Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [B38-2013]: Final Mandates

Meeting report

Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [B38-2013]: Final Mandates
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
Mr C De Beer (ANC; Northern Cape) read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature voted in support of the Bill and mandated the Eastern Cape delegate to vote for the adoption of the Bill without further amendments.  

Free State Provincial Legislature
The Chairperson read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the Free State Provincial Legislature voted in support of the Bill. 

Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Legislature
Mr R Lees (DA; Kwazulu-Natal) read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Legislature voted in support of the Bill.

Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature
Mr B Mashile (ANC; Mpumalanga) read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature voted in support of the Bill and mandated the Mpumalanga delegate to vote for the adoption of the Bill.

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature
Mr De Beer read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature voted in support of the Bill.

North West Provincial Legislature
The Chairperson read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the North West Provincial Legislature voted in favour and supported the amendments on the Bill.

Western Cape Provincial Legislature
Mr D Joseph (DA; Western Cape) read the Final Mandate and informed the Committee that the Western Cape Provincial Legislature voted in support of the Bill.

The Chairperson stated that all provinces that submitted mandates had supported the Bill. Gauteng and Limpopo had failed to submit their final mandates. On 6 November 2013, the Committee had requested that the National Treasury should supply a written response to the questions that the Eastern Cape had raised concerning disaster management.

The National Treasury had submitted a document to the Committee based on the issue of disaster management highlighted by the Eastern Cape. The National Treasury document was entitled, Inputs to the Select Committee on Appropriations on Capacity Support for Disaster Recovery Projects in the Eastern Cape, which stated the following:

Structure of Funding for Disaster Response and Recovery
Disaster responses in provinces and in municipalities are funded through two processes: “(a) funding of the immediate needs and (b) funding for infrastructure rehabilitation (medium to long-term intervention)”.

Accessing disaster funds are achieved as follows:   

Immediate relief
Immediate relief referred to the provision of temporary structures or infrastructure as required, for example temporary repairs to roads. Two conditional grants has been established to respond to these needs, namely the municipal disaster grant and the provincial disaster grant, which grants disaster funds for three days to three months after a disaster was reported. When a disaster occurred municipalities should estimate the damage cost and submit an application to the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) through the Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC). The NDMC in consultation with National Treasury would determine whether the application for relief assistance is in line with the conditional grant frameworks.

Rehabilitation of infrastructure (medium to long-term intervention)
Municipalities are responsible for the repair of damaged infrastructure by a disaster and if resources are lacking then municipalities should request intervention from provincial government. If provincial government cannot assist then national government through the NDMC should be approached. The NDMC verified the cost of damages before a request is submitted to the National Treasury.

Performance on Eastern Cape Disaster Allocation with Respect to immediate relief
During 2012/13 R43 574 603 was allocated to the Eastern Cape municipalities from the Municipal Disaster Grant and only R720 000 was not spent, due to a delay with the Environmental Impact Assessment process. The NDMC and the PDMC monitored municipalities to ensure that they spent funding accordingly.

Performance on Eastern Cape Disaster Allocations with Respect to Rehabilitation Costs
In the Eastern Cape departments, specifically in Agriculture, R997 000 was allocated and R0 funds were spend, which did not roll over to 2012/13. Under-spending occurred because the department started the procurement process late which prevented goods and services from being delivered and payments could not be completed at the end of the financial year.

Capacity Support Available to Provinces and Municipalities with Respect to Disaster Recovery Projects
Provincial disaster funds are transferred through sector grants and support mechanisms are provided by sector departments and the Infrastructure Delivery Improvement Programme assisted in the planning and spending of disaster funds. The PDMC assisted municipalities in developing a business and implementation plan. The NDMC liaises with the PDMC to ensure that all municipalities develop a business plan. Cash flow projections are used to monitor whether municipalities are using funds or need additional assistance. The National Treasury was of the view that poor spending of disaster funds was a result of “…poor front line performance of delivery units, and the poor technical capacity within the realm of disaster relief and response”. In order to improve the disaster relief and construction processes specifically in provincial and local government, National Treasury has engaged closely with NDMC within the National Department of Cooperative Governance. Focus should be placed on strengthening the PDMC and District Disaster Management Centres with the right technical skills and logistics to respond to disasters.     

The Committee adopted the mandates as tabled.  

The meeting was adjourned.