DPME, NYDA & Statistics SA on quarterly performance

Public Service and Administration

05 September 2018
Chairperson: Mr M Maswanganyi (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee received briefings from the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) on their 2017/18 fourth quarter and 2018/19 first quarter performances.

The NYDA reported that it had spent R455.1 million out of an annual budget of R457 million in 2017/18. The unspent budget related to donor funding from the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), for which permission had been received to roll it over into the 2018/19 financial year. In the fourth quarter, it had focused on ensuring the final achievement of the Annual Performance Plan (APP) for the 2017/18 financial year. It had achieved 23 out of 24 key performance indicators (KPIs) and spent 99% of its allocated resources for the final quarter. The one target not achieved was the number of young people provided with youth development information, and this was because of a disagreement with the Auditor-General (AG). In quarter one of 2018/19, the Agency had achieved 65% of its targets, and expended 85% of their budget for the quarter (R78.2 million) -- or 16% of their annual budget of R488.9 million.

Members raised issues regarding inaccurate information on the NYDA’s website about the addresses of some of their branches, and details of regional managers. The Agency responded that it would be looking into those issues to rectify them as soon as possible.

Stats SA said it had achieved 88% of its targets in the fourth quarter of the 2017/18 financial year, while total expenditure was at a 101% level. Overspending was largely due to compensation of employees. In the first quarter of 2018/19, it had achieved 18% of its overall targets for the full year, and 80% of the targets for the year were on track, with 2% being delayed. Quarter one expenditure was 22% of the overall budget for 2018/19.

Members were concerned about the increasing vacancy rate in the organisation over the years. Stats SA responded that the reason was due to a high demand for statisticians in the banking sector and other private companies and international institutions. Critical statisticians were being lost to the private sector every month.

Strategic priorities for the 2018/19 financial year were to finalise legislative reform; maintain the quality of basic statistics; roll out the Integrated Indicator Framework; integrate, innovate and modernise business processes; restructure and rationalise; coordinate partnerships; and work toward Census 2021.

The DPME said it was mandated to coordinate national planning, monitor the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP), and evaluate critical government programmes. In the fourth quarter of 2017/18, the Comprehensive Social Security Inter-ministerial Committee (IMC) had dealt with the issue of the South African Social Security Agency’s (SASSA) constitutional court order. In quarter one of 2018/19, the focus had been on the North West intervention. A vacancy rate of 10% was not achieved due to internal promotions, external departmental promotions and resignations.

The Department recognised the challenges they were facing with regard to the NDP, and had produced actions toward mitigating them. The NDP had 11 years remaining, with two full administrations. There was a proposal for a five-year NDP implementation plan specifically intended to fast-track, focus and direct NDP implementation throughout all government departments, state and public entities. The second challenge was that of the economic performance, such as sluggish growth/technical recession. The third challenge was that of a slow change in inequality. Mitigation strategies included an analysis of a complexity of different types of inequality in the areas of income, pay, assets, society, race and gender, and targeting specific interventions.

The Committee decided that due to time constraints, a follow up session with the DPME would be scheduled for the first week of October, at which the Minister would be requested to attend since some issues that needed responses were political in nature.

Meeting report

National Youth Development Agency (NYDA): Quarterly performance

Mr Waseem Carrim, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NYDA said that in the fourth quarter of 2017/18, the NYDA focused on ensuring the final achievement of the annual performance plan (APP) for the 2017/18 financial year. The agency achieved 23 out of 24 key performance indicators (KPIs), or 96%, and spent 99% of its allocated resources for the final quarter. The one target not achieved was the number of young people provided with youth development information, and this was because of a disagreement with the Auditor-General (AG). The Agency’s audits were taken over by the AG before being outsourced to Deloitte. The AG looked at the targets slightly differently from how Deloitte looked at them. They looked at it by evidence presented, resulting in the target moving downward, from achieved to partially achieved.

Looking at the financial performance for quarter four of 2017/18, out of an annual budget of R457 million, the Agency spent R455.1 million. The unspent budget related to donor funding from the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), for which permission had been received to roll over into the 2018/19 financial year. 47% of the budget went toward projects, 35% toward employee costs, 16% toward operations, and 2% toward capital expenditure (CAPEX).

In the first quarter of the 2018/19 financial year, the Agency hosted the June Month programme across the country, with an increased roll out of products and services during the month. The programme was in collaboration with the DAC and the Gauteng provincial government. The Agency also hosted the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Youth Summit, which was part of the BRICS activities. The BRICS Youth summit, chaired by South Africa (SA), adopted two important policy decisions put forth by SA. Policy decisions taken were the establishment of a BRICS Youth Secretariat, and representation of youth in the BRICS Business Council.

The Agency received a fourth successive clean audit from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) and a performance achievement of 96%. The NYDA continued with the roll out of new district centres, with five new centres being established in the first quarter. Building on the clean audit, the Agency continued to lobby for funds for youth development within the timeframe. In this regard, it received R1.5 million from the Departments of Small Business, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs, and submitted a detailed proposal for funding to the Medium Term Expenditure Committee (MTEC), which was looking at a budget review. The DPME budget mandate paper put youth development at priority number two in terms of the priorities of government.

In quarter one for 2018/19, the NYDA achieved 65% of its performance targets, and expended 85% of their quarter one budget and 16% of their annual budget. In terms of the number of youth-owned enterprises, the target was 50, and the Agency overachieved by 105. The target for the number of beneficiaries supported with business development support was 3 900, and the Agency achieved 4 689. The target for the number of jobs created was 260, and the Agency achieved 806. The target for the number of jobs facilitated through placements in job opportunities was 250, and the Agency achieved 1 678. Targets not achieved were the establishment of the NYDA Youth Fund and NYDA Skills Fund, due to project plans not being approved. The targets had been deferred to quarter two. Regarding the number of young people provided with youth development information, given the outcome of the AG’s review, the target needed to be amended slightly in the wording of the target.

65% of the KPIs were achieved in comparison to 40% in quarter one of 2017/18. There was significant improvement. Grants were being provided more in the personal services sector, with 62%, than in any other sector. Manufacturing services received 15%, retail services received 11%, agriculture services received 6%, construction services received 3%, and other non-specified business types constituted 3%. In quarter one, grants were highly consumed by young people between the ages of 31-35 who constituted 35% of the grants issued, followed by those aged 27-30 at 32%. Those aged between 23-26 consumed 25%, and those between 19-22 consumed the least, with 8%.

The majority of jobs created and sustained were acquired from the market linkages programme, the voucher programme, and the grant programme. The voucher programme contributed the most to job creation, with 45%. The lower issuance of grants in quarter one resulted in fewer jobs being created. Market linkages created jobs, because the programme enabled young entrepreneurs to be linked with business opportunities.

The annual budget for 2018/19 was R488.9 million, and this budget changed from year to year based on the amount of donor funding the Agency was able to raise. During quarter one, the Agency spent R78.2 million, or 16% of the annual budget. From the quarter one budget, 42% was allocated to projects, 35% toward employee costs, 16% toward operational costs, and 7% toward CAPEX. This was up from 2% in the fourth quarter of 2017/18, due to the operationalisation of the new service delivery recommendation from the AG.

Looking at the data on jobs, 30% of young people who found employment left job opportunities within the first three months. Out of the young people who pre-qualified for interviews, only 50% arrived for the actual interviews. This was attributed to a lack of transport money, not remembering the date or venue of the interview, lack of appropriate interview etiquette, and the job not being in line with expectations. Young people found jobs too overwhelming, or they were not formally inducted into the workplace. Others did not know how to deal with the rules and procedures that governed the institution. Lack of communication skills was another factor, as they could not thoroughly express their conflicts. There were plenty of ddismissals for inappropriate conduct, late arrivals and poor quality work. Lack of motivation, inappropriate training and not taking the job seriously were also factors noted.

In many cases, many young people possessed the technical skill, but work readiness was severely lacking. Young people, in the Agency’s view, lacked social capital. This was often due to the circumstances of society such as poverty, violence, crime and poor health. They lacked credentials, role models and mentors. Research indicated that having family and friends who were employed increased one’s chances of finding and remaining in employment. High attrition had a knock-on effect, as it adversely affected the ability to find new employment, and it increased the training and recruitment for employers. Employers were reluctant to hire entry level employees and then rely on labour brokers, as this offered little or no long-term employment progression. Job hopping was poorly regarded, as it reflected a lack of commitment. Future employability was affected by a lack of work experience.

Recommendations included mentorship programmes through the job process to maintain employment. Work readiness programmes were being rolled out by institutions such as the NYDA, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and Lulaway, but post-readiness support needed to be developed. The private sector could also assist by potentially paying transport subsidies or paying salaries weekly, providing uniforms, conducting induction sessions and offering logistical support. Research suggested that once placed in employment for six months, young people gained confidence in their ability to be resilient and endure workplace challenges. A robust National Youth Service programme could assist in providing real life working experience in a safe learning environment and allow young people to develop the skills they need to succeed in employment. Employers globally were noting the need for real life work experience and the value it added to employment.

Discussion

Mr M Ntombela (ANC) asked what the opinion of the NYDA was on the target which was partially achieved, because there seemed to be a misunderstanding between them and the AG. How much was involved for the various provinces in terms of the BRICS activities, and which province was highest in terms of participation, and which was the least?

Mr D Khosa (ANC) said the NYDA could not be the only one dealing with the high rate of unemployment in the industry for young people, and asked to what extent NYDA was involving government departments to ensure they were able to reach more of the youth. The NYDA was being accused by its constituency of delaying with regards to approving the funding, and asked what the reasons could be for that, and a turnaround strategy. He asked how it was possible that it was achieving more than it targeted.

Mr Y Cassim (DA) said that in June 2018 he visited the NYDA offices in Buffalo City and the offices in Nelson Mandela Bay, and he was disturbed by two things. The first was that when he went on the NYDA’s website, the office address for their Buffalo City branch was not where their offices were located. Their offices had been moved some time back. As a young person that wanted to access their offices, he would not know where to go because the information was not up to date on the website. This was something to investigate. The second thing that disturbed him was that the details of the Regional Manager were also outdated.

Regarding the job placement programmes, he saw numbers in their report, but what he found at the offices was that the East London office placed only two to three young people into jobs per month. In Nelson Mandela Bay, there were no young people placed into jobs because they did not have a job placement officer for some time. The issue was that the NYDA had some good programmes, but the young people noted in the data did not have the resources to go to the different avenues to seek opportunities, and there was also no capacity at the NYDA offices to place them into jobs. There needed to be a review of the job placement programme and consolidate what government was doing so that there could be one central point where young people could have a repository for their information.

Ms W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC) congratulated the NYDA on opening 20 new satellite offices, and asked where the offices were situated, as well as what the operating times were. She asked what the reason was for the low number of grants consumed by young people aged between 19 and 26. How would the NYDA convey the recommendations they listed, and that there were employers that provided in-service training? Did it have a communications officers that updated information on websites regularly?

Mr S Motau (DA) asked what the NYDA was doing right which they were not doing previously, because there used to be big problems with audits, and now they were receiving good audits. What were its plans for the remaining three quarters of 2018/19?

NYDA’s response

The NYDA responded on how they collected data and how information was provided to young people. They were trying to align the two so that they could collect data that could be recognised by the AG.

When they had presented their annual performance plan (APP), they had been preparing to open a new office looking at how accessible the NYDA was to young people. There was a lot of work involved, and they were continuing with the work at hand.

They were targeting one BRICS activity per province. There was no province that did not participate. The provinces with the least activity were North West and the Eastern Cape. The other provinces had a lot of activity.

There were a lot of outreach programmes to encourage young people to participate in other sectors, other than the personal services sector. There were continuous engagements with different government departments and provinces, and there was now facilitation with Free State as well. They were working to finalise arrangements with different provinces and government departments, as well as private sector engagement.

The Agency said that anyone who wanted to register for the job placement programme could do so, but the NYDA did not force them to register in the province where they were situated. They could specify exactly where they wanted to be placed. Going forward, the NYDA could try aligning placement with where they registered.

Most of the young people were in universities studying, and were therefore not part of the cohort making the most use of grants. What NYDA could do was to go to universities and encourage many younger people to apply, and not just wait for them to reach out.

The NYDA was trying to improve and taking a lot of advice from their teams, and was working very well with the DPME as the inter-department. They were going out to young people more.

Mr Carrim said to boost other sectors, they needed an economic strategy. When the NYDA went to a department such as the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR), they suggested starting a skills development fund to develop the skills young people would need to be able to work the land. They would then fund them to give grants to young people and invite small businesses to participate. It was very important to develop the supply side and the skills development side, and they would do something similar with other departments.

The Chairperson reminded the NYDA that the Committee was pressed for time and asked Mr Carrim to answer crucial questions and respond to the rest in writing.

Mr Carrim agreed that the NYDA was not alone in tackling youth unemployment and thanked the Director-General (DG) of the DPME and the Minister for their political support and guidance. The Agency was working and doing fundraising with the DGs of all departments, and in all provincial governments and the private sector. The private sector had not come on board with the youth employment service programme, but the NYDA was also with the youth employment service so they would have a ‘one stop shop’ for youth development.

The Agency was achieving more targets because by building on a better reputation and brand they were able to leverage more partnerships and get more people involved in youth development. It was difficult to plan for these things in the APP, because partners came on board during the financial year.

He had taken the issue up with the NYDA communications team regarding having the website updated to reflect accurate information about the office bearers and addresses.

Mr Carrim said he hoped he had answered all the questions, and if there were any follow ups he respond in writing to the Committee.

The Chairperson agreed, and also asked Committee Members to submit any follow up questions to the NYDA in writing.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA): Quarterly performance

Mr Risenga Maluleke, Statistician-General, Stats SA, said the organisation achieved 88% of its targets in the fourth quarter of 2017/18 financial year. 12 targets were not achieved owing to poor alignment of resources. Total expenditure for the quarter four financial performance was 101%. Over-spending was largely due to compensation of employees. 79% of targets were achieved. Funds allocated by Parliament in the 2017/18 financial year were not enough to cover the entire organisation as it existed. Stats SA had to make savings on ‘goods and services’ to the tune of R39 million. They were able to offset compensation of employees that was around R67 million, and hence had an over-expenditure of R18 million of the total budget. If they had not made savings on goods and services, they would have had bigger problems. Some of the projects that were supposed to be implemented in the fourth quarter had to be delayed so as not to go beyond the allocation for Stats SA.

In quarter one of the 2018/19 financial year, Stats SA achieved 18% of the overall targets for the financial year, and 80% of the targets for the year were on track, with 2% being delayed. Quarter one expenditure was 22% of the overall budget for 2018/19. Women in senior management positions made up 41% of the senior management team, and staff with disabilities made up 1.2% of the overall staff complement. 95% of quarter one targets were achieved, and 5% were delayed.

The vacancy rate in Stats SA was sitting at 15% in quarter one. By the end of 2017, the vacancy rate had been sitting at 13.9% and this number kept on growing. The reason for the increasing vacancy rate was that statisticians employed by the organisation were in demand in the banking sector. Critical statisticians were being lost to the private sector monthly.

Key achievements in the first quarter of 2018/19 included the publication of 74 statistical releases and reports on the economy and society, the second KwaZulu Natal (KZN) customer satisfaction survey using digital data collection methodology, and the signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Stats SA and Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (DAFF) to conduct the Census of Commercial Agriculture (CoCA).

Stats SA was continuing to move into the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) environment as of 1 April 2018. Around 685 000 visitor sessions were recorded on the Stats SA website, with more than 96 000 downloads. Stats SA had established relations with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) to increase the use of official statistics, since Stats SA services were mostly used by policy makers and those in leadership positions in government, as well as captains of industry. Stats SA continued to use social media, engaged with the media, organs of state, and other organisations such as business and academia.

The Draft Bill on Legislative Reform was on track to be submitted to Parliament. Stats SA was negotiating with National Treasury (NT) on the issue of staffing. There had been no appointments since October 2016, except that of the Statistician-General. This was even though the organisation was losing staff members every month.

Stats SA was working with schools in hosting guidance workshops for grade 12 learners and teachers. The organisation realised over time that young people were afraid of numbers, and that they needed to create games and everything relating to young people to appeal to them so that by the time they were of age, they wanted to consider studying mathematics.

Issues at risk were demand, budget, people and supply. There was an increasing demand for statistical information, severe budget cuts, a 15% vacancy rate with 33 staff having left in the first quarter. Staff were over stretched and could be exposed to errors, and basic statistics were at risk, with declining quality over time.

Strategic priorities for the 2018/19 financial year were to finalise legislative reform; maintain the quality of basic statistics; roll out the Integrated Indicator Framework; integrate, innovate and modernise business processes; restructure and rationalise; coordinate partnerships; and work toward Census 2021.

Discussion

Mr Ntombela asked if Stats SA was able to set apart the kinds of information that were frequently downloaded, and the purpose for which information was needed. How did Stats SA deal with situations where they were regarded as being the mouthpiece of government in their dealings on the issue of land, when they were not the mouthpiece of government?

Mr Khosa asked what Stats SA’s retention strategy was to ensure no loss of employees. What sectors were taking most of the employees from Stats SA, and what they were doing that Stats SA did not do? Why were vacancies not being filled -- was there a shortage of skills, or was it something else? What factors were causing the performance of the organisation to decline from 87.4% to 79%?

Mr Cassim said that every time Stats SA presented before the Committee, they had the same story of a risk to basic indicators, a decline in quality, skills being lost to the private sector because of budget cuts, and that Stats SA would be trying their very best to try to work efficiently. The Committee needed to do something. They could not keep ignoring the warning signs, meeting after meeting and year after year. Parliament would not want to invest blindly into Stats SA, nor would Members even want to invest their own personal monies on a declining quality of information. He feared that where the country and government were headed would be leading the people blindly, where there was decreased quality of information, and even population estimates would be at risk, which affected the division of revenue. At some point the Committee needed to look at what the risk to the nation was.

Ms Newhoudt-Druchen asked what plan was in place in preparation for Census 2021. Were there any strategies in place to make sure that gender equality was fair and also present in senior management? Were there incentives in place to achieve or increase the 2% target for people with disabilities?

Mr Motau said that Stats SA indicated they were in talks with NT, and this gave him the impression that they were on track, but now there was an economic recession. He asked how the recession would impact on their discussions with NT.

Stats SA’s response

Mr Maluleke said the organisation was aware of what online visitors downloaded on their website. Once the information was downloaded, they did not know what people used the product for.

Stats SA was raising the land issue every time they had an opportunity to be in a public space. The organisation was busy meeting with various stakeholders, such as the farming community, since they were the ones that were also raising the issue that Stats SA was acting on behalf of the ruling government and the policy to expropriate land without compensation.

Mr Maluleke said statisticians were in demand. Some of them left the organisation, and others were poached. These were ‘African’ South Africans being offered jobs by international companies, institutes, and data centres. Stats SA was not able to counter offer. Statisticians were being offered four or even five times the salary they were paid by Stats SA.

Relations between Stats SA and NT remained pleasant, but Stats SA just did not get the budget they asked for.

Certain work on centres had started. The normal community surveys were conducted, and they were in the testing phase.

Issues of employing people with disability were concerning. Over the years, it had always been 1.2% and he was worried that the number was not rising. With regard to gender equality, the organisation was doing well, with 53.5% of the workforce being women. The only problem was that there was only 40% female representation in senior management, and this needed to be addressed.

 

Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME): Quarterly Performance

Ms Nompumelelo Mpofu, DG: DPME, said the Department was mandated to coordinate national planning, monitoring the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP), and evaluate critical government programmes. Inter-Ministerial Committees (IMCs) were established by the President and interventions were designed to be short to medium term to coordinate inter-ministerial interventions. The Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation chaired 11 of the IMCs, including those dealing with mining towns, anti-corruption, comprehensive social security, North West intervention, state/official funerals and migration.

In the fourth quarter the 2017/18 financial year, the Comprehensive Social Security IMC dealt with the issue of the South African Social Security Agency’s (SASSA) constitutional court order. In quarter one of 2018/19, the focus was on the North West intervention.

Looking at the performance for the fourth quarter of 2017/18, programme one (Administration) had 11 targets, of which six were achieved, two targets over-achieved, and three targets not achieved. Programme two (National Planning Coordination) had four targets, of which two achieved, one overachieved, and one not achieved. Programme three (Sector Monitoring) had one target, and it was achieved. Programme four (Public Sector Monitoring and Capacity Development) had four targets of which two were achieved, one overachieved, and one not achieved. Programme five (Frontline and Citizen Based Service Delivery Monitoring) had four targets. of which three were over-achieved, and one target not achieved. Programme six (Evidence and Knowledge Systems) had nine targets of which two were achieved, two over-achieved and five not achieved. Programme seven (National Youth Development) had three targets, of which two were achieved, and one not achieved.

In quarter one of 2018/19, Programme one (Administration) had 16 targets, of which eight were achieved, three over-achieved and five not achieved. Programme two (National Planning Coordination) had nine targets, of which four were achieved, two were over-achieved, and three were not achieved. Programme three (Sector Monitoring) had seven targets, of which five were achieved, one over-achieved, and one not achieved. Programme four (Public Sector Monitoring and Capacity Development had five targets of which three were achieved, and two not achieved. Programme five (Frontline and Citizen Based Service Delivery Monitoring) had five targets, of which two were achieved and three not achieved. Programme six (Evidence and Knowledge Systems) had four targets of which two were achieved, one over-achieved and one not achieved. Programme seven (National Youth Development) had three targets, and all were achieved.

A vacancy rate of 10% was not achieved due to internal promotions, external departmental promotions and resignations. The actual vacancy rate for quarter four of 2017/18 was 21.4%, down from 25.5% in quarter three of the same year. In quarter one of 2018/19, the vacancy rate was further reduced to 17.9%. The target to improve the quality of performance agreements prior to their final submission by 31 May 2018 was not achieved. There were delays in the finalisation and approval of the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP). The target was achieved after the due date. The target of 100% compliance in submissions was not achieved due to non-compliance by some officials.

The approved long-term planning framework was submitted to Cabinet for consideration. Submission of the Integrated Planning Framework Bill to Cabinet was delayed due to consultation with the new Minister and other critical government departments. The Bill was subsequently presented to Cabinet on 17 April 2018. The submission of the annual mandate paper to Cabinet for approval and distribution was delayed due to consultations with the new Ministers of the DPME and Finance. Following consultations with the new Ministers, Cabinet had approved the paper with recommendations on 20 June 2018.

The target to develop a framework for performance analyses of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for quarter one of 2018/19 was not developed due to delays in the appointment of the Technical Working Committee (TWC) members from the relevant SOEs. The TWC would be appointed and ensure that the target was achieved by the third quarter. The draft City Support Programme (CSP)and National Evaluation System (NES) improvement plans were produced, but not yet finalised, as the custodian departments had delayed in producing certain Internet Protocol’s (IPs). The IPs would be produced in the 2018/19 financial year.

South Africa had played a key role in the negotiations and processes that led to the development of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Agenda 2063. Towards the realisation of the vision for both Agenda 2030 and NDP 2030, South Africa had made considerable progress in some areas, but also faced challenges regarding implementation, capacity building, finance and engagement.

The Department recognised the challenges they were facing with the NDP, and had produced actions toward mitigating them. The first challenge was that the NDP had 11 years remaining, with two full administrations. There was a proposal for a five-year NDP implementation plan specifically intended to fast-track, focus and direct NDP implementation throughout all government departments, state and public entities.

The second challenge was that of economic performance, such as sluggish growth/technical recession. Growth inhibitors were prioritised through budget prioritisation programmes, a jobs summit and an investment summit for real private sector commitment to stimulate economic growth and create jobs, and by dealing decisively with increasing competition through the Competition Amendment Bill, curbing illicit flows and promoting efficient government spending. They also needed to deal decisively with corruption in SOEs to further cushion the economy from their adverse risks and effects.

The third challenge was that of slow change in inequality. Mitigation strategies included an analysis of a complexity of different types of inequality, including income inequality, pay inequality, asset inequality, social inequality, racial inequality, gender inequality, and targeting specific interventions. Social grants, spatial transformation and justice could be used to reduce transport costs to the poor and workers. Rapid land reform, promoting access to land and housing as an asset, access to education, health and social services to increase social capital, and minimum wages, were all mitigating strategies. They could also target reducing generational racial inequality that contributed to all other types of inequality, and rather promote gender equality, equal pay, and prioritise women and young women for all economic programmes.

Discussion

The Chairperson said that he had to be seated in the Joint Committee at 11h45, and asked Members how they would proceed with the discussion.

Mr Cassim said the presentation had been very long, and there was a lot to talk about. He asked if the Committee could have a follow up session with the Minister, where they could engage on the presentation rather than having questions and answers provided in writing.

The Chairperson asked Mr Cassim where the Minister came in.

Mr Cassim said it would be helpful to have the Minister in a follow up session when the Committee delved into the patterns in the report.

Mr Motau agreed with Mr Cassim. He had one question that could probably be answered within the five minutes remaining before the meeting was adjourned. He asked what the NDP implementation was, and to whom it was being proposed.

Ms Newhoudt-Druchen said maybe in a follow up meeting with the Department, the Committee would need to expand on the new strategic framework outcome, as well as the Committee’s questions. She admitted that the presentation delivered by Ms Mpofu was better than the one they had received from the Department two weeks previously.

The Chairperson said from 9 to 19 October would be an appropriate time for the proposed follow-up meeting.

The Chairperson said the Minister needed to be at the next engagement, since there were political issues that needed to be responded to.

The Chairperson proposed prioritising a meeting with DPME in the first week of October. The Committee Secretariat would finalise the date and inform the Committee.

The Chairperson thanked the DPME, NYDA and Stats SA for their presentations.

The meeting was adjourned.

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