ATC130605: Report of the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plan and Budget of the National Youth Development Agency, dated 5 June 2013
Standing Committee on Auditor General
REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN, ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN AND BUDGET OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, DATED 5 JUNE 2013
1.
Introduction
In terms of section 10 (1) (c) of
the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, No 9 of 2009, the
relevant members of Cabinet must table updated strategic plans for each
Department, public entity or institution, which must be referred to the
relevant committee for consideration and report. The Strategic Plan for
2013-2018, the 2013/14 Annual Performance Plan (APP) and the Budget of the
National Youth Development Agency were tabled in Parliament on 23 April 2013.
Furthermore, a revised Strategic Plan for 2013-2018, and revised 2013/14 Annual
Performance Plan were tabled on 15 May 2013. The revised documents were
referred to the Standing Committee on Appropriations on 21 May 2013. On 15 May
2013, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency: Performance Monitoring and
Evaluation as well as Administration, Mr O
Bapela
,
the Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency Board, Mr Y Pillay,
the Chief Executive Officer and senior officials briefed the Standing Committee
on Appropriations (herein after referred to as the Committee) on the revised
Strategic Plan for the 2013 - 2018 and the Annual Performance Plan and budget
for the 2013/14 financial year.
2.
Mandate of the National Youth Development Agency
The National Youth
Development Agency (herein after referred to as the NYDA) is a national public
entity owned and funded by government.
It was launched on 16 June 2009
(Youth Day) by the President of the
The
NYDA is a South African Youth Agency established primarily to tackle challenges
faced by the countrys young people. The institution was established to be a
single, unitary structure, to address youth development issues at all spheres
of government. The existence of the NYDA should be located within the broad
context of
The
NYDA seeks to play a leading role in ensuring that all major stakeholders, i.e.
government, private sector and civil society, prioritise youth development and
contribute towards identifying and implementing lasting solutions which address
youth development challenges.
The
NYDA derives its mandate from various legislative frameworks, including the
National Youth
Development Agency Act, No 58 of 2008 (NYDA Act), the National Youth Policy
(2009 2014) and the Draft Integrated Youth Development Strategy. The NYDA
mandate as outlined in the NYDA Act can be summarized as follows:
·
To lobby and advocate for
integration and mainstreaming of youth development in all spheres of
government, private sector and civil society;
·
To initiate, implement, facilitate
and coordinate youth development programmes;
·
Monitor and evaluate youth
development intervention across the board; and mobilise youth for active
participation in civil society engagements.
3.
Strategic Shifts for the 2013 MTEF
As from 01 April 2013 a new Board of
the NYDA assumed office. The new Board committed to the citizens of the country
to restore the image and credibility of the NYDA.
The broad review of the mandate and
operations of the NYDA by the new board with vital inputs and guidance from the
Committee led to the realization that the mandate of the NYDA in its current
form is too broad thus making it difficult to have focused interventions.
The
NYDA has also experienced challenges in the effective implementation and
monitoring of youth development programmes at provincial and local levels. As a
result thereof, it has been proposed that the NYDA Act must be reviewed in
order to streamline the
NYDAs
mandate and give the
NYDA powers to coordinate and implement youth development at provincial level.
The NYDA indicated that the draft legislation has been completed with inputs
from various stakeholders including Office of the Premiers and government
departments and is currently undergoing legal scrutiny.
The NYDA
will prioritise education and skills development as its core area of emphasis
in the rollout of all its programmes in the 2013 MTEF. This emanates from the
realisation that a lack of skills is consistently identified as the major
impediment in efforts to successfully drive youth development.
To ensure
that high standards of honesty and integrity are entrenched and maintained
within the Agency, a new Social and Ethics Committee will be established in the
2013/14 financial year.
The NYDA has adopted a new vision,
mission and value statements in line with its plans to restore public
confidence in the Agency. The NYDA also undertook several key strategic shifts
in ensuring it fulfils its commitment to restore its image and
credibility.
The new vision, mission,
value statements and strategic shifts for the 2013 MTEF are outlined below:
Vision
·
To be a Credible and Capable
Development Agency for
·
To mainstream
youth issues into society; and
·
To facilitate youth development with
all sectors of society.
Value
Statements
·
Excellence, Honesty and Integrity,
Respect, Care, Punctuality; and Timeliness.
Key Strategic Shifts
·
Comprehensive review of the
NYDAs
goals, strategy and outcomes;
·
Reduction of the Key Performance Areas from 10 to 5 to
ensure more focused youth interventions, and;
·
Reducing the Key Performance Indicators from 72 to 27 to
make performance measurement more realistic.
·
Adoption of the grant funding model to replace the
enterprise loan finance mechanism
4.
Strategic
Outcomes
The Revised Strategic Plan and
Annual Performance Plan of the NYDA for the 2013/14 financial year are informed
by the following four strategic outcomes:
·
Improved and sustainable livelihood opportunities for young
people in
·
Enhanced enabling environment that promotes youth
development in all sectors of South African Society
·
Enhanced participation of young people in social cohesion
towards nation building.
·
Develop and enhance a credible and capable youth development
Agency
5.
Key
Performance Areas
To implement the above-mentioned
strategic outcomes the NYDA will focus on the following 5 Key Performance
Areas:
·
Economic Participation
·
Education and Skills Development
·
Policy Research and Development
·
Health and Well-being
·
Governance and Administration
6.
Overview of
the Budget for the 2013 MTEF
Table 1: Budget Summary for the 2013
MTEF
Budget and Revenues
|
Main
Appropriation
|
Medium-Term Estimates
|
|
Programmes Budget Excl. Compensation of Employees
|
2013/14
R000
|
2014/15
R000
|
2015/16
R000
|
Economic Development
|
51 837
|
54 377
|
56 878
|
Executive Directors Office
|
16 471
|
17 278
|
18 072
|
Communications and Public Relation
|
22 159
|
23 245
|
24 314
|
Corporate Services
|
54 808
|
57 494
|
60 139
|
Research and Policy
|
18 921
|
19 848
|
20 761
|
Partnership and Stakeholder Management
|
1 586
|
1 664
|
1 740
|
Financial Management
|
7 488
|
7 855
|
8 210
|
Chief Executive Office
|
6 007
|
6 302
|
6 592
|
Information Communication Technology
|
14 645
|
15 363
|
16 070
|
National Youth Service and Skills Development
|
53 649
|
56 277
|
58 866
|
Service Delivery Channel
|
7 434
|
7 799
|
8 157
|
Chief Operating Office
|
1 092
|
1 145
|
1 198
|
Total Programmes Excl.
Compensation of Employees
|
256 097
|
268 647
|
280 997
|
Economic Classification
|
|
|
|
Compensation of Employees
|
171 467
|
179 869
|
188 143
|
Goods and Services
|
256 097
|
268 646
|
280 997
|
Payments of Capital Assets
|
4 862
|
5 101
|
5 335
|
Total Budget
|
432 426
|
453 616
|
474 475
|
Transfer from Vote 1: Presidency
|
392 710
|
411 237
|
425 765
|
Interest and Capital Repayments
|
39 716
|
42 379
|
48 710
|
Total Revenues
|
432 426
|
453 616
|
474 475
|
The
NYDAs
budget is included under Vote 1-the Presidency. The total budgeted transfer
from the Presidency to the NYDA for the 2013/14 financial year amounts to
R392.7 million. The budget transferred to the NYDA increases over the medium
term to R411.2 million in 2014/15 and R425.8 million in 2015/16.
In addition to the transferred
budget allocation, the NYDA raises its own revenue through interest income and
capital repayments on loans and an amount of R39.7 million has been budgeted
for in 2013/14. The consolidated budget of the NYDA therefore amounts to R432.4
million in 2013/14, R453.6 million in 2014/15 and R474.5 million in 2015/16.
The NYDA indicated that a key strategy for enhancing the effectiveness of the
utilization of resources in the 2013 MTEF will be a shift in emphasis in
spending away from internal operations and move towards prioritizing
expenditure to outward focused youth development service delivery programmes.
The 2013/14 budget allocation for
the NYDA shows that the programmes receiving the largest allocations were
Corporate Services
at R54.8 million
followed by
National Youth Service and
Skills Development
at R53.6 million and
Economic
Development
at R51.8 million. The budget allocation for Compensation of
Employees was R171.5 million in the 2013/14 financial year and shows inflation
linked growth in the medium term. Spending reductions of R25.5 million have
been effected in the medium term in the budget allocation of the NYDA as part
of Cabinet approved budget reductions.
7.
Strategic
Outcomes and Key Performance Areas
7.1
Strategic
Outcome Goal One
Strategic Outcome
Goal One:
Improved and sustainable
livelihoods opportunities for young people in
In enhancing
the participation of young people in the economy, the NYDA plans to establish
500 youth owned enterprises and provide support to 37,975 youth enterprises in
2013/14. The target for the establishment of 500 enterprises will be spread
throughout the provinces, i.e.
The Education
and Skills Development KPA aims to facilitate and implement education
opportunities to improve the quality of education attainment for the youth and
also to facilitate and implement skills programmes. In facilitating and
implementing education programmes, the NYDA will support 130 young people
through the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship programme in the 2013/14 financial
year. Three thousand young people will be enrolled for the
Matric
-rewrite
programme in 2013/14 and the number is set to increase to over 4,000 in
2015/16. The NYDA will continue supporting young people through career
programmes and 700,000 young people will benefit from the programme in
2013/14.
In driving
its skills programme for young people, the NYDA plans to have 1,500 young
people participating in structured Youth Build programmes aimed at empowering
and capacitating youth in communities. The Youth Build programme seeks to
develop the academic, leadership and technical skills of young people through
on-the-job training opportunities in the construction sector. It is envisaged
that this programme will be expanded to other sectors such as the Information
Communication Technology (ICT) sector in the medium term.
In addition
, 100,000 young people
will be supported through the job preparedness programmes.
The Health
and Well-being KPA under Strategic Outcome Goal One aims to
improve the health and wellbeing of young
people to allow them to productively lead fulfilling socio-economic lives
associated with a responsible and sustainable nation.
In particular, the
NYDA plans to benefit 5,000 young people through various health and wellbeing
intervention programmes.
7.2
Strategic
Outcome Goal Two
Strategic
Outcome Goal Two:
Enhanced enabling
environment that promotes youth development in all sectors of South African
Society
comprises of the Key Performance Area: Policy and Research
Development. The Policy Research Development KPA aims to develop a body of
knowledge and best practice in the youth development sector to inform and
influence policy development, planning and implementation. The key objectives
of Policy and Research development are:
-
To create and produce
information and knowledge for better youth development planning and
decision making.
-
To provide access to
information and create awareness of youth
development programmes
-
To lobby key stakeholders to
support and implement youth development programmes
-
To create a platform for youth
to participate and benefit from democratic processes and promote social
cohesion
-
To mobilize and leverage
financial resources from third parties
The NYDA
plans to design five new youth development programmes and produce 80 knowledge
management and youth related reports in the 2013/14 financial year. In
addition, the NYDA plans to complete 100 evaluation reports of programmes and
projects that it has undertaken. The NYDA intends to establish the Youth
Development Institute (YDI) in 2013/14. The institute will serve as the central
hub for youth related research projects and it will partner with various
research bodies and institutions of higher learning. Part of the outputs
envisaged for the YDI include the formulation of the Youth Development Index
that will assist in gauging progress the country is making in addressing youth
development challenges. Other key projects to be undertaken under Policy and
Research Development include, namely:
·
Development of
Youth
Employment Strategy for
·
National Youth Service Programme, the NYDA to lead the
review and reframing of current models of the National Youth Service Approach;
·
Re-drafting of the National Youth Policy 2015-2020 and the
Integrated Youth Development Strategy in conjunction with the Public Service
Commission;
·
Design and implementation of special projects to address the
needs of people with disabilities and implementation of the Rural Youth
Development Strategy; and;
·
Two percent of all programme interventions will be
ring-fenced towards supporting the needs of people with disabilities.
The NYDA
indicated that the revised Integrated Youth Development Strategy will be
completed by the end of the financial year. The NYDA plans to have 700,000
young people receiving information on youth development through the Agencys
access points. In fulfilling its key objective of
lobbying key
stakeholders to support and implement youth development programmes, the NYDA
plans to
lobby
30 private and public entities to establish youth directorates. In addition,
the Agency intends to establish 70 partnerships across government, the private
sector and civil society. The NYDA indicated that it has been in discussions
with Telkom and its cellular phone subsidiary 8ta on ways to utilise young
people in its marketing activities.
To expand its
reach to all young South Africans, the NYDA plans to host 106 dialogue sessions
with young people and will mobilise 1,500 young women and disabled youth to
participate in youth development programmes. The NYDA plans to mobilise and
leverage financial resources from third parties and aims to raise R80 million
in the 2013/14 financial year.
7.3
Strategic
Outcome Goal Three
Strategic
Outcome Goal Three:
Enhanced
participation of young people in social cohesion towards nation building
comprises
of the Key Performance Area: Health and Well-being. This KPA seeks to increase
awareness on the health lifestyles that promote good health practices amongst
the youth of
7.4
Strategic
Outcome Goal Four
Strategic
Outcome Goal Four:
Develop and enhance a credible and capable youth development Agency
comprises of the Key Performance Area: Governance and Administration.
This strategic outcome area is defined as the efficient and effective
utilisation of resources through the provision of judicious governance,
technology and systems, business operation systems, human capital and financial
management systems that adhere to relevant legislative requirements. The NYDA
has attained an unqualified audit opinion for the past three financial years.
In addition, t
he Board has capacitated and
instructed the audit committee of the organization to perform more regular
audits to ensure compliance and improved processes in key governance areas such
as supply chain audits and value add audits.
The NYDA will
develop a systems roadmap in 2013/14 through the auditing of its Information
Technology (IT) systems for efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, there
will be a review of the current business processes to ensure that processes are
aligned to the programmes and products and services. The Agency plans to
further expand its reach and will establish 30 access points in the 2013/14
financial year. The Agency will train and capacitate 400 staff to ensure the
effective delivery of youth development services
8.
Deliberations
The
Committee welcomed the Boards commitment to restore the image and credibility
of the NYDA. It supported the change in the
NYDAs
strategic direction towards more focused interventions and was of the view that
the shifts will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the NYDA operations
and outputs.
The
Committee enquired from the NYDA whether they had a proper transition plan in
place for the implementation of the new grant funding model. The Committee was
of the view that a transition plan would assist in strengthening public
confidence in the organization and its funding programmes. It was indicated
that such a plan must encompass transparency in the administration of grant
funding through clear criteria and guidelines for accessing grant funding and
accountability mechanisms for beneficiaries. The Committee viewed the
submission and thorough analysis of business plans as critical in the process
of awarding grant funding to beneficiaries.
The Committee expressed
concerns regarding the considerable lack of awareness amongst young people
about the NYDA, its mandate and services.
Furthermore, the Committee highlighted that the
NYDAs
budget for Communications and Public Relations seemed insufficient to address
the significant redress required to resolve the current limited awareness by
young people on the products and services of the Agency.
The Committee was
concerned about the
NYDAs
pursuance of partnerships
that may be favourable to one service provider over another in a competitive
sector market. In particular, the Committee expressed the concern that the
partnership with the new cellular phone company may unfairly prejudice other
cellular phone network providers in the market. The NYDA indicated that all
service providers and any other stakeholder (including all cellular phone
companies) were welcome to initiate partnerships with the Agency. The Committee
viewed the perception of the Agency as being non-partisan as vital for the
image and credibility of the NYDA.
The
Committee was of the view that programmes of the NYDA need to take into account
the needs of young graduates and young qualified professionals. Furthermore,
whilst the Committee recognises the importance of skills in the mathematical
sciences, however it called for the NYDA to prioritise other skills sets
required by young people by enhancing its programmes at school level to include
the development of other sciences and entrepreneurial skills. The NYDA
indicated that it needs to enhance its graduate database so as to have more
graduates registering and broaden the linkage with potential employers. The
NYDA indicated that it strived to have programmes that cater for all career and
youth development fields.
The Committee was
concerned about the timeline alignment between the proposed Youth Employment
Strategy for
The Committee sought
clarity on the role that the Agency plays in the event of large uptake of young
people in institutions like the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The Committee was of the view that the NYDA needed to leverage partnerships
with institutions such as the SANDF where young people could be channelled into
technical and engineering branches within SANDF. The NYDA indicated that it
will seek to enhance and mainstream its partnerships with departments such as
the SANDF and other large programmes such the Expanded Public Works Programme
and the Health Brigade.
The
Committee pointed out that there seems to be an overlap in the classification
of expenditure items on the NYDA Budget in relation to operational expenses and
project disbursements. Furthermore, the Committee was concerned that based on
previous trends there was no assurance that the NYDA would be able to collect
all the revenue budgeted for. This was viewed as a potential cash flow risk
given that budgeted expenditure for 2013/14 equals budgeted revenue.
The
NYDA indicated that it formulates its budget according to the Activity Based
Costing (ABC) system hence the tagging of operational expenses and project
disbursements for the same expenditure items.
However the Committee highlighted that the Agency should
review its budget classification for reporting on
expenditure items so as to show clear distinctions in expenditure items.
With regard to the
collection of revenue, the NYDA reported that it has undertaken legal steps
towards some loan beneficiaries and was in the process of negotiating
settlement proposals and revised repayment terms and anticipated that it would
be able to collect all the budgeted revenue.
The Committee requested the
details on progress made in addressing findings made by the Auditor-General of
South Africa (AGSA) in previous audit cycles. The Committee pointed out that
addressing matters of emphasis highlighted in the findings of the AGSA was
critical in enhancing governance in the Agency. The NYDA indicated that in the
previous audit cycle, there were two main areas of emphasis, namely, compliance
with supply chain management (SCM) regulations and loan impairments. Positive
progress has been made on both fronts with significant reductions of
non-compliance with SCM procedures and the pursuance of legal processes to
recoup outstanding loan repayments.
9.
Observations
and Findings
The
Standing Committee on Appropriations, having considered the Strategic, Annual
Performance Plans and Budget of the National Youth Development Agency, made the
following findings and observations:
9.1
The new vision, mission, value
statements and streamlined performance objectives of the NYDA are a positive
step towards reviving the image and credibility of the NYDA.
9.2
The NYDA has shifted its youth
enterprise support strategy from enterprise loans to grant funding. The
Committee views the development of strict criteria and guidelines in the
awarding of grants as critical in ensuring sustainability and accountability.
9.3
The National Youth Development
Agency Act, No. 58 of 2008 is currently under review as a result of challenges
experienced by the National Youth Development Agency in the effective
implementation and monitoring of youth development programmes due to its broad
mandate and the need to review the institutional, administrative and management
arrangements at provincial and local levels.
9.4
The National Youth Development Agency has limited reach in
terms of its visibility and accessibility to all young people. Furthermore, the
Committee finds that there are disparities in the ability of young people to
access information given their particular geographic location (i.e. rural areas
versus urban areas).The Committee views the need for easier access to the
products and services of the NYDA by all youths especially women, people with
disabilities and rural youth as a strategic imperative.
9.5
The NYDA may be involved in partnerships that could be perceived
as partisan. The Committee, however, welcomes the affirmation by the NYDA that
it is transparent and open in its partnerships and that all stakeholders are
welcome in initiating partnerships with the Agency.
9.6
The NYDA has undertaken to develop the Youth Employment
Strategy for South Africa 2050 (YE-SA 2050) to halve youth unemployment by
2050.The Committee, however, views the alignment of any long term youth
development strategy with the National Development Plan Vision 2030 as critical
to ensure alignment with other government programmes.
10.
Recommendations
The
Standing Committee on Appropriations, having considered the revised Strategic
Plan for 2013-2018, the Annual Performance Plan and the Budget of the National
Youth Development Agency for the 2013/14 financial year, recommends as follows:
10.1
That the Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring
and Evaluation as well as Administration should ensure the following:
10.1.1
That the National Youth
Development Agency develops a grant funding
framework
that provides a basis for
transparency, fairness and accountability in the awarding of grant funding.
10.1.2
That the National Youth Development Agency enhance
its visibility and accessibility to all youth by undertaking a media strategy
analysis in order to determine the best and most cost effective outreach
platforms that will reach more young people including those in the rural areas
and the youth with disabilities.
10.1.3
That the National Youth Development Agency put in
place change management mechanisms and
a rigorous performance
management system to ensure that all staff of
the NYDA respond rapidly and effectively in
the implementation of the new vision and mission of the Agency.
10.1.4
That the National Youth Development Agency
form
partnerships in a transparent manner which cannot be
misconstrued to be unfairly prejudiced in competitive sector markets.
11.
Conclusion
The
Standing Committee on Appropriations, having considered the Annual Performance
Plan and the Budget of the National Youth Development Agency for the 2013/14
financial year supports the Annual Performance and Budget of the National Youth
Development Agency for 2013/14 which forms part of Budget Vote 1: The
Presidency.
Report to be considered.
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