DPME Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) 2016/17; DPME Local Government Monitoring and Support of Management

Meeting report

The Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation
Dr Ntsiki Tshayingca, Deputy Director General of the DPME, presented an analysis of the MPAT 2016 results to highlight the progress and challenges experienced. The trends analysis shows that there is a steady improvement on areas such as strategic management, governance and accountability, financial management, as well as human resources management.

Some of the best performing standards include:

• disposal management
• logistics management
• internal audit
• acquisition management
• strategic plans, cash flow
• pay sheet certification
• demand management
• accounting audit committee.

Some of the worst standards include:

• Disciplinary cases
• Evaluation
• Organisational design
• Recruitment and retention
• PAJA
• Management diversity

On Governance and Accountability, performance has improved apart from PAJA. The Human Resources area has been improving. The DPME has a support strategy in place to assist struggling departments. Further, employee health and wellness has improved. Research has shown that staff is affected by diabetes and high blood pressure and the Department is showing support for those affected.

On Human Resources, North West is the only province that did not improve because it did not have an HOD.

In conclusion, MPAT will be institutionalised within the public service. There is a need to close the gap between management practices and delivery. Once more the results highlight the centrality of leadership in driving improvements.

Discussion
Mr S Motau (DA) referred to slides three and four and pointed out that Human Resource is a persistent problem. The Department must consider discipline because that too is a persistent problem. Not only is discipline poor, there is also a regression from the previous year. The Department in its entirety must perform better. Although the North West has improved on leadership and management, it is still the least performing province. How can this be fixed?

Mr D Khosa (ANC) asked how realistic the graphs are because they only reflect progress. In a work situation performance fluctuates but the graphs do not reflect that. Strategic management is improving yet lower management is not improving. The Department must consider this. Labour relations are the lowest, do workers get sufficiently trained and who is responsible for the training?

Ms W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC) asked exactly what area the North West improved in because it is still the least performing province. What advice is the team giving the province? On people with disabilities, can MPAT help to keep the numbers above 2%. What recommendations can the Department make to departments whose numbers are low?

Ms Z Jongbloed (DA) asked what the consequences are for departments who fill positions without consulting the DPME.

Mr Y Cassim (DA) asked what value can be extracted from MPAT. Is this tool usable to hold senior officials accountable? Why do senior officials who underperform get performance bonuses?

The Chairperson stated that the MPAT results show improvement. The Department has used some of the recommendations the Committee made.

Ms Ntsiki encouraged the Committee to look at other departments’ data for cross referencing. The regression on strategic management is due to not having a Director General and at the time the DPME was reviewing its mandate. On discipline, if the area can be improved, departments’ performances will also improve.

The graphs show a constant improvement because the Department does assessments annually in September. Thereafter, there are moderators who verify the information. The departments also use an improvement plan and are followed up.

On employee wellness, if employees are happy at work, they perform better. There are interviews for people who exit the department, including disabled people.  The information is captured under Human Resources.

The MPAT tool adds value because when one compares information from three years ago, there is a difference.

Local Government Management Improvement Model
Mr Hassen Mohamed, DDG, Local Government and Performance, presented on the state of management practices in municipalities for 2016/17.  The Model considers and focuses on the managerial practices of a municipality. That is to determine what the organisation does and how it approaches its tasks to achieve the desired results. It reflects on management practices and processes and assists in identifying areas of concern where improvements may be needed. The standards as set out provides guidance in respect of what the logical steps might be to improve. It outlines a set of key management practices that if regularly measured, monitored and improved upon, will impact positively on service delivery and productivity.

On Integrated Development, 21 municipalities were fully compliant with legal, regulatory and prescribed best practice requirements.  16 were non-compliant with best practice requirements, two were partially compliant and two were fully compliant and were doing things innovatively.

On service delivery, seven were non-compliant, 14 were partially compliant, nine were fully compliant and 11 were fully compliant and did things innovatively.

On key performance area two which is service delivery, 23 municipalities offered access to free basic services, 21 did not offer water and sanitation services sufficiently, only one was fully compliant and offered refuse removal, none of the municipalities offered an extension of electricity fully although twelve were partially compliant. Five municipalities fully complied and were innovative in terms of municipal road systems.

On Human Resource Development, 17 municipalities fully applied the prescribed recruitment practices, four were non-compliant and 20 were fully compliant but were not innovative.

The community engagement performance area is measured through two standards, namely functional ward committees and service standards and complaints management. On the former, only two municipalities were fully compliant and innovative while 17 were non-compliant. On service standards and complaints management, 30 were non-compliant and 1 was fully compliant and innovative.

Completing an assessment is just one step in the Local Government Management Improvement Management (LGMIM) process. The key is how the assessment is used to identify the root causes of the underperformance and what must be done by whom and when to address the root causes. DPME has designed an improvement planning guide and provides training for municipalities and provinces on how to prepare an improvement plan using the LGMIM assessment results. In addition, DPME is directly working with five municipalities; four of whom have completed their improvement plans. Implementation is being monitored by the provincial Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and DPME. Our expectation is that all participating provinces support municipalities to develop improvement plans. However, not all provinces have been forthcoming in this regard.

In conclusion, dedicated managers and leaders value organisational assessments and diagnostics as a source of valuable insights into the health of their organisations. For the benefit and potential of LGMIM to be realised, municipalities must be willing to utilise the results of the LGMIM as critical management information and develop improvement action plans and strategies in the areas where performance gaps were observed. Provincial departments responsible for Local Government for their part will have to step up their involvement and support municipalities in this regard.

Discussion
Mr Motau said slide four reflects the state of South African municipalities. There needs to be improvement in this arena.

Ms Jongbloed asked whether all municipalities were required to use this model, for how many years municipalities must implement this model, and whether there is a link between protests and service delivery.

Ms Newhoudt-Druchen asked whether municipalities have the capacity to manage water resources.

Mr Ntombela asked why some provinces are performing worse than others.

Mr Khosa stated that 21 municipalities were partially compliant. How many were linked to service delivery and protests for the period under review. The municipalities that are not forthcoming, how many are urban and how many are rural?

The Chairperson said the workers in municipalities do not have skills. Further, what is the role of the local government State Education Training Authority (SETA)? She further stated that questions will be answered in writing to save time.

Consideration and Adoption of Third Quarterly Reports

The DPSA

Findings and Observations
The Committee noted the third quarter performance of 2017/18 financial year of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), as well its entities (National School of Government (NSG) and Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI)).

The PSC and the Committee were concerned about the high turnover rate of the Director-Generals and heads of Departments caused by political administrative interface in the public service. Even though the average time spent by the Accounting officers has increased to 3.8 years, the Committee raised concerns on the way DG’s are suspended and axed. The PSC was concerned about the high turnover rate of the DG’s within a short time period in the Department of Water affairs and Sanitation; and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Based on the above, the Committee decided to organise a workshop on the political administrative interface in June 2018.

In view of the recent court judgment on the Directors-General of both the Department of Home affairs and Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, the Committee noted the existing trend of the members of the Executive Authority disciplining the Accounting officers whilst such a responsibility is not delegated by the President. The Committee noted the PSC’s efforts in intervening in the department where there is such an existing tension by advising the relevant Executive Authority.

The Committee was dissatisfied with the slow pace of the consultation process on the second phase of Public Administration Management Regulations by the Department of Public Service and Administration. The DPSA was encouraged to ensure consultation processes on the regulations taking place in the fourth quarter of 2017/18 financial year.

The Committee noted that the Department has not spent its allocated budget well on programme one and two. The Committee encouraged the Department to effectively spend the budget to avoid under spending in the 2017/18 financial year.

Stats SA

Findings and Observations
The Committee noted with grave concern the budget shortfall of R11 309 million on the operational costs mainly due to the community survey 2016 dissemination. The Committee was of the view that persisting budget shortfalls impede on the production of statistics and should be addressed with the Minister of Finance and Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

The Committee noted with discontent that the projected overspending on compensation of employees amounts to R 910103 million and is mainly caused by a budget that was reduced by R141 million in the 2017/18 financial year. The Committee was concerned about the possibility of Stats SA not being able pay salaries as a result of budget shortfalls on compensation of employees in March 2018. The Committee will once again raise the matter with MINCOM BUD dealing with government appropriations and budget adjustments. The budget shortfall experienced by StatsSA might impede the quality of statistics in the country and compromise the institution in the long term.

Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation

Findings and Observations
The Committee welcomed the announcement of the approval of the organisational structure of the DPME by the DPSA. Approval of the organisational structure will assist the Department to strengthen its capacity to be in line with additional mandate.

The meeting was adjourned.