Western Cape Adjustments Appropriation: Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport

Meeting report

Opening remarks from the Chairperson
The Chairperson informed the Committee and the team from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport that the purpose of the meeting was to deliberate on Vote 13 for Cultural Affairs and Sport in the schedule of the Adjustments Appropriation Bill 2019. No apologies were tendered. The Chairperson opened the floor and asked the Department to present their opening remarks to the Committee.

An official from the Department informed the Committee that the overall adjustment amount was R25 855 000, 00 for Cultural Affairs and Sport. He advised that an amount of R779 000, 00 was returned to the Department by the Beaufort West and George Municipalities for sports facilities that were not built. He said that the Budget of R226million was for COE and that they were surrendering the amount of R6, 1 million as they were not allowed to use COE money for any other purpose.   

The Chairperson said that the Committee will table the entire Vote 13 from Page 335 to Page 346. He opened the floor for questions and discussion points.

Briefing on Vote 13     

Discussion
Ms L Botha (DA) referred to Page 341 on COE with the emphasis on Services rendered by Libraries and Sport and Recreation activities provided to Communities and asked what was left of the Budget.

Ms A Bans (ANC) remarked that the decrease in the Budget was a concern and that the ANC would not support it. She noted the high allocation of funds to Library Services and Archives and asked why the Department did not allocate adequate funds in order to avoid adjustments in this regard. On Page 335 part 13.1 relating to Administration, she asked that the Department provide reasons for the Budget cuts for Programmes 1 and 2 and asked how this would impact the Department. She referred to Page 341 pertaining to the shifting of funds from the Department of the Premier for Contact Management ECM to Change Management. She asked for more clarity and the reason for the shift and how it assisted in the functioning of the Department. She noted the Realignment of 2019/2020 Compensation of Employees on Page 341 and asked what the reasons were for this action. She referred to the Budget increase on Page 348 Table 13.8.1 and asked what the reasons were for the increase.

Ms R Windvogel (ANC) noted the section on Compensation of Employees on Page 335 part 13.1 and asked how many posts were affected and what impact this had on the Department as a whole. In addition, she asked what the rationale was for reducing expenditure on Compensation of Employees and if there were posts that the Department would fill in future. 

Mr G Bosman (DA) congratulated Ms Anroux Marais, Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, on the phenomenal Revamp Project that was being done at the George Museum and for involving the local Communities in the Project. He noted the Data and Statistics that were being generated by the Department on the After School Programme and asked what was being done with the data. He further asked if there was an opportunity to package the data and sell it to other entities in a bid to generate an additional income stream for the Department.

Mr M Kama (ANC) referred to Page 335, Programme 4 and noted the small Budget increase pertaining to Sport and Recreation. He recalled the Minister’s commitment to fund allocation to Sport and Recreation and asked if the money had already been allocated or if it would be allocated in the new financial year. He welcomed the transfer of funds reflected on page 341 and asked in light of the upcoming Netball World Cup, how much it would cost to build a Netball court and if the funds would be adequate to cover the costs. He asked what reasons were behind the slow spending relating to programme 384 on Page 342. 

An official responded to Ms Bans question on Contact Management and advised that they worked according to a Lease and Pay system. He advised that the money got allocated to the Department and the Department in turn would then resolve to implement a Change Management process. He said that they could acquire the service but would have to pay for the service, hence the shift in Contact Management. He added that the Department was responsible for the Records Management system but that the technical aspect was not their responsibility. On the matter of Employees Compensation he advised that the vacancy rate of the Department was low at 2% and that resignations could not be predicted in light of budgeting for Salaries and the vacant posts filled in a given time. He said that the money had to be surrendered in terms of the rules of Treasury and that Treasury would in turn allow for the funds to be redirected to other areas in the Department. He advised that as the Budget became more restricted, the Department was unable to appropriate funds. On Mr Bosman’s question relating to Data, the Official added that it was an interesting proposition and they may take it up in future with the Department of Treasury. He said that data was currently being provided to the public at no cost due to the public nature of the Department’s portfolio. Another Official noted the R10million for the implementation of the ECM and advised that it was not a budget cut. She further advised that due to the Department being in partnership with the CEI they had to shift the funds to the main baseline budget so as not to deal with it during the adjustment estimates. She addressed Ms Bans’ question on the budget cuts on Page 335, and advised that Programme 1 was mainly due to posts being budgeted for not concurring with the timing to fill those posts. She said that posts were seldom filled on the dates that the Department had predicted or had budgeted for. The posts that were included in the R6, 1 million had already been filled or were in the process of being filled. She referred to Programme 2 and said that the R832 000.00 was a combination of the COE - R1 338 000, 00 was the decrease but they also received R506 000, 00 in terms of the Revenue detention. The Official addressed Mr Kama’s question pertaining to page 335 and advised that the adjustment estimates could be attributed to a process that they used to align their Budget and was not used for additional funding. She said that they do lobby for additional funding during their MTEC processes which is addressed in the main Budget. The R167 000, 00 was a CEO reduction of R612 000, 00 and an additional R771 000, 00 for the Netball courts, that will be transferred to the City of Cape Town. The Official elaborated on the term Efficiency gains and explained that it implied the savings that resulted in cost effective procurement of items. An Official confirmed that the cost of building a Netball court amounted to R250 000, 00. He informed the Committee of the Department’s plan to construct an 8 court Netball facility so that each District may be able to host a National Tournament. An Official addressed the matter of underspending and said that part of the reason was due to the misalignment of the Department’s Financial Year with that of their Suppliers.

Mr P Marais (FF+) asked if there was a way for Netball players to prepare for Netball games ahead of the World Cup where players could have access to Netball courts that were cheaper than the estimated R250 000.00. He referred to under-utilised facilities such as Community Halls. He asked if provision could be made for the Netball players to train for Netball at the Community Halls.

Ms Anroux Marais, Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Western Cape, replied to Mr Marais’ question and said that she will meet with her counterpart to discuss the possibility of revamping Community Halls to accommodate Netball players and will revert back to him.

The Chairperson asked Ms Bans to tender a vote of thanks to the Department.

Ms Bans thanked the Minister for attending the meeting in spite of her busy schedule. She also thanked the Department for their cooperation and assistance and wished them well for the festive season.

The Chairperson advised that the Minutes and Quarterly reports had already been adopted. He asked the Committee to consider Vote 13. Ms Botha proposed that the Committee supported Vote 13, seconded by Mr Marais.

The meeting was adjourned.