Report Back by Workgroups and Committee Position on Dealings with Media on Matters of SCOPA

Public Accounts (SCOPA)

25 October 2006
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Meeting report

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
25 October  2006
REPORT BACK BY WORKGROUPS AND COMMITTEE POSITION ON DEALINGS WITH MEDIA ON MATTERS OF SCOPA

Chairperson: Mr T Godi (PAC)

These minutes were compiled by the Parliamentary Committee Secretary


PRESENT

AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
Mr T J Bonhomme
Mr P J A Gerber
Mr D M Gumede
Dr G Koornhof
Ms L Mashiane
Mr R Mofokeng
Dr E Nkem-Abonta
Mr V G Smith
Ms T Tobias

DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
Mr E W Trent
Ms A Dreyer

INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY

PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA
Mr T Godi

UNITED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT
Mr G T Madikiza

UNITED CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY


SECRETARIAT
Ms N Madide
Mr G Dixon
Ms A Kakaza

PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCHER
Mr L Zepe

OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL
Mr C Botes: Senior Manager
Ms N Hlasa:
Committee Adviser
Ms Z Keto: Committee Adviser


PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL ADVISOR
Mr F Jenkins


OPENING AND WELCOME

The Chair opened the proceedings and welcomed the members and officials present.

APOLOGIES

Mr B E Pule will be attending the lock up session of the 2006 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.
Mr H Bekker is attending to constituency work in Kwazulu-Natal

AGENDA

The following agenda was agreed to:

STANDARD

Apologies
Adoption of the Agenda
Adoption of the Minutes
Report Back by Work Groups
Programme 2006

ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS

SALGA
Correctional Services

Mr E Trent requested that the DA “Issues for Discussion” document be tabled as an Agenda item for discussion at a later stage.
 
MINUTES No 22: 18 October 2006


The Committee adopted the minutes without amendments.

REPORT BY WORK GROUPS

Group 1

24 October 2006
Report back

The following reports were categorised as follows:

The following reports were categorised as A:
Defence
Transport
The Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA)
South African Diamond Board
ICASA
NEMISA
Cross Border Road Transport Agency
Estate Agency Affairs Board
The Group categorised the Special Report of the Auditor-General on the findings identified during an investigation into procurement at the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) – September 2006 as a Category A and recommends a hearing for Wednesday, 08 November 2006

The following reports were categorised as B:
Airports Company South Africa Limited
Alexkor
ARMSCOR
Arriva.Com
Castle of Good Hope
Communications
Council for the Build Environment (CBE)
Department of Trade and Industry
Independent Development Trust
Minerals and Energy
National Agricultural Marketing Council
National Electricity Regulator
National Gambling Board
National Lotteries Board
National Productivity Institute
National Research Foundation (NRF)
National Treasury
Nuclear Energy Corporation Limited (NECSA)
Public Works
Road Accident Fund
SA Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
South African National Road Agency
South African Rail Commuter Corporation
SABC
SABS
SARS
SENTECH
Rail Safety Regulator
Universal Services Agency


The following reports were categorised as C:
Competition Commission
Competition Tribunal
CSIR
DBSA
Electricity Distribution Industry
Export Credit Insurance Corporation
Fasset
Human Sciences Research Council
Industrial Development Corporation
International Trade Administration Commission
Khula Enterprises
National Empowerment Fund
National Nuclear Regulator
Post Office
SASRIA
South African National Accreditation System
South African Quality Institute
South African Reserve Bank
The Council for Geo Science

Oversight of SARCC operated properties

The Group reported that the preparations for the trip was finalised. Two additional members from the Portfolio Committee on Housing will be attending the trip to investigate the disrepair of houses owned by Metrorail and the SARCC. One member from the Portfolio Committee on Transport will also attend.

South African Diamond Board, Auditor General Reply to SCOPA 62nd Report 2005

The reply by the Auditor-General, tabled on Wednesday, 30 August 2006, indicates progress with regard to the recommendations stipulated in the SCOPA Sixty-Second Report 2005. The reply indicates that the representative from the Department of Minerals and Energy was tasked with sending a confidential letter recommending the way forward, to resolve the issue in the Sixty-Second Report, to the relevant Ministers concerned. The Auditor-General was still waiting on a reply from the Ministers.

The Group requested the Chairperson to follow up whether the Auditor-General has received any further information.

MATTERS ARISING OUT OF GROUP REPORT

CIPRO Hearing

Dr Nkem-Abonta raised a matter of procedure:
Plenary agreed that Groups would categorise all reports tabled by 31 October 2006. The Category A’s will then be prioritised and scheduled accordingly. Scheduling a hearing on CIPRO for 08 November 2006 violates this agreement and does not take into account other Category A reports that may be more important.    

Mr Trent indicated that a list of Special Reports not yet dealt with by SCOPA, tabled on 20 September 2006, must also be categorised by the Groups.

After discussions, the Committee restated the principle of dealing with reports tabled to SCOPA. Plenary refers reports tabled to it to the Group, the Group refers it to a Member to assess and report to the Group on a way forward. The Group, after agreement, reports to Plenary on the decision taken.

Committee decision:
The Committee agreed to the CIPRO hearing on 08 November 2006. The Special Reports, as tabled on 20 September 2006, is before the Group and they will assess it and report in due course.





Group 2

24 October 2006
Report back

The following reports were categorised as follows:

The following reports were categorised as A:
 
Afrikaanse Taal Museum                                   
Correctional Services                                        
DWAF                                                 
Education                                                         
Health                                                              
Home Affairs                                                     
Justice and Constitutional Development  
Nat House of Traditional Leaders                        
Playhouse Company                                         
SA national Aids Trust                           
Sport and Recreation SA                                   

The following reports were categorised as B:

Housing                                                           
MDB                                                                
National Forest Access Trust                             
NYC                                                                  
Prov and Local Government                                
SACE                                                              
SAQA                                                              

The following reports were categorised as C:

Artscape                                                          
Council for Medical Schemes                  + Question
Council on higher Education                               
ELRC                                                               

IMC                                                                 
Iziko Museums of Cape Town                  + Question
Municipal infrastructure investment Unit   + Question
National Film and Video Foundation         + Question
National housing Finance Corporation     
NHBRC                                                             +
Question
NSFAS                                                            
NURCHA                                                          
PACOFS                                                           +
Question
PHPTrust                                                          + Question
Presidency                                                       
Public Service and Administration                        + EOM
SA Institute for Drug Free Sports                         +
Question
SA Medical Research Council                 +
Question
SA Sports Commission                         
SAMDI                                                  + EOM
SERVCON Housing Solutions                
Social Housing Foundation                                 +
Question
STATSSA                                                         +
Question
Thubelisha Homes                                            
uMalusi Council for Quality Assurance    
Water Research Commission                             

Departments that continuously appear before SCOPA

The Group discussed the possibility of writing to the minister of a department that continuously appears before SCOPA to highlight the issues that need special intervention.

Debates of SCOPA Reports in National Assembly

The Group discussed and proposed reinstituting SCOPA debates in the National Assembly. It views the debates as a vehicle to highlight the state of departments that have been called for hearings and spotlight those that have not been called to a SCOPA hearing but whose financial management still requires attention.  

Annual Report of Parliament

The Group decided that the report should be categorized like any other report, and if it is a Category A, then schedule it for a hearing.


Categorisation of Reports

The Groups must check that all entities the Auditor-General listed in his briefing to SCOPA are categorised as a Category A. The Reports that are not yet tabled and still do not have S65 explanations must be forwarded to the Speaker as soon as possible.

Reports that do not have Financial Statements attached

The Group has a list of reports that do not contain financial statements such as the National House of Traditional Leaders. The Group requests the Auditor-General to clarify the status of these reports.

MATTERS ARISING OUT OF GROUP REPORT:

The Chairperson congratulated the Groups for their hard work and the Committee applauded finalising the categorisation of Annual Reports. 

Category B Reports

The Committee agreed that the Category B questions must be finalised as soon as possible. The Reports must stay on the Groups’ agenda until the department replies.

Departments that continuously appear before SCOPA

The Committee discussed the issue and agreed that it must raise the bar to deal with departments that have not shown any improvement. The Committee tasked the Management Committee to work out a plan to implement the following issues.

Regular debates in the National Assembly to highlight issues
Resolutions to take a more robust tone
A multi-front committee approach
Incisive questioning techniques
Formulating a partnership with the Public Service Commission


Reports that the National Assembly must still adopt

The Committee tasked the Secretariat with establishing the amount of reports that the National Assembly must still adopt. The House must adopt the outstanding reports before it adjourns.

Adoption of Category A Resolutions

The Committee adopted the following resolutions with amendments:

South African Local Government Association

The Department of Correctional Services



ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 13:00




Chairperson: Mr N T Godi                                                           Date:   



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