Report of the Select
Committee on Appropriations on its activities undertaken during the 4th
Parliament (May 2009 – March 2014)
1.
Introduction
1.1
Department/s and
Entities falling within the Committee’s portfolio
Due to the nature of
the Committee’s oversight role, all national and provincial departments as well
as municipalities, who receive conditional grants, fall within the Committee’s
field of oversight. National Treasury as well as provincial treasuries are also
vital stakeholders, as they are requested to make presentations whenever a
department or municipality reports to the Committee on its spending and the
performance of conditional grant funds.
With regard to other
stakeholders, the Financial and Fiscal Commission is a regular role player in
the Committee’s oversight work. In terms of the Money Bills Act, the Committee
must consider recommendations
of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, including those referred to in the
Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act, 1997 (Act No 97 of 1997). In addition,
the Commission is also invited to make presentations when the Committee
conducts oversight visits to specific provinces and municipalities. Another
stakeholder that the Committee interacts with whenever matters affecting municipalities
are considered is the South African Local Government Association (Salga). Other
stakeholders that the Committee interacts with when conducting oversight visits
to provinces and municipalities, are the Auditor-General of South Africa, the
Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, national and provincial
departments of Cooperative Governance and Eskom.
1.2
Functions of Committee:
Parliamentary committees, in general, are mandated to:
·
Monitor the financial and non-financial
performance of government departments and their entities to ensure that
national objectives are met.
·
Process and pass legislation.
·
Facilitate public participation in Parliament
relating to issues of oversight and legislation.
The Select Committee on Appropriations was established
in terms of Section 4(3) of the Money
Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, 2009.
According to Section 4(4) of this Act, “a committee on appropriations [in the
National Council of Provinces] has the power and functions conferred to it by
the Constitution, legislation, the standing rules or a resolution of a House,
including the considering and reporting on-
(a)
spending issues;
(b)
amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill,
the Appropriation Bill, Supplementary Appropriations Bills and the Adjustment
Appropriations Bill;
(c)
recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal
Commission, including those referred to in the Intergovernmental Fiscal
Relations Act, 1997 (No. 97 of 1997);
(d)
reports on actual expenditure published by
the National Treasury; and
(e)
any other related matter set out in this Act.
1.3
Method of work of the
Committee
The Committee dealt with the legislation referred to it in terms of the
requirements of the Money Bills Act, the Constitution and the Standing Rules of
the National Council of Provinces. This included placing newspaper
advertisements in all official languages to invite interesting persons and role
players to comment on the Division of Revenue and the Medium Term Budget Policy
Statement, as well as inviting specific stakeholders like the Financial and
Fiscal Commission, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and
the Municipal Demarcation Board to submit comments. In the case of the Division
of Revenue, which is Section 76 legislation, Members of the Committee also
briefed their respective provinces on the Bills. This exercise took place with
the technical assistance of officials from National Treasury. Thereafter the
Committee considered and adopted Negotiating and Final Mandates from provinces
before reporting on the Bill to the House.
With regard to the Committee’s oversight over
provincial conditional grant spending, the practice has mostly been to choose
the three or four worst performing provinces in a particular quarter of the
financial year and invite them, together with the national transferring
department and National Treasury to come and report to the Committee at a
hearing. The Committee would then report its findings and recommendations to
the House.
The Committee’s oversight role in respect of
conditional grant allocations and spending in the local government sphere has
mainly been a feature of oversight visits to a select number of municipalities
within a province that have been chosen for oversight. Hereby municipalities
are called upon to account before the Committee by reporting on conditional
grant expenditure and service delivery performance and explaining reasons for
any variation from budgetary and performance delivery targets.
The Committee has also on occasion undertaken
site inspections of projects funded by both provincial and local government
conditional grants to verify the outputs and also assess if there is value for
the money spent.
1.4
Purpose of the report
The purpose of this report is to provide an account of the Select
Committee on Appropriations’ work during the 4th Parliament and to
inform the Members of the new Parliament of key outstanding issues pertaining
to the oversight over the spending of conditional grant funds and the budget
process.
This report provides an overview of the activities the Committee
undertook during the 4th Parliament, the outcome of key activities,
as well as any challenges that emerged during the period under review and
issues that should be considered for follow up during the 5th
Parliament. It summarises the key issues for follow-up and concludes with
recommendations to strengthen operational and procedural processes to enhance
the Committee’s oversight and legislative roles in future.
2.
Key statistics
2.1 Meetings
The table below provides an overview of the number of meetings held,
legislation and international agreements processed and the number of oversight
trips and study tours undertaken by the Committee, as well as any statutory
appointments the Committee made, during the 4th Parliament:
Activity |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
Total |
Meetings held |
No meetings, the Committee started operating
in 2010/11 |
19 |
22 |
25 |
28 (up until 25
March) |
94 (up until 25
March) |
Legislation processed |
No meetings, the Committee started operating
in 2010/11 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
19 (up until 25
March) |
Oversight trips undertaken |
No meetings, the Committee started operating
in 2010/11 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
None |
4 |
Study tours undertaken |
No study tours were undertaken. The
Committee only started functioning in 2010/11 |
No study tours were undertaken. |
No study tours were undertaken. |
No study tours were undertaken. |
No study tours were undertaken. |
Nil |
International agreements processed |
No international agreements were processed
by the Committee. |
2 |
No international agreements were processed
by the Committee |
No international agreements were processed
by the Committee |
No international agreements were processed
by the Committee |
2 |
Statutory appointments made |
No statutory appointments were made by the
Committee. |
No statutory appointments were made by the
Committee. |
No statutory appointments were made by the
Committee. |
No statutory appointments were made by the
Committee. |
1 |
1 |
Interventions considered |
No interventions were considered by the
Committee. |
No interventions were considered by the
Committee |
No interventions were considered by the
Committee |
No interventions were considered by the
Committee |
No interventions were considered by the
Committee |
Nil |
Petitions considered |
No petitions were received by the Committee.
|
No petitions were received by the Committee. |
No petitions were received by the Committee. |
No petitions were received by the Committee. |
No petitions were received by the Committee. |
|
2.2 Reports (other than legislation)
Date |
Report |
Responsible
Department |
01 June 2010 |
Third Quarter of 2009/10 expenditure patterns of Community Library
Grant |
National and Provincial
Departments of Arts and Culture |
01 June 2010 |
Third Quarter 0f 2009/10
expenditure patterns of Devolution of Property Rates Grant |
National and Provincial
Departments of Public Works |
01 June 2010 |
Third Quarter of 2009/10
expenditure patterns of HIV and AIDS (Life Skills) Grant |
National and Provincial
Departments of Basic Education |
14 June 2010 |
Third Quarter of 2009/10
expenditure patterns of Comprehensive HIV and AIDS, Forensic Pathology and
Hospital Revitalisation Grants |
National and Provincial
Department of Health |
14 September 2010 |
First Quarter of 2010/11
expenditure patterns of National School Nutrition Grant |
National and Provincial
Department of Basic Education |
14 September 2010 |
Oversight visit to Eastern
Cape Municipalities |
Eastern Cape
Municipalities |
14 September 2010 |
First Quarter of 2010/11
expenditure patterns of Mass Participation and Sport Programme Grant |
National and Provincial
Departments of Sport and Recreation |
14 September 2010 |
First Quarter of 2010/11
National School Nutrition Programme Grant |
National and Provincial Departments of Basic Education |
09 March 2011 |
First Quarter of 2010/11 spending patterns of the Hospital
Revitalisation Grant |
National Department of Health |
22 June 2011 |
Third Quarter of 2010/11 expenditure patterns of Community Library
Grant |
National department of Arts and Culture |
19 October 2011 |
First Quarter of 2011/12 Spending of Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant |
National Department of Transport |
19 October 2011 |
First Quarter of 2011/12 spending of Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Grant,
Hospital Revitalisation grant and forensic Pathology Services Grant |
National Department of Health |
19 October 2011 |
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 spending patterns of Land Care Programme
Grant, and Poverty Relief and Infrastructure Development Grant |
National department of Agriculture |
19 October 2011 |
Oversight visit to Pelonomi Hospital in Free State to assess value for
money spent on Hospital Revitalisation Grant |
National Department of health |
19 October 2011 |
First Quarter of 2011/12 spending of Mass Sport and Recreation
Participation Programme Grant |
National Department of Sports and Recreation |
23 November 2011 |
Oversight visit to conditional grant projects in North West Province |
National Departments of Health, Public Works, Transport, Arts and
Culture, Sports and Recreation |
24 January 2012 |
Oversight visit to conditional grant projects in Northern Cape |
National Department of Education and Health |
05 June 2012 |
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 expenditure of Forensic Pathology Services
Grant |
National Department of Health |
19 September 2012 |
Fourth Quarter expenditure of Community Library Services Grant |
National Department of Arts and Culture |
19 September 2012 |
Progress Report on 12 Eastern Cape Municipalities visited in 2010 |
Department of Cooperative Governance |
19 September 2012 |
Progress Report on Northern Cape and North West Hospital Revitalisation
Grant |
National Department of Health |
19 September 2012 |
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 Dinaledi Schools Grant, Technical secondary
Schools Recapitalisation Grant and Schools Infrastructure Backlog Grant |
Department of Basic Education |
27 November 2012 |
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 expenditures of Social sector Expanded Public
Works Programme Incentive Grant |
National Department of Public Works |
27 November 2012 |
Progress Report on Local Turn-Around Strategy, Operation Clean Audit by
2014 and establishment of Municipal Infrastructure Support agency |
National Department of Cooperative Governance |
08 May 2013 |
Report on the Appointment of Director for Parliamentary Budget Office |
Parliament |
18 June 2013 |
Fourth Quarter of 2012/13 expenditure of Community Library Services
Grant |
National Department of Arts and Culture |
18 June 2013 |
Fourth Quarter of 2012/13 expenditure of Ilima/Litsema Project Grant |
National Department of Agriculture |
18 June 2013 |
Third and Fourth Quarter of 2012/13 of Dinaledi Schools Grant |
Department of Basic Education |
18 June 2013 |
Third and Fourth of 2012/13 Quarter expenditure of National Health
Insurance Grant |
National Department of Health |
18 June 2013 |
Report on FFC submission on Local Government Fiscal Framework |
Department of Finance |
09 October 2013 |
First Quarter of 2013/14 of Human Settlements Development Grant |
National Department of Human Settlements |
09 October 2013 |
Annual Performance Evaluation Report of Provincial Roads maintenance
Grant |
National Department of Transport |
09 October 2013 |
Annual Performance of Further Education and Training Colleges Grant for
2012/13 |
Department of Higher Education |
13 November 2013 |
Medium Term Budget Policy Statement |
Department of Finance |
3.
Issues arising from
hearings
With regard to the Committee’s oversight over
provincial conditional grant spending, the key findings are as follows:
·
A number of grants register significant
under-expenditure at financial year-end.
·
Under-expenditure is more prevalent in respect
of capital grant allocations, which can mainly be attributed to poor planning
and budgeting.
·
Poor capital grant expenditure has also been
attributed to a lack of expertise in terms of project and contract management,
lack of technical expertise such as engineering and poor performance of
contractors due to a lack of appropriate supervision by the contracting
department or implementing agent.
·
Grant under-expenditure is mainly attributed
to significant capacity constraints within both the national and provincial
departments with regard to the availability of human resources; grant
management ability; inadequate supply chain management skills; and a lack of
budgeting and monitoring and evaluation skills.
·
Under-expenditure of grant allocations at
year-end is generally accompanied by requests for roll-overs. The approval of
rolled-over funds in most cases was not a guarantee in itself that the
rolled-over funds are spent according to the grant framework. National Treasury
as the approver was accordingly advised to strengthen its oversight over
roll-over requests and was requested to report to Parliament whether the
rolled-over funds were spent accordingly.
·
Fiscal dumping[1]
is also a major feature of some grants, which in turn undermines the
credibility of the grant expenditure. In addition, when fiscal dumping takes
place, funds are usually spent on goods and services that are unrelated to the
purpose of the grant.
·
Expenditure of grant allocations is sometimes
used to fund other operational expenses such as staff salaries which is not compliant
with the conditional grant framework.
·
Reporting of grant expenditure against
projected quarterly budget targets is lacking, which made it difficult for the
Committee to gauge whether grant expenditure is on track or deviating from
planned expenditure. This highlights the need for national departments,
together with provincial departments and National Treasury, to develop sectoral
budgeting norms per quarter that takes into account the nature and
implementation conditions of the relevant sector.
·
Reporting of non-financial performance
information has also been poor. Both national and provincial departments would
report on service delivery outputs but in the absence of predetermined targets.
This kind of reporting is meaningless because it does not allow the Committee
to perform its oversight role in determining whether grant spending is
resulting in the desired service delivery outcomes.
The Committee in its oversight over
provincial conditional grants have made countless recommendations in respect of
improving both the quality of grant spending and service delivery outputs and
the reporting thereof. The Committee has also made follow-ups regarding the
implementation of its recommendations in order to ensure progress is made with
regard to the quality of conditional grant spending and service delivery
outputs with the intent purpose of supporting departments in achieving the
goals of the grant.
4.
Legislation
The following pieces of legislation were referred to the Committee and processed
during the 4th Parliament:
Year |
Name of Legislation |
Tagging |
Objectives |
Completed/Not Completed |
2009/10 |
No Legislation was referred. The Committee operated with effect from
2010. |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
|
|
|
|
|
2010/11 |
Division of Revenue
Bill [B4 – 2010] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year |
Completed |
|
Appropriation Bill [B3 – 2010] |
Section 75 |
To appropriate money from the National
Revenue Fund for the requirements of the State for the 2011/12 financial
year. |
Completed |
|
Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [B35 – 2010] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year |
Completed |
|
Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B34 – 2010] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three
spheres of government |
Completed |
|
|
|
|
|
2011/12 |
Finance
Bill [B5 – 2012] |
Section 77 |
To approve unauthorised expenditure |
Completed |
|
Additional
Adjustment Appropriation Bill [B6 – 2012] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate an additional amount of
money for the requirements of the Department of Transport for the 2011/12
financial year to support the SA National Roads Agency in paying debt
relating to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project |
Completed |
|
Division of Revenue
Bill [B4 – 2011] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year |
Completed |
|
Appropriation Bill [B3 – 2011] |
Section 75 |
To appropriate money from the National
Revenue Fund for the requirements of the State for the 2011/12 financial
year. |
Completed |
|
Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [B17 – 2011] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year |
Completed |
|
Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B18 – 2011] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three
spheres of government |
Completed |
|
|
|
|
|
2012/13 |
Division
of Revenue Bill [B4 – 2012] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2012/13 financial year |
Completed |
|
Appropriation
Bill [B3 – 2012] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate money from the National
Revenue Fund for the requirements of the State for the 2012/13 financial
year. |
Completed |
|
Division
of Revenue Amendment Bill [33-2012] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2012/13 financial year |
Completed |
|
Adjustments
Appropriation Bill [B32-2012] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three
spheres of government |
Completed |
|
|
|
|
|
2013/14 |
Division
of Revenue Bill [B2 - 2013] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2013/14 financial year |
Completed |
|
Appropriation
Bill [B1
– 2013] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate money from the National
Revenue Fund for the requirements of the State for the 2013/14 financial
year. |
Completed |
|
Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [38 -2013] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2013/14 financial year |
Completed |
|
Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B37 -2013] |
Section 77 |
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three
spheres of government |
Completed |
|
Division of Revenue Bill [B5 – 2014] |
Section 76 |
To provide for the equitable division of
revenue raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2014/15 financial year |
Completed (on 25 March 2014) |
a) Challenges emerging
The following challenges emerged during the
processing of legislation:
·
Technical/operational challenges that were encountered relate to
constraints created by the Parliamentary Programme that at times would not
provide sufficient time for the Committee to comply with time frames in terms
of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, 2009 as well as
Mandating Procedures of Provinces Act, 2008. This in some instances led to
clashes in NCOP processes with some Provincial Legislature processes.
·
Content-related challenges:
Although over the course of the Fourth
Parliament, the Committee has not proposed any amendments to the Division of
Revenue Bills, the Committee has raised a number of issues for consideration by
the Minister of Finance. Some of the issues that were raised during the
Committee interaction with National Treasury and also in Committee Reports are
as follows:
- Strengthening payment schedules of
conditional grants to create certainty for receiving institutions;
- How to avoid the unintended consequences of
withholding of funds;
- Ensuring that devolution of functions to
other spheres of government does not lead to unfunded mandates, by making
sure that funding follows functions;
- Poor infrastructure management (maintenance
and repairs) by municipalities that contributes to increasing backlogs, aging
infrastructure, wastage/spillage and poor service delivery;
- Revision of local government equitable share
of revenue formula; and
- Provision of funding to ensure that changes
in municipal boundaries that lead to merging of certain municipalities minimise
unintended consequences such as inheritance of debts, backlogs and contractual
obligations.
b) Issues for follow-up
The 5th Parliament should consider
following up on the following concerns that arose:
During the 5th Parliament the
Committee should ensure that its legislative plans and processes are timeously
shared with the Provincial Legislatures as well as Parliament as a whole to
ensure that there is an alignment of plans and processes within Parliament and
also Legislatures.
5.
Oversight trips
undertaken
The following oversight trips were undertaken:
Date |
Area Visited |
Objective |
Issues to be followed up from Committee Recommendations |
Status of Report |
27- 30 July 2010 |
Eastern Cape |
Meetings with identified Eastern
Cape municipalities and other stakeholders |
·
A joint follow-up visit with the Select
Committee on Local Government and Traditional Affairs, to ascertain the
progress made with implementation of commitments by stakeholders in trying to
assist the above municipalities, should be considered. ·
The Public Protector should investigate the
misappropriation of funds by municipalities. ·
The National and Provincial Department of Cooperative
Governance, the Auditor-General, Provincial and National Treasury should
contribute to the Municipal Turnaround Strategy by developing tools to assist
municipalities to comply with all provisions of the Municipal Finance
Management Act. |
Adopted by House |
16-19 August 2011 |
Free State |
Site visit to Pelonomi Hospital to
monitor progress with the Hospital Revitalisation Project |
The Free State
Health Department should work closely with and support the consultants it
appoints to monitor the quality of work of contractors and furthermore be
vigilant and make every effort to avoid overspending on its projects. |
Adopted by House |
14 October 2011 |
North West |
Briefings by
provincial departments and to visit hospitals, community libraries and road
maintenance projects to monitor spending on conditional grants |
The national
Department of Health should investigate factors contributing to the
escalating costs of hospital projects. |
Adopted by House |
24 – 27 January 2012 |
Northern Cape |
|
·
The National Department of
Health should conduct thorough investigations into the Northern Cape Mental
Health Hospital Project, as the completion date was shifted back yearly and
the costs kept escalating. ·
The Northern Cape Department of
Health should refrain from contravening the Division of Revenue Act by
spending conditional grant funds meant for other projects on the Northern
Cape Mental Health Project. ·
The capacity of the Northern Cape provincial
departments of Education and of Health to manage capital infrastructure
projects was a concern and the Committee recommended that the national
departments of Basic Education and Health should consider providing in-house
building engineers to these provincial departments. ·
The Committee further
recommended that the Northern Cape Department of Education consider
utilising the 5 percent allocation for staff within each conditional grant to
employ project managers and support staff to manage grants. |
Adopted by House |
21-24 August 2012 |
21-24 August 2012 |
|
·
Measures taken to improve audit outcomes of municipalities. ·
Steps taken to enforce municipalities’ compliance with
legislation and policies. ·
Follow up on servicing of ESKOM
debt by Randfontein Local Municipality. ·
Follow-up on steps taken against employees who failed to disclose
their interests. ·
Action taken against section 21 schools who owe municipalities. ·
Measures in place to minimise losses of water and electricity in
municipalities. |
Adopted by House |
a) Challenges emerging
The following challenges emerged during the oversight
visits:
·
Technical/operational challenges encountered have to do with the
congested Parliamentary and NCOP Programmes and activities that at times led to
the cancellation of planned oversight trips.
b) Issues for follow-up
The 5th Parliament should consider
following up on the following concerns that arose:
·
To ensure that Committee oversight activities are not compromised by
other Parliament/NCOP Programmes and activities
6.
Study tours
undertaken
No study tours were undertaken due to time constraints and Parliamentary
Programmes /activities.
7.
International
Agreements and protocols:
Year |
Nature of the agreement |
Purpose |
Completion |
2011 |
Trade agreement |
Agreement between
Republic of South Africa and Republic of Kenya for the avoidance of double
taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on
income. |
Completed |
2011 |
Protocol |
Protocol between
the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to amend the conversion
for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion
with respect to taxes on income and on capital gains |
Completed |
8.
Statutory
appointments
In terms of subsections
15(5) (a) and (b) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters, Act
2009, the Committee must recommend to the House a person for appointment as the
Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office, as well as the conditions of
service including the salary of the Director. The following appointment was made:
Date |
Type of appointment |
Period of appointment |
Status of Report |
9 May 2013 |
Director of Parliamentary Budget Office |
Five years |
Adopted by House |
a) Challenges emerging
The following challenges emerged during the statutory
appointments:
·
Technical/operational challenges were due to a lack of clarity on the
appropriate procedure to be followed when appointing the Director for the
Parliamentary Budget Office. In terms of section 15(7) of the Act, any
Committee considering making a recommendation for the appointment of the
Director for the Parliamentary Budget Office must do so in an open and
transparent manner. This section however does not unequivocally stipulate that
a formal interview process should be followed hence no formal interviews were
conducted when the current Director was recommended for appointment.
b) Issues for follow-up
The 5th Parliament should consider
following up on the following concerns that arose:
·
The Committee during the 5th Parliament should ensure that the
procedure to be followed when appointing the Director for the Parliamentary
Budget Office is unequivocally stipulated by means of either
legislation/Rules/policies to avoid any ambiguity in this process.
9.
Interventions
No interventions were
referred to the Committee.
10.
Petitions
No petitions were
referred to the Committee.
11.
Obligations conferred
on Committee by legislation:
As mentioned above, the Committee was
established in terms of Section 4(3) of the Money Bills Act.
According to Section 4(4) of this Act, “a committee on appropriations [in the
National Council of Provinces] has the power and functions conferred to it by
the Constitution, legislation, the standing rules or a resolution of a House,
including the considering and reporting on-
(a)
spending issues;
(b)
amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill,
the Appropriation Bill, Supplementary Appropriations Bills and the Adjustment
Appropriations Bill;
(c)
recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal
Commission, including those referred to in the Intergovernmental Fiscal
Relations Act, 1997 (No. 97 of 1997);
(d)
reports on actual expenditure published by
the National Treasury; and
(e)
any other related matter set out in this Act.”
12.
Summary of outstanding
issues relating to the department/entities that the Committee has been
grappling with
The following key issues are outstanding from the Committee’s activities
during the 4th Parliament:
Responsibility |
Issue(s) |
Department of Higher Education |
Response to the Committee Report dated 09
October 2013 |
National Department of Transport |
Response to the Committee Report dated 09
October 2013 |
Department of Human Settlements |
Response to the Committee Report dated 09
October 2013 |
13.
Recommendations
As
indicated earlier on there is a need for proper planning and alignment of the
Parliamentary Programme and activities of the two Houses of Parliament as well
as Provincial Legislatures to enable the Committee to comply with legislative
processes as well as its oversight work.
14.
Committee strategic
plan
The Committee held its first strategic
planning workshop during March 2011. An updated strategic plan was adopted
during a second workshop on 26 July 2012.
[1] Fiscal dumping refers to the expenditure phenomenon whereby departments under-spend significantly on their budget in the first nine months of the financial year, only to spend a greater proportion (i.e. between 40 to 50 percent) of their allocated budgets in the fourth and final quarter of the financial year.