ATC151020: Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR) of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, dated 20 October 2015

Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation

THE BUDGETARY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION REPORT (BRRR) OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, DATED 20 OCTOBER 2015

 

The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements (the Committee), having considered and assessed the performance of the Department of Human Settlements and its entities, reports as follows:

 

1.         INTRODUCTION

 

In 2009, the President assented to the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Bill. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act (No. 9 of 2009) came into effect on 16 April 2009. The Act aims to provide for a procedure to amend Money Bills before Parliament. The Act enables Parliament to amend the Budget and other Money Bills. This includes the annual Division of Revenue Bill, the annual Appropriation Bill and the Adjustments Appropriation Bill.

 

Cabinet adopted an outcomes based delivery approach in 2010 to achieve the predetermined objective to accelerate services to the people. All spheres of government should work in a coordinated fashion to effect twelve (12) measurable outcomes which assists to focus all policy and programme implementation. These predetermined objectives, with associated and defined targets, should be reached by 2014. Outcome 8 is focused directly on the mandate of the Department of Human Settlements and states that the department is responsible for the creation of sustainable human settlements and improved quality of household life.

 

Many people still live in poor conditions, without access to basic services in a proliferation of marginalised informal settlements as a result of poor planning and socio and geo-spatial dislocations of the apartheid legacy. These informal settlements are located far from economic opportunities and are in many instances without access to water, sanitation facilities, and electricity and refuse removal. This, together with the shortage of land, the lack of affordable housing opportunities and security of tenure was the motivation behind Outcome 8 of the MTSF. The Delivery Agreements for Outcome 8 focus on the following outputs:

 

• Output 1        The Accelerated delivery of housing opportunities
• Output 2        Universal access to basic services
• Output 3        The efficient utilization of land for human settlements
• Output 4        An improved property market.

 

The intention for Outcome 8 is to create sustainable human settlements and improved quality of household life. In order for the Department to achieve its Outcome 8 mandate coupled with challenges of 2.2 million housing backlog, the Department has reconfigured its functioning through a Turn-Around Strategy approved by the Department of Public Service and Administration and the National Treasury.

 

1.1        MANDATE OF THE COMMITTEE  

 

The Committee’s mandate is to maintain an oversight responsibility that ensures a quality process of scrutinising and overseeing government’s action.  It is driven by the ideal of releasing a better quality of life for all people in South Africa.  It is also required to facilitate public participation as well as oversee compliance with regulatory legislative frameworks related to human settlements.

 

In brief, the Committee

• Considers legislation referred to it;
• Conducts oversight of any organ (s) of state and constitutional institution (s) falling within its portfolio;
• Facilitates appointment of candidates to entities;
• Considers international agreements; and
• Considers budget of department and entities falling within its portfolio.

 

 

1.2        MANDATE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

 

The mandate of the Department of Human Settlements is to determine, finance, promote, co-ordinate, communicate and monitor the implementation of housing policy and the provision of human settlements.

 

Since the formulation of the Comprehensive Housing Plan in 2004, the department has conducted various initiatives to enhance the creation of comprehensive, integrated, co-ordinated and sustainable human settlements and quality housing. These initiatives include the review of the National Housing Code which determines national norms and standards in respect of housing development. In addition, it developed the provision of the Farm Worker/Occupier Housing Assistance Programme as well as the identification, acquisition and assembling of land parcels for human settlements through the Housing Development Agency.

 

As mentioned in the introduction to this report, Outcome 8 of the government’s outcome-based service delivery approach is focused on the mandate of the Department of Human Settlements. This mandate is to create sustainable human settlements and work towards improving the quality of household life. Section 26 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) and the Housing Act (No. 107 of 1997) are still considered the foundation for the operational models and the spending focus of the Department.

 

 

 

2.            PURPOSE OF THE BUDGETORY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION REPORT (BRRR)

 

In terms of Section 5 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act, No. 9 of 2009 the National Assembly, through its Committees, must annually compile Budgetary Review and Recommendation Reports (BRRRs) that assess service delivery and financial performance of departments and may make recommendations on forward use of resources. The BRRR is also a source document for the Committees on Appropriations when considering and making recommendations on the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

 

2.1          METHODOLOGY   

 

The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements compiled the 2014/15 BRRR using the following documents:

• The National Development Plan: Vision for 2030;
• Medium Term Strategic Framework;
• 2014 State of the Nation Address;
• The National Housing Code;  
• Strategic Plans of the Department of Human Settlements and its entities;
• Annual Performance Plans of the Department of Human Settlements, Public Services Commission (PSC), Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) and its entities 2014/15;
• 2014/15 Auditor-General South Africa outcomes of audit findings.

 

3.         NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN VISION 2030

 

In relation to the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, the Department has the following strategic priorities:

• Respond systematically, to entrenched spatial patterns across all geographic scales that execrate social  inequality and economic inefficiency;
• Implement strategically chosen catalytic interventions to achieve spatial governance;
• Achieve a creative balance between spatial equity, economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability;
• Expand personal freedoms by providing the residents of South Africa with greater choice of where to live;
• Support individuals, communities and the private sector in engaging with the state on the future of the spaces and settlements in which they live and work while streamlining processes to enable local governments to implement strategic spatial intervention.

 

4.         MEDIUM TERM STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK (MTSF) KEY TARGETS INCLUDE:

           

• Increase in the percentage of households with access to a functional water service from 85% in 2013 to 90% by 2019.
• Increase in the percentage of households with access to a functional sanitation service from 84% in 2013 to 90% by 2019, including elimination of bucket sanitation in the formal areas.
• 1.4 million additional households to be connected to the grid between 2014 and
• 2019 and 105 000 additional non-grid connections. Income support to the unemployed through expansion of the Community Work Programme to reach 1 million participants in 2019.
• An increase in the level of public trust and confidence in local government from 51% in 2012 to 65% in 2019, as measured by the IPSOS survey.
• An improvement in overall municipal audit outcomes, with at least 75% of municipalities receiving unqualified audits by 2019.

 

 

 

5.         SONA 2014/15: ANALYSIS OF KEY PRIORITIES PARTAINING TO THE DEPARTMENT

 

Infrastructure support to households in specific municipalities has been outlined as one of the priorities. Pertaining to the Human Settlements sector, the following strategic objectives have a bearing:

   

·         Encouraging households to switch from electricity to gas for cooking, heating and other uses and also to offer infrastructure support to specific municipalities in the Country.

·         A total of R2.1 billion has been ring-fenced for the revitalisation of distressed mining towns.

·         A total of R290 million has been approved for the upgrading of informal settlements through National Upgrade Support Programme (NUSP).

 

 

6.         DEPARTMENT AND THE ENTITIES PROGRAMME PERFORMANCE

 

Before discussing the performance of the Department and its entities, it is imperative to provide context or issues that affect the performance:

 

 6.1       GLOBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

 

The global economy was moderate with growth rate of 2.6% in 2014 from a growth rate of 2.5% experienced in 2013. The global recovery was hampered by a number of unexpected shocks, including geopolitical conflicts in different parts of the world. Developed economies recorded a growth rate of 1.6% in 2014 from 1.2% in 2013, while economies recorded a growth rate of 4.3% in 2014 from a growth rate of 4.8% in 2013. The growth rate of the developing economies was led by China with 7.3% followed by East Africa with 6.5%, East and West Asia, both with 5.9%, West Africa was the fifth country from the bottom of the list of least performers, with only 2% growth during the year 2014.

 

Global economic performance and growth of world merchandise trade improved slightly by a further 0.4% to a total growth rate of 3.4% in 2014 from 3% in 2013. South Africa, experienced numerous challenges that contributed to its failure to take advantages presented in the international markets. Amongst others, a series of strike actions by workers in the mining and manufacturing sectors in the first half of 2014 contributed to the cut in South Africa’s production to the world, and this took place at a time when global demand for commodities was also sluggish. South African companies were also blamed for not taking full advantage of incidences like the decline in the value of the rand that were experienced during the year. As a result, South African exports remained flat for most part (nine months) of the year.

 

 

6.2        SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

·         Economic performance

 

Subsequent to the outbreak of the financial crisis, the South African economic performance remained sluggish. From 2008 to 2011, the South African economy on average grew by 2.2%, and improved further to 2.5% growth in 2012; however, it remained sluggish at 1.9% in 2013 and bounced back to 2% in 2014, amongst others, were broader uncertainty over emerging markets, limited export volumes and volatile currency from an international perspective, production stoppages due to strikes in the key labour-intensive sectors of the economy and low business and consumer confidence from a domestic perspective.

 

·         Unemployment

 

During the year 2014, the country experienced increasing challenges of unemployment. The official rate of unemployment increased from 24.1% in the last quarter of 2013, reaching a high of 25.5% in the end of the year. High unemployment is cause for concern in South Africa and gives an indication that a large number of South Africans will still rely on government for the maintenance of the livelihood, including housing assistance.

 

·         Increasing cost of living

 

Overall inflation was on the increase in the first half of the year and slightly declined in the later part of the second halt. CPI increased from 5.8% in January 2014 and reached a peak of 6.6% in June before declining to 6.1% in December 2014. On average, overall inflation for the year was 6.1%. A high rate of inflation for the year was 6.1%.  A high rate of inflation generally means that households’ disposable income is eroded at a higher rate, thereby reducing the standard of living at a faster rate as the same level of income keeps affording which is the maximum percentage targeted by the South African Reserve Bank for inflation targeting, it also remained high. This could add pressure on the disposable incomes of those individuals with some form of credit exposure.

 

·         Building costs

 

According to ABSA (2015), the cost of building a new house increased by 6.8% year-on- year in the fourth quarter of 2014. Although this was down from an increase of 7.85 year-on-year in the third quarter and 8.6% year-on year in the second quarter, building showed an increase of 7.5% in 2014 after rising by 7.1% in 2013. Factors impacting on building costs and ultimately on the price of new housing were largely input costs such as building material; transport; equipment and labour costs. The cost of developing land for residential purposes also continues to contribute extensively to the escalation of building costs.

 

The Bureau of Economic Research (BER) also confirmed the higher cost of building residential properties in 2014. The BER tender price increase which is used to adjust the subsidy for a government subsidised house, rose by 10% in 2014, with 6.5% accommodating inputs cost a little more to build the same size house, thereby reducing the value of capital investments made in the building industry. This consistently contributes to the declining number of houses that are delivered by government year after year for the government subsidy market.

 

During the year 2014, the South African Reserve Bank increased the repo rate by 250 base points to 5.75%. The prime interest rate asked by commercial banks also reached 9.25% (increasing by a quarter of a per cent). This decision meant that the pressure on disposable income for individuals with mortgages and other forms of credit exposure also increased. The impact of this increase on a mortgage bond valued at R250 000 for 20 years is an addition of 1.8% (about R40 extra) on mortgage repayment every month.

 

7.         STRATEGIC OUTCOMES-ORIENTED GOALS    

 

The Department of Human Settlements has since its existence attempted to capture the mandate to build functioning communities and respond to the national dynamics/ challenges by drafting a human settlements strategy which aims to create sustainable human settlements and improve the quality of household life.

 

Following the national and provincial elections in 2009, the government adopted a Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and included the priority of “building cohesive and sustainable communities”, which directly informs the strategic objective of the Department. The adoption of the Outcomes 8 as the development outcome that the Department must achieve, builds on the priority set in the MTSF by Cabinet in July 2009.

 

The adoption of the outcome-based performance has focused the priorities of the Department, and key areas of development were identified, on which the Department must focus to achieve its goals and outcomes. The failure in the recent past has been to have a plethora of outcomes and goals to be achieved and limited impact. It is important that, based on the current state of the overall national development goals, the Department focuses on key national development strategic outcomes and goals, which  are the eradication of poverty, inequality and redressing of social and economic underdevelopment.

 

 

The strategic outcome identified for the Department to realise is “Sustainable Human Settlements and Improved Quality of Household Life”. The following are the departmental Strategic Outcome-oriented Goals referred to as outputs of Outcomes 8 elsewhere in the departmental Strategic Plan.  The following table reflects on the Outcomes 8 performance:

 

 

 

	IMPACT INDICATOR	2019 TARGET	PERFORMANCE
1	Number of households living in adequate housing settlements	MTSF Target: 745 000 households living in adequate housing through the subsidy and affordable housing segments (including Breaking New Ground (BNG), rental, gap housing and mortgage-finance housing).	31 March 2015, 120 327 BNG houses, including rental flats and (Community Residential Units (CRUs), have been built. This represents 80.8% of annual target of 149 000 houses. The Department is in the process of putting an M&E mechanism  in place to ensure that reported performance is credible
2	Improved housing conditions for households living in informal settlements	750 000 households upgraded.	31 March 2015, 74 017 households in informal settlements were upgraded with improved housing conditions (i.e. basic services). This represents 49.3% of annual target of 150 000 households. In addition to the above, metropolitan municipalities were also provided with Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) funding: 5 791 water service points and 10 997 sanitation services points (toilets) for households in informal settlements.
3	Number of functional settlements that are spatially, socially and economically (both new and revitalized) 50 priority catalytic projects demonstrating comprehensive integrative mechanisms	250 projects (approximately 50% of all projects) implemented to provide all-inclusive amenities and public transport, to address spatial, social and economic integration by 2019 (for both new and revitalized settlements.	The Department has received 160 catalytic project proposals from both provincial departments and the private sector. National Heads of Department (HODs) and PHSDs were then requested to provide detailed project profiles of the proposed projects. To date, 22 detailed profiles have been received from Western Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Free State. The profiles were evaluated by an evaluation panel, and seven projects were recommended. These are: Thembalethu (WC), Southern Corridor N2 Phase 2 (WC), Lerato Park (NC), Bendor Extension 100 (LP), Marapong linked to Lephalele (LP), and Cornubia South (KZN).
4	Increase in volume of home loans granted by private sector and Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) to households in the affordable housing market and creation of new units	20% increase in the volume of 485 198 or 582 238 loans to the affordable market. This includes the production of 350 934 new affordable units	As at 31 March 2015, the Human Settlements DFIs have issued 62 952 loans. This represents 54.1% of annual target of 116 448 loans.
5	Percentage of sales transactions of properties worth less than R500 000	20% increase in transaction of properties worth less than R500 000	The National Department is currently in collaboration with DPME and various stakeholders in the process of identifying credible sources to obtain this information
6	Growth and distribution of value in the residential property market	Increased number of rateable properties entering the rates roll of municipalities	The Department is currently in collaboration with Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and various stakeholders in identifying credible sources to obtain this information
7	Number of metros accredited with the housing function	8 metros and 12 secondary city municipalities/district municipalities accredited with the housing function	The approach to the Accreditation Programme has been revised and the process of consultation with various relevant stakeholders has been completed. Inputs and comments received have been included in the draft document and the revised document is in the process of being submitted to the management structures of the National Department for consideration
8	Number of municipalities accredited with level 2 and provided with post-accreditation support	Additional 12 municipalities accredited to level 1 and additional 8 accredited to level 2
9	Investment decisions in human settlements improves spatial efficiency	Annual Reports demonstrating changes in urban efficiency	The Spatial Planning Framework has been expanded into a Spatial Investment Framework to ensure the coordination of investment by human settlements departments and agencies in geographic areas in order to address spatial inequality more effectively. The document will serve as a discussion document for a number of round tables to be held with various internal and external stakeholders during June and July 2015. It is anticipated that the final Framework will be submitted to Cabinet by 31 August 2015

 

 

8.         HUMAN SETTLEMENTS ALLOCATIONS - MTEF ALLOCATIONS

 

Rand thousand	Medium term estimates
	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
Administration	425 905	445 612	472 038
Human Settlements Policy, Strategy        and Planning	89 396	94 299	100 332
Programme Delivery Support	298 475	307 715	325 404
Housing Development Finance	29 707 616	31 994 736	33 554 818
Total	30 521 392	32 842 362	34 452 592

 

 

8.1        Programme performance

The annual report of the Department of Human Settlements, analysed in conjunction with the Strategic Plan provides valuable information on the operational successes of Department in relation to its programmes. While Annual Performance Plan provides detailed outputs, performance indicator, strategic and medium term targets, as well as estimated performance indicators for a programme, the Annual Report only provides a broad report on performance of the programme and its sub-programmes.  

 

 

8.1.1     Programme 1: Administration

 

Purpose: provide leadership, management and support functions of the department.

 

Table 1: Programme 1: Administration Programme

Total targets set	45
Targets achieved	39/45
Targets not achieved	6/45
Success rate	86.6%
Total budget spent	R447 680 million or 98.4%

(Source: Department of Human Settlements, 2015)

 

 

8.1.2     Programme 2: Human Settlements Policy, Strategy and Planning

 

Purpose: Manage the development and compliance with settlements sector delivery frameworks and oversee integrated human settlements strategic and planning services.

 

 

Table 2: Programme 2: Human Settlements Policy, Strategy and Planning

Total targets set	51
Targets achieved	28/51
Targets not achieved	23/51
Success rate	54.9%
Total budget spent	R78 703 million or 98.3%

(Source: Department of Human Settlements, 2015)

 

 

 

8.1.3     Programme 3: Programme Delivery Support

 

Purpose: To oversee and support the execution of human settlements programmes and projects.

 

 

Table 3: Programme 3: Programme Delivery Support

Total targets set	40
Targets achieved	32/40
Targets not achieved	8/40
Success rate	80%
Total budget spent	R119 112 million or 70.6%

(Source: Department of Human Settlements, 2015)

 

8.1.4     Programme 4: Housing Development Finance

 

Purpose: To manage and support human services grant management services.

 

Table 4: Programme 4: Housing Development Finance

Total targets set	14
Targets achieved	12/14
Targets not achieved	2/14
Success rate	85.7%
Total budget spent	R28.712 billion or 99.99%

(Source: Department of Human Settlements, 2015)

 

 

8.2        OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS FOR 2014/15

 

The Department reported its achievements for the 2014/15 financial year, and these include:

 

• Through the National Upgrading Support Programme, the Department has completed the assessment of 816 informal settlements representing 62 municipalities. Of these, 503 detailed plans are at various stages.
• A total number of 120 327 housing opportunities (houses, flats, community residential units/hostels, finance linked individual subsidy programme and mortgage loans from entities) were delivered in the subsidy and affordability housing segments. This represents 81% of the annual target of 149000 houses.
• In addition 74017 serviced sites were delivered for households in informal settlements.
• The Human Settlements Development Financial Institutions have issued 62 952 loans, this represents 51% of the annual target of 116 448 loans.
• A total number of 59 029 title deeds were issued comprising 32 750 for the new developments and 26 279 for pre and post 1994 properties.

 

9.                     HUMAN SETTLEMETNS CONDITIONAL GRANT EXPENDITURE

9.1              Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) Expenditure Performance as at 31 March 2015

Provinces	Voted Funds	Roll Overs	Total Available	Year to date (1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015)
				Transferred Funds	Spent by Provinces	Variance Spent vs Total Available	Transferred as % of voted funds	Spent as % of Total Available	Unspent as % of Total Available
	R’000	R’000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000
Eastern Cape	2 392 718	-	2 392 718	2 392 718	2 392 718	-	100	100	-
Free State	1 061 756	-	1 061 756	1 061 756	1 061 756	-	100	100	-
Gauteng	4 417 641	12 954	4 430 595	4 417 641	4 404 618	25 977	100	99	1
KwaZulu-Natal	3 509 045	-	3 509 045	3 509 045	3 512 245	-3 200	100	100	-
Limpopo	659 615	165 428	825 043	659 615	517 032	308 011	100	63	37
Mpumalanga	1 216 690	111 270	1 327 960	1 216 690	1 257 579	70 381	100	95	5
Northern Cape	374 832	-	374 832	374 832	374 832	-	100	100	-
North West	1 517 136	-	1 517 136	1 517 136	1 517 136	-	100	100	-
Western Cape	1 934 936	-	1 934 936	1 934 936	1 934 936	-	100	100	-
Total	17 084 369	289 652	17 374 021	17 084 369	16 972 852	401 169	100	98	2

 

(Source: Department of Human Settlements Annual Performance Report, 2015)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.2              Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG)

 

Municipality	Voted Funds	Rollover from 2013/14	Total Available Funds	Transferred Funds	Spent by Municipality	Variance Spent vs Total Available Funds	Spent as % of Total Available Funds	Unspent as % of Total Available Funds
	R'000
Buffalo City	673,289	652	673,941	673,289	407,592	266,349	60.5%	39.5%
Nelson Mandela Bay	828,863	-	828,863	828,863	467,382	361,481	56.4%	43.6%
Mangaung	654,406	72,717	727,123	654,406	343,473	383,650	47.2%	52.8%
Ekurhuleni	1,804,532	180,598	1,985,130	1,804,532	783,899	1,201,231	39.5%	60.5%
City of JHB	1,695,189	-	1,695,189	1,695,189	678,500	1,016,689	40.0%	60.0%
City of Tshwane	1,469,450	44,830	1,514,280	1,469,450	716,927	797,353	47.3%	52.7%
eThekwini	1,800,076	-	1,800,076	1,800,076	1,200,198	599,878	66.7%	33.3%
City of Cape Town	1,358,879	286,547	1,645,426	1,358,879	649,392	996,034	39.5%	60.5%
Total	10,284,684	585,344	10,870,028	10,284,684	5,247,363	5,622,665	48.3%	51.7%

 

(Source: Department of Human Settlements Annual Performance Report, 2015)

 

9.3        Municipal Human Settlements Capacity Grant Expenditure Performance as at 31 March 2015 (YEAR TO DATE (01 JULY 2014 - 31 MARCH 2015) EXPENDITURE)

 

Municipality	Voted Funds	Transferred Funds	Spent by Municipality		Variance Spent vs. Voted Funds	Variance Spent vs. Transferred	Transferred as % of Voted Funds	Spent as % of Voted Funds	Unspent as % of Voted Funds
	R'000
Nelson Mandela Bay	37,707	37,707		-	37,707	37,707	100.0	0.0	100.0
Ekurhuleni	52,374	52,374		-	52,374	52,374	100.0	0.0	100.0
City of Johannesburg	59,573	59,573		-	59,573	59,573	100.0	0.0	100.0
City of Tshwane	47,506	47,506		-	47,506	47,506	100.0	0.0	100.0
EThekwini	52,469	52,469		10,868	41,601	41,601	100.0	20.7	79.3
City of Cape Town	50,371	50,371		14,599	35,772	35,772	100.0	29.0	71.0
Total	300,000	300,000		25,467	274,533	274,533	100.0	8.5	91.5

 

(Source: Department of Human Settlements Annual Performance Report, 2015)

 

9.4        Provincial Performance Delivery as at 31 March 2015

 

Provinces	Voted Funds	Roll Overs	Total Available	Year to date (1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015)
				Transferred Funds	Spent by Provinces	Variance Spent vs Total Available	Transferred as % of voted funds	Spent as % of Total Available	Unspent as % of Total Available
	R’000	R’000	R'000	R'000	R'000	R'000
Eastern Cape	2 392 718	-	2 392 718	2 392 718	2 392 718	-	100	100	-
Free State	1 061 756	-	1 061 756	1 061 756	1 061 756	-	100	100	-
Gauteng	4 417 641	12 954	4 430 595	4 417 641	4 404 618	25 977	100	99	1
KwaZulu-Natal	3 509 045	-	3 509 045	3 509 045	3 512 245	-3 200	100	100	-
Limpopo	659 615	165 428	825 043	659 615	517 032	308 011	100	63	37
Mpumalanga	1 216 690	111 270	1 327 960	1 216 690	1 257 579	70 381	100	95	5
Northern Cape	374 832	-	374 832	374 832	374 832	-	100	100	-
North West	1 517 136	-	1 517 136	1 517 136	1 517 136	-	100	100	-
Western Cape	1 934 936	-	1 934 936	1 934 936	1 934 936	-	100	100	-
Total	17 084 369	289 652	17 374 021	17 084 369	16 972 852	401 169	100	98	2

 

(Source: Department of Human Settlements Annual Performance Report, 2015)

 

10.        PERFORMANCE BY HUMAN SETTLEMENTS INSTITUTIONS

10.1      National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)

The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) was established in 1998 in terms of the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No. 95 of 1998) (as amended) – herein after referred to as the Act- and is mandated to protect the interests of housing consumers and to regulate the home building industry.

 

NHBRC focus areas (strategic objectives)

The NHBRC has set itself short-term to medium terms plans in order to address a number of short-comings in the execution of the mandate. This is to:

• Implementation and full execution of the inspection model;
• Alignment of NHBRC deliverables with the MTSF (Medium Term Strategic Framework) targets for 2014-2019;
• Provide Technical Support within NHBRC and built environment sector;
• Enforcement and Compliance of the industry with provisions of the Housing Consumer protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No.95 of 1998);
• Full implementation of Training Strategy;
• Grow and Sustain the Warranty Fund;
• Operationalization of the Centre of Research and Housing Innovation.

 

NHBRC performance

Valuable Final products with targets (VFP)
VFP	TARGET	PERFORMANCE	VARIANCE	VARIANCE %
Registration of Home builders	2, 886	4,742	1,856	64%
Renewal of Registration	12,196	12,191	(5)	(0, 04%)
Enrolment	45,965	51,149	5,184	11%
Late enrolment	2,299	1,483	816	35%
Inspection  (Subsidy)	210, 300	223,176	13,611	6,4%
Inspections (Non-subsidy)	160,377	304, 261	143,884	90%
Training of Home Builders	1,200	2,629	143,884	119%
Training of Youth	2,000	1,184	(816)	(41)
Project Enrolment	45,100	32,347	(12,753)	(28%)
Home Enrolment	33,150	21,964	(11,186)	(34%)
Consolidation	91,970	146,789	54,819	60%

 

 

(Source: Department of Human Settlements Annual Performance Report, 2015)

 

NHBRC qualitative performance

• Engineers provided by NHBRC in all the provincial human settlements departments to speed up the subsidy enrolments;
• Plans are in place to ensure that subcontractors are registered with NHBRC;
• NHBRC testing building materials at Eric Molobi testing centre for quality control and to reduce the use of substandard materials in the sector;
• Turnaround for resolving complaints have been improved for 180 days;
• Implementation of the inspection model to ensure that all homes enrolled with NHBRC are inspected and qualify for a warranty.

 

NHBRC challenges

• Some Departments/ Municipalities failing to adhere to construction schedule;
• Some of the Departments/ Municipalities appointing home when home enrolments is not in place and approved by NHBRC;
• Challenges with continuous leadership changes at provincial level;
• Projects that are stalled with no indication and when they are revived NBHRC not informed so that can continue with inspection;
• Projects in rural areas are sparsely populated;
• In rural areas the economy of scale does not attract well experienced Developers and contractors;
• Situation is worse when the entity deal with areas underlying by dolomitic soil types;
• Utilisation of unskilled labour on projects;
• Late enrolment of projects and construction not adhered to;
• Technical non-compliances not attended to or rectified timeously;
• Usage of substandard material to construct homes;
• Complaints lodged by housing consumer not resolved within legally prescribed period.

 

10.2      HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (HDA)

 

The entity is a national public development agency established by an Act of Parliament (Act 23 of 2008). The HDA promotes sustainable communities by making well-located land and buildings available for the development of housing and human settlements. As an organ of state, the HDA is accountable through its Board to the Minister of Human Settlements.

 

The entity reported the performance, out of 24 targets, the HDA achieved a total of 22 or 92%.  It has reported that 3698.2993 hectares of land was released for human settlement development.   A Master Spatial Plan was developed by the HDA and fast-tracked by the Ministry.   A total of 16 properties are currently held by the Agency and 27 leases are in place.   The two Johannesburg inner city buildings have been released for social housing and transfer is in progress.  The HDA’s GIS tool, known as LaPsis (land and property spatial information system) has 470 registered users (284 new users for the year under review) and is widely used in various provinces and municipalities.   Municipal profiles were completed including the prioritised mining towns were completed and published.  The HDA’s other GIS tool, the NaHSLI (The National Human Settlements Land Indices) Intelligent dashboard, has been fully aligned to land Identification and Assessment Criteria and is being used to analyse and assess properties (295) for land suitability.  The PDHA framework was adopted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee 18 Implementation protocols (IP) with provinces and local authorities are in place, including a recently signed IP with Gauteng.  The HDA now has six regional offices in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo and Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.  It was also reported that 19 sustainable human settlements projects and programmes are supported in all nine provinces.

 

The delivery continues on two national priority projects on N2 Gateway and Zanemvula projects.  Various materials and publications were produced to capture best practice and learning, in particular for videos related to the incremental approach to informal settlement upgrading.   A draft work programme has been compiled to support the mining town’s intervention.  Criteria for the identification of catalytic projects has been developed and communicated to the provinces and municipalities through consultative processes.  Limpopo’s MTOP has been renewed for a further three years; Free State for a further five years and a new MTOP for three years with KwaZulu-Natal.

 

 

10.3      SOCIAL HOUSING REGULATORY AUTHORITY (SHRA)

The entity received an unqualified audit opinion with emphasis of matter and with non-compliance with laws and regulations.

	Budget	Actual Expenditure	Budget	Budget	Budget
Financial year	2014/15	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18
Operational Budget	33 480	34 418	34 560	36 392	38 212
Capital budget	597 543	43 971	932 307	1 036 409	1 110 514
Institutional Investment Capital Budget	n/a	n/a	41 936	40 183	38 489

 

Medium Term Expenditure Framework

The accounting authority did not take effective steps to prevent irregular expenditure/fruitless and wasteful expenditure as required by section 51(1) (b) (ii) of the Public Finance Management Act.

 

The financial statements submitted for auditing were not prepared in accordance with the prescribed financial reporting framework as required by section 55(1)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act.

 

Material misstatements of liabilities and expenditure identified by the auditors in the submitted financial statements were subsequently corrected, resulting in the financial statements receiving an unqualified audit opinion.

 

10.4      RURAL HOUSING LOAN FUND (RHLF)

The mandate of the entity is to facilitate funding to enable rural low income earners to better their living conditions through improving their housing situation.

 

The diagram below indicates the performance against Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) targets

 

The entity reported that the marketing conditions remain a challenge as these were impacted by the state of the economy, unemployment, indebtedness levels of consumers, etc.  It also reported that the demand for incremental housing finance remains high, but affordability levels remain low.  The collapse of the African Bank also put pressure on the microfinance business environment, a development that contributed to the tightening of the credit granting criteria by lending institutions.  It also reported that there was a room to scale up delivery of loans by:

• Supporting emerging black-owned housing lenders
• Supporting Housing Co-operatives and other institutions involved in income generating activities (e.g. Co-operative Financial Institutions under Cooperatives Bank Development Agency).

It was also stated that success in working with these new partners complements existing delivery channels and contributes to delivery of MTSF targets.

 

 

10.5      NATIONAL URBAN RECONSTRUCTION AND HOUSING AGENCY (NURCHA)

 

The entity ensures the availability of bridging finance to small, medium and established contractors, building low and moderate income housing and related community facilities and infrastructure.”

 

 

The entity was given an additional mandate to assist in the eradication of bucket programme in the Eastern Cape.  It has reported the progress made thus far as indicated below:

• A total of 10 projects across 8 municipalities were implemented with a budget of R106m
• NURCHA has concluded the Eastern Cape Eradication Programme (ECBEP) and submitted the close out report that has been accepted by the department
• NURCHA eradicated 2 676 buckets out of 3118
• An investigation on the adequacy of a sewer network to 1245 sites in Sundays River Municipality (Paterson) was completed and a repair or replace approach was determined.
• A total of 40 SMMEs were employed in Makana Municipality (Grahamstown) to implement 737 toilet top structures
• A total of 8 SMMEs were employed in Ndlambe Municipality (Port Alfred) to erect 967 toilet top structures.
• The remainder of the projects will be implemented by the Department of Water and Sanitation.

 

The composition of the board did not meet the requirements as set out in the Estate Agency Affairs Act. The entity did not, in all instances, obtain three quotations for services procured with a value less than R500 000. Deviations in respect of these procurements were not documented and approved.

 

10.6      ESTATE AGENCY AFFAIRS BOARD (EAAB)

The primary mandate of the EAAB is to regulate, maintain and promote the standard of conduct of estate agents having due regard to the public interest; issue fidelity fund certificates to qualifying applicants; prescribe the standard of training of estate agents; investigate complaints against estate agents and institute disciplinary proceedings against offending estate agents where required; and manage and control the Estate Agents Fidelity Fund. In short, it regulates and controls certain activities of estate agents in the public interest.

 

Findings by the Auditor-General:

 

•  Predetermined objectives

According to the AG, a total of 25% of reported objectives were not consistent with those approved in the strategic plan. Secondly, a total of 23% of planned targets did not meet measurability criteria.

• Compliance with Legislation

 

• Supplier invoices were not settled within 30 days.
• The accounting officer did not submit the strategic plan for approval by the minister by 1 April 2014 as required by the PFMA.

Debtors’ collection processes were ineffective in contravention of the PFMA and Treasury regulations.

 

During the meeting with the Committee that entity was advised to fast-track the drafting of the Property Protection Bill.  The EAAB was also requested to report progress made on the issuing of title deeds on pre and post 1994 housing stock and the elimination of backlog.

 

10.7      NATIONAL HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION (NHFC)

The entity is a state owned Development Finance Institution with a principal mandate to broaden and deepen access to affordable housing finance for the low and middle-income households. The target market was low- to middle-income housing market for households with regular monthly income between R1 500 and R15 000. The mandate of the entity is to expand housing finance activities, through the effective provision of housing finance solutions, thus enabling low-to-middle income households to have choice of renting of owning or incrementally building, to meet their housing needs; to facilitate the increased and sustained lending by financial institutions to the affordable housing market; mobilise funding into the human settlements space, on a sustainable basis, in partnership with the broadest range of institutions; conduct the business activities of the NHFC in a manner that ensures the continued economic sustainability of the NHFC whilst promoting lasting social, ethical and environmental development; and to provide robust, timely and relevant research.

 

Performance highlight

The following were the performance highlight by the entity:

 

• Re-capitalization
  • Actual injection of 230 million in 2015;
  • The confirmed recapitalisation of R300 million over MTEF period (2026: R100 million, 2017 R100, 2018: 100 million);

 

• Growth in revenue (Lending income)
  • 23% growth in Lending Income ( adversely affected by early settlements);

 

• Liquidity
  • Early settlements of R307 million boosted cash flow, but adverse on revenue (R15 million impact);

 

• Cost to Income
  • 48% actual achievement from 66% (2014) due to revenue growth and cost containment;

 

• Financial: Funding Impact
  • Disbursements: recorded level of R729 million disbursements achieved, 8% growth on year to year bases;
  • Leveraging: R821 million of private sector funding into human settlements space;
  • Funding: secured second facility from EIB (R250 million), subject to necessary approvals.

 

 

Challenges

The entity reported the following challenges:

• Funding remains critical to  NHFC growing its loan book;
• Constrained mortgage lending by banks delayed the uptake that was critical to housing delivery.

 

 

10.8      COMMUNITY SCHEMES OMBUD SERVICES (CSOS)

 

It was worth noting that the CSOS as a newly established entity reported that it received an unqualified audit opinion.  It also reported that it has since established its Head Office and two regional offices, one in Gauteng and the other in the Western Cape. The third regional office was to be established before the end of the year in KwaZulu-Natal.  The initial organisational structure and a Dispute Resolution Model were developed and approved by the Board.  Further, the key operating policies, processes and procedures were also developed and approved by the Board.    The Draft regulations including the funding model had commenced and the regulations were published for public comments and would be tabled in Parliament in due course for consideration and approval.

 

The entity emphasised that it had not yet fully started with its operations due to lack of the regulations and funding constraints.  However, there were approximately 430 cases that were received and half of them were resolved by the adjudicators in province.

 

Human Resources

 

The table below depicts the employment and vacancies within the National Department of Human Settlements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Programme	Number of posts	Number of posts filled	Vacancy rate	Number of posts filled additional to the establishment
Programme 1: Administration	468	431	7.9%	32
Programme 2: Human Settlements Policy, Strategy and Planning	86	74	14%	5
Programme 3: Programme Delivery Support	127	81	36.2%	0
Programme 4: Housing Development Finance	72	58	19.4%	2
TOTAL	753	644	14.5	39

Source: Department of Human Settlements 2014/15 Annual Report

 

The table above indicated that that there was a total of 109 vacancies with the Department of Human Settlements. The majority of vacancies are in Programme 3: Programme Delivery Support.

• There are also Senior Managers who are acting. The Department should provide clarity as to when will those senior positions be filled.
• Reasons cited by Department for not filling vacancies within the prescribed 6 month period:
  • Unavailability of the Selection Committee.
  • Verification of qualifications taking long to be finalised.
  • Delays in approving the submission and appointments.

 

 

 

 

11.        REFLECTING ON THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC) REPORT

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is required by the Constitution to provide an evaluation of the extent to which the values and principles governing public administration, contained in section 195, are complied with. The PSC was requested to brief the Committee on the capacity of the Department of Human Settlements in spending the budget allocated according to their business plans and annual performance plans.

 

 

12. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE AGANST PERFORMANCE

The overall performance of the Department based on the approved Annual Performance Plan (2014/15) is 70%. Out of 146 approved annual targets, 102 were achieved but 44 were not achieved.

 

The table below present the expenditure vs performance analysis

 

Programme	Expenditure (%)	Performance (%)	Variance/ Targets not achieved (%)
Administration	98,4	74	12
HS Policy, Strategy and Planning	98,3	52	22
Programme Delivery Support	70,5	80	8
Housing Development Finance	100%	86	2

 

Except for 2012/13, the spending of the Department was within the generally accepted margin of 2% set by National Treasury. Although almost the entire budget was spent over the past four years and there has been improvement in the achievement of targets, the achievement of predetermined outputs remained fairly low (68% average). Major reasons for under-spending reflected in the Annual Report, firstly, late submission of invoices which resulted in payments of approx. R4 million being made in the new financial year, and delays in the filling of vacancies due to the Conditions of Service funding reduction in the 2015/16 financial year.

 

 

13.        REFLECTING ON THE FINANCIAL AND FISCAL COMMISSION (FFC) REPORT

 

The report of the FFC showed that the Department of Human Settlements has materially underspent on its conditional grants with 50% by March 2015. The FFC indicated that Department of Human Settlements will have to determine reasons for this underspending and together with affected metros jointly develop a strategy to improve performance. The Commission further stated it has in the past recommended that municipalities that have demonstrated to have capacity to deliver housing be accredited with a housing function and DHS supported this recommendation.

 

During 2014/15: Material underspending on program 3 – allocated budget amounted to R168 974 000 and only 70.6% was spent. The Commission has also raised concerns on this issue as the program has a history of underspending in the past three years. For example, during 2012/13 the under-expenditure was at 36%; during 2013/14 it was 55%; and during 2014/15 it 29%. It was stated that this has a negative impact on the achievement of the determined objectives.

 

The Commission supported the shifting of housing function to Metros – as this was consistent with its recommendations. The decision to delay the shift poses financial risks to municipality’s thereby potentially undermining integrity of the Intergovernmental and Fiscal Relations (IGFR) system. New grants were introduced in anticipation of the shift. Subsequent delays in transferring the human settlement capacity grant to metros are a serious concern. It was stated that the uncertainties resulted in premature termination of the grant.  Accreditation uncertainties have resulted in significant underspending on the HSCG. 

 

The department’s overall performance has improved significantly over the last 5 years - average spending over 98% of allocated funds. Targets set for 2014/15 with respect to sites and top structures were narrowly missed in some provinces. The FFC is concerned that in Limpopo no targets were set for sites and with respect to top structure only about 42% was delivered while funds have been reallocated to other provinces for three consecutive years.

 

The Commission previously recommended that DHS should strengthen its monitoring and put performance management systems in place as indicated by the AG. The recommendation has been accepted but reporting on performance information remains poor. 

 

14.        REFLECTING ON THE AUDITOR-GENERAL FINDINGS  

 

The Auditor-General has a constitutional mandate, and as the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of South Africa, it exists to strengthen our country’s democracy by enabling oversight, accountability and governance in the public sector through auditing, thereby building public confidence.

 

On 29 November 2012, the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) was requested by the previous minister to conduct a special audit into the procurement, implementation and performance of the Rural Housing Infrastructure Grant (RHIG). The report was finalised and concerns raised with regard to overall management of the programme, monthly processes, oversight of service providers and quality of structures; it was communicated to management, the accounting officer, the chairperson of the portfolio committee as well as the current minister. The report was tabled in Parliament in August 2015.

 

The Department of Human Settlements received unqualified audit opinion for the period under review. However, the Auditor-General Report emphasised the following issues:

 

• Material underspending

 

The Department materially underspent its allocated budget for Programme 3, since it only spent 70.6% during the year. This impacts on the Department achieving its objectives.

 

• Predetermined objectives

 

The AG has reported on the usefulness and reliability of information reported on:

 

 

Programme 3: Programme Delivery Support 

 

Reliability of reported performance information:  Programme 3 – Programme Delivery Support

 

Significantly important targets were not reliable when compared to the source information or evidence provided. This was due to a lack of documented standard operating procedures for the accurate recording of actual achievements and inadequate review to verify the validity of reported achievements against source documentation.

 

Human Resource Planning.

 

A human resource plan was not in place as required by the Public Service Regulation 1/III/B.2 (d).

 

Other matters (AGSA)

 

Unauthorised expenditure (expenditure not in accordance with the budget vote).

No unauthorised expenditure was identified at any of the auditees in both the current and previous financial period.

Irregular expenditure (expenditure incurred in contravention of key legislation).

 

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure: (expenditure that should not have been incurred/incurred in vain that could have been avoided, and no value for money received).

 

The Auditor-General has raised a number of relevant issues in the audit report. It is however concerning that issues raised are issues that were raised during previous financial years. The Department should explain to the Committee as to why these issues keep recurring and what measures have been put in place to address all these concerns by the AG.

 

15.        OBSERVATIONS

 

The Committee made the following observations:

• The Department, as noted by the Public Service Commission, has maintained its audit record of unqualified audits over the past three years. For the Committee, it was encouraging to note that the Department was beginning to comply with Treasury Regulations and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA);
• It is however concerning that, similar to the previous financial years, the Auditor-General made adverse findings in respect of the usefulness and reliability of performance information reflected in the Annual Report. There is therefore a need for the Department to improve accountability and compliance;
• The spending patterns as at August 2015 show that the department has a -5.3% deviation from the norm, spending has therefore improved;
• The Public Service Commission expressed concern regarding the maintenance of professional ethics in the Department. According to the PSC, there was insufficient improvement in the Department’s ability to deal with cases reported to the National Anti-corruption Hotline (NACH) and no Financial Disclosure Forms were submitted to the PSC by the due date. The latter impacts negatively on the Executive Authorities’ ability to monitor and deal  with potential and actual conflicts of interest;
• Employment equity and the filling of vacancies still require attention. The available human resource capacity is augmented by the employment of consultants;
• There is lack of technical and operational capacity for programme and project planning  and implementation as well as monitoring;
• There is poor alignment of the organisational structure to the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the National Department;
• There is lack of project pipeline planning at both provincial and municipal levels. There was also no alignment of project planning, infrastructure funding and implementation. At municipal level, there is lack of capacity to plan, implement projects that entail integration, densification and mega projects;
• There is lack of dedicated oversight structures for intervention in mining areas. There are also delays in negotiations with mining companies including delays in land and hostel donation for housing purposes;
• There is a lack of communication and marketing of the success of government related programmes in the sector;
• Limited access to land controlled by Traditional Authorities resulting in lack of  servicing and titling of such land;
• There was also a decline in the rate of housing delivery which impacts negatively on housing access for the poor (Breaking New Ground (BNG) or state fully subsidised housing interventions) and the middle class;
• The relevant policies and related compliance measures have not received the required attention including compliance and improved human settlements and housing governance;
• There has been a lack of investment in bulk infrastructure and services as well as in related capacity at the municipal sphere to allow for development of human settlements and housing programmes.

 

 

 

 

 

16.        RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Having been briefed by the institutions that support democracy (Public Service Commission, Financial and Fiscal Commission, the Office of the Auditor-General) and the Department of Human Settlements and its entities, the Committee recommends that the Minister should:

 

 

• On legislation and/or policy related matters:

 

·         Ensure that the Department fast-tracks the drafting of policy on backyard dwellers;

·         Expedite the consulting process to finalise the release of a White Paper on Human Settlements and thereafter a Human Settlements Bill as this was critical for the development and review of housing and human settlements policy. The Committee also expressed a wish to be kept abreast of developments;

• Fast-track the development of USDG policy to achieve its human settlements and housing targets, while ensuring management of rapid urbanisation;
• Fast-track the drafting of the Property Practitioners Bill;
• Assist the CSOS in fast-tracking its regulations and funding model so that it can resume its mandated functions.

 

General recommendations

• Monitor progress against the annual performance plan (of the department) and track the implementation of action plans to address previously identified audit findings on a quarterly basis;
• Fast-track the implementation of the revised structure for activation of necessary processes for approval which will allow the Department to correct and mitigate the current technical and regional capacity constraints of the Department;
• Fast-track the implementation of robust pre and post planning and monitoring protocols with the departmental entities, provincial departments and municipalities;
• Respond speedily on the issues raised by the Auditor-General as a number of relevant issues in the audit report. It is however concerning that issues raised were issues that were raised during previous financial years.  A detailed report should be submitted explaining why these issues keep recurring and what measures have been put in place to address them;
• Fast-track the employment of a dedicated technical and human resource capacity to develop informal settlement programme and project plans for 2200 settlements NUSP related work. Furthermore, ensure additional capacity is put  in place for the HDA, Professional Resource Teams to provide support to provinces and municipalities;
• Advance the implementation of catalytic projects to ensure that the recommendations of the National Development Plan are realised;
• Fast-track the consolidation process of the DFIs to promote improved financing of human settlements and housing programmes;
• Fast-track the process of aligning the mandates of the entities with the MTSF targets to ensure improved coordination of resources and capacity;
• Fast-track the evaluation of seven programmes to ensure appropriate planning and implementation responses and ensure that it achieves value for money;
• Fast-track housing intervention for migrants and refugees entering and seeking asylum in South Africa;
• Prepare a presentation to the Committee on the strategy to overcome areas of underperformance and interventions required to improve financial performance;
• Ensure that the NHBRC present the full rectification programme, progress made and its future plans;
• Ensure that the NHBRC present its strategy on the transformation agenda for the vulnerable groups.  The report should state the plans and programmes in place.
• Ensure that the SHRA expedite the consultation on the review of the policy that will take into account the income bands for the social housing;
• Ensure that the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) fast-track the accreditation of Social Housing Institutions (SHIs);
• Ensure that the SHRA provides a comprehensive plan that would take it out of the transition phase;
• Ensure that the SHRA explains in writing why its Board Members were allowed to approve contracts while the meeting did not have a quorum;
• Ensure that the NHFC and the national department present plans to accelerate the implementation of Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP);
• Report progress made on the winding down of Thubelisha Homes, Servcon and the Social Housing Fund;
• Present the progress made on the consolidation of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs);
• Ensure that the EAAB reports on progress made on the issuing of title deeds on pre- and post-1994 housing stock and the reduction of title deeds backlog. It was concerning to note that the issuing of title deeds for state subsidised housing was moving very slowly;
• Assist the CSOS in fast-tracking its regulations and funding models so that it can resumes its mandated functions.

 

CONCLUSION

The Portfolio Committee believes that if these recommendations could be implemented, there will be a lot of progress concerning the objectives of the Department, the entities and of the entire sector. Recurring challenges would be resolved as quickly as possible if accountability regarding these recommendations can be forthcoming from all the entities within the sector. The Portfolio Committee will conduct its oversight to ensure that the objectives and time frames set by the sector are met.

 

Report to be considered.