Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Budget Speech & response by DA

Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Jackson Mthembu, gave his Budget Vote Speech on the 10 July 2019
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQC5j_HZjIU

Honourable Chairperson of the Session,
Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Ms Thembi Siweya,
Honourable Chairperson and Members of the Portfolio Committee,
Honourable Members of the House,
Deputy Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba
Commissioners of the National Planning Commission,
Director-General of the Department of Planning, Monitoring, Ms Mpumi Mpofu,
Secretary of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Mr Tshediso Matona,
Distinguished Guests in the Public Gallery,
Ladies and Gentlemen

INTRODUCTION

It is my greatest honour to table the first Budget Vote for the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) to this sixth parliament of the people. This budget vote provides us with an opportunity to enunciate critical focus areas for our department to contribute to the united action to grow our country.

I take up this task from the capable and inspirational leadership of my predecessors, former Minister Jeff Radebe and Honourable Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. As we take this baton, we will continue with the efforts to facilitate effective planning, evidence-based monitoring and evaluation of government programmes aimed at improving service delivery, outcomes and impact on society.  This is the year in which, we will work differently to ensure that government interventions yield demonstrable, efficient and faster results. 

It is noteworthy that July marks the birth month of the founding father of our democratic dispensation, the late President Nelson Mandela, who would have turned 101 years old on the 18th. We are deeply humbled to follow in President Mandela's giant footprints and we commit to uphold his legacy of bettering the lives of all South Africans.

Accordingly, in honour of this stalwart of our liberation struggle, we are all called upon to “take action; inspire change; make every day a Mandela Day." As we celebrate the 10th anniversary since the launch of Mandela Day, let us remember that our cumulative small and sustainable efforts, have the potential to drive change in our society and contribute to the social and economic security of all citizens, especially the poorest of the poor.

25 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY

Honourable Members,

This year marks 25 years since the dawn of our democracy. Reaching such a milestone obviously calls for a celebration, but it also means that we can no longer blame our inadequacies squarely on our regrettable past. While we recognise the depth of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid rule in South Africa, the time has come for us to put in place measures that will ensure that we radically improve the lives of our people, particularly on the economic front, in this next phase of our democracy.

As part of executing our planning, monitoring and evaluation mandate, the DPME was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the review of the performance of government and its social partners during the first 25 years of democratic governance in South Africa.

Our 25 Year Review, which will be launched within our first 100 days in office as this sixth administration, indicates that our democratic government achieved beyond expectations in the delivery of social services, particularly basic services and social protection. We must however, be concerned about those who still do not have access to basic social services. One South African who does not have access to water and electricity is one too many. The persistent challenge that remains a major hindrance in our growth and development endeavours is the economy, where progress on economic growth, employment, inequality and poverty reduction has unfortunately been slow. It is for this reason, this sixth administration has identified a radical shift in our delivery implementation model as articulated by President Ramaphosa, which we will unpack in greater detail later in our speech.

THE ELECTORAL MANDATE

Honourable Chairperson,

The year 2019 provided us with a glorious opportunity to take an introspective view on the mountains we have climbed, the rivers and the valleys we have crossed and the paths we created over the past 25 years. Our economy is currently hanging on a precipice, but many of our people have crossed the River Jordan and our government continues to provide the social security safety net to over 17 million South Africans. 

Leading up to the National and Provincial General Elections on 8 May 2019, leaders from various political organisations travelled the length and breadth of our country, trying to convince the electorate to vote for them. The overwhelming majority of South African electorate voted the African National Congress (ANC) as their preferred governing party. These people voted the ANC on the basis of its electoral promises.

We raised our hands and said to the South African populace, “thuma mina" – send us because we are capable of delivering on your needs. We promised that we will create more work opportunities for the unemployed; we promised to build an economy in which all our people can benefit; we promised quality health, safe communities, security and comfort for all our citizens; we also promised a capable and honest government.

We have now entered the era of “khawuleza!" - Let us hurry up! The electorate has given us only five years to deliver on our electoral mandate, and that five years began from the moment the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) pronounced the 2019 elections outcomes. Every single day counts.

This called for a change of strategy to ensure that we work more efficiently and speedily to meet our targets. The Election Manifesto of the governing party shows precisely this strategic shift to focus on Economic Transformation and Job Creation as the first priority. The sixth administration is fundamentally and unapologetically about the implementation of the electoral mandate of the African National Congress.

To this effect, in his first State of the Nation Address, under the theme - “The Year of United Action to Grow South Africa," His Excellency, President Ramaphosa directly converted the ANC's Elections Manifesto into a Programme of Action for the sixth democratic administration.

President Ramaphosa announced the following Seven Apex Priority Areas of government for the next five years:

1. Economic transformation and job creation
2. Education, skills and health
3. Consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services
4. Spatial integration, human settlements and local government
5. Social cohesion and safe communities
6. A capable, ethical and developmental state
7. A better Africa and World

 Therefore, all our programmes and policies across all departments and agencies will be directed in pursuit of these overarching tasks.

THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (NDP)

The President also decidedly reaffirmed the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 as our Lode Star in building a developmental state.  

The NDP was adopted by all parties represented in this Parliament, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that it is implemented successfully and efficiently. The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) has been entrusted with the custodianship of the NDP in government. Working in close collaboration with the National Planning Commission (NPC), the Department is duty-bound to ensure effective implementation of the NDP in our journey towards 2030.

The strategic objectives of the NDP include the eradication of absolute poverty, reduction of unemployment rate to 6% and significantly reducing inequality through a range of policy interventions. We are acutely aware that we are left with only ten years to attain the NDP objectives in 2030.

Indeed, we have a mammoth task in our hands, but it is not insurmountable. We need to adopt a different work ethic in order to achieve what seems impossible at the moment. The successful implementation of the NDP needs strong political will, unity of purpose and collective effort from different social partners, who will be joined at the hip by the common vision of growing South Africa. 

We must work together to dismantle the structural economic elements that remain unchanged and continue to undermine our economic growth endeavours. These include the continuing challenges of spatial injustice and landlessness, underdevelopment of the small business sector, which should allow greater participation in the economy.

We intend to thoroughly assess the nature of these challenges together with the National Planning Commission (NPC), social partners and the academic society in a colloquium to be held later this month.

MEDIUM TERM STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK (MTSF) 2019 – 2024

Among the Seven Apex Priorities, Priority 6 – A Capable, Ethical and Developmental State – is one of the core responsibilities of the DPME. If we are to achieve our national imperatives, we must build a capable developmental state to constantly monitor and evaluate the implementation of our development strategies like the NDP and its various programmes.

Therefore, as part of our Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the work of government across all spheres, we have developed the 2019 – 2024 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) which will serve as our framework for implementing our programme of action for this sixth administration. This new implementation paradigm is a radical shift to a comprehensive framework that is inclusive of resourcing, integration of all public sector institutions, and Social Partners, which informs all levels of government planning through an Integrated Planning Framework.

Accordingly, the new MTSF combines the NDP Five-Year Implementation Plan with a revamped Integrated Monitoring System and the accountability framework. The NDP Five-Year Implementation Plan will be spatially referenced, in accordance with the National Spatial Development Framework and will be monitored, in accordance with an Implementation Delivery Model at District Municipal level.

We have to deal with the impediments related to the implementation of our plans by clearly defining our targets on an annual basis. Therefore, the NDP Five-Year Implementation Plan will show How, Where, When and by Whom Priorities will be implemented, in which portfolio or level of government. These targets are deliberately set to achieve the desired outcomes, as derived from the seven priorities announced by the President. Therefore, we will be able to monitor exactly what the impact of each government programme is and whether they are delivering the desired outcome.

This Integrated Monitoring System and Accountability framework will therefore also allow us to make the necessary interventions as and when the need arises.  

We want to ensure stability and build professionalism within the public service as it is central in achieving our vision of a Developmental State. Paramount to the establishment of the developmental state is the appointment of the Head of Public Administration by April 2020 as espoused in the NDP. Also urgent is the consideration for permanent appointments of Heads of Departments to ensure focus and stability in the implementation of programmes. 

We also need to enhance the role of the National School of Government to capacitate the entire Public service in the interests of achieving initially our MTSF 2019-2024 and later our Vision 2030. The President has already indicated that all Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Premiers and Directors-General will sign clearly defined performance agreements that are aligned to the set seven priorities.

Honourable members, we have to support our local government with skills, financial management, and infrastructure building and maintenance to restore trust in this critical sphere of government. We want to ensure 80% reduction in unauthorised, irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure in municipalities and enforce consequence management against officials charged with financial misconduct by 2024. We want public trust and confidence in local government to increase from 46% to 80% by 2024.

THE IMPLEMENTATION MODEL – 44 DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES

All Departmental Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans will be informed and geared to deliver on a clearly defined set of priorities as articulated by President Ramaphosa. We intend to minimise duplication and wastage of resources by streamlining the structure of Government including Cabinet Clusters, Ministerial and Technical Implementation Fora for better results and effective delivery. We will soon be presenting the proposed Integrated Planning Framework Bill to Parliament, which will ensure better integration across all levels of Government.

We will also be outlining the Implementation Model (based on the Sukuma Sakhe Kwa-Zulu Natal Model) which will spatially reference Project Monitoring at District Municipalities for all Levels of Government and Private Sector. Our Sister Department of Cooperative Governance is currently developing this model of implementation and we will work together in the implementation of this new model and the effective monitoring of all the programmes using this new approach.

To further enhance this approach, we have already requested all National and Provincial Departments to provide us with their Five-Year Strategic Plans mapped out at, and to be Monitored at District Municipality Level.  This will allow the President clear line of sight of the performance of these programmes over the next 5 years, across the length and breadth of our country.

SOCIAL COMPACTS WITH SOCIAL PARTNERS

The successful implementation of our plans will depend largely on our collective effort to contribute in the renewal project. The NDP Five-year implementation plan calls for an effective social compact to facilitate the implementation of the priorities. Our Department has spearheaded a Public- Private-  Growth Initiative (PPGI) to promote economic growth and create jobs. We have since handed over the project to the relevant Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Through this initiative the Private Sector has committed investment of over R800 billion in 43 projects across various sectors of the economy to create over 150,000 jobs in the next five years. Government has committed to work with all its partners to prioritise the elimination of growth inhibitors or constraints to ensure these projects are successfully implemented.  

We are fully aware of the devastating effects caused by the delay of payments by government departments to service providers, particularly SMMEs. All government departments are required to pay service providers within 30 Days of the submission of valid invoices.

We encourage suppliers not to suffer in silence but inform us of a failure by any government department to pay within the prescribed period. We are more than ready to crack the whip where there is non-compliance on this issue.

We would like to commend Provinces like Gauteng who have undertaken to make payments for services and goods rendered by SMMEs within 15 days. Indeed, they are getting closer to the DPME payment timeframe of 10 days of which in the last year, we have even reduced to seven days, which proves that it is doable.

We will at the same time ensure that Government Departments prioritise the payment of their Debts to one another, to owed Municipalities and SOEs.

In this sixth administration, we are determined to bridge the gap between government and the people. We will create an enabling environment for a robust community engagement and consultation programme through a series of Izimbizo Programmes involving the President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Premiers, MECs and local government officials. This will form an integral part of the Performance Agreements for Ministers.

We will augment the role and accessibility of the Presidential Hotline. This will include exploring a variety of platforms for members of the public to relay their comments and complaints to the Office of the President.

We reaffirm our commitment to revive Operation Masakhane to encourage our communities to pay for services they receive and restore the culture of payment. If we do not pay for the services, we deprive the state of the necessary resources to build the desired inclusive and developmental state. Our vision for a better and more prosperous South Africa will be delayed and at worst compromised.

INTEGRATED MONITORING FRAMEWORK

The DPME will closely monitor the implementation of these programmes and brief the President bi-annually. All these will be linked to our Programme of Action and its Bi-annual Review linked to Performance Assessments of Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Premiers and Directors-General. 

We are broadening our Monitoring System to an Integrated Monitoring Framework including Frontline Service Monitoring, Citizen Based Monitoring, Community Based Monitoring and more effective use of Presidential Hotline.

While we acknowledge the progress we have made in delivering services to more than 80% of our communities. In this next five years, we will also focus on mapping the areas in our country where our people have not received even the most basic of services. We will ensure that these communities are prioritised and that they too have access to the basic services of water and electricity.

NATIONAL EVALUATION PLAN

All poor or non-performing government programmes that are aligned to the priorities set in the MTSF 2019/2024 will be subjected to thorough evaluations to ensure that our plans have the required impact on the lives of our people. We want all our plans to be based on scientific evidence and assessed to minimise wastage, increase effectiveness and impact on the quality of life of our people.

In this regard, we will propose the National Evaluation Plan for the next three years, which will include Short Term Rapid Evaluations in addition to the 12 to 18 months' evaluations. We will also partner with Ministerial Sectoral Reviews to ensure that government programmes are impactful.

In 2019/20, the DPME will focus on building a Knowledge Repository on evidence generated and sourced from the identified seven priority areas to support planning and decision making. The Knowledge Repository will be our treasure trove for critical data essential for the future growth and development plans of our nation.

We will also work with institutions of higher learning as well as research institutes to ensure that our planning, monitoring and evaluation methodologies are indeed getting the desired results and impact. We will do this to further capacitate ourselves and all those involved throughout the planning, monitoring and evaluation value system of government.

ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Honourable Chairperson,

We are tabling this budget vote conscious of our mandate in relation to monitoring and evaluating government performance. The DPME will continue leading from the front as the epitome of efficiency, accountability, transparency and clean governance.

We are proud to report that we obtained yet another clean audit from the Auditor-General in the last audit cycle, taking our tally to a record six consecutive clean audits since the establishment of the department in 2012. This bears testament to the integrity of our highly skilled personnel, coupled with sound management capabilities and adherence to government policies. Our mission is to replicate this to other departments and across all spheres of government.

We will ensure improvement in Financial and Performance Management and Audit Outcomes for all levels of Government.  Similarly, we shall encourage the promotion of ethics and integrity management throughout the Public Service and Private Sector and enhance Capacity of Law Enforcement Agencies to fight Corruption and Crime.​

CONCLUSION

Honourable Members,

It is therefore my pleasure to present the budget allocation for the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for the ensuing year. It ought to be noted that our initial budget allocation of R 956 939 000 (NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX MILLION AND NINE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE THOUSAND RANDS) is revised to R478 445 000 (FOUR-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT MILLION AND FOUR-HUNDRED AND FOURTY-FIVE THOUSAND RANDS). These changes are in line with the functions transferred out of the department as per the reconfiguration of government departments namely, Youth and Socio- Economic Impact Assessment System. Our budget allocation for the 2020/21 Financial year is earmarked to be over R509 million, and over R537 million for 2021/22 Financial year.

As I conclude, I would like to express my gratitude to the Director-General of the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms Mpumi Mpofu, and all hard working men and women within the department who ensure that we have a seamless line of work from planning at a national level, right down to monitoring and evaluation at a grass roots level.

I would also like to thank the Commissioners of the National Planning Commission under the capable stewardship of Prof Malegapuru Makgoba as well as the Secretariat of the NPC as led by Mr Tsediso Matona for their sterling work in ensuring that the NDP is implemented.

I also want to sincerely express my gratitude to the dedicated Honourable Members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration - Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for engaging us on government's planning, monitoring and evaluation efforts.

I would like urge you, honourable members, to support this Budget and allocation.

The time has come for us to fulfil our collective vision to build a prosperous society as envisaged in the NDP.

I Thank You

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DPME Budget Vote Address by Ms Thembi Siweya, MP, Deputy Minister in the Presidency; Old Assembly of the Parliament of The Republic of South Africa, Cape Town.

Honourable Speaker;
Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu;
Ministers and Deputy Ministers here present;
Honourable Chairperson and Members of the Portfolio Committee;
Honourable Members;
Deputy Chairperson and Commissioners of the National Planning Commission (NPC);
Secretary of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Mr Tshediso Matona;
Director-General of DPME, Ms Mpumi Mpofu;
Statistician General, Mr Risenga Maluleke;
Acting Director General of GCIS, Ms Phumla Williams;
Acting CEO of Brand SA, Ms Thulisile Manzini;
Board members of the MDDA;
Our Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

It is my singular honour to deliver my maiden Budget Speech here in this august house of our people. We are humbled by the trust South Africans have shown in us. 

This day is made more special because it happens when as the country we honour the founding father of our democracy, President Nelson Mandela. Indeed, as Minister Mthembu, reminded us earlier, we all need to heed the call to take action; inspire change; make every day a Mandela Day.

As we honour the late President Mandela, we also pay homage to our traditional leaders and the role they played in the liberation struggle- we present this speech in honour of King Sekhukhune and the Bapedi people in Limpopo and the entire Marota dynasty. The warrior King Sekhukhune's revolutionary deed of refusing to collaborate with the regime inspired successive generations of traditional leaders within the Bapedi nation. It was for this reason that the area was excluded from the main stream service delivery by the apartheid regime. This gallant struggle was intensified by the Sebatakgomo uprising of 1958.

Our resolve to bring government closer to the people and enhance service delivery complain mechanisms is dedicated to that brave warrior king of Bapedi nation who refused to collaborate with the oppressive regime.

We want the Bapedi people of Sekhukhune, and many other previously oppressed people, to easily interact with government. Going forward, we will review the operations of the Presidential Hotline and improve its effectiveness by introducing modern technology. For instance, we would like citizens to have a Mobile App that they can access for free and report issues of government and get responses in real-time. We are going to add more platforms to the current telephone and email method of engagement to enable citizens to send SMS and WhatsApp their complaints and compliments. In our redesigning, we will ensure accommodation of different needs and technology options, including the use of social media like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The Presidential Hotline must evolve from its current format as a complaints instrument to become a mechanism to facilitate government-citizen engagement.

PM&E Capacity development coordination

We are mindful that the country cannot progress fast enough in implementing the NDP if PM&E is not properly guided, aligned, integrated across all spheres of government, and horizontally across all sectors of society. We have put in place platforms of engagement such as the PM&E Forum that draws from the collective wisdom and experience of all sectors to address national challenges, and to find solutions through dialogue.

The forums provide an overview of various elements of PM&E in the country. This was successfully done in the past in terms of consultations on the drafting of the NDP Five-Year implementation plan. The PM&E Forum is also used to share information, provide feedback, communicate DPME policy frameworks, share experiences with our stakeholders, and engage on possible solutions and explore options to address enduring challenges in society.

We will continue to facilitate training to build capacity of government officials to apply PM&E in partnership with National School of Governance (NSG), Universities, and the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA). DPME provides support on the implementation of its planning and evaluation policy frameworks through NSG training. We also rollout a bursary programme in collaboration with PSETA on postgraduate diploma in M&E conducted by Universities of Fort Hare and Wits.

We will mobilise government, labour, civil society, academia, and private sector towards ensuring delivery of our objectives in every Province. Our planned new model, as announced by President in the SONA, is to focus our energies at district level and activate various participatory governance mechanisms.

New analytical framework for departmental performance (NEW MPAT)

We are in the process of developing a new analytical framework for departmental performance, otherwise known as the new MPAT. This will ensure that we move from assessing compliance to analysing the e-capabilities of the state using existing data sources.  We will strengthen our early warning capacity to guide and support interventions for national and provincial government departments. One of the areas analysed would be financial management and improvement of audit outcomes.

SOE/Public entities framework

To strengthen governance of public entities, we are developing a monitoring and oversight framework. The extent of oversight by the relevant departments differ substantially. It is critical that departmental oversight in relation to their entities is improved. We would like to ensure stability of entity boards as Accounting Authorities in terms of the PFMA. We will also prioritise the filling of vacancies in senior positions, particularly the CEOs of entities.

Establishment ofthe Head of Public Administration

We recognise that the establishment of the Head of Public Administration as an NDP requirement for the professionalization of the public service is long overdue. We are therefore developing an implementation strategy to give effect to the NDP proposal to establish the office of the Head of the Public Administration by end of this financial year. The proposal will be negotiated with key role players in government to make it happen. The current work of DPME on the implementation of the Performance Management and Development System of the HoDs will be part of the roles and responsibilities of such an office.

Conversely, we will continue to champion the objectives of the NDP with regard to the absorption of women and youth into mainstream economic activities. In accordance with the injunction of the NDP, we must create work opportunities for women and youth in the public service. The NDP is very emphatic in this regard, and goes on to say:

“Public employment should expand, with a focus on youth and women. It is expected that public employment will provide the equivalent of 2 million full-time jobs by 2020"

It is about time that more opportunities are opened for young people and women, in particular, to play a key role in our efforts to grow South Africa. Young people and women must rise and take their rightful place in the leadership echelons of our society.

Conclusion

The framework and programmes we have outlined here are essentially about bringing government closer to the people. They are about fulfilling our promise to South Africans that we are a caring government. We are a listening government. We are a government that is accountable to the people, and a government that is open to ideas.

We will walk hand in hand with South Africans from all sectors of our society as we strive to deliver the promise of a better life for all.

Ke a leboga! ​