PUBLIC ENTERPRISES PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE

BUSINESS PLAN FOR 2005-2006

Draft 1 - 17 August 2004
  1. Introduction
    1. All Portfolio Committees are required to prepare Business Plans as a basis for their annual budgets submitted to the House Chairperson responsible for Committees. However, it is recognized that:

Hence the expectation is not that Committees will have prepared fully-fledged

Business Plans this time around. At the least, the outlines of a Business Plan for the 2005-2006 will be prepared.
    1. Ideally, the Committees should have a three-year Business Plan to coincide with the three-year Strategic Plans of the Ministry and Department. This is what we have to work towards.
    2. For now, key elements of a Business Plan for the 2005-6 financial year will be provided. The Business Plan will be developed further at the beginning of the new financial year and a full programme will be devised for the 2005-6 financial year.
    3. This Business Plan must be seen as a development of the 2004 bridging programme "Towards Developing a Longer Term Programme: Setting the Foundations" adopted on 4 August 2004.

 

  1. Vision
    1. Essentially, the vision of the Committee is: a strong and effective Public Enterprises Portfolio Committee fulfilling its oversight and other responsibilities in respect of the Ministry and Department of Public Enterprises and the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs).

     

  2. Mission
    1. To effectively fulfill our oversight role in respect of the Ministry and Department of Public Enterprises and the SOEs.
    2. To ensure that the SOEs effectively and efficiently serve the service delivery and developmental goals of the country.

     

  3. Broader Context for 2005-6 Programme
    1. As pointed out in 1.4 above, the 2005-6 programme will be a development of the bridging programme adopted in August 2004.
    2. It will take into account the President’s State of Nation address, the Minister of Finance’s Budget Speech, the Strategic Plan of the Department, the budget of the Department and the Annual Report.

     

  4. Budget of Ministry and Department
    1. The Committee will pay keen attention to the new Strategic Plan of the Ministry and Department for 2005-2008 and the MTEF and budget for 2005-6. The Committee will examine how the Strategic Plan and budget align with the President’s State Of Nation address and the Finance Minister’s Budget speech. The relationship between the plan and the allocation of funds to the programmes will be carefully considered. The Committee will also seek to get a sense of how the money allocated in the 2004-5 budget was spent and what progress was achieved in meeting the objectives set out for that financial year.

    2. The Committee will also consider the Ministry and Department’s Annual Report in October and get a fuller sense of how the previous budget was used, what progress achieved, and what lessons drawn.
    3. The Committee will also organize two workshops to empower members to be better able to deal with budgetary issues.

     

  5. General Oversight of Ministry and Department
    1. We will continuously engage with the Ministry and Department on progress on its plans and programmes. This will take a variety of forms.
  6. Legislation

7. 1 At this stage, the Department has no plans to introduce legislation during 2005-6

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7.2 There may be legislation before other Portfolio Committees that affects our Committee. If so, we will work with these Committees in processing the legislation.

7.3 Together with the Transport Portfolio Committee, we will monitor the implementation of the National Ports Authority Bill.

8. Assessing Progress of SOEs
    1. By the beginning of the 2005-6 financial year, the SOEs will be much clearer about the role they are going to play over the next period, particularly during this third term of parliament. They will also be clear about their measureable objectives and the programmes to achieve them. The Committee will also have a better grasp of the SOEs by then. So the Committee will be able to more effectively monitor and contribute to the progress of the SOEs during 2005-6.

 

  1. Study Tours
    1. The Committee will undertake further study tour of the SOEs. The exact programme will be determined in early 2005, based on study tours already undertaken and needs that arise during the months ahead.
    2. The Committee will also undertake a study tour of a social democratic-type country in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, probably South America.

     

  2. Research Support
    1. Given the increased emphasis on the role of SOEs and the scope and technical nature of the work of this Portfolio Committee, we will need considerable research support, if we are to effectively fulfill our oversight role. The aim is to also secure a full-time researcher for the Committee.

11. Workshops
    1. There will be 4 workshops held to empower members to play our oversight role more effectively.

 

 

12. Business Plan as Basis for Budget and a Full Programme for 2005-6
    1. This Business Plan will serve as a basis for the budget we submit for 2005-6 and the full programme we determine for that financial year in early 2005.

13. Performance Management
    1. We need to develop a system to monitor our own performance. In future Business Plans we need to set clear objectives, performance indicators and time frames, and we need to regularly assess our own progress in achieving goals that we have set.