Question NW3000 to the Minister of Human Settlements
16 September 2022 - NW3000
Malatsi, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Human Settlements
Whether she and/or her Department submitted a policy review document and/or any other government policy document to structures outside of the Government, either to private and/or external structures or structures of any political affiliation during the past five years; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) will she furnish Mr M S Malatsi with copies of all such documents and (b) what are the reason that the Government documents were provided to each structure?
Reply:
No. The Department’s policy review and development process is informed and guided by the National Policy Development Framework, approved by Cabinet in 2020. The process sets out the following:
(a) A political manifesto of the Governing Party is a public declaration of policy and programmes aimed at improving the lives of citizens. These priorities are further processed through the government for implementation.
(b) The Manifesto of the Governing Party is processed for implementation through the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF). The MTSF is the government’s strategic plan which reflects commitments made in the election manifesto of the governing party, as well as priorities of the National Development Plan (NDP).
The Framework guides the Department on policy review, policy development, policy authorisation, policy implementation and policy analysis. It sets standards and guiding principles for the entire policy making cycle and clarifies approaches to intra/inter departmental consultation and external stakeholder consultations during policy-making processes. The Framework enlightens the process through which a platform is created for an interaction between the Department and consultation with communities for participatory-based evidence.
In addition, since Housing is a concurrent function, the Department has a structured and systematic policy approval process which includes a multi-sectoral intergovernmental consultation forum in the form of the National Policy Task Team (NPTT). The NPTT comprises of Provinces, Metropolitan Municipalities, South African Local Government Association (SALGA); Human Settlements Entities, Civil Society, Chapter Nine Institutions, i.e. South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC); Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), etc. To establish the envisaged developmental impact, rationale, associated risks, cost estimates and quality standards, the draft policy is subjected to the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) exercise at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME).
If necessary, the draft policy will then be shared with the Chief State Law Advisor for concurrence. Thereafter it will be submitted for approval to a pertinent Ministerial Cluster, Ministers and Members of Executive Councils (MINMEC) and Technical MINMEC forums.