -To provide financing support to young entrepreneurs. -To provide employment opportunities to young people -To design and implement specific interventions for women and persons with disabilities in rural areas.
Policy, research and development -Developing a body of knowledge and best practice in the youth development sector to inform and influence policy development, planning and implementation.
Objectives: -To develop IYDS and guidelines for the implementation of youth development programmes. -To identify annual national youth development priorities -To promote, lobby and advocate for a uniform approach by all sectors on matters relating to youth development. -To conduct research and evaluations -To inform policy and programmes -To provide inputs on policies and legislation by government and other relevant structures.
Training and development -To promote, facilitate and provide training and development opportunities to young people to enhance their socio - economic well being.
Objectives: -To facilitate education opportunities in order to improve access to quality education.
To facilitate and implement technical, entrepreneurship and life skills training programmes. -To provide and facilitate capacity building of youth development practitioners. - To facilitate youth development work as a recognised profession.
Youth Advisory and Information Services - To ensure access for youth to information about various interventions aimed at improving the living condition of young people including information and career guidance service to young people.
Objectives: -To provide career guidance services -To provide access to information regarding products and services of the NYDA and referrals to other agencies.
National Youth Fund - To establish a mechanism to enable the NYDA to raise funds for purposes of advancing and implementing programmes aimed at improving the livelihoods of the youth.
Objectives: -To plan and set up the National Youth Fund -To mobilise and leverage financial assistance to small, micro, medium enterprises and cooperatives owned by youth.
Governance - To ensure that NYDA operations comply with applicable legislation and regulations governing a schedule 3A institution.
Objectives: -To ensure compliance with all applicable statutes and policies -To implement systems and processes to increase the recoverability of defaulting loans.
The NYDA identified national youth service, economic participation and social cohesion, education, training and skills development, youth advisory and information services and national youth fund as the key priorities for 2012 - 2014.
155 000 young people would be involved in the NYS project to provide them with an opportunity to serve their communities whilst gaining skills and training through projects facilitated by NYSU.
Further 111 640 young people would be engaged on the NYDA funded NYS projects.
26 600 youth would be supported with Business Consultancy Vouchers; business opportunities support services and mentorship.
14 050 companies would be registered through the programme of assisting youth by having their companies registered with CIPRO.
281 entrepreneurs would be assisted to access funds through the voucher program.
R331 million business opportunities will be sourced for BOSS deals, voucher support and mentorship.
R243 280 million would be set aside to be accessed by youth owned small and medium enterprises.
89 089 of jobs would be created through various NYDA programmes ranging from business consultancy vouchers, business opportunities support services and mentorship programmes.
The National Youth Development Agency would enrol 8,000 youth to rewrite grade 12 exams through its matric rewrite programme. The organisation would provide 293,900 youth with various skills covering critical areas such as business management, life and job preparedness skills.
NYDA would provide over 1, 6 million with group career guidance.
The organisation would work in partnership with other stakeholders to raise over R480 million which would go into the National Youth Fund.
NYDA key performance areas, indicators and targets for 2011/12 - 2013/14 5.
The goal of the programme is to promote youth social dialogue and create opportunities for young people to serve their communities.
The objective is to promote opportunities for young people to serve their communities. The NYDA intends to reach 10 000 youth to serve their communities through NYDA funded projects for 2011/12, 48 400 for 2012/13 and 53 240 for 2013/14. The organisation also intends to reach 40 000 youth for 2011/12, 55 000 for 2012/13 and 60 000 for 2013/14 to serve their communities through National Youth Service Unit registered projects.
The objective is to create a platform for young people to participate in and benefit from democratic processes. The organisation intends to ensure that 8 local municipalities in 2011/12, 30 local municipalities in 2012/13, and 30 local municipalities in 2013/14 are assisted to establish youth councils. Fifteen local municipalities in 2011/12, 30 local municipalities in 2012/13 and 2013/14 would be mobilised to participate in elections. Four dialogue sessions per year would be hosted for the period 2011-2014 with young people. For 2011-2014, 500 young women per year would be mobilised for the celebration of Women's Month and towards 16 Days of Activism campaign. 10 000 youth per year would participate in Youth month celebrations.
The objective is to develop capacity building materials for youth development practitioners. The organisation would ensure that three programme support materials per year would be developed for the period 2011-2014. The organisation would also develop and implement a curriculum for youth development training for the period 2011 - 2014.
The objective is to create and support social networks to benefit young people. The organisation would ensure 300 volunteer mentors participate in mentorship programmes for 2011-12, 400 volunteers for 2012-2013 and 500 volunteer mentors in 2013/14. The organisation will provide opportunities for 400 young people to participate in the buy youth campaign for 2011/12, 500 young people for 2012/13 and 600 for 2013/14 on the same campaign.
The goal is to enhance the participation of young people in the economy through targeted and integrated programmes.
The objective is to provide support to young people. The organisation would ensure that 3 500 young people would be supported with Business Consultancy Vouchers, business opportunities services and mentorship in 2011/12, 11 000 in 2012/13 and 12 100 in 2013/14. NYDA would ensure that 2 500 new companies owned by young people would be registered with CIPRO through business support voucher issuance in 2011/12, 5500 in 2012/13 and 6050 in 2013/14. 50 young entrepreneurs would be assisted to access funding and business opportunities through voucher programmes, business support programmes and mentorship in 2011/12, 110 in 2012/13 and 121 in 2013/14. The organisation would ensure that R50 million would be accessed by voucher recipient, Business Opportunities Support Programme and mentorship in 2011/12, R110 million in 2012/13 and R121 million in 2013/14. R100 million for 2011/12 and 2012/13 would be the value of business opportunities sourced for BOSS deals, voucher support and mentorship per year and R121 million would be committed for 2013/14 on the same programme.
The objective is to provide financing support to young entrepreneurs. The organisation would ensure that 6 enterprises are financed for the 2011/12 financial year, 10 enterprises for financial year 2012/13 and 15 enterprises for 2013/14. 300 beneficiaries would be supported through social enterprise financing for the 2011/12 financial year, 500 beneficiaries for 2012/13 and 750 beneficiaries for 2013/14. NYDA will provide R10 million finance to social enterprises for financial year 2011/12, R8 million for 2012/13 and R12 million for 2013/14. The organisation would also provide 9 000 loans to micro enterprises for financial year 2011/12, 38 375 loans for 2012/13 and 55 625 for 2013/14. R16, 6 million would be issued to youth owned micro enterprises for financial year 2011/12, R76 million for 2012/13 and R118 million for 201/14. NYDA would provide 40 loans to SMEs for financial year 2011/12, 193 loans for 2012/13 and 212 loans for 2013/14. The organisation would issue R40 million loans to youth owned small and medium enterprises for financial year 2011/12, R96 800 million for 2012/13 and R106 480 million for financial year 2013/14.
The objective is to provide employment opportunities for young people. The organisation will create 2000 jobs through Business Consultancy Vouchers, business support services and mentorship programmes for financial year 2011/12, 11 000 jobs for financial year 2012/13 and 12 100 jobs for 2013/14. 430 jobs would be created through social enterprises financing for 2011/12, 3 600 jobs for 2012/13 and 5 040 for 2013/14. 280 jobs would be created through SMEs financing for 2011/12, 2 420 jobs for 2012/13 and 2662 jobs for 2013/14. The organisation would create 9000 jobs through Micro finance lending in 2011/12, 13 337 jobs in 2012/13 and 17 380 jobs in 2013/14. 1 200 jobs would be facilitated through placements in job opportunities for financial year 2011/12, 3 600 jobs placements in 2012/13 and 5 040 jobs placements in 2013/14.
The objective is to design and implement specific interventions for women, persons with disabilities and youth in rural areas. The NYDA would undertake 16 interventions to ensure that young women, youth with disabilities and in rural areas participated in economic projects for financial year 2011/12, 20 interventions in 2012/13 and 30 interventions in 2013/14. The organisation would also commit R3, 6 million for economic participation projects provided to young women, youth with disabilities and youth in rural areas for financial year 2011/12, R2 million for 2012/13 and R3 million for 2013/14.
The goal is to develop a body of knowledge and best practice in the youth development sector to inform and influence policy development, planning and implementation.
The objective is to develop the Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS) and guidelines for the implementation of youth development programmes. The organisation would ensure that the IYDS is adopted by the NYDA Board and Cabinet in 2011/12. It would also evaluate the protocol of the IYDS in 2011/12 and produce one evaluation report in 2013/14.
The objective is to identify annual national youth development priorities. The organisation would submit a list of national youth development priorities to the Office of the President.
The objective is to promote, lobby and advocate for a uniform approach by all sectors on matters relating to youth development. The organisation would ensure that it had established 15 partnership with governments, civil society and private sector in 2011/12 and 2012/13 per year and 25 partnerships in 2013/14. The organisation would lobby 5 departments to establish Youth Directorates in 2011/12 and 2012/13 per year and 6 Youth Directorates in 2013/14.
The objective is to conduct research and evaluate policy and programme interventions. The organisation would submit the final draft status of youth report to the Office of the President in 2011/12, the status of youth report in 2012/13 and submit the recommendations implemented report in 2013/14. By 2011/12, the organisation intended to produce 6 research project reports, 15 research reports in 2012/13 and 2013/14. The organisation would also produce 24 publications on youth development in 2011/12 and 15 publications in 2012/13 and 2013/14 per year.
The objective is to provide inputs on policies and legislation by government and other relevant structures. The organisation would submit 6 submissions of written youth development related policies and legislation to relevant Departments in 2011/12 and 7 submissions in 2012/13 and 2013/14 per year. NYDA will also attend 10 Portfolio Committee meetings in 201/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 per year.
The goal is to promote, facilitate and provide training and development opportunities to young people to enhance their socio-economic wellbeing.
The objective is to facilitate education opportunities in order to improve access to quality education. The organisation would enrol 2000 young people to rewrite Grade 12 exams in 2011/12 and 6000 young people in 2012/13. The organisation would also provide 5 000 young people with entrepreneurship and business management skills in 2011/12, 35 000 in 2012/13 and 50 000 in 2013/14.
The objective is to facilitate and implement technical, entrepreneurship and life skills training programmes. 500 youth would be provided with technical skills training in 2011/12, 1 650 in 2012/13 and 2750 in 2013/14. 10 000 young people would be provided with job preparedness training in 2011/12, 27 000 in 2012/13 and 37 800 in 2013/14. The organisation would provide 2000 young people with life skills training in 2011/12, 27 000 youth in 2012/13 and 37 800 in 2013/14. NYDA would also enrol 200 youth in Youth Building South Africa projects in 2011/12, 400 youth in 2012/13 and 600 youth in 2013/14. 1NYDA will ensure that 10 000 youth attend entrepreneurship awareness programmes for 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14. 300 youth will attend Buy Youth Campaign training in 2011/12, 400 youth in 2012/13 and 500 youth in 2013/14.
The objective is to provide and facilitate capacity building of youth development practitioners. The organisation would train 13 facilitators in life skills in 2011/12, 60 facilitators in 2012/13 and 84 facilitators in 2013/14 and in job preparedness and youth practitioners in career guidance. The organisation would also launch the Centre for Youth Development Practice.
The objective is to facilitate youth development work as a recognised profession. The NYDA would develop and approve 2 unit standards towards Youth Work Qualification in 2011/12 and 2012/13 financial years and full unit standards in 2013/14. The organisation would ensure that 10 youth practitioners obtain credits for Youth Work Qualification in 2011/12, 15 youth practitioners in 2012/13 and 20 youth practitioners in 2013/14.
The goal is to ensure for youth information (rephrase sentence) about various interventions aimed at improving the living conditions of young people including information and career guidance to young people.
The objective is to provide career guidance services. 2, 600 would be provided with individual career guidance information for the financial year 2011/12, 82 800 for 2012/2013 and 115 920 for 2013/14. The estimated number of young people who would be provided with group career guidance information was 397 000 for financial year 2011/12, 540 000 for 2012/13 and 756 000 for 2013/14.
The objective is to provide access to information regarding products and services of the NYDA and referrals to other agencies. The organisation would ensure 500 000 young people received information and referrals from the NYDA access point. For 2011/12, 1 000 000 for 2012/13 and 1100 000 for 2013/2014. 140 000 interactions with young people would be made through the NYDA call centre for 2011/2012, 155 000 for 2012/2013 and 170 000 for 2013/2014. The NYDA would publish 20 publication beneficiaries stories for 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/2014 per year.
Goal The goal is to establish mechanisms to enable the NYDA to raise funds for purposes of advancing and implementing programmes aimed at improving the livelihoods of the youth.
The objective is to plan and set up the National Youth Fund. The framework for financial assistance and policies and procedures to manage the Fund should be approved by the NYDA Board in 2011/12.
The objective is to mobilise and leverage financial assistance to small, micro and medium enterprise and cooperatives owned by youth. The organisation would ensure that R30 million would be raised from the private sector for the National Youth Fund in 2011/12, R60 million in 2012/2013 and R70 million in 2013/14. The organisation would ensure that R60 million would be raised through partnership for the National Youth Fund in 2011/12, R120 million in 2012/13 and R140 million in 2013/14.
The objective is to provide financial support to projects initiated by youth. R20 million would be invested in youth initiated projects in 2011/12, R30 million in 2012/13 and R40 million in 2013/14.
The goal is to ensure that NYDA operations comply with applicable legislation and regulations governing schedule 3A institutions.
The objective is to ensure compliance with all applicable statutes and policies. The organisation would ensure that for 2011-2014, adequate strategic risk register and adequate controls opinion based on internal audit will be established.
The objective is to implement systems and processes to increase the recoverability of defaulting loans. The organisation would ensure that 20% of loan defaulters would be decreased in all loan books in 2011/12, 30% decreased in 2012/13 and 40% decreased in 2013/14.
The National Youth Development Agency had been allocated R1 218 428 billion for the financial year 2011 - 14. R425 676 million had been allocated for the financial year 2011/12. The budget would be used for operational costs excluding employee costs, capital expenditure, loans and investment and core programme direct funding intervention. R442 961 million would be used for financial year 2012/13 and R462 405 for financial year 2012/13 on the same programmes.
The Committee observed that the NYDA's budget averaged between R380 and R420 million per year over the next three years and was concerned about how the NYDA intended to meet its increased targets, e.g. KPA 2: economic participation: number of loans in year 1 = 9000, year 2 = 38 375, value of loans in year 1 = R40 million, year 2 = R96, 8 million.
The Committee was concerned that more than 50% of the budget was earmarked for compensation of employees and questioned whether that allocation should not be on funding programmes instead.
The Committee noted that the Key Performance Areas had changed and were different to that stipulated in the Annual Report for 2009/10.
The Committee noted that the NYDA was in partnership with other organisations in terms of programmes offered and was concerned as to the type of partnership entered into.
The Committee reiterated its concern regarding the matric rewrite programmes. The Committee queried as to which Provinces were covered with regards to 8000 matriculants in the rewrite programme. In addition, the NYDA was questioned whether it had a relationship with the Department of Education in terms of the matric rewrite programme.
The Committee observed that the NYDA offered loans to provide business support to young people and was concerned as to whether the NYDA charged interest on loans and where the money went to.
The Committee noted that the NYDA would create 89 089 jobs and was concerned as to how the NYDA would monitor and evaluate that target.
The Committee noted that the NYDA would facilitate and implement technical, entrepreneurship and life skills training programmes to young people and raised the issue of artisan training for young people.
The Committee noted that the NYDA's policies overlapped with other Government Departments' policies and was concerned as to whether the NYDA was in partnership with other Government Departments in implementing its programmes.
The Committee questioned whether the NYDA was not in fact duplicating programmes currently rendered by other Departments.
The Committee was unclear as to who the NYDA had signed performance agreements with.
The Committee observed that 155 000 young people would be involved in the National Youth Service project. However, the Committee was unclear as to what the role of the NYDA was in that regard and specifically whether it would be monitored and evaluated.
The Committee noted with concern that the Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS) would take a year to be approved by the NYDA Board and Cabinet. That was seen as unacceptable.
The NYDA's budget allocation to people with disabilities and ensuring access of youth from rural areas to schools with regards to transport was a concern.
The Committee was unclear as to what criteria were used to attain the various targets articulated by the NYDA in terms of geographical location within provinces and gender.
The NYDA must ensure greater focus and commitment to youth with disabilities and youth living in rural areas to bring to fruition government's objectives in relation to these target groups.
The NYDA must ensure that its proposed programmes must speak to all aspects of its mandate and that requisite budgetary allocations are made for the implementation of these programmes.
The NYDA needs to provide detail with regard to who they have established partnerships with, as well as the nature of these partnerships.
In terms of the Matric re-write programme, the NYDA must provide the Committee with more clarity on the type of partnership entered into with the Department of Basic Education.
The NYDA must provide the Committee with disaggregated data of the beneficiaries of its programmes, i.e. in terms of province, gender, age, etc.
In terms of the dispensing of loans for SMME's, the Committee requests that more detail is provided regarding the sustainability of proposed business ventures and loan repayments hereto.
The NYDA must promote youth skills development through artisan training.
The NYDA must provide the Committee with the performance agreements they have entered into.
The NYDA must expedite the finalisation and implementation of the Integrated Youth Development Strategy.
The NYDA must guard against duplicating programmes already being implemented in other government departments.
The NYDA must guard against over-expenditure on employee compensation which could impact on the poor implementation of programmes resulting in inefficient service delivery.
Having deliberated on the strategic plan and budget of the NYDA, the Committee thanked the NYDA for the presentation and members for interacting with the youth.
Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on the Appropriation Bill [B3-2011] (National Assembly- section 77), dated 24 June 2011.
The Select Committee on Appropriations, having considered the Appropriation Bill [B3 - 2011], referred to it, and classified by the JTM as a section 77 Bill, reports that it has agreed to the Bill without amendments.
Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on the Third Quarter Spending on the Devolution of Property Rate Funds Grant in the 2010/11 Financial Year, dated 22 June 2011.
The Select Committee on Appropriations (the Committee) convened a hearing on the spending levels on the Devolution of Property Rate Funds Grant for the third quarter of the 2010/11 financial year. This emanated from the provincial expenditure report published by National Treasury on 3 March 2011.
The hearing took place on Tuesday, 24 May 2011, in Committee Room V119 at Parliament.
The hearing formed part of the Committee's ongoing interaction with provinces to monitor their spending patterns on conditional grants. A framework for each grant sets out the purpose of the grant, measurable objectives, conditions, allocation criteria, and past performance among other things.
The department's spending plan on the Grant.
The Committee invited four provincial departments of public works (from Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, and KwaZulu-Natal) and the national Department of Public Works (DPW). In addition, National Treasury was requested to make a presentation. All invited provinces honoured the invitation except KwaZulu-Natal.
National Treasury highlighted the third quarter spending on this Grant, but also included the fourth quarter figures, as these had already been published.
Overall, provincial departments of public works had spent only 49.7 per cent of the total adjusted Grant budget by 31 December 2010. Gauteng, at only 0.5 per cent, had spent the least, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 40.9 per cent, Eastern Cape at 47.4 per cent and Limpopo at 50.0 per cent.
There was a year-on-year improvement in overall spending of 29.7 per cent, with the Western Cape showing 296.4 per cent growth in spending, and Mpumalanga 48.1 per cent. The year-on-year spending in two provinces had declined by 98.9 per cent in Gauteng and 2.8 per cent in the Northern Cape.
Municipalities were still experiencing challenges with timeous submission of invoices to provincial departments, specifically in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape.
Provincial asset registers in respect of immovable assets were still not finalised in most provinces.
National Treasury and the Department of Public Works had convened a task team to deal with the issue of registering and managing immovable government properties.
The progress made by certain provinces (notably the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal) with various inter-governmental forums between the province and municipalities must be assessed and there must be a transfer of best practices and lessons learned.
It would be prudent for provinces to institute project plans, containing timeframes and augmented by progress reports, whereby the process of registering and valuing provincial properties could be addressed.
The provincial department of Public Works in Limpopo had a total adjusted budget of R15.154 million for the 2010/11 financial year. They province did not agree with National Treasury that they had only spent R7.
(50.0 per cent) of their budget at the end of the third quarter. They indicated that they had proved to the Provincial Treasury that the expenditure actually stood at R11.275 million (74.4 per cent) at the end of the third quarter. In response National Treasury indicated that they believed their figure of 50.0 per cent to be a true reflection of the spending as at 31 December 2010. The Department was requested to revert back to the Committee within seven days of the meeting with the correct information on the disputed figure. The discrepancy had been a result of a system error which resulted in a payment to one municipality not being fully effected. Once the error was identified, the province attempted to correct the entry, however Provincial Treasury had already extracted the report from the Basic Accounting System (BAS). The provincial Department had managed to pay municipal rates for 658 of the properties.
391 properties could not be processed due to insufficient budget.
The province had spent R14. 730 million (97.2 per cent) of the budget by the end of the 2010/11 financial year.
The provincial department did not receive invoices from municipalities for all the properties on the list received from the national Department of Public Works. Where properties were being billed, incorrect invoices led to delays in payment by the department.
In the 2008/09 financial year, a list of 3 557 properties had been devolved from the national Department of Public Works. Of this number, the DPW had only been paying bills for 869, while the balance of 2 688 properties had to be reconciled and verified. The reconciliation process had confirmed 2 269 properties. The rural nature of the province posed a major challenge to the process of asset re-identification and verification. In addition, there had been problems with the service provider who had been assisting in the process, and the matter was under arbitration.
In order to address the key challenge of coordination between the department and the municipalities, a coordinating forum had been established.
In order to avoid delaying progress by waiting for the legal process with the service provider to be completed, an alternative strategy had been devised to complete the asset verification process. The department had approached the provincial local government department for permission to make use of community development workers and ward committees. The department was in the process of designing a module for a one day workshop to train them and enable them to assist with the verification of the properties within their wards. The ward lists will be compared with the current asset register and properties not reflected accurately could be surveyed and valuated. The department had set itself the target of completing this process by the end of the 2011/12 financial year.
The total allocation of R283.429 million to the provincial Department of Public Works included the amount of R135.962 million that had been rolled over from the previous year. Of this allocation, the province had spent R134.372 million (47.4 per cent) at the end of the third quarter. The Department had managed to pay municipal rates for 7 303 of the 14 632 devolved properties.
8 properties the province had not been able to verify.
By the end of the financial year, R220.539 million (77.8 per cent) had been spent. The Department requested that the balance of R62.800 million be rolled-over to deal with the backlog of payments on certain properties.
The financial management capacity of municipalities remained a challenge. This had led to various problems, including late, incorrect and manual invoicing and payments not being correctly allocated. Invoices also did not distinguish between rates and taxes and municipal services. In addition, the devolution took place based on an unaudited and unverified immovable asset base. The department was being invoiced for rates and taxes on private property, property owned by National Government and property owned by the municipalities themselves. These errors were not being corrected by municipalities and continued to reflect as debt-owed by the department. This had led to significant discrepancies between amounts reported as outstanding by municipalities and by the department.
The province experienced difficulty in the rural areas where most of the properties billed are located on unsurveyed and unregistered land. The Rates Act did not make provision for payment of rates and taxes on unsurveyed or unregistered land even though there were schools, hospitals and clinics on this land. The department required a legal opinion on whether it was liable for these payments.
When the function was devolved on 30 June 2008, there had been certain amounts due by the national Department of Public Works. Municipalities did not transfer these outstanding balances to a separate account, but charged them to the province. The province was being charged interest on the outstanding balances of the national Department of Public Works as at 1 July 2008. The total outstanding amount claimed by various municipalities amounted to R10.678 million. However, this amount had not been audited and, as a result of factors like changes in management and billing systems, municipalities had not been able to present supporting documents to prove these outstanding amounts. As a result, some sort of intervention was required.
A strategically focused Municipal Finance Unit had been established and three managers and eight assistant managers had been appointed. The managers were supported by nine administrative officials. This unit was dedicated to all activities relating to municipalities. The province had been divided into three regions, with each manager dedicated to a group of municipalities and responsible for the resolution of queries, the processing of payments and the reconciliation of accounts.
The province was in an advanced stage of completing its Generally Recognised Accounting Practices (GRAP) compliant immovable asset register.
Shorten the payment turnaround process due to reduced verification procedures.
Of the total allocation of R294.457 million for the 2010/11 financial year, the provincial Department of Infrastructure Development had spent only R1.475 million (0.5 per cent) by the end of the third quarter. By the end of the financial year, R213.336 million (72.5 per cent) had been spent. This represented a year-on -year decline in spending of 19.1 per cent. No invoices had been submitted during the financial year by the Lesedi, Nokeng Tsa Taemane and Westonaria municipalities, resulting in the R10.267 million that had been allocated to them being under-spent. In addition, no Grant funds had been allocated to the Kungwini Municipality, as the Department had not received any indication of what was due to this municipality.
Municipalities often submitted invoices late, or not at all. In addition, incorrect billing occurred as a result of incorrect valuations of property. Informing municipalities of the mistakes and waiting on revised valuations resulted in late payment. The province had also given its projected expenditure figures to National Treasury based on submissions by municipalities, only to find that the invoices ultimately received were less than originally indicated by municipalities, leading to further underspending.
The asset register of the provincial department of infrastructure development was not up to date. Properties often did not match the department's asset register although municipalities were certain that the properties belonged to the province. Furthermore, the list of devolved properties from the national Department of Public Works stood at 8 279 properties. Residential properties had however not been included on the list and were therefore not included in the rates and taxes invoices.
Various forums had been established to improve the cooperation with municipalities. There was continuous political engagement with municipalities through the Premier's co-ordinating council, where SALGA was also represented. The chief financial officer (CFO) of the department met bi-annually with the CFO's of the various municipalities. In addition, the head of the department regularly wrote letters to all municipal managers to urge them to submit invoices timeously.
The province was updating its asset register at the time and had set itself the deadline of 2014 for the completion of the asset verification process. In terms of residential properties, a project was undertaken in conjunction with the national Department of Public Works, 753 residential properties had been registered thus far. Discussions were underway to include these on the devolved property list. The list would subsequently be sent to the respective municipalities for billing.
78.0 per cent of the Grant allocation during the 2008/09 financial year. In 2009 provinces had been allowed to use about 4 per cent of the Grant for capacity building within the departments to manage the Grant. In the 2009/10 financial year there had been an improvement of 1.0 per cent, bringing the expenditure to 79.0 per cent. The Department had expected a greater improvement in the 2010/11 financial year, and if one looked at the expenditure against the payment schedule for 2010/11, the provinces had spent almost 84 per cent of the budget. However, as the figure was influenced by the roll-overs received by provinces, the actual expenditure was only 78 per cent.
According to the Department, there is not a focused, concerted effort in all provinces to establish a credible asset register, even though the Department had urged all provinces to budget for this.
Due to lack of capacity and inefficient billing systems, municipalities do not bill provinces effectively for rates and taxes. Provinces needed to provide assistance to municipalities in this regard.
According to the Department, the amount of money devolved was based on the properties that national had previously been paying for. Now new properties were being discovered by provinces and this created a challenge, as the Department did not have the extra cash to pay for these. National Treasury would have to be asked to assist in this regard.
The Department acknowledged that a number of provinces had been experiencing problems around the issue of vesting and registration. Legal intervention was required in cases where, for example, there were schools or clinics on land that belonged to a municipality and a province was expected to pay rates and taxes, even though the land was not registered.
All provinces needed to make a concerted effort to compile comprehensive, credible asset registers. Once the asset registers were complete and reconciled with the municipal valuation rolls, better projections would be possible, and the municipalities could be assisted more effectively. The Department was working closely with National Treasury to revise the sector guidelines. This would assist in standardising asset registers by providing consistency in defining properties.
The Department was working closely with SALGA to assist low capacity municipalities. Some of the challenges, like retrospective billing, interest charges and unfair rates, had been escalated to the MINMEC meetings.
The Department encouraged all provinces to actively participate in the Provincial/Municipal Debt Management Forums. It was within these forums that issues like the incorrect allocation of payments could be addressed.
A task team consisting of the national Department of Public Works, the provincial Departments of Public Works, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, the Deeds Office and the Surveyor-General had been established. This team is working to fast track the process. Although 32 contract workers had been deployed to the regional offices to assist with processing documents for vesting, this was not enough when one considered the backlog of properties to be registered. If the Department's deadline of finalising the vesting process by 2013 was to be achieved, additional capacity would be required both within the Department and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
The Department had called a meeting with the CFO's of all provincial departments to start a process whereby the budget would be reviewed timeously. A way had to be found for provinces to declare savings on time when they realised that they would be spending less than they had projected.
The Department was engaged in a process to improve the way that provinces reported to the Department and to the national and provincial treasuries, in line with the Division of Revenue Act. This would serve to eliminate inconsistencies and to manage the Grant more effectively.
8.1 Low expenditure against this Grant is still attributed to challenges existing in the municipal sphere, such as low capacity within municipalities, incorrect invoicing practices related to the application of taxes and rates, late or non-submission of invoices and incomplete valuation rolls and property verification.
8.2 The lack of complete and credible asset registers in most provinces remains a contributory factor to the low expenditure on this Grant.
8.3 Some intergovernmental forums have proved successful in resolving some of the capacity issues at municipal level, which have resulted in improved expenditure, for example, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
8.4 The issue of government properties such as schools and clinics etc. on un-surveyed unregistered land was brought to the attention of the Committee by the Eastern Cape provincial Department of Public Works. The problem is that the Rates Act does not make provision for payment of rates and taxes on properties that are located on unsurveyed or unregistered land and therefore the department is seeking a legal opinion on this matter.
Outstanding municipal bills prior to devolution of properties from the national sphere to the provincial sphere, has become problematic for some provinces, as their current allocations do not make provision for this outstanding debt.
9.1 The national Department of Public Works should ensure that provinces institute project plans containing timeframes and submits progress reports on those projects, whereby the process of registering and valuing provincial properties could be addressed. The progress report should be submitted to the National Council of provinces within 120 days after the adoption by the House.
9.2 The national Department of Public Works should intervene and resolve the issue regarding outstanding municipal bills prior to devolution of properties.
9.3 The national Department of Public Works should take steps to ensure that best practices and lessons learned in improving expenditure by the provinces of the Western Cape and Kwazulu-Natal, are transferred to other provinces.
9.4 The Gauteng's provincial Department of Infrastructure Development should submit to the House, a detailed Action Plan on how the Department will resolve the billing issue relating to municipalities that have been reported to the Committee to be "non-responsive". They should further report on the billing issues in the Lesedi, Nokeng Tsa Taemane and Westonaria municipalities and specifically the non-allocation of grant funding to the Kungwini Municipality. These reports should be submitted to the National Council of Provinces within 60 days after the adoption of this report by the House.
Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on the third quarter spending patterns on the Community Library Services Grant for the 2010/11 financial year, dated 22 June 2011 1.
The Select Committee on Appropriations (the Committee) invited six provincial departments of Arts and Culture, who under-spent on the Community Library Services Grant, to come and make a presentation on their third quarter spending in the 2010/11 financial year. The statistics on spending patterns were published by National Treasury in March 2010.
The meeting took place on 25 May 2011 and was held in Committee Room E249 in Parliament, Cape Town.
The public hearings formed part of the Committee's ongoing interaction with provinces to monitor their spending patterns on conditional grants allocated to them. A framework for the grant sets out the purpose of the grant, measurable objectives, conditions, allocation criteria, and past performance among other things.
Lastly provincial departments were expected to indicate whether they or did not deviate from their 2010/11 business plans on the grant.
The provincial departments of Arts and Culture of Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West were identified and invited. All provincial departments, except Mpumalanga and Limpopo, honoured the invitation.
The National Treasury was invited to brief the Committee on the third quarter spending of the above-mentioned provincial departments.
The National Treasury and the provinces of Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, North West and KwaZulu-Natal made their presentations as follows:.
The National Treasury reported that, for the third quarter of the 2010/11 financial year, the adjusted budget had been R561. 061 million and the total projected outcome, R507. 822 million. They added that at the end of the third quarter provinces had spent R300. 383 million or 53.5 per cent. Only the Province of Limpopo had projected an over-spending of R6. 384 million.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS NO 80â2011 amounts to R59. 623 million (that is R39. 371 million for Eastern Cape, R8. 211 million for Mpumalanga and R12. 041 million for Northern Cape).
The National Treasury reported that audited outcomes of the third quarter in 2009/10 financial year showed that provinces had spent R281. 178 million of the R460. 832 million adjusted budget. Therefore, National Treasury presented that in comparing year-on-year growth with the third quarter in the 2009/10 financial year; provinces had spent 6.8 per cent more in the third quarter of the 2010/11 financial year. Moreover, the National Treasury highlighted that preliminary audit outcomes of the 2010/11 financial year indicated that provinces had spent R493. 274 million or 87.9 per cent of the adjusted budget. Added to that, National Treasury said provinces had under-spent by R67. 787 million or 12.1 per cent of the adjusted budget. On a year-on-year comparison, National Treasury reported that provinces as at 31 March 2011 had spent R417. 993 million or 18.0 per cent more as compared to the 2009/10 financial year audit outcomes.
Eastern Cape: There is slow progress on the Mdantsane library project. The explanation given was that provincial officials had cited misunderstandings with the local community as leading to delays in the project.
Limpopo: The upgrading of projects and the purchasing of library material had been delayed due to slow appointment of service providers which suggested challenges in the internal supply chain management or poor planning.
Mpumalanga: This province had also struggled to manage its internal supply chain processes, as well as contractor performance.
North West: The province was clearly recovering from a low spending performance, but execution of planned projects was still very slow (late appointment of contractors), despite funds having been made available for capacity building that included staff.
The National Treasury further reported that though the mentioned challenges were due to supply chain management regulations; these regulations were necessary. The National Treasury explained that in order to safe-guard the use of public funds, supply chain regulations demanded that proper processes and planning were adhered to. However, it was clear that provinces could manage these processes in a more efficient manner. The National Treasury submitted that reports highlighted delays in the supply chain management processes in Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West; and much of the shortfalls involved infrastructure upgrades and new buildings.
Furthermore, the Committee was informed that various initiatives and support systems were currently being implemented by the National Treasury to improve the situation.
The Financial Management Improvement Plan.
Donor funding for these and other programmes was being sourced and the development aid process would be integrated into the budget process going forward.
The National Treasury informed the Committee that the success of these initiatives would be greatly improved by more attentive provincial management, as well as stronger leadership and oversight by accounting officers over community library programmes.
The National Treasury concluded that the disjuncture between the functional assignment of the libraries function (Schedule number 5A) and the current municipal operation of libraries presented challenges to provincial departments. Therefore, while SLAs between municipalities and provinces had temporarily assisted in the management of the function, certain provinces (especially KZN and Western Cape) had embarked on the provincialisation of the function, and this was likely to simplify the management of libraries.
The provincial Department of Arts and Culture of the Northern Cape (PoNC) reported that its final appropriation for 2010/11 had been R77. 314 million and the actual amount spent had been R35. 297 million or 45.7 per cent. The PoNC reported that it had projected to spend R51. 647 million. The projected budget had aimed to cover compensation of employees (R6. 431 million); goods and services (R24. 461 million); transfers and subsidies (R7. 346 million); and payment of capital assets (R13. 409 million). Above all, the PoNC submitted unaudited financial outcomes for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2011. The province indicated that at the end of the 2010/11 financial year it had spent R61. 364 million or 79.4 per cent of its financial appropriation (R77. 314 million). The PoNC, reported that their allocation was reduced by R12. 048 million as per Government Gazette number 34 192 of 4 April 2011 due to under expenditure in the 2009/10 financial year.
The PoNC reported that the reasons for under-spending R15. 042 million on the current payments line-item included delays in recruitment by the human resources unit and payment of service providers by the finance section. Under-spending of R301 000 on line-item transfers and subsidies had been due to non-compliance by municipalities to regulatory and reporting requirements. Added to that, the PoNC reported that underspending of R1. 007 million on payments on capital assets had been mainly because there delays had been experienced in infrastructure projects and the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) rollout.
When asked about other reasons for under-spending, the PoNC reported that having vacancies for two financial years at critical positions like Director of Finance, Finance Manager, and Supply Chain Manager had further contributed to under-spending on the Grant. The appointment of these candidates were, however, in progress and it would be finalised before 01 July 2011. They added that transfer of the roll-over had only been processed around 15 December 2010 and at that time construction businesses had been closed for the holidays.
With respect to service delivery targets per project at the end of the third quarter, the PoNC reported that it had targeted to commence constructing one new library but it had failed to meet its target. The PoNC added that it had targeted to employ 190 new employees but only 125 had been employed, no levels were indicated. On project training and development, the PoNC submitted that it had planned to train or develop two employees but seven had been trained or developed. With respect to outreach and promotion projects, the PoNC said it had reached its target of five planned promotional projects. On providing support to municipalities, the PoNC presented that of the annual target of providing support to 28 municipalities, 22 had received transfers. With respect to the Information Communication Technology (ICT) roll-out, 114 libraries had been targeted but none had been provided with Information Communication Technology (ICT). Lastly, the PoNC reported that it had targeted to spend R100 000 on new material for libraries but had only spent R6 200 as at the end of the third quarter.
Not all transfers to municipalities had been executed due to non compliance with requirements.
Delays had been experienced in the delivery of library material from suppliers.
With regards to monitoring of transfers, the PoNC reported that monthly progress reports were submitted by municipalities and district offices conducted regular visits to municipalities to ensure adherence to the business plans. Therefore, when municipalities did not comply with business plans, interventions were made to ensure compliance through correspondence and meetings were convened with the municipal officials concerned.
The PoNC reported that among the factors that contributed to underspending was the fact that infrastructure projects were normally done through third parties -such as the provincial Department of Roads and Public Works for infrastructure projects and SITA for ICT projects. Also mentioned by the PoNC was that municipalities had experienced capacity constraints, resulting in non-submission or late submission of correct and compliant business plans.
Provide IT infrastructure maintenance to 86 points.
Furthermore, the PoNC reported that there had been no deviations from the 2010/11 financial year business plan. The business plan had been amended to utilise projected under-spending in compensation of employees on three projects: the liberation struggle heritage legacy book project; the Management Information System; and solar panels for containers.
The provincial Department of Arts and Culture of the Eastern Cape (PoEC) reported that it had an adjusted budget of R82. 163 million, which includes an allocation of R77. 240 million plus a roll-over of R4. 923 million. The projected budget had been aimed to cover compensation of employees (R11. 920 million); goods and services (R27. 444 million); transfers and subsidies (R1.000 million); building and other fixed structures (R29. 685 million) and machinery and equipment (R7. 191 million). The PoEC said that, for the third quarter, it had budgeted to spend R23. 800 million but the actual spending had been R8. 141 million, therefore they had under-spent by R15. 659 million.
Improve library infrastructure and services that reflect the specific needs of the communities they serve. Since the inception of the grant , 79 libraries have been renovated and this has improved library usage as these libraries are now accessible.
Transform and equip library and information services meant for all rural and urban communities.
Improve co-ordination and collaboration between national, provincial and local government on library services.
Improve a culture of reading.
Improve staff capacity at urban and rural libraries to respond appropriately to community knowledge and information needs. Qualified librarians had been employed and deployed to public libraries. Operational hours of libraries had since improved with 55 per cent because libraries were now open eight hours a day as a result of the additional staff appointed.
With regards to delivery indicators and targets per project at the end of the third quarter, the PoEC reported that it had targeted to upgrade and rehabilitate nine libraries but only two libraries had been upgraded due to the outcome of a court case in KwaZulu-Natal (Case No 10878/2009). The PoEC added that it had targeted to provide ICT infrastructure to seven libraries; maintain automated library facilities in 100 libraries; install tattle-tape detection and Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) security systems in 17 libraries; and provide furnishings to 11 libraries. All these targets had been met. With respect to a new and updated library collection, the PoEC reported that it had purchased and distributed 40 000 books. On improvement of reading culture and capacitating of staff at urban and rural libraries, targets had been met.
When the Committee expressed its displeasure about the under-spending, the PoEC explained that many factors had contributed to the under-spending.
A high staff turn-over due to conditions of employment - appointment only on contract.
Conditional grant staff should be incorporated into the equitable share to ensure sustainability and continuity.
When asked by the Committee how it monitors the spending of the Grant funds, the PoEC explained that it had a monitoring and evaluation unit under its Strategic Planning Management component that was assisting in ensuring that projects were done according to plans (Business Plan, Annual Performance Plan and Operational Plan) and reporting was done monthly and quarterly. Added to that, In-Year-Monitoring was done internally to check the spending patterns against cash-flow projections. These reports were then sent to the provincial and national treasuries through the national Department of Arts and Culture (NDAC). Moreover, the PoEC submitted that monthly and quarterly reports were submitted to NDAC and quarterly reviews were also held with NDAC. The PoEC further explained that the Grant had its administration unit, which included a Project Manager, Acquisitions Officer and an Administrative Officer.
With respect to achievements, the PoEC reported that, the design for the Mt Ayliff library had been finalised and a tender for constructing it had been advertised. On Mdantsane Library, the PoEC reported that the conflict with the community regarding the steering committee had since been resolved and the project was started in December 2010. The Committee was further informed that all tenders for containers; outdoor learning equipment and detection systems had been awarded. Furthermore, the PoEC reported that all 88 libraries targeted for ICT infrastructure had been cabled and provided with computers, internet and e-mail facilities.
The PoEC concluded that the high priority in the province was provision of infrastructure to all libraries but unfortunately infrastructure projects were not implemented as fast as they would like. The PoEC added that since the inception of the Grant they had managed to upgrade a total of 64 (sixty four) libraries. The PoEC further explained that the infrastructure field was too technical and it had been outsourced to implementing agents (provincial Department of Public Works and COEGA).
The provincial Department of Arts and Culture of North West (PoNW) reported that in the 2010/11 financial year its allocation was R59. 275 million, with a rollover of R13. 433 million. The PoNW said the total allocation, R72. 708 million, for 2010/11 was allocated according to Grant priorities and only R34. 534 million or 47.5 per cent had been spent. The PoNW submitted that for the third quarter R15. 917 million had been transferred to the province and R14. 108 million had been spent.
With regards to service delivery targets per project at the end of the third quarter, the PoNW reported that it had met most of the targets. However, they had targeted to establish one mini-library to service visually impaired people, but failed to meet this target due to new procurement procedures that had been introduced. The PoNW added that they had targeted to upgrade infrastructure in four libraries but only backlogged projects from 2009-2010 had been upgraded. With respect to improvement of ICT infrastructure, the PoNW submitted that they had planned to install open source software in five libraries, but no software had been installed in the targeted libraries. With respect to providing library containers to three targeted municipalities, the PoNW said it had not finalised the procurement process by the end of the third quarter due to the slow process of adjudication. With regards to organising literacy campaigns, the PoNW presented that they had targeted to organise five campaigns, but only managed to arrange two.
Involve Early Childhood Development Educators in the programme.
With regard to reasons for under-spending, the PoNW reported that poor management of supply chain management processes had led to delays in implementing certain projects. The two major projects affected had been the Mamusa Library project and the Lebaleng Library project. The province added that Mamusa project funds had been transferred to the local municipality but the project was yet to be finalised. As a result, the PoNW had appointed internal auditors to investigate and compile a report on how the municipality had spent the Grant funds. If the municipality was found to have spent Grant funds on irrelevant projects, they would be forced to refund the province. The Committee was told that the Lebaleng project was at roof-level but no additional funds would be provided.
Delays with filling of vacancies.
The implementation of capital projects had been delayed by local municipalities who had failed to appoint consultants and contractors on time.
The PoNW had taken a decision to take over building projects of community libraries from municipalities. The provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport would serve as implementing agent. Local municipalities who had shown commitment would be allowed to finish the projects already in progress.
The provincial Department of Arts and Culture of KwaZulu-Natal (PoKZN) reported that for the 2010/11 financial year it had been allocated R38. 282 million plus a roll-over of R4. 992 million from the previous year for underexpenditure on infrastructure. Therefore the total allocation was R43. 274 million and the actual amount received was R37. 692 million because the fourth tranche of R5. 582 had been withheld. As at the end of the third quarter of financial year 201/11, the province spent R19.145 million or 44.2 per cent according to National Treasury.
Enter into a partnership with eThekwini Metro and the Carnegie Corporation for the building of a new city library for Durban.
With regards to key outcomes, the PoKZN reported that there had been increased usage of libraries. Quantitative data had been collected from head counting systems installed in 50 libraries, where usage had been higher than membership and circulation of books. The PoKZN added that there had been an increased usage by adult students in the mornings. Lastly, the province submitted that capacitating community members with computer skills had increased interest in library and internet services.
The Mbazwana Library/Depot which was a R31 million project, had experienced delays due to an underperforming contractor. The contractor had finally been dismissed mid-2010 for consistent poor performance and a new tender to finalise had been awarded.
Delays in procurement of furniture and equipment for Mbazwana Library further affected expenditure.
The PoKZN presented that monitoring of Grant spending was conducted through compiling monthly financial data reports and quarterly reports which were submitted to national Department of Arts and Culture and the Provincial Treasury on a regular basis. The Committee was informed that review meetings with the national Department of Arts and Culture were held quarterly. The PoKZN reported that internal auditing on conditional grant spending was an ongoing exercise. The PoKZN added that Evaluation Committee meetings and ProvincialTreasury bi-lateral meetings were convened. The PoKZN concluded that there was a regular monthly monitoring inspection by the provincial coordinator who had been appointed by the national Department of Arts and Culture.
With regards to the monthly reporting by municipalities, the PoKZN reported that all transfer payments made by the department to municipalities were supported by signed memorandums of agreement. Moreover, a monthly reporting template was sent to all municipalities and there was a dedicated staff member assigned to regularly make follow-ups with municipalities. The template showed improvement on compliance and reflected annual transfers only approved together with proof of expenditure of previously transferred funds. Furthermore, the PoKZN submitted that visits to all local municipalities would be conducted between April and June 2011 before the start of the new municipal financial year.
The PoKZN concluded that the Grant had allowed for great strides to be taken in the transformation of community libraries, as proposed in the Library Transformation Charter. The PoKZN concluded that community libraries had a significant role to play in the development of human capital, alleviation of poverty and the upliftment of society.
The national Department of Arts and Culture (NDoAC) informed the Committee that severe inconsistencies had been picked up in 2008 between how municipalities spent grant funds and the objectives of the grant. The Department further said that infrastructure projects were complex in nature; they involved planning which required the involvement of all affected stakeholders, and a time frame of three years. The NDoAC explained that the first year was for planning and drawing up of specifications of projects; the second year for implementation of projects and the third year for finalising the project.
The NDoAC informed the Committee that they supported provinces and when challenges were identified, provinces were allowed to amend their business plans to ensure that under-spending was curbed. The NDoAC said provinces were constantly advised to use their discretion on whether or not to transfer funds to municipalities, if there were indications that a municipality did not have the capacity to manage infrastructure development. However, the Committee did not agree with this submission. The Committee cautioned the NDoAC that withholding funds should be a last resort and this could only be done after the third quarter.
When asked how they planned to assist and resolve challenges that provinces had submitted, the NDoAC reported that site visits and road shows to provinces would be strengthened. These would also be done when there were indications that provinces were under-spending. The NDoAC further said it was trying to create a platform for provinces to share library resources. Moreover, the NDoAC indicated that best practices were continuously shared by provinces and National Treasury was assisting in this regard.
5.1 There are challenges which persist within provinces with respect to the supply chain management processes and they appear to be caused by poor management in the component (Recurring observation).
5.2 Officials who are occupying positions in the higher echelons of departments are not implementing or taking decisions as expected of them.
5.4 Late submission of invoices or billing by SITA head office was identified as a contributing factor to the low expenditure.
5.5 The provincial Departments of Arts and Culture do not have a strategy to follow-up on funds transferred to municipalities and ensure that they are spent on the Grant's priorities and this may open a loophole for misappropriation of taxpayers' money (Recurring observation). This is due to the fact that the Committee had noted during the last interaction with provinces (on 06 June 2010) that conditional grant funds that were transferred to municipalities appeared as spent on financial reports of provinces; whereas municipalities were not spending or spent the funds on projects that did not meet the criteria of the grant.
5.6 The provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape have moved the implementation function from municipalities to provinces.
6.6 That all provincial Departments of Arts and Culture should adopt the approach of the North West's provincial Department of Arts and Culture, and involve the Early Childhood Development practitioners in their Community Library Services Grant programmes.