Community Library Services Grant: 4th Quarter 2011/2012 performance: hearings

Meeting report

National Treasury on Community Library Services Conditional Grant
Mr Edgar Sishi, Director: Provincial Budget Analysis at National Treasury, said that at financial year-end, expenditure as percentage of adjusted budget per province showed the following: Eastern Cape 80.1%, Free State 96.8%, Gauteng 99.4%, KwaZulu Natal 100.8%, Limpopo 61.9%, Mpumalanga 93.9%, Northern Cape 99.9%, North West 75%, and Western Cape 100%. This gave average expenditure on the grant as 87.2%.

On output indicators for the grant during the fourth quarter, the number of library materials purchased was 114 558 out of a target of 115 400. The number of libraries provided with new furniture was 34, which were above the target of 19. Ten new libraries were built out of the target of 20. The number of libraries upgraded and maintained was 37 out of a target of 61 and the number of container libraries established was 18, above the target of 17. For the annual output indicators, the number of library materials purchased was 343 887 out of a target of 500 000. The number of libraries provided with new furniture was 42, which was below the target of 89. 13 new libraries were built out of the target of 25. The number of libraries upgraded and maintained was 51 out of a target of 67 and the number of container libraries established was 19, above the target of 29.

Key challenges identified by National Treasury were: delays from suppliers with deliveries not being made on time; delays internally in supply chain management; delays emanating from Public Works; the setting of targets which were not credible, too high for certain indicators and needed to be reviewed; and poor performance by suppliers and ensuing legal action.

Discussion
Mr C De Beer (ANC; Northern Cape) asked why there was under spending by the Limpopo Province. What were the proposed solutions by National Treasury to the challenges which were identified?

The Chairperson said it was important for the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) to note the questions about the recommended solutions to the problems and challenges faced because the Department was better placed to respond to the question.

Mr Sishi replied that Limpopo had gone through an unusual year with five departments being placed under a Section 100 intervention and many accounting officers were being replaced by administrators. The general uncertainties caused by the Section 100 intervention were the main excuses given for under spending. On addressing the challenges, National Treasury had highlighted these issues both to the national DAC and its provincial departments. National Treasury was making visits to all the nine provinces to ensure that the challenges were addressed. Follow ups were also made and the accounting officers and Heads of Department had been engaged on the issue.

Mr A Lees (KwaZulu Natal) asked which of the provinces had roll-overs as this was directly related to under spending. The main issue was whether the money was actually being spent or simply being transferred to another sphere of government. What was the link between the spending patterns and the outcomes? What was National Treasury doing to assist the provinces in setting credible targets?

Mr Sishi replied that the amount for provincial roll-overs was about R46.7 million. The Eastern Cape and North West had the highest amounts. The roll-overs were done based on information provided by the provinces which stated that the money to be rolled-over was committed and was needed. National Treasury was looking at ways to reduce the occurrence of roll-over except in situations where it was very necessary. National Treasury had workshops every March to assist provinces in setting credible targets. The provinces were informed on how to follow up the plan and schedule outlined in their business plans.

Mr J Bekker (DA; Western Cape) asked what criteria was being used to get to the amounts in adjusted budgets as there were significant differences across the various provinces. What was the proposed solution to rectify the management challenges?

Mr Sishi replied that money for projects was determined in terms of the projects themselves. If a province was not ready to implement a project, the money was allocated to another province which was ready to carry out a project.

Mr De Beer said that it was not good for money to be taken from one province and given to another because it was not the departments which felt the effect but the citizens at the grassroots. National Treasury and the Department of Arts and Culture had to come up with a more practical strategy to combat the problem and to push provinces to perform.

Department of Arts and Culture on Community Library Services Conditional Grant
The DAC Director General, Mr Sibusiso Xaba, said the focus areas for the conditional grant included infrastructure development, information and computer technology, library resources, staff capacity, and the needs of visually impaired readers. Despite some successes in the implementation of the grant, there were still gaps and challenges.

Monitoring and Evaluation
In terms of the Division of Revenue Act, 2011, the Department carried out the monitoring and evaluation of the programme by means of holding quarterly meetings with all the nine provinces, monitoring visits, a roadshow in 2011 to discuss pertinent issues with provinces, submission of monthly financial and quarterly performance reports by provinces and annual evaluation of the programme by the department.

Expenditure
As at March 2012, the total percentage of transferred national allocation to all the provinces was at 100% to every province. The percentage of actual expenditure per province was: Eastern Cape 80.1%, Free State 96.8%, Gauteng 99.4%, KwaZulu Natal 100.8%, Limpopo 61.9%, Mpumalanga 93.9%, Northern Cape 99.9%, North West 75%, and Western Cape 100%. This gave an average percentage of 87.2%.

Performance
Thirteen new libraries were completed in 2011/12 with 1 in Gauteng, 1 in KwaZulu Natal, 4 in Limpopo, 2 in Mpumalanga, 1 in the Northern Cape and 4 in the North West. In 2011/12, 51 libraries were upgraded, visually impaired services were established in 28 community libraries, 347 library staff were appointed, 700 employees contracts were renewed, and library staff received bursaries to study library related courses.

New library material were purchased and distributed to community libraries and the conversion of the library system took place in six provinces. There was the prioritization of ICT and public internet access.

Challenges
▪ The job evaluation process for librarians was as yet unsolved by the Department of Public Service and Administration.
▪ Employment of staff on contract basis was a serious challenge.
▪ The salary disparities between the three spheres of government continued to create an unstable environment.
▪ Misalignment of infrastructure projects with the Department of Public Works.
▪ The capacity to manage the grant remained a concern in some of the provinces.

Recommendations
Mr Xaba outlined the following recommendations for addressing the challenges:
▪ It was necessary for provinces to investigate a single library design for new library buildings informed by local conditions.
▪ The provinces needed to have alternative implementing agents.
▪ It was necessary for provinces to consider alternative service delivery approaches such as mobile libraries and modular structures for short term intervention.
▪ There was the need for project management capacity to be established.

Discussion
Mr Lees said that the Committee had to go to the field to do oversight visits to make sure that the efforts of the Department were yielding the desired fruit and that money was spent rather than dumped.

Mr E Mazosiwe (ANC; Eastern Cape) asked if the national department had an information system to monitor library service delivery in provinces and municipalities.

Mr Xaba replied that there was no information technology system used by DAC to monitor service delivery at provincial and local government level. The reason for the absence of such a system was because the Department had not had much technical capacity but it was in the process of building the required capacity. DAC had relied on its relationship with the Department of Public Works for the monitoring of projects.

The Chairperson asked if there was a relationship between the Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Public Works. How were the transfers to provincial departments done?

Mr Xaba replied that the DAC had a relationship with the Department of Public Works. The departments interacted at a programme manager level. The major problem with the programme was that the delivery was done by the provincial departments of Public Works and thus the relationships needed to be spread to provincial levels. On the transfers, DAC made the transfers to the Provincial Treasuries which then transferred the funds to the Provincial Departments.

Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts & Culture: Community Library Conditional Grant
The Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC) delegation was led by its MEC, Ms Xoliswa Tom. The presentation on Fourth Quarter Performance for 2011/12 was made by Mr Mzdisi Matutu, Head of Department: Eastern Cape DSRAC.

After outlining the purpose and objective of the grant, Mr Matutu presented the expected outcomes of the programme. These included: improving library infrastructure and services that reflect the specific needs of the community they serve; the delivery of transformed and equitable library and information services to all rural and urban communities; improving co-ordination and collaboration between national, provincial and local government on library services; improving the culture of reading; and improving staff capacity at urban and rural libraries to respond to community knowledge and information needs.

Mr Matutu gave a summary of the expenditure per economic classification, the budget, expenditure and variances (see document). There was a roll-over of R34 million. The overall performance was 80.1%.

On monitoring capacity, DSRAC had a monitoring and evaluation unit that assisted in ensuring that projects were done according to plan. Reporting was done quarterly. In-Year-Monitoring was done internally to check the spending patterns as against cash flow projections. These reports were sent to Provincial and National Treasury. Monthly and quarterly reports were submitted to the Department of Arts and Culture. A Provincial Evaluation Committee monitored the performance of community grants throughout the year.

Achievements
In the building of new libraries, the Mount Ayliff and Mdantsane libraries were on the last phase and were due for completion in August 2012. Eleven containers were functional with qualified personnel and eight modular libraries had been delivered to rural areas. Outdoor learning equipment had been provided to 15 libraries in the province and the DSRAC had renovated 84 out of 120 libraries in the province. Detection systems had been installed in identified libraries and the province had provided internet and email facilities to a total of 88 libraries. Eleven libraries were providing services for people with visual disabilities.

Mr Matutu concluded by saying that the high priority in the province was the provision of infrastructure to libraries. This provision was too technical and had to be outsourced to implementing agents such as Public Works and Coega Development Corporation. Irrespective of the challenges encountered, there was improvement in terms of spending on infrastructure. The province spent 73% of its budget in 2010/11 but 80% had been spent in 2011/12.

Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation: Community Library Conditional Grant
Ms Sindi Mjwara, Head of Department at the Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation (DCSR) stated that Mpumalanga Province had a huge backlog on library infrastructure and the availability of the Conditional Grant had presented an opportunity to improve that state of affairs. Since the conditional grant started in 2007/08, 15 new libraries had been built. This had ensured access to library services for the rural and disadvantaged communities.

In an update on community libraries, the DCSR had established 15 new libraries, 6 existing libraries were upgraded, two libraries were renovated, three mobile and four container libraries were created. Modern information and computer technology had been provided to 105 libraries. Libraries had been provided with 335 666 library materials from 2007 till date. Also, 28 library assistants had been awarded bursaries and 69 library officials had been employed since 2007 to date.

In a budget summary for 2011/12, the budget was R66 497 000 and expenditure was R62 580 000. Thus 94% of the funds were used and a roll-over of R3 917 000 was requested. The reasons for the under spending was due to slow expenditure on library infrastructure projects; delays in submitting infrastructure invoices by service providers and implementing agents; late submission of progress certificates by implementing agents and principal agents; and changing of allocated land for construction by municipalities.

Monitoring and evaluation was provided through the DCSR Operational Support Team which assisted in monitoring library infrastructure projects. The political and technical infrastructure committee monitored the roll out of infrastructure projects on a monthly basis. The Provincial Treasury did oversight for infrastructure delivery. The DCSR continually received progress reports and updates on infrastructure projects from the implementing agents.

Discussion
Mr Lees asked why the figures from the Mpumalanga DCSR did not tie up with those from National Treasury. Why did the DCSR get a roll-over to pay commitments but ended up paying those commitments only six months after. To the Eastern Cape DSRAC, why did the planning and design phase of a library building take up to nine months? That was very slow and unacceptable. What did the South African Library for the Blind do with the R2 million which was given to it?

Mr Matutu replied that it was indeed right that planning and design for nine months was too slow and not advisable. However, the projects of Arts and Culture when compared to those of Health and Education were prioritised second. The South African Library for the Blind money was used for the rolling out a programme to ensure that blind and partially blind people could access the services of the libraries. These services included the purchasing of gadgets and other technological devices.

Ms Mjwara said that before an application was made for a roll-over, the funds had to be committed. However, the time frames for approval of roll-overs were not in the jurisdiction of the provincial departments.

Mr Bekker asked if there was an increase in the culture of reading and was there a way in which the use of the libraries was measured.

Mr Matutu replied that there was an increase in the reading culture. This was particularly noted in the rural areas. Some of the libraries were in previously disadvantaged areas and there a lot of interest in reading.

Ms X Tom said that there were libraries that had adopted schools to encourage the reading culture. There was a continual increase in the culture of reading. There were more people signing up with the libraries and this was a signal that the reading culture was improving.

Ms Mjwara said that in Mpumalanga, a central coordinating programme had been set up which looked at basic reading for academic purposes and also the general need for people to read for non-academic reasons but just for the fun of it. This had gone a long way to improve the reading culture

The meeting was adjourned.