Governance & Administration Cluster Briefing

[Note: Transcript of Questions & Answers provided by the Governance and Administration Cluster]

Journalist: Minister Baloyi the Ministerial Handbook issue, it was announced in 2009 that the Handbook would be reviewed it was supposed to have been done by June 2010 and in April 2011 you said it would be done soon very soon. I would like to have your comments on that and when can we expect that. Then also I realise it is not part of the cluster briefing but if you willing to comment on that if you could please on any progress with your involvement in the SAPS lease remedial action. Can you give us a progress update on that? And then the draft regulations you mentioned providing guidelines on recruitment and selection this is now in terms of the new Municipal Systems Amendment Act, if you can give us an indication on when we can expect those regulations. When will we know what those regulations contain?

Journalist: Just two questions, one question to the Minister of DPSA, you talked about setting up these guidelines for disciplining within the Public Service. When they are likely to come into effect and what is the situation in terms of the culture of ill discipline amongst civil servants in the country. Have you done a survey or a study to determine that? The last question relates to the fact that there are some government departments that are owing municipalities as part of the R64bn that is owned. I just wanted to find out because I understand that National Treasury is working with COGTA to deal with the question of settling debt. Have you set up a timeframe in which those Departments should pay whatever is owed to municipalities and if so when is that? Thanks.

Journalist: During the outcry over the purchase of cars by Ministers and you know there were other issues that came up issues like government officials spending a lot of money on travelling, entertainment and all of those things. We were promised a review of this, we were promised that new authority measures were going to be in place that an IMC sitting made up of yourselves and the Minister of Finance. We are we with regards to it, I mean can we expect new measures any time soon and what to expect?

Journalist: Relating to the Municipal Systems Amendment Act, corrupt councillors will be interdict from working again at a municipality for ten years, now obviously I supposed you have to create a database of these people who have been prosecuted. How far is that process? And then secondly last week Minister Pravin Gordhan in the Treasury’s oversight report it was stated that municipalities could have saved R27bn in the 2009/2010 book year if they didn’t spend on frills. I want to know have you taken note of that and how will you curb municipalities spending on things that is not a priority for this government. Thank you.

Minister Richard Baloyi: On the question related to the Ministerial Handbook, the answer in this question is that yes it is true that we have started the process of the review of the Ministerial Handbook and in the process of doing that we identified the reality that the Ministerial Handbook is just a regulatory instrument to deal with the administrative allocations of what is otherwise decided upon as the tools of trade to public officials which is the responsibility of the commission. I am sure you know the commission it changed names when led by different people there is a commission at the moment and we are interacting with them so that when they finalise on issues related to the tools of trade that is where then we will then in fact co-ordinate this two activities. So that it should not appear on the one hand that we say of ourselves that we will not be deciding, public officials will not be deciding on privileges or tools of trade that affect them because we have set up a commission which is what we all know and on the other hand do that ourselves. So that is something that we will be finalising soon, I will actually be meeting with the commission just to check progress on their part so that we can then revert to Cabinet to look at the issues in as far as finalising the amendment.

The issue around the SAPS lease remedial programme, our state of involvement is that we are actually working together with the Department of Public Works to deal with issues that are related to the conduct of public servants in that area. So we are actually dealing with that matter and between DPSA and Public Works we are actually working and co-operating well to have that addressed.

On the issue of the culture of ill-discipline what we are saying is that as a Government we adopt a zero stance in as far as tolerance of ill-discipline. Whether it is below 5% ill-discipline in the public service it becomes an issue. That’s why we are then saying these guidelines are meant to assist the process that is going on so that you have this quick finalisation of cases when you deal with issues of ill-discipline. You will remember we introduced at a public service level to deal with issues related to administrational management of discipline, a unit that amongst other things will deal with those issues. We are committed and we told the nation that we are going to unveil details on this unit during the Public Service Week, which I think you are aware that Public Service Week started yesterday and it’s ending on Friday. We are engaging on Fridays there’s a round table engagement with stakeholders, civil society, labour, business and I believe the media being part of civil society will be expecting an engagement on those issues to then finalise in as far as that is concerned. Colleagues the other questions I leave them to you.

Deputy Minister Yunus Carrim: Firstly in respect of the regulations dealing with the Municipal Systems Act, as you know the Act was just promulgated recently extensive regulations have in fact been drafted. We have been in engagement with the unions and a wide range of stakeholders. Only last Friday we had about 17 if I’m correct professional organisations present at a consultation and it includes The Institute for Municipal Finance Officers, Institute for Local Government Managers, South African Local Government Association and a like. And so far there has been substantial consensus on the regulations, people have welcomed it and felt it was long overdue. Our differences with SAMWU the trade union have been also significantly reduced though there are still gaps and we will continue to engage with them. They have said to us that it is ok for us to gazette it for public comment but that the issues that still divide us we will address overtime. So we hope to have it gazetted before the end of October and then we will have it in the public domain for a month or so. The regulations obviously deal with how we should professionalise the administration of municipalities. So for example we are seeking to within the legal challenges, and there are many which is what has held out to some extend the processing of the regulations. There are many labour and other regulations that impact on this but we are seeking to set minimum qualifications for senior managers, meaning experience, expertise, technical qualifications, human experiences and the like, and obviously we have to engage with the professional associations in this regard. And we have made several changes to the regulations since last Friday even I was told by officials last night. So in short that matter is very much on course.

The second thing to say in respect of the database it is in its very early stages yet. But we are clear as Government as a whole I think not just COGTA that you can’t have a situation where you have senior managers appearing before a municipality for allegations of transgression of the law and then before the process is complete they leave and get a job in another municipality. One of your newspapers two weeks ago carried a story a first page and even photographs of several people who have done precisely that. That must stop, this Act is meant to do so and we mean to see that it happens. Again it is very easy to say and sometime media with due respect to you don’t appreciate the complexities. On the one hand we wanted democracy where everybody has fair say and the rule of law applies and on the other hand we want things done as quickly as possible when it suits us. Sao that means sometimes journalists are more politicians that politicians are. But let me tell you I am a bit surprised colleagues how it is to actually do these things. I have been preoccupied now that we finally have the law path but actually to do it. There are legal issues about who you put on the database, just to give you some idea so that you understand that we haven’t done it by tomorrow afternoon and implement by tomorrow night that there are, not because I am sleeping on the beaches of Pietermaritzburg or something. The issues are very difficult and you will be the first to march down the streets if we did anything otherwise, which is your democratic right no doubt. But let’s come back to the point; it is not easy actually because there are legal issues. For example if I do not like a colleague of mine in a municipal environment I can smear that colleague because I want to sleep with his partner or I want his job and then the person faces a disciplinary enquiry which has no substance. Now in terms of the regulations the lawyers are asking us such a person who would actually take action against a municipality that these allegations are not substantive. So the fine line between saying anybody who faces a disciplinary enquiry cannot be considered for a job in another municipality and actually committing and actual offence. Those are the challenges that we are dealing with. So in short we are working through it, we will have it ready shortly, it will be gazettes in two weeks from now, it will be in the public domain by the end of October. Parliament will also apply its mind and hopefully we will get a reasonably consensual conclusion to this matter which is long overdue. I think those are the issues asked to me. Oh yes about the flaws. Basically you see we have three spheres of Government; there are limits to what national Government can do.

This is a matter better addressed to the Minister of Finance because regulations around this would derive from the Municipal Finance Management Act not from our legislation in COGTA. But we are acutely aware, we are working with the South African Local Government Association, National Treasury and other stakeholders to ensure that municipalities within the context of the restraints of the constitution of what national and provincial Government can do that we in fact assist them to use money more productively and effectively. They are making a case for more money from the National Fiscus, we are saying we will use the money you currently have more productively, more effectively and your case become strengthened. But in all spheres of Government I think the law will agree there is a need for us to curtail unnecessary expenditures. So we can’t speak to Local Government and say constraint yourselves when we ourselves and national and provincial level are not showing ourselves to be doing that. So in short the more we do the more also we have credibility when we speak to municipalities. That matter is being addressed; there are limits in terms of the law as to what a national or provincial Government can do to restraint municipalities. But we are through this law also; you might be interested to know finally setting ceilings or aid remuneration and conditions of municipal managers. Here again it is unconstitutional from what we have been told for us on national level for the Minister or the provinces to prescribe an exact amount for remuneration for a municipal manager. Local Governments sphere they have contracts for municipal managers. Those contracts are determined by performance agreement and so it is difficult to have a national prescription. What we are seeking is to provide guidelines that will say for example depending on a number of residence in your municipality the budget you have, the IDP you have, this is the guidelines we can give you and we can provide you with a ceiling and monitor. 

Minister Collins Chabane: Just on two issues. The first one relate to the monies owed to municipalities by national or provincial Government Departments and entities. The work is going on in that area. The issues which has been delaying that process is the question of the verification of the Bills which are being sent to Departments to ensure that people don’t pay who they are not supposed to pay or they underpay who they are supposed to pay. So the process goes on, as soon as it is verified the debts are being settled. It takes a bit of time because of the amount of work which needs to be done because those debts some of them are quite old. So work is going on there between National Treasury, the Department of Corporative Governance and DPME to try and ensure that side of things are cleaned up. On the issue of the review of expenditure. As you would know that from time to time, let me start by saying they Department of National Treasury deals with that matter almost on an ongoing basis. You would recall that when the Minister of Finance from time to time issued statements or addresses Parliament he does indicate where he thinks we are going to save money what are the areas which need to be cut. It is done in two ways; one is to identify those areas which need to be dealt with. Secondly like they did with regard to the frill story (sic) which somebody related to it now. But secondly it is also done within the context of budgeting, that once it has been identified that in this areas we think we could be able to save money. So it is done through the budgeting process to ensure that we redirect funds to the areas which are critical. So it is an ongoing process and we think we are making head way in that regard.

Journalist: Minister Baloyi I don’t know whether the single public service ides is still in the running and what has come of that. And also earlier in the year you made announcements that you are going to tighten up on the disciplinary process, speed it up so that people don’t spend such a long time under suspension. What progress have you made on that and also with your Anti Corruption Unit, how is it working?

Journalist: You are talking about ways and means of holding Local Government to account but in recent weeks some of your Cabinet colleagues have refused to answer questions about how they have been spending tax payers’ money on transport and accommodation for instance saying that this affects their personal security. Could you explain to us how a trip and a hotel of 2yrs ago affects personal security and whether those Ministers will be required to answer the questions?

Journalist: To Deputy Minister Carrim. You said recently that you are working on regulations that will require all municipalities to hire qualified Chartered Accountants as CFO’s. I just want you to expand on that. Number one where do you get the skills, number two is in terms of the salary dispensation will they be on the same sort of public service salary dispensation because obviously these people cost a lot of money. What about municipalities that cannot afford those people, how do you deal with them that cannot afford these people? Then to Minister Chabane. It has emerged that the NYDA, that the Salary Bill is about 50% of its operational budget. I am trying to find out what you make of this, isn’t that a sort of a very steep Salary Bill for an agency that is tasked with developing you. It seems like a lot of money is going towards paying its own staff and executives. Shouldn’t something be done about it?

Journalist: Just on the municipal debt, the Finance Minister mentioned just a few weeks ago that Government owed municipalities R64 million or billion; I am not quite sure, billion rand. Just if you could break it down to me between national and provincial, how much is owed. And then also on the enforcement of the Anti Corruption Strategy. You mentioned here that of the 8767 reported between September 2004 and May 2011 only about 1953 cases were closed by the end of May this year. Why is that figure so low? And how much is this costing the State?

Journalist: Minister Baloyi SITA effectiveness in Output 3. You said a Draft ICT Strategy has been developed and is undergoing steps of consultation, when will that be released? And then you said this being constraint by unavailability of resources, could you just give us an idea of if you have these resources now and the are available and exactly who are they?

Journalist: Minister Baloyi if you don’t mind can we go back to the first question about the Ministerial Handbook. You said that the Handbook was just a regulatory instrument and that you are working with the Suredi Commission (sic). I am not sure I understand, could you just explain. Are you waiting for the Suredi Commission (sic) to complete its work on tools of trade to then incorporate that into  the Ministerial Review or what exactly is the process and when can we expect a final document?

Then second question on remembering the heroes and heroines of the National Liberation Struggle. You announced that Government will erect monuments on their honour etc. Can you just give us perhaps a little more detail about this, what sort of monuments, how many, where in the country, the costs involved, that kind of thing.

Deputy Minister Yunus Carrim: Firstly it is about chartered accountants. At the moment we are just exploring this option. We have engaged with the Auditor General’s Office and he seems to think that it can be done. We raised obviously demographics, if you have a chartered accountant in every municipality it will be disproportionally represented of the demographics of our country. Now I was interested to see and I don’t know how many of us here know that is not the case, there is a very significant number over the last few years of African chartered accounts as well. So he seems to think or his office and himself that was not an issue. So in short speaking if you like for him, because he is the person who knows. And the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, we just met with them on Friday, I was not at the meeting the officials were and they seem to think it is doable in respect of the availability of people. But thirdly you ask about the issue of affordability now it is interesting that those municipalities that are poorer perhaps need a chartered accountant even more than those who are better off like Ethekweni and Johannesburg. So the issue arises as it does with other similar instances. Poorer municipalities find it difficult to attract the skills, they can’t pay from their budgets yet it is they more than the more established metros that need skilled technical highly paid staff. And this is a matter that some of us within the Local Government Fraternity have been raising with the National Ministry of Finance to say what do we do about this. We have in fact as part of the regulations we currently have and which we are finalising within the next 2 weeks to put into the public domain considered whether we should put in a mild qualified requirement that CFO’s should be chartered accountants.

This engagement with Treasury will take place within the next 10 days so we haven’t come to any conclusion but for what it is worth I had an engagement on Friday with a Treasury official who suggested that while having CFO’s as chartered accountants is generally a good thing. A CFO is actually a financial manager, and chartered accountants are not necessarily good managers. So what we are thinking of doing is tweaking the regulation to say that over a certain period, because it won’t happen overnight, that the CFO’s office will either have a situation where the CFO is a Chartered accountant or has a chartered accountant within his or her office.

Finally this is something that the MFMA more than our own Systems Act to provide regulation for and we will confer further with the professional associations and National Treasury. Finally to say it is not true that COGTA believes, I mean this is most absurd, a journalist noted, that if a municipality can’t have chartered accountants it should be dissolved, that is not what was said. It was said that if a municipality cannot afford to have a CFO as a chartered accountant questions are raised about its viability, it is a very different thing to saying the criteria is if you don’t have a chartered account you close down. But this is something maybe when journalists meet you will ask yourself why you do, but the fact of the matter is no one has said that, we can’t, there is no constitutional requirement, COGTA nor Government has given us any mandate. It is to say finally that at the moment there are people who are occupying those jobs as CFO’s who are often paid market related salaries. Not always do they have the necessary qualifications, so you are not talking of an entirely new post. It is an issue of reducing the gap between the people who are currently filling those posts and what they earn and a proper chartered accountant. And we think it is doable not overnight certainly and even for small municipalities. And the National Fiscus must also assist in regard to that in its allocations to Local Government.

Minister Collins Chabane: The NYDA. You would recall that the NYDA was formed after this establishment of the Youth Commission and Umsobomvu. And what was used as their baseline for their budgets is the combination of the two budgets. And you would recall that the Youth Commission was only a national Youth Commission, only based in Pretoria. You had 9 provincial Youth Commissions which were under the provincial Governments. When we disestablished the Youth Commission, the 9 Youth Commissions at the provincial level have been disestablished. But in that process we didn’t transfer the funds which was supposed to be utilised, funds which were used by the Provincial Youth Commissions in their operations. So therefore the NYDA had to take over the expenditure and the operations of the provincial Youth Commissions without the budgets of the Youth Commissions following the function which has now been transferred to the NYDA. That then brought a problem or a distortion that whilst the NYDA only depends on the amalgamated from the National Youth Commission and Umsobomvu. They have functions which extend beyond the national offices and which has to go down to that the NYDA adopted this structure and the personnel and everything else from the institutions. And therefore had to use one of them as the base line for salary scales or salary remuneration of the new institutions which they are bringing on board. As a result if you look at the budget of the NYUDA and you look at the functions which is suppose to perform and the extend which its operational geographical jurisdiction is far much bigger than what the National Youth Commission and Umsobomvu used to do in the past. So now the NYDA is required to establish offices in all municipalities and even beyond municipalities in order to reach the youth. The only way to do that is that you must have structures in place to be able to go that route. And therefore despite the shortcomings in terms of the budget we have been engaging municipalities and provinces especially at municipal level to try and get municipalities to assist us to get offices to get people to be operational in that regard. That is why you would find if you look at in terms of percentage the budget; the salaries will be distorted because of those factors.

On the issue of expenditure of travel and accommodation of Ministers. As you would know that budget gets appropriated every year by Parliament. So the budget which is being utilised for that purpose is nothing else either than the money which has been appropriated by Parliament for that purpose that is the first one. The second one is that every time the Portfolio Committee wants to know something about the activities and expenditure of Departments they have all the rights and the responsibility to call any Minister or Department to come an account. And finally at every end of the financial year the Auditor General publishes a report which is interrogated by Parliament and therefore and I think the Ministers feel to ask at which hotel did you sleep which care did you use when people are travelling. You must know that a person can be able to establish a pattern when you go to the US, which hotel do you use and so on. When they say it is for security reasons it is around that area but it is not that people don’t want to account. The members of Parliament have all the right doing the process of interrogating the budget when they report in terms of accountability supposed to be made to ask those questions directly to the Ministers, there is no problem.

Minister Paul Mashatile: On the issue of monuments, lets me just say that this month we have declared it a Month of Celebrating the heroes and heroines of the struggle in South Africa and therefore honouring these icons. Mainly what we do, we have decided that we are going to upgrade the graves of these heroes, declare them heritage sites, so we are working on that plan. Some work has already started in certain instances but we are also taking a long-term approach, Cabinet has approved a concept of national liberation heritage route which is really telling the story of the South African struggle and that will require monuments, museums etc. We will announce budgets as we go on so we don’t have a sort of overall figure, if you take for instance the home of OR Tambo in the Eastern Cape, we have currently put aside R20m for a museum there and another R15m for Unusa Hills (sic) where we had the pondo revolt. In places like Mvsu we are building museums that is the birthplace of President Mandela and we will be looking at the figures there, there’s a proposal of about R70m in what needs to be done in terms of museums and other facilities that will also attract tourists, upgrading of roads. So the approach is not just the monument and museums we also look at how we economically approve the areas where people live, sorting out the roads etc. There is a lot of work that is unfolding, we’ve got Lilly’s Leaf that is done already by a private foundation but we will be working with the state. We are completing the Steve Biko Centre in the Eastern Cape and then a number of things like that. So we will be announcing as we go on and we will announce budgets. In certain instances, provincial governments are responsible so they are putting resources and we are partnering with them but I think it is a long-term project. You will also know that we are looking at sides of struggle across the border. We are currently building an interpretation centre and museum in Matola in Mozambique where liberation activists were massacred during the apartheid era. We are looking at other areas in Angola, Zambia, Tanzania etc and this is the way in which we will complete the National Liberation Heritage Route. So the theme of celebrating the heroes of the struggle this month will in a sense go much longer into the future as we look at other sites that are critical to the struggle and this is across the border we are not just looking at ANC leaders we are looking broadly at people who played a role in the struggle of the people of South Africa.

Minister Richard Baloyi: Thank you very much ladies and gentleman as you remember we don’t have much time but I will try to run quickly in the response and also summarise to close the interviews. Yes it is true that the single Public Service is still on course and we are still committed to finalise processes to have a legislation introducing this in Parliament during this current financial year. In tightening the disciplinary processes we have trained presiding officers and investigators because we identified that these are areas that needed to be strengthened so that as we deal with this merit cases you deal with them such that you are able to manage within the prescribed timeframe without having excuses that allude to the quality of competency of the people who deal with disciplinary processes. We are doing that with a view that where especially when it comes to senior public servants to actually have an arrangement where you have public service prosecutors trained capacitated to deal with these cases. We are looking at finalising a legislative framework mid October to actually deal with issues related at how we move forward. You would remember that the issues of discipline in terms of the Public Service Act and the regulations introduced what you can refer to as a decentralised Public Service Administration where executive authorities take charge of that. You then say instead of having this fragmentation you would like to co-ordinate but at the moment before you address that issue or the legal instrument you definitely either have to wait for a memorandum of understanding, or create a mechanism that you are dealing with that. The basis for such a framework is going to be finalised in mid October as I have indicated.

How the unit is working it is actually like for instance you find situation where the law enforcement agencies would have dealt with issues, criminal activities within the Public Service having concluded that take the SIU but then realise that administratively you still have to deal with this cases so we are actually interacting with them but there are areas where there are cases that are initiated by the unit in terms of investigation. The details will provide as I have indicated earlier on, we are rounding up in terms of SETA effectiveness as you remember that last week we had a GAFTA conference which was an opportunity that we had to engage on issues. But in as far as internal rolling out of the SETA turnaround strategy we are looking at finalising specifically related to the question that you have eluded to that come the end of this year we will actually have to address that. A declaration was given at the GAFTA conference which is going to consolidate on Friday going forward in terms of how we take these issues. We tried to put into one basked so that as we communicate and then say Public Service Week, what does it actually have in as far as dealing with all those issues so we have put that also in the basket.

In as far as the process of finalising the Handbook we are not like sort of waiting for the commission to decide it is a question of co-ordination. The question of co-ordinating the activities because as you know that through an Act of Parliament we created a commission a commission whose responsibility it is to deal with issues of determining the tools of trade, determining the support systems, determining what otherwise is referred to as privileges for public officials. So as they are looking into that and as we are dealing with the question of review of the Ministerial Handbook it is always necessary that what is happening on the left hand actually talks to what the right hand is doing. It is not like we are waiting but when they decide for instance you can’t decide to then say if you drive a vehicle a portion of so much of your salary has to determine in terms of how far you can go in terms of the vehicle you purchase. You have to look at that against what the commission is actually providing us, tools of trade because this tools of trade when you look at them having forgotten that you are talking about tools of trade they appear like they are privileges and when they appear like that it is at that point where it becomes an issue of public interest. To then say how much are you getting instead of then saying to what extent are you strengthened to be able to perform your work, what tool are you using to do your work as a public official? In having said this and in the interest of time, oh there is one question?

Minister Collins Chabane: There’s the issue around the categorisation of the debt between the provincial and the national departments. We might not have the figure as we are now where we are sitting but it may be important to indicate what constitute this debt. The debt arise out of the properties which are owned by the various spheres of Government so for National Government for example you will find offices of National Departments, land of National Government which is held in various municipalities that would include the rate and taxes. In that regard you will find police stations, army bases and other institutions which are basically national competence. At provincial levels you will find schools, hospitals, offices and other facilities which are there, residential properties owned by the various levels or spheres of Government and municipal level. So those constitute what would mainly be the rates and taxes and the other services which the municipality provides to those facilities and that is why there is this process to try and identify specifically whose responsibility it is, how much it costs, is it properly done in terms of the constitution because of some then have not been paid for some time. So the verification process to try and clear that out is the one which is in process. Thank you.

Journalist: Speaking of the microphone

Minister Richard Baloyi: We are at a point of preparing to come here at this point we have not actually analyse in terms of how much that cost the state, I think it is a question that we might revert to at a later stage. There was only one question that I revert to him, so Minister in the last minute or so? Go for it.

Journalist: Minister I want to know what criteria will be used to determine what kind of, whom you will honour? I mean you said you will be looking at heroes across the board but how will you involve the public, people from different cultural and political groupings. How will that process work and what will the criteria be?

Minister Paul Mashatile: Well currently we are having meetings at various provinces that are convened by the MEC’s to involve the public. The National Liberation Heritage Route is really a national project but we allow communities down the line to do their own sort of smaller liberation routes as well. So in a particular community there will be a number of people who are seen as heroes, communities are free to do but we will focus mainly on what are seen as national heroes and really that is a consultation with various communities. There are a lot of people who have played a key role in the liberation of this country and you can talk about Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Albertina Sisulu, Helen Suzman, Steve Biko, Lange Ledube, the list goes on but you are quite right we are not sitting behind the desk and just finalising, we are talking to communities because this is a very important project. In the long run we want also the National Liberation Heritage Route to be listed by UNESCO as the World Heritage Site, so it is very important project and we will be consulting broadly.

Programme Director: Unfortunately we can’t take any more questions the Ministers have to go, thank you.

END OF MEDIA BRIEFING

STATEMENT BY MINISTER RICHARD BALOYI

We are here to provide feedback on progress on the implementation of the National Programme of Action in terms of Outcomes 9 and 12 with the following respective themes. One being a Responsive, Accountable, Effective and Efficient and Local Government System. As well as an Efficient, Effective and Development Oriented Public Service and an Empowered, Fair and Inclusive Citizenry.

The major achievements on the Implementation of Outcome 9 for the period under review include the finalization of the terms of reference for the appointment of a service provider to develop a Policy Framework and ultimately a spatial segmentation Model. The National Accreditation Panel has commenced work on the remaining municipalities identified for accreditation to deliver housing programmes. Municipal pre-assessment has comment. As you will remember that provinces are required to conclude the necessary implementation protocols for the 8 municipalities that have already been identified and assessed by the National Department as well as put in place the necessary capacity support and development programmes.

The IDP Framework has been revised and has been consulted on well draft regulations providing guidelines on recruitment and selections have been developed application, publication for public comment and consultations with key stakeholders. The total of 95% households has access to basic levels of water, an 82% has access to basic sanitation, 72% access to refuse removal and 83% have access to basic electricity. A total of 70 844 work opportunities were created under the Community Work Programme. And 2074 work opportunities created through the establishment of 36 new cooperatives.

With regard to the process to review and strengthen the Legislative Framework for what committees and community participation. Proposals on the refinement of the Legislative Framework have been developed and will be presented to the technical team as well the GNA Cluster for further consideration.

A survey targeting 116 municipalities including 48 municipalities cited by the intervention by the AG is being conducted with regard to the establishment of internal audit unit and audit committees. By 30 June there were 69 municipalities’ respondents. A National Steering Committee comprising of the Departments of Cooperative Governance, Public Works, National Treasury and The Presidency has been established to address the issues of monies owed by national and provincial Departments to municipalities. Consultations were held with key stakeholders and other sector Departments and provincial Departments of cooperative Governance to establish a coordination mechanism in the form of a National Municipal Capacity Coordination and Monitoring Committee to exercise oversight and ensure coordinated support and intervention and monitor outcomes. A Capacity Building Plan for Local Government has been developed in as far as issues surrounding outcomes 12 achievements. The major achievements on the implementation of outcomes 12 for the period under review include the completion of the methodology for conducting service in key Government service delivery points under output 1 which is service delivery quality and access.

The data collection instrument for face to face interviews has also been finalised. The first user in section survey will be conducted during the course of the current financial year.
And it is accessible to Departments on the Department of Public Service and Administration website. The DPSA has assisted in the development of access norms for primary and secondary schools as well as in Home Affairs facilities and social grants pay points. The DPSA has initiated a process to develop access norms of facilities of the Department of Labour. The Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation is leading the process of is leading the process of improving performance management which include aligning institutional and employee performance to ensure linkages between performance and incentives as a draft strategic framework have been developed in this regard. As part of improving discipline management in the Public Service the DPSA has developed functioning guidelines which are being consulted internally within DPSA and will be brought to Cabinet once finalised.

The Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy and DPSA have just completed analysis of skills of managers in 46 Departments the report of which will be used to determine the skills gaps in the Public Service as well as assist in determining mandate training programmes for senior managers. The DPSA visited Limpopo, Eastern Cape and North West Provinces and commenced with the advocacy for the cleaner project of the human resource data on the PERSAL system. The draft strategy for the implementation of the promotion of Administrative Justice Act in the Public Service has been Justice finalised. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has through the College developed an e-learning course for the public service. The draft principal document and templates of public administration and financial delegations were developed by DPSA and National Treasury. The document and templates were consulted with departments in a national workshop, provincial treasuries and chief financial officers and the governance and administration working class, those were in attendance to that. The concept document on the development of generic structures including organisational design principles was completed the consultative workshop with the Department of Health, Social Development, Education and offices of the premiers were conducted. The DPSA has already engaged the North West and the Western Cape Executive Councils on organisational design principles and practices. The Social Development Ministers and members of the Executive Council have adopted a generic structure for approval and implementation. In terms of the business processes the development of the framework and toolkit stipulating the minimum required norms and standards for business process mapping, review and management has been completed. The development of a framework and toolkit stipulating the minimum required norms and standards for standard operating procedures setting of service standards and the development of service delivery improvement has also been completed.

In relation to an empowered fair and inclusive citizenry the DPSA used the last quarter to educate community development workers about volunteerism and their role. In as far as issues about national pride we are reporting that following the 2010 success of the Fly the Flag Campaign the Department of Arts and Culture has continued to distribute the national flag in the interest of nation building and promoting national identity. In this regard 13 000 publications were distributed to the KwaZulu-Natal Education, Western Cape archives and municipalities. 7000 handheld flags distributed in Mpumalanga through the MEC of Arts and Culture, Sports and Recreation office. Six public talks have been held on national symbols during Magnificent Fridays, one public talk on national symbols at a municipal legislature in Mpumalanga. One expression of national identity dialogue workshop hosted in the Eastern Cape at the Amatole Museum in the King Williams Town. 29 400 handheld flags were distributed at six Magnificent Fridays events in six provinces. 10 000 flags distributed as part of Mandela Day celebrations, 6000 Nelson Mandela book markers distributed as part of Mandela Day celebration. 1200 flags installed as part of Flag in Every School Phase II since February this year. In the run up to Mandela Day and as part of Fly the Flag at Schools, flags were hoisted at Mbalane, Bambane (sic) Secondary Schools. On commemoration of national days on the 27^th of April a military parade took place on the surrounds of the Union Building and the Freedom Day celebrations were held in the Gardens of the Union Buildings under the theme working together to unite the nation, promote democracy and protect freedom which was attended by 15 000 people.

On social cohesion the Department of Arts and Culture has worked on a national campaign aimed at reaching as wide a spectrum of South African society as possible to discuss values that underpins social cohesion in this regard dialogues were held throughout the country. The first point of call was a dialogue held with a South African Interfaith Council where religious and spiritual leaders gathered to share their views and ideas about the role of values in our society. The campaigns next measure highlight was at the Africa Day Celebrations in Newtown this was followed by dialogues at the Youth Day together with South Africans being interviewed on camera as far as this is concerned. The dialogue continued to take place nationwide participating in community conversations at KwaZulu-Natal. There were dialogues with communities in Mvembe in Limpopo. On issues of skills development the Department of Arts and Culture is in the process of establishing the National Cultural Industries Skills Academy (NaCISA). This project was initiated in 2010 and through a series of sector consultation and the development of the Mzanzi Golden Economy New Growth Path Strategy. Human resource development and skills for the cultural industries has become a strategic issue. The key objective of this project is to empower marginalized youth and contribute towards job creation. To date the NaCISA project has achieved the sectoral consultation, including the SETA’s and Department of Higher Education.

The hope that the business plan for NaCISA will be ready in March 2012 for implementation. On some of the issues under the Home Affairs Programme in terms of the contribution of the Department of Home Affairs to this outcome, the Department has prioritised the registration of every child birth within 30 days of delivery and issuance of identity documents to every South African 16 years and above through the National Population Registration Campaign. With a view to supporting the registration of babies at birth 9 hospitals were connected during the review and period and they are fully operational. We can name them the Lethabe Hospital in Limpopo, Pampier Stad Community Health Centre in the Northern Cape and Postmasbek (unclear) in the Northern Cape as well.

With the registration of babies within 30 days the Department aims to ensure that birth is the only entry point for South African to the National Population Register. The period under review the total of 133 262 child births were registered. For the second part of this mandate we are striving to issue ID’s to all those who turned 16 years of age. To this end we entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Education to ensure that we are able to visit schools and receive applications for young people for ID’s It is our firm conviction that an ID is really a passport to a better life.
Ladies and gentlemen we want to indicate that we circulated two packages of documents detailing or providing more information about the issues that this presentation of a summary of. And having said this I want to say thank you very much.

Governance & Administration Cluster Briefing DOCUMENT
Tuesday 20 September 2011


Introduction
In terms of the outcomes based approach, this cluster is aligned to outcomes 9 and 12 (a) and (b): A responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system; an efficient, effective and development oriented public service; and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship respectively.
As we brief you today, we are a few days away from the National Heritage Day Celebrations which will be celebrated in Mpumalanga on 24 September 2011.

However, as part of the national effort to ensure South Africans participate in all national days with a view to encouraging ownership of our collective identity as South Africans, celebrations will be held throughout the country. 

The theme for Heritage Month 2011 (September) is “Celebrating the Heroes and Heroines of the Liberation Struggle in South Africa.” We take this opportunity to encourage all South Africans to participate in National Heritage Celebrations throughout the country.
In light of this, I will begin this briefing with issues related to Outcome 12 (b), An Empowered, Fair and Inclusive Citizenship:
Heritage Month began with the 2nd National Book Week hosted under the theme; “The book that changed my life.” The National Book Week was used to strengthen ongoing efforts to build a culture of reading and writing in our country.

In remembering the heroes and heroines of our national liberation struggle, government will erect monuments in their honour that will tell the stories of their lives of bravery and courage to current and future generations. We continue to remind everyone that the national liberation struggle is part of our country’s collective memory, our rich history and heritage.

In a ground breaking consultative conference with the sector and the public on 14 and 15 April a number of resolutions were taken to enhance the contribution of the cultural and creative industries to the New Growth Path, including, establishing cultural precincts, initiating a public art programme, strengthening interventions at school level to develop talent at an early age, establishing a national skills academy for the arts and implementing the national liberation heritage route.
National Languages Bill

The National Languages Bill is an enabling legislation for promoting South Africa’s linguistic diversity and to encourage respect for language rights. The National Languages has been approved by Cabinet and is now with the Portfolio Committee which will outline the public hearings process ahead of the Bill being tabled at the National Assembly.

Social Cohesion
On the 26th of June next year the Department of Arts and Culture will host a national summit on Social Cohesion. The Summit will coincide with the 56th Anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter.
Among others the Summit will provide an opportunity for South Africans to reflect on the progress made in building the kind of society envisioned in the Freedom charter.

2011 CENSUS
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is 20 days away from the start of Census 2011. In the rapid build up to the third democratic census everyone within the borders of South Africa is urged to open his or her doors to Census 2011 fieldworkers from 10 to 31 October 2011.

Skills Development
The DAC is in the process of establishing the National Cultural Industries Skills Academy (NaCISA) this project was initiated in 2010 and through a series of sector consultation and the development of the Mzanzi Golden Economy New Growth Path strategy - Human resource development and skills for the cultural industries has become a strategic issue.  The key objective of this project is to empower marginalized youth and contribute towards job creation. To date the NaCISA project has achieved the sectorial consultation, including the SETA's and Department of Higher education - it is hope that the business plan for NaCISA will be ready in March 2012 for implementation.

DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS
In terms of the contribution of the Department of Home Affairs to this outcome, the Department has prioritised the registration of every child birth within 30 days of delivery and the issuance of identity documents to every South African 16 years and above through the National Population Registration Campaign.

With a view to supporting the registration of babies at birth, nine hospitals were connected during the review period and three are fully operational namely, Letaba Hospital (Limpopo), Pampierstad Community Health Centre (Northern Cape) and Postmasburg (Northern Cape).

With the registration of babies within 30 days, the Department aims to ensure birth is the only entry point for South Africans to the National Population Register.  In the period under review, a total of 133 262 child births were registered.

On the second part of this mandate, we are striving to issue IDs to all those who turn 16 years of age. To this end we have entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Education to ensure we are able to visit schools and receive applications for young people for IDs.  It is our firm conviction that an ID is really a passport to a better life.

Outcome 9: A Responsive, Accountable, Effective and Efficient Local Government System
When we last briefed you as a cluster, the country was preparing to hold our fourth democratic Local Government Elections.  Since then, elections have been held successfully and the work of ensuring effective service delivery to our citizens, at all levels of government, is currently underway.

The elections also resulted in the election of a new Local Government leadership, which happens at the SALGA National Conference. Organized Local Government (SALGA) has a mandate to convene provincial and national conferences within 60 and 90 days of Local Government elections respectively. The National conference convened leadership from all 278 municipalities and resolved on the Local Government agenda for the next 5 years.

The new leadership has been elected and the first meeting of the SALGA NEC is today, 20 September 2011 at the SALGA National Office. We wish Councilor Manyoni and his Executive Committee all the best as they sit to articulate the mandate received from conference on the Local Government Agenda for the next five years.

In terms of local governance, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has outlined the following priorities to ensure government’s delivery on outcome 9.

Accelerated Implementation Programme for LGTAS
An Accelerated Implementation Programme for LGTAS has been developed to correct the challenges experienced in the initial implementation of the LGTAS drawing on the State of Local Government Report of 2009 and other assessments.

It should be noted that LGTAS remains the overarching response of Government to the systemic challenges faced by local government in South Africa and that Government remains committed to its implementation; hence the Accelerated Implementation Programme. That seeks to, among others, commence the process of mainstreaming Municipal Turnaround Strategies as a component of Integrated Development Plans and to formalize this within the preparations for the 2012/13 IDP cycles of municipalities;

The programme for the Accelerated Implementation of LGTAS is comprised of six (6) phases in which the Minister, Deputy Minister, Director-General, relevant Parliamentary Chairperson’s, Offices of Premiers, Provincial MECs, Provincial HODs and the Chairperson and CEO of SALGA will participate.

Community Works Programme and Clean Cities
The Community Work Programme has contributed to the development of public assets in poor communities through the provision of income security for participants as well as work experience while promoting social and economic inclusion. This programme complements other Departmental programmes, such as the Clean Cities and Towns, which is another flagship programme of the Department. CWP scaled up significantly in April 2010 to March 2011 with a total number of 89,689 work opportunities having been created in 56 sites spread throughout all the nine provinces across 45 Municipalities and covering 417 wards CWP, a programme under the auspices of Department of Cooperative Governance, aims to provide ordinary South Africans who are willing to work the opportunity to be involved in the programme to supplement their livelihoods.

The Councilor Induction Programme (CIP)
The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) working closely with CoGTA and other key stakeholders in the Local Government sector, ran the Councilor Induction Programme (CIP) over the past months coming from the Local Government Election 2011. The induction programme seeks to enhance the councilors’ knowledge of the sector, increase awareness and knowledge of the current priorities in line with government priorities and programmes at a broader level; and to also sensitise them to urgent issues of service delivery and infrastructure backlogs. The induction programme has two components, the generic induction and the portfolio based induction. The first phase has been concluded with 7 498 (84%) of Councilors inducted. The skills profiles of Councilors were captured during this process and following analysis relevant capacity building programmes will be planned for all councilors.   

Municipal Systems Amendment Bill
Local Government Municipal Systems Bill was unanimously voted into law on 12 April by Parliament.  The Municipal Systems Amendment Act, 2011, is aimed at professionalising local government for improved service delivery and performance management.

Traditional Affair
Assessment of the state of governance within the area of Traditional Affairs
The Department of Traditional Affairs embarked on a series of provincial workshops and stakeholder engagement to assess the state of governance of traditional affairs nationally from January 2011. The report emanating from these engagements will inform the DTA strategy and programme of Action from 2011 onwards, confirm the roles and functions of traditional leaders, and provide a basis for the development of a partnership model.

To date, DTA developed the National Composite Report and identified high level and strategic issues that would be implemented over a period of time, and some short term deliverables for the 2011/2012 financial year. 
•           Review of Traditional Affairs legislation
•           Development of a DTA wide strategy
•           Development of a Partnership Model
•           Development of norms and standards for support to Traditional Affairs
•           Capacity Building strategy

Consultations on the new National Traditional Affairs Bill (NTAB)
The Department of Traditional Affairs is currently engaged in a comprehensive stakeholder consultative process on the National Traditional Affairs Bill (NTAB), which focuses mainly on the consultation of Khoi-San communities of the following five groupings:
•           San – resident mainly in the Northern Cape
•           Nama - resident mainly in the Northern Cape
•           Korana - resident mainly in the Northern Cape and Free State
•           Griqua - resident mainly in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal;  
•           Cape Khoi - resident mainly in the Western Cape
 
The Bill seeks to consolidate the National House of Traditional Leaders Act, 2009, and the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003. This Bill also makes provision for the Khoi-San to indisputably become part of traditional structures and will ensure that the interests of the Khoi-San will in future be protected and promoted. Furthermore, to ensure uniformity, existing legislation is also to be consolidated. Consultations started on 20 August 2011 in the Northern Cape and will be completed on 16 September 2011. 


MONITORING AND EVALUATION
In addition to the outcomes approach, two major programmes were initiated by the Department for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) namely; Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring (FSLD) and the Management Performance Assessment of Departments and Institutions.

Following the commencement of the implementation of the performance agreements and delivery agreements, the first set of implementation reports were submitted to Cabinet during February and March 2011 and the second set were presented during June 2011. These are the monitoring and evaluation reports by DPME which are presented to Cabinet to track progress.

DPME has also begun the process of monitoring the frontline service delivery. This involves hands-on monitoring of service delivery institutions which interact directly with the public. The programme began in July this year and is now active in five provinces, namely Limpopo, Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. Since July, DPME and Offices of the Premier have been in the field doing unannounced monitoring visits in 122 service sites with the target of 60 such as License Centres, SASSA Offices, Schools, Health Facilities, Police Stations and Courts.

The monitors found cases of unacceptable quality of service and poor conditions of facilities, but also found cases of excellent service. The people interviewed have appreciation for opportunities to give their views about the quality of service they receive and what they deem important to improve. The findings will inform interventions that need to be introduced for improvement.
The monitoring focus in Health is on reducing waiting times in queues in hospitals and clinics, availability of medicines and other basic supplies, cleanliness and safety of health facilities. In Education, the focus is on timeous textbook and workbook availability, cleanliness and safety of schools, teachers in schools teaching for 7 hours per day. In the area of employment, the payment of suppliers within 30 days of receipt of a legitimate invoice, queues at vehicle licensing centres and turnaround times for vehicle and driving licences and other related documentation, and issuing of work permits.
In the area of Crime we want to reduce the average turnaround times to calls for assistance and provision of feedback regarding progress with cases to members of the public by the police. On Rural Development we want to ensure availability and quality of agricultural extension support to communities.
DPME will also monitor Social Grants to ensure turnaround times for applications is reduced from current average of 30 days to 21 days, and ensure that service delivery standards at grant distribution centres are adhered to. Municipal services such as refuse removal, maintenance and repair of municipal infrastructure including water supply, sanitation, roads, and electricity distribution, cleanliness will also be prioritised including issues emerging from the Presidential Hotline.

On the Management Performance Assessment Tool we intend to improve management performance in government. The tool is a mechanism for implementing Outcomes 9 and 12 (developing an efficient and effective local government and an efficient and effective public service).

Management performance will be assessed across a comprehensive range of management areas, from supply chain management to strategic planning. In each management area, performance will be assessed against the management standards established by the relevant transversal departments (e.g. National Treasury for supply chain management).

Quantitative indicators and audit results will be used to assess whether a department is complying with legal requirements. However, more qualitative methods, such as questionnaires or assessment by a subject matter specialist, will be used to assess the degree to which management practices result in the efficient and effective translation of inputs into outputs. The latter aspect is the key differentiator between management performance assessments and the AG’s compliance audits. Management performance assessments will draw on information from the AG’s audit reports, but will provide a broader perspective of management performance.

The assessment results will be used to locate departments in terms of four progressive levels of management performance. A department which scores at level one overall has insufficient capability, is largely non-compliant and is performing poorly in terms of its management practices. In such cases, intense support is required.  In contrast, a department which scores at level four overall has excellent capability, is fully compliant and is performing above expectations. In such cases, good practice case studies will be developed and disseminated through learning networks.

Different types of departments require different management capabilities. For example, a small department which only engages in small repeated procurements requires a basic level of transactional procurement capability whereas a large department which spends billions on the procurement of complex goods or services requires a sophisticated level of strategic procurement capability. This will be taken into account by weighting the indicators differently for different departments. Thus, compliance indicators will be weighted higher for the department with the small and simple procurement budget, and qualitative indicators will be weighted higher for the department with the large and complex procurement budget.