SCOPA Annual Report Resolutions

Meeting report

The Chairperson opened the meeting, noting the Committee was meeting to look into its annual report and resolutions taken. The report was circulated ahead of time. The Committee would also consider and adopt its minutes. He asked for Members present to introduce themselves.

SCOPA Annual Report

The Procedural Officer (PO) took the Committee through the annual report which began by covering the powers of the Committee and the departments and entities the Committee engaged with through the Annual Report process.

The Procedural Officer took Members through some possible resolutions and areas for further actions which could have come from the Committee’s interactions with the Western Cape departments and entities.

Ms M Maseko (DA) said a possible resolution for all the departments was the delay in the procurement of ICT, through the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) resulting in underspending in this regard. It was said the Premier should follow up on this and engage with SITA for possible alternative arrangements.

The PO said he would refer again to his notes on the engagements and add this to the resolutions.

Ms Maseko suggested this be recorded under the concerns rather than the resolutions because of the lack of time.

The PO agreed. He noted the Committee would next be meeting on 28 February 2024 to deal with outstanding resolutions. This is the only slot for the Committee before the sixth administration ended.

The Chairperson suggested this be placed under resolutions as it could still be picked up by the next administration as the problem would remain.

The PO explained that all resolutions fell off at the end of this administration. It would be up to the new Committee to continue with those resolutions. He still noted the importance of continuity.

The PO took Members through the main points of the Committee’s interaction with the Western Cape Provincial Treasury.

Ms N Nkondlo (ANC) asked if the resolution covered what the Committee was trying to understand about the supremacy of the Auditor-General (AG).

The PO confirmed this. It would also be picked up in the meeting on 28 Feb 2024.

The PO took Members through the main points of the Committee’s interaction with the Western Cape Department of Community Safety, noting there were no substantive points to follow up with the Department on. This was also the case with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

The Chairperson noted the improvement in the performance of the WCED in addressing adverse findings.  

The PO suggested the Committee meet with the AG to follow up on a few areas after which the Committee could then perhaps write to the Department on the 2023/24 audit readiness. 

The Chairperson agreed, noting some of the WCED programmes were very technical. It would be good for the Committee to hear about preventive measures.

The PO added that the AG could brief the Committee on possible internal control risks or deficiencies. This would be a proactive process to get the WCED on track for a clean audit in the next financial year.  

Moving to the Western Cape Department of Health (DOH), the PO summarised the interactions noting the issue of correlating the annual budget and annual target setting of departments. The Committee requested further interactions on getting answers to how this worked.

The Chairperson noted this was a transversal issue across many departments and entities. Perhaps the Committee needed to engage Treasury to better understand this.

Ms Maseko said the internal audit committees also needed to be engaged as they also looked at target setting. She was concerned about the time to deal with all these issues.

The Chairperson added the discussion covered target setting vs expenditure (financial performance).

Ms Nkondlo said the matter could be raised at the engagement on 28 Feb ’24 with Treasury. Perhaps the Office of the Premier should also be invited as it also involved integrated planning and coordinated strategies which was a function of the Office of the Premier. She was not sure if there was a provincial component for the national department of planning, monitoring and evaluation. It was at the heart of the efficiency of government service delivery.

The Chairperson suggested a joint meeting with the AG, Treasury and Office of the Premier.

The PO looked at the Western Cape Department of Social Development, where no real resolutions or requests for further information.

There were some findings for the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements, under programme four and internal controls. The Department was now the Department of Infrastructure. There were also no real resolutions, concerns or requests for further information.

The Chairperson suggested also following up with this Department to find out about preventive measures.

Ms Maseko said the Committee did not have many resolutions as the Department said it was addressing the issues. Perhaps the matters need to be picked up with the new administration. She was concerned that if the Department was engaged, it would repeat the steps it was taking.

The Chairperson accepted this.

The PO moved to look at the Western Cape Department of Environment Affairs and Development Planning, where no major concerns were raised. Likewise, with the Department of Transport and Public Works and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, although the issue of target setting was also raised with this Department.

Ms Nkondlo went back to the Department of Environment Affairs, noting the Committee raised the impact of climate change during its engagement with the Department, where the impact had budgeting realities, such as seen with Day Zero. She suggested the Committee resolve that the Department demonstrate how they are planning for climate change impacts in the budget.

The PO suggested this be placed in a list for additional information required. If the Committee was not pleased with this, the Department could be called for an engagement with the Committee.

Ms Maseko cautioned that it be crafted so that the Committee still acted within in mandate. 

The Chairperson did not see the problem in requesting further information and then the Committee could see how to move forward.

The PO moved to look at the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism noting the resolutions agreed to. This would be added to the engagement on 28 Feb ’24, which might have to be lengthened. There were no issues raised with Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport. The Committee requested reports from the Western Cape Department of Local Government on underspending in certain programmes.

Ms Maseko noted some of the matters were responded so further information was not required.

The PO moved to look at the Committee’s engagements with the entities, noting requests for information from the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board. For Wesgro, the Committee could request feedback on the findings, as was being done with some of the departments.

Ms Maseko repeated the generic resolution for all departments and entities on target setting and ICT matters related to SITA.

The Chairperson reminded the Committee to ask the departments of their readiness for performance audits.

Mr D America (DA) suggested this be directed to the AG, as the Western Cape cannot be isolated from the rest of the country. If departments consistently performed well, there should be a commensurate approach which the AG should explain.

Another generic resolution was the ever-rising audit fees of the AG in light of cost containment. The Committee should take this up with the AG.

Ms Nkondlo was interested in what was required in terms of performance audit information noting that it was difficult and technical for even Members of Parliament, less so ordinary citizens. Information must be transparent, easily accessible and understandable when taxpayers’ money was being used.  This could be asked of the AG in the meeting of 28 Feb ’24.

The PO would add the generic resolutions to the Committee report. The issues Members wished to engage on would be raised with the stakeholders beforehand for preparation, wherein he noted the departments and entities paid different audit rates.

The Committee agreed to adopt the report in principle, with the amendments as discussed.

Committee minutes

The Committee considered and adopted 13 sets of minutes, noting all the minutes were similar in nature dealing with the 2022/23 Annual Report engagements with the various Western cape departments and entities.

The Chairperson thanked Members for their cooperation during the year, where the meetings were fruitful. He appreciated the Committee staff. He wished everyone a happy festive season.

The meeting was adjourned.