ATC200604: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development on the Budget Vote 19, The Annual Performance Plans of the Department of Social Development and Its Entities for 2020/21 Dated 21may 2020

Social Development

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE BUDGET VOTE 19, THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLANS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS ENTITIES FOR 2020/21 DATED 21MAY 2020

 

The Portfolio Committee on Social Development having considered and deliberated on the Budget Vote, the Annual Performance Plans of the Department of Social Development (DSD), the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA)and the National Development Agency (NDA) on 07and 08 May 2020, wishes to report as follows:

 

  1. Introduction

 

The Committee’s mandate as prescribed by the Constitution of South Africa and the Rules of Parliament is to build an oversight process that ensures a quality process of scrutinising and overseeing government’s action that is driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all people of South Africa. 

 

As part of conducting its oversight the Committee has a constitutional mandate to scrutinise and thereafter approve the budget of the department and its entities. It also considers the Annual Performance Plans of these institutions. It thereafter, draft a report (the current report) in which it reports of the APPs of the department and its entities as they were presented to it. It then raises its observations and formulate recommendations. As part of scrutinising the budget allocation and APPs the Committee makes use of the budget information contained in the National Treasury’s Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE).

 

This report forms basis from which the Committee debates the budget and APPs of the departments and its entities. This process culminates to the approval of the department as a Budget Vote.

 

 

 

 

  1. Auditor-General review findings

Prior to the committee receiving presentations of the APPs and SPs from the department and its entities, it received a briefing from the office of the AG. The briefing was on the review it conducted on the APPs and SPs of the department ad its entities.

The briefing emphasized the importance in the planning stage to set measurable targets and sufficient budget to implement the targets.   Adequate controls and effective monitoring measures, including consequence management, should be in place to ensure effective implementation of targets.  These adequate plans would enable the department and its entities to be in a position to address any implementation challenges that may arise.

The reviewwas only limited to the measurability of the indicators and not on their relevancy. It also did not review the plans against all the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) priorities because the MTSF was not yet available at the time of the review.

The AG reported that it did not conduct a review on the APP and SP of the department and the NDA. The department missed the deadline of 31 January 2020 to submit the APP and SP. The NDA did not request for a review.

The AG conducted a review of SASSA’s APP. It made findings on the situational analysis and on the institutional performance information. These were discussed with SASSA management. The management made all the corrections and implemented the AGs recommendations.

The AG also reported on the recurring findings that it made for the 2019/2020 financial year.  The key findings included particularly lack of consequence management of prior irregular expenditure at the NDA, lack of oversight and monitoring and filling of vacant posts, including Director – General at the department and slow progress in finalizing cases under investigations at SASSA.

 

  1. The Department of Social Development Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan (2020/2021)

 

  1. The mandate, vision and the mission of the department

The mandate of the Department of Social Development is to provide social protection services and leads government efforts to forge partnerships through which vulnerable individuals, groups and communities become capable and self-reliant participants in their own department.

 

The department therefore derives its mandate from several pieces of legislation and policies that are aligned to the Constitution. These include the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997) and the Population Policy (1998), which set out the principles, guidelines, policies and programmes for developmental social welfare in South Africa. The White Paper for Social Welfare has provided the foundation for social welfare in the post-1994 era. The White Paper on Social Welfare is being reviewed to expand to make it more inclusive of a wide variety of social welfare services.

 

The vision of the department is a to promote “caring and self-reliant society”.

 

The department’s mission is to “transform our society by building conscious and capable citizens through the provision of comprehensive, integrated and sustainable social development services”.

 

  1. Key focus areas of the department

The key focus areas of the department in delivering social security and protection involve programmes to address gender based violence and femicide (GBVF), poverty alleviation, income support, unemployment, substance abuse, child protection services, services to older persons, people with disabilities and HIV and Aids. The department thus implements these interventions to address the aforementioned:

  • Victim Empowerment Programmes - psychosocial services,skills development and sheltering for victims of GBV,
  • food security and nutrition programmes provided both by the department and the National Development Agency (NDA),
  • social assistance programme administered by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA),
  • Income generation and skills development programmes implemented by the NDA,
  • Prevention, early intervention and treatment of substance abuse programmesprovided at treatment centres and through outpatient programmes,
  • Prevention and early intervention and alternative care programmes for children - Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes for 0-4 years (ECD centres), children’s homes, Child and Youth Care Centres, drop in centres, foster care and adoption services,  
  • Youth, women and people with development skills development, employment, capacity building and leadership programmes,
  • Old Age Homes, Active Ageing programmes, and community based programmes,
  • HIV and Aids social and behaviour change programmes which were aimed at reducing risky sexual behaviours among young people, men and women.

3.3 Policy Priorities for MTSF

 

The department derives its priorities from the government’s wide Medium Term Strategic Framework priorities. The department responds to the following priorities:

 

  • Priority 1: A Capable, Ethical and Developmental State: this priority calls for improved governance, functionality, coordination between national, provincial and district spheres, accountability and productivity in the public sector. It also calls for elimination of wasteful and fruitless expenditure.

 

The department plans to professionalise the Not for Profit (NPO) sector, the Social Services Professionals and standardise norms and standards, practice notice and ensure compliance.

 

  • Priority 2: Economic Transformation and Job Creation: all government departments are required to create conducive environment that enable industrialisation and localisation that leads to increased exports, employment, youth and women owned SMMEs participation. Departments are also required to develop, implement, support and monitor programmes for equitable job creation, representation and ownership by women, youth and persons with disabilities. They must also expand access to finance, incentives and opportunities for women, youth and persons with disabilities including those in the informal sector.

 

The department will contribute towards the achievement of this priority by increasing the absorption of social workers and expand social services professionals, pay social grants, link graduates to economic opportunities and continue to support NPOs and co-operatives.

 

  • Priority 3: Education, skills and Health: the Departments of Social Development and Basic Education in partnership with Community Based Organisations and Non Profit Organisations have to work on the migration of ECD services to the Department of Basic Education. This will require amendments to the existing legislation and regulations. Also, these two departments together with the Departments of Health, Higher Education and Training and Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities have to develop programmes targeted at adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights including addressing teenage pregnancies and risky behaviours.

 

The Department of Social Development will ensure universal access to Early Childhood Development (ECD) services for children aged younger than 5 years as this remains itskey priorityover the medium term. The department also contributes to this priority by providing HIV and reproductive health programmes, social worker scholarship programme and training.

 

  • Priority 4: Consolidating Integration, Human Settlement and Local Government:The whole chapter on this priority speaks to the provision of comprehensive, inclusive and responsive social protection. Interventions listed under this priority area encompass the five-year strategic plan of the department.  

 

  • Priority 5: Spatial Integration, Human Settlement and Local Government:this priority calls for improved and integrated provision of housing, access to public transport, access to land, and improved rural economy. Even though it does not directly apply to the Department of Social Development, it will contribute through the provision of ECD centres, shelters for victims of GBV and shelters for child protection programmes.

 

  • Priority 6: Social Cohesion and Safe Communities:Relevant to the department, this priority area calls for the implementation of the below interventions:

 

  • Establishment of the gender based violence and femicide council,
  • Development and coordinate the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) to end gender based violence,
  • Develop a system to ensure consistent barrier free access for people with disabilities to justice across the justice value chain,
  • Strengthen and expand protection measures in place to protect children and adults with disabilities in institutionalized settings such as school boarding facilities, mental health care facilities and residential facilities,

 

The department will contribute towards the achievement of this priority area by scaling up provision of shelters, expanded and reformed social welfare services in line with the Revised White Paper on Social Welfare.

 

  • Priority 7: A better Africa and World: Relevant to the department, this priority area calls for the following interventions:

 

  • Contribution to the implementation of identified Agenda 2063 flagship projects,
  • South Africa’s obligations towards the United Nations, African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including institutions hosted in South Africa – Pan African Parliament, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE).

 

The department has an obligation to compile progress reports on interventions and priorities set by the aforementioned bodies.

 

  1. The Department of Social Development the Annual Performance Plan (APP)

The department identified three key outcomes for the MTSF period, which are in line with the above mentioned priorities:

 

  • Reduced levels of poverty, inequality, vulnerability and social ills,
  • Empowered, resilient individuals, families and sustainable communities,
  • Functional, efficient and integrated sector.

 

5.2020/21 Budget Analysis and Allocations for 2020/21

 

The budget of the department is shared amongst five programmes as indicated in Table 1 below:

 

Table 1: budget allocation for DSD 2020/21

Table 1 indicates that the department receives a total budget of R197.7 billion for 2020/21. This is a real increase of 2.54per cent from the adjusted allocation of R184.7 billion in 2019/20 financial year. It is worth noting that about 95 per cent of the Departmental budget goes to social grants transfers under Programme 2: Social Assistance to the value of R187.8 billion.

 

In terms of economic classification, R537.9 million is allocated to compensation of employees (COE) for 2020/21 financial year. This represents a real increase of 0,6 per cent from R512.1 million allocated to COE in 2019/20.

 

Figure 1: Selected goods and services (R’ million)

 

Expenditure on goods and services decreases from R497,2 million in 2019/20, to R401,7 million in the current financial year. This represents a 22,6 per cent decline in real terms from the previous year. The biggest shift is recorded for consultants: business and advisory services, which decreases from R124.2 million previously to R48.3 million in 2020/19. This is a real decrease of 62.75 per cent.

 

Departmental travel and subsistence also declines from R82 million in 2019/20, to R78.3 million in the current financial year. Advertising also decreases in real terms with 34.2 percent from the previous year; down from R31.9 million previously to R21.9 million in the current year.

 

6.1 Programme analysis

 

Programme 1: Administration

 

The purpose of this programme is to provide leadership, management and support services to the department and the sector.

 

Table 2: AdministrationProgramme

 

 

The programme is allocated R426.7 million for 2020/21 compared to the adjusted allocated budget of R403.0 million in 2019/20 financial year. Taking into account inflation, the budget for this programme increases by 1.42 per cent. The Ministry sub-programme budget allocation has declined from R44.8 million to R43.2 million (i.e. 7,64% decrease in real terms) in 2020/21 financial year. The Department Management sub-programme increased from R70.2 million to R74. 5 million, which is an increase of 1.65 per cent in real terms. Internal audit is allocated a total amount of R 17.2 million for the current financial year as compared to the R 16.0 million in the last financial year.  This is an increase of just 2.97 per cent in real terms.

 

Compensation of employees for the programme increases from R208.4 million to R221.9 million – staying above inflation. Furthermore, Travel and subsistence (S&T) also increases from R24.3 million previously to R25.9 million in 2020/21- staying above inflation with 2.1 per cent.

 

Programme 2: Social Assistance

 

Social Assistance programme provides for the payment of social assistance grants to beneficiaries who qualify for social assistance in terms of the Social Assistance Act (No. 13 of 2004).

 

The following table depicts the budget for all grant types, including social relief of distress.

 

Table 3: Social Assistance Programme

 

 

Programme 2 receives an allocation of R187.8 billion for 2020/21, showing a real increase (when inflation is considered) of R4.8 billion (or 2.72%), when compared to the adjusted budget of R175.2 billion in the 2019/20 financial year.

 

Expenditure under this programme is dominated by the Old Age and Child Support grants, which are allocated R83.1 billion and R69.8 billion, respectively. Both grant-types record above-inflation increases, i.e. 3.45 per cent and 2.86 per cent real growth, respectively. The strongest growth in expenditure is projected for the Grant-in-Aid (i.e. 26.34 per cent real growth). Grant-in-Aidis an additional grant to recipients of the Old Age, Disability or War Veterans grants, who require regular care from another person due to their physical or mental status.

 

The following grant types experience declines for 2020/21:

 

  • Care Dependency (-0.34 per cent);
  • Foster Care (-6.39 per cent); and
  • Social Relief of Distress (-4.92 per cent).

 

The below inflation changes indicated for the three grants types listed above, might be linked to projected numbers for the 2020/21 financial year.

 

The Social Relief of Distress grant provides temporary income support, food parcels and other forms of relief to people experiencing undue hardship.

 

Programme 3: Social Security Policy and Administration

 

The purpose of this programme is to provide for social security policy development, administrative justice, administration of social grants and the reduction of incorrect benefits payments.

 

Table 4: Social Security Policy and Administration Programme

 

 

This programme receives an allocation of R7.8 billion in 2020/21. The budget for the programme decreases by R187.0 million (or 2.43 per cent) when taking into consideration the inflation rate of 4.4 per cent.

 

The decline in the voted allocation of this programme, is driven by the Social Security Policy Development and Social Grants Administration sub-programmes, which declines both in nominal and real terms from the previous year, as can be observed in Table 4 above. The Social Grants Administration sub-programme provides for SASSA operational costs related to administering social grants, the management information systems and the reimbursement of payment contractors.

 

Programme 4: Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support

 

This programme creates an enabling environment for the delivery of equitable developmental welfare services through the formulation of policies, norms and standards and best practices.

 

 

Table 5: Welfare Services Policy Development and Implementation Support Programme

 

 

Programme 4 receives an allocation of R1.26 billion for 2020/21, a real increase of about R166.6 million (or 16.07%), compared to the adjusted allocation of R1.0 billion in 2019/20 financial year.

 

Government has to ensure and make sure that it meets its obligations to observe, protect, realise and safeguard all children’s rights. Therefore, DSD plans to promote, coordinate, facilitate and monitor the implementation of children’s constitutional rights through the Office on the Rights of the Child by March 2023. The Children sub-programme stands out with 59.5 percent real increase during the 2020/21 financial year. This allocation will enable the department to increase the subsidy rate per child from R15 in 2019/20 to R18.57 in 2022/23, and provide access to ECD services to an estimated 692 469 children by 2022/23.

 

The allocations for the HIV and AIDS and Social Worker Scholarships sub-programmesdeclines in real terms by 63.80 per cent and 62.50 per cent, respectively. Some of the developmental-social welfare issues identified in the 2020 SONA are located in this programme. These include: Gender-Based Violence and Disability. However, the voted allocations to the Social Crime Prevention and Victim sub-programmes is below inflation, that is, it isdeclines by 56.23 per cent in real terms.

 

 

 

 

 

Programme 5: Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery

 

This programme provides support to community development and promotes evidence based policy making in the department and the social development sector.

 

Table 6: Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery Programme

 

 

The budget for this programme decreases from an adjusted allocation of R413.3 million in 2019/20 to R367.2 million for 2020/21. This budget decreases by R61.6 million (or 14.90%), when inflation rate is factored.

 

The NDA, an entity of the Department, is located within this programme. Programme 5 is designated to the entity to support sustainable, community-driven programmes that serves poor and vulnerable communities.  The NDA transfer from the Department increases from R212.4 million in 2019/20 to R224.5 million. Its allocation therefore increase by only 1.24 per cent in real terms.

 

Non Profit Organisations

 

During the 2020/21 financial year a total amount of R42.8 million as compared to R40.1 million in 2019/20 financial year has been allocated to the Registration and Monitoring sub-programme, resulting in the nominal increase of 6.73 per cent and a real increase of 2.23 per cent.

 

Strengthening Community Participation

 

The Community Development sub-programme allocation has declined significantly from R95.5 million to R30.0 million. This is a decline of 69.91 per cent in real terms, in 2020/21.  It remains unclear why there was a decline under the Community Development sub-programme. This sub-programme has a very important role to make sure that there is effective and efficient delivery of community development services and programmes.

 

  1. Committee deliberations and observations

The joint committee commended the department for improvement in the language of reporting and accountability. It also noted the strides taken in terms of the department and its entities working as a portfolio. This will strengthen governance and oversight in the sector. 

It expressed a concern that the department failed to meet the deadline of 31 January 2020 to submit its APP to the AG for a review.

It expressed concerns over the repeat audit findings, with the key findings being lack of oversight by the department over its entities, slow progress in finalizing investigations on cases of financial misconduct by SASSA and lack of accountability and effective consequence management at the NDA.

The Committee reiterated its concern over the AG’s 2017/2018 finding that senior management failed to respond to the internal audit unit reports. It maintained that this unit is important as it provides early warning signs of weaknesses in the implementation of internal controls and non-compliance. 

The Committee was concerned that the department’s APP and Five Year Strategic Plan were silent on GBVF issues. It strongly felt that the department needs to prioritize this area.  

The Committee wanted to know the total number of trained social workers and if the department will absorb the 1809 temporary social workers it will employ as a response to Covid 19 pandemic. 

The department explained that there were 4 597 unemployed social worker graduates. The budget for social work scholarship would be cut to finance the employment of social workers. The department needs 7 1 00 social workers.

The Committee was concerned that anti gangsterism and anti-substance abuse programmes or campaigns are not focused on family strengthening interventions and youth skills development.

The joint committee requested the department to implement the recommendations it had made that there should be great collaboration between the department and the Community Based Organisations (CBOs) as well as Faith Based Organisations who are providing food parcels. The strategy should be bottom up.

  1. The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) annual performance plan 2020/2021

 

The mandate for South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is to ensure the provision of comprehensive social security services against vulnerability and poverty within the constitutional and legislative framework.

 

SASSA is instrumental in government achieving its goal of providing comprehensive social security through the reforms in the Old Age Pension and Child Support Grant. This entails universalization of these grants to ensure that old people and children who are currently excluded in the system are included. This comes at a period when SASSA is preparing to implement its core mandate, that of insourcing the payment of social grants over the medium term, which had been outsourced to a private company. During the transition period the payment system will be implemented through a hybrid model which involves partnership with the South African Post Office, commercial banks (for electronic payments) and corporate financial institutions (CFIs). It is expected that the transition period will take five years and thereafter service providers will transfer resources or assets to SASSA. The 2020/2025 Strategic Plan and 2020/2021 APP set targets aimed at achieving deliverables of this process for over the medium term period.

 

It is expected that the two plans should address targets relating to these strategic focus areas that emanated from the previous medium term period (2014 – 2019), including issues raised by the erstwhile PC on Social Development:

  • ultimate insourcing of the social grant payment system. This should be in line with Phase 2 (2018 - March 2021 and beyond 2021) of the Five-year plan towards the full takeover of the social grants payment system by SASSA that was presented to the previous Committee.  
  • reviewed organizational structure and systems to respond to the institutionalization of the social grant payment system,
  • reviewed Human Resource plan to respond to the new organizational structure,
  • improved awarding of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) and its responsiveness to the plight of the vulnerable either through disaster or as a temporary relieve to poverty while social grant applicants are waiting for the outcome,
  • network connectivity at SASSA offices, queue management at pay points and linking grants to economic livelihood.
  • Eliminate irregular expenditure

 

It should also speak to the strategic outcome to expand access to social assistance and creating a platform for future payment of social security benefits. It should also be aligned to SASSA’s goal to render social assistance to eligible beneficiaries. 

 

  1. Five Year Programme Model for Institutionalisation of social grant payment system

The programme model was structured into 3 phases and time periods:

  • Outsourcing all components of payment process – April 2017 – March 2018,
  • Mixture of insourced and outsourced services (hybrid model) – April 2018 – March 2020. During this phase SASSA committed to do the following activities:
  • Readiness plan and budget requirements,
  • Change management Programme plan,
  • Management of the interim payment arrangement including stakeholder management,
  • In-house processing of payments by SASSA – April 2021 onwards. This entails possible phasing out of the interim payment arrangement.

 

  1. MTSF priorities related to SASSA

As per the mandate of SASSA, it is primarily responsible for implementing Priority 3: Consolidating the Social Wage through Reliable and Quality Basic Services.

  1. Department of Social Development Outcomes

 

For the 2020 – 2025 medium term period SASSA had set its performance plans in line with the following outcomes of the department:

  • Reduced levels of poverty, inequality, vulnerability and social ills
  • Empowered, resilient individuals, families and sustainable communities
  • Functional, efficient and integrated sector

 

  1. SASSA 2020/2025 Strategic Plan

During this five-year period SASSA has set out to achieve the following outcomes:

  • Reduced poverty levels – by increasing social grants payments from 18. 1 million to 20.1 million in 2024/2025 financial year, awarding R400 million per year of SRD, reach 55% of children between 0 -1 year, reduce payment rejection by 5%, reduce number of payments related to fraud and errors and effectively manage payment partnerships.
  • Economic transformation – empowered individuals and sustainablecommunities – by linking 5% of social grants beneficiaries to economic and developmental opportunities, having 30% of SASSA procurement supporting qualifying small businesses and cooperatives and have 5% acquisition spent through qualifying women, youth and people with disabilities.

 

  • Improved customerexperience – by reducing the average processing turnaround times for grants administration to one (1) day, achieve 95% resolution of clients queries and disputes registered with the call centre and achieve 80% customer satisfaction survey index.
  • Improved organisational efficiencies – by reducing the average cost for administering social assistance, implementing a fully automated grants application process, have an automated identity verification and authentication and developing and implementing a clear data strategy in order to unlock the value of its data.

 

  1. Programme Analysis

SASSA’s budget structure is implemented through two programmes, namely: Programme 1: Administration and Programme 2: Benefits Administration and Support.

 

Table 7: Budget allocation per programme

Programmes

Budget Allocation

% share

Programme 1: Administration

R3 137, 848.9

41%

Programme 2: Benefits Administration and Support

R4 580, 572.1

59%

Total

R7 718, 421

100%

 

As shown in this table Programme 2 accounts for the biggest budget allocation of SASSA. As it will be shown in section 10.2 below, it is under this programme where the full grant administration is managed. It manages the core business of SASSA and implements the full value chain of grants administration.

 

 

Programme 1: Administration

This programme provides leadership, management and support services, which constitute as sub-programmes of it. They are Executive Management, Corporate Services, Financial Management, Information and Communication Technology and Strategy and Business Development.

 

The total budget allocation for this programme for 2020/21 financial year is R3, 648 million compared to R3, 002 million in the previous year. Compared to the prior three financial years, the allocation for 2020/21 has increased significantly. In those years, the increase was around R200 000.  For this financial year, it increased by R600 000. Information and Communication Technology sub-programme as shown in the table below received the highest allocation of R329 306 compared to other sub-programmes.  This budget increase is line with the key targets that the Agency has planned to implement over the two financial years (2020/21 – 2021/22), as shown below.

 

Table 8: Budget allocation for sub-programmes

 

Under this Programme, the key targets that are in line with the strategic priorities and focus areas identified above are as follows:

  • Reducing irregular expenditure by 50% for both in 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 financial years,
  • Implement the organizational transformation interventions, particularly the Business Processes Re-engineering, skills audit and digital solutions.
  • Reviewing the ICT Strategy to align it to the Five Year Strategic Plan, implement the biometric identity access management system for SOCPEN users,
  • Refer grant beneficiaries sitting for exams to National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), and
  • Implement automated and digitized grants administration system.

Programme 2: Benefits Administration and Support

 

This programme provides grant administration service and ensures that operations within SASSA are integrated. It manages the full function of grant administration from application to approval, as well as beneficiary maintenance.

 

This programme is allocated a budget of R4 709 million for the year under review. The allocation has not increased from the 2019/20 allocation of R4 755 million and this trend continues to the forthcoming financial years. This could be attributed to the fact that this programme does not have targets that have significant budget implications even though it is the core programme of SASSA.

 

The key targets under this programme are as follows:

  • Monitor and manage compliance to SASSA and South African Post Office (SAPO) Service Level Agreement for social grants payments, focusing on reduction in payment transaction rejections and reduction in pay points that do not appropriate facilities and infrastructure,
  •  Award 30% (R122 100) of total Social Relief of Distress rand value through cooperatives and SMMEs,
  • Have 580 000 children below the age of 1 in receipt of the children’s grants.
  • New beneficiaries biometrically enrolled by SASSA as per the approved project plan.

 

  1. Implications of Covid 19 pandemic

 

As per its mandate SASSA responded to the challenges brought by Covid 19 pandemic by continuing to ensure that all those who were eligible to receiving social grants were paid without hindrance. To meet the high demand, it made changes in its payment cycle. April payments were made three days before the end of the month. For the month of May going forward payment files are being split into two:

  • The first payment file will be for older persons and persons with disabilities, together with the child grants linked to those beneficiaries,
  • The second payment file will be for all the remaining unlinked children’s grants (care dependency, child support and foster care).

 

It also intensified the provision of Social Relief of Distress interventions.This meant that targets had to be revised. Also, SASSA had initially budgeted R400 million per year for the medium term period for this programme. This budget allocation would thus need to be adjusted to align to the revised targets.

 

In responding to the announcement of by President for new measures to address socio-economic impact of the pandemic, SASSA adjusted its electronic application system to enable it to pay additional amounts to the social grants. It also developed a new system to administer the payment of the SRD grant. Payments to all these grants have been scheduled to take place between May 2020 – October 2020.

 

A total budget of R50 billion was made available for the additional amounts. This provided for an increase of R300 in the Child Support Grant (CSG) for the month of May, R250 increase to other grants for 6 months and R500 grant to caregivers of children receiving the CSG. It also provided for an additional Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant of R350 a month for 6 months for the unemployed who do not receive any other form of grant or Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

 

  1. Analytical perspective on the annual performance plan

 

The analysis of SASS’s strategic plan and annual performance plan particularly focused on how the targets were in line with the focus areas and timelines of the transition period that were developed during the previous administration and presented to the erstwhile committee. Relevant for this time period are the priorities to implement in-house processing of payments and managing the interim payment arrangement including stakeholder management. As reported above SASSA under Programme 1 set targets to implement automated and digitized grants administration system.

It also set a target to implement the organizational transformation interventions, particularly the Business Processes Re-engineering, skills audit and digital solutions. Over and above these targets responding to the focus areas of the transition phase, they have proved to be critical during the period of the national lockdown due to Covid 19 pandemic. Social grants application system had to be digitized in a short period of time. Also, the targets set are in line with the MTSF Priority 3: Consolidating the Social Wage through Reliable and Quality Basic Services.

 

12. Committee deliberations and observations

  • The committee expressed concerns over the numerous incidents of poor service delivery at SASSA pay-points including technical glitches in the payment of grants at the beginning of May 2020.  It instructed the Agency to work around the clock to ensure that such occurrences are eliminated in the next grant payment schedule. It also expressed concern over long queues, lack of ablution facilities, water supply and seating arrangements at the payment points.

 

  • The Committee was concerned over the lack of clear communication on the application requirements and processes for the Social Relief of Distress grant. It was also concerned that the WhatsApp number for application for this grant was not working. Applications via the email were not responded to with regard acknowledgement of receipt.

13. National Development Agency (NDA) annual performance plan 2020/2021

 

The National Development Agency (NDA or Agency) is a Schedule 3 (A) Public Entityestablished in terms of Section 2 of theNational Development Agency Act (108 of 1998).It reports to the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa through the Minister of Social Development.  NDA is a Schedule 3A entity administratively reporting to the Department of Social Development but operationally attached to all departments.

 

13.1 Legislative mandate of the NDA

 

The NDA’s two-fold legislative mandate, consisting of a primary and a secondary mandate, is in the main to contribute towards the eradication of poverty and its causes. This is achieved through the granting of funds to civil society organisations (CSOs) to enable them to implement development projects in poor communities. The NDA is also charged with strengthening the institutional capacity of other civil society organisations which provide services to poor communities.

 

Primary mandate

 

The NDA’s primary mandate is to contribute towards the eradication of poverty and its causes by granting funds to civil society organisations for the purpose of carrying out projects or programmes aimed at meeting development needs of poor.In addition, it strengthens the institutional capacity of other civil society organisations involved in direct service provision to the poor communities.

 

Secondary mandate

 

The NDA’s secondary mandate is to promote consultation, dialogue and sharing of development experience between Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and relevant organs of state through debating on development policy; undertaking research and publications aimed at providing basis for development.

 

13.2 Alignment of the NDA policy priorities to South Africa’s strategic framework

 

The National Development Plan (NDP) vision 2030 has a long-term perspective to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.  According to the plan, South Africa can realise the goal of eliminating poverty and reduction of inequality by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society. In the attainment of the 2030 goals, the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) identifies the priorities to be undertaken during the 5-year implementation plan (2019-2024)

 

The NDA has adopted MTSF that focuses on civil society organisations in the most deprived and prioritised districts in South Africa, and its main contribution will be building capacity at these organisations. The strategy is based on the NDA integrating its work with the social development sector, municipalities, and other public and private agencies that work with communities and civil society organisations.

 

The strategic direction of the NDA is in line with, and will contribute to, the NDP approach of eliminating poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. According to the NDP, South Africa has the potential and capacity to eliminate and reduce inequality over the next two decades. In order for this to happen, there should be a shift from passive communities receiving services from the state to a situation that systematically includes the socially and economically excluded, where people are more active champions of their own development.

 

To support the envisioned goals of the MTFS and meet the constitutional, legislative and policy mandate, the following table highlights the NDA’s alignment to some of the MTSF priority areas:

 

Table 9: NDAs priorities alignment to government outcomes

Priority

NDA Outcomes aligned to priorities

Economic Transformation and Job Creation

  • Self-sufficient and self-reliant communities – these are communities that are empowered to address poverty and are able to create opportunities for themselves post-developmental interventions. These opportunities include the inclusive creation of work for sustainability of livelihoods and sustainable poverty elimination.

 

  • Good governance – Through the review of the preferential procurement policy. The NDA will ensure internal compliance to the policy by ensuring the inclusion of SMMEs in localisation and buy local campaigns. The revised procurement policy will, amongst others, address the strengthening of the Township and Rural economy by allocating 30% of the NDA budget and ensuring timeous payment to all suppliers within 30 days. 

 

  • Establish effective public private partnership modalities to effect development goals – the NDA seeks to raise resources for funding and support of the CSOs for furtherance of their developmental work. Through this outcome, the NDA also aims to facilitate the increase in the number of competitive small business/CSOs/cooperatives with a focus on township economies and rural development. This it will do through establishing strategic partnerships that will raise resources for continuous support to CSOs.

Education and skill development

  • Influencing development policy through thought leadership – the NDA is striving to produce research output that will place the organisation at the forefront as a thought leader in its area of expertise and in line with the development needs of the country. Various stakeholders through different platforms will be engaged with the research output. The expected output is to ignite dialogue and/or contribute to the development of various strategies and policies in line with the development needs and national priorities. This outcome will contribute to the improved education; training and innovation output of the country and contribute towards the development policy and practice.

 

  • Self-sufficient and self-reliant communities – in the creation and enablement of self-sufficient and self-reliant communities, education and training will be central. Various capacitation methods will be employed; these include direct capacitation in CSO management, legislative compliance, provision of Learning, and Teaching and Stimulation material to Early Childhood Development Centres.

Consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services 

  • Self-sufficient and self-reliant communities – Self-sufficient and self-reliant communities are well-capacitated and empowered communities that are creators of quality basic services. Targeting vulnerable individuals and households for the implementation – through CSOs – of food and nutrition security initiatives will contribute towards consolidating the social wage and one of the mechanisms to eradicate poverty and improve people’s lives.

Social Cohesion and safe communities

  • Establish effective public private partnership modalities to effect development goals– Through coordinating strategic partnerships between key economic stakeholders and CSOs, which primarily focuses on safe community initiatives such as ending gender-based violence (GBV), and the restorative justice programme, the NDA will be contributing to the achievement of safe communities.

 

  • Fostering social cohesion through the provincial and national social dialogues and the development of social compacts that commit stakeholders to certain actionable programmes that will deepen democracy and unite South Africans.

 

A capable and ethical developmental state

  • Good governance - at the core of good governance is a clean audit and this is what the NDA is striving towards – an unqualified audit opinion which is also in line with the new government’s fight against corruption. Good governance requires an ethical and capable state with professional and meritocratic public servants.

 

  • Additionally, the NDA will modernise business processes through the implementation of the ICT masterplan. This will optimise operation and capabilities. 

 

The NDA was established to eliminate poverty and its causes; this speaks to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aspirations. The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, is a global agenda consisting of 17 goals aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring that humanity enjoys peace and prosperity. The SDGs recognises that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.

 

13.3 Overview of the NDA 2020/2021 budget allocation

 

The main source of funding of the NDA is allocation from the DSD, located within Programme 5: Social Policy and Integrated Service Delivery.

 

The budget of the NDA is spent amongst three programmes. These are:

 

  • Programme 1: Governance and Administration – responsible for promoting and maintaining organisational excellence and sustainability through effective and efficient administration that includes performance, employee well-being, cost containment and brand recognition.
  • Programme 2: Civil Society Organisations – provides a comprehensive package that aims at developing CSOs to their full potential, to ensure that CSOs, especially those operating in poor communities, have capabilities to provide quality services to the communities they are serving.
  • Programme 3: Research – focuses is on action research and impact evaluative studies that will be used to inform programme planning, implementation and management of NDA CSOs development Programmes.

 

13.4 NDA overall budget 2020/2021

 

Being a Schedule 3A entity, as defined by the PFMA, the running of the NDA is driven principally by government grants.  The operating budget of the NDA is made up 97.2% (R224.4 million) transfer from the DSD, 0.1% (R2.3 million) from the interests, and 1.7% (R4.0 million) from other income.

Table 3 below provides the total operational budget of the NDA for the 2020/21 financial year:

 

Table 10: NDA operational budget for 2020/21

 

 

 

 

 

NB/explanatory note

Nominal Increase/Decrease

Is when inflation is not taken into account

Real Increase/Decrease

Is when inflation is taken into account

 

Table 1 above depicts that the NDA has an operational budget of R230.8 million for 2020/21 financial year compared to R215.3 million received in 2019/20. In nominal terms, the budget of NDA increases by R15.5 million (7.2%). However, when the inflation rate of 4.4 percent is taken into consideration, the budget only increases by R5.8 million (2.6%) from previous financial year.

 

Over the years, the main costs drivers of the NDA has been the employment costs and operating overheads such as rental for offices and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, which are increasing at a rate above Consumer Price Index (CPI). For the past three years, NDA operational budget has been increasing in nominal terms from R202.6 million in 2018/19, R215.3 million in 2019/20, and R230.8 million in 2020/21.

 

13.5 Budget allocation per programme

 

Chart 1 below provides value and percentage share of the three programmes of the NDA. The bulk of the Agency’s budget is allocated to programme 1 and programme 2.

 

Chart 1: percentage budget per programme

 

Programme 1: Administration and governance is allocated R116.2 million (50%) of the total budget. This programme shows a real increase of R9.8 million or 9.66% from the previous year budget.

 

Programme 2: Civil Society Organisations is allocated R103.8 (or 45%) of the total budget. The programme shows a decrease in both nominal and real. The budget for the programme decreases by R-4.7 million (or -4.49%) when inflation is considered.

 

Programme 3: Research is allocated R10.8 million (or 5%) of the total budget of the Agency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13.6 Programme performance targets

 

Figure 2: Performance targets for 2020/21 vs 2019/20

 

Figure 2 above depicts that the NDA has 19 set targets for 2020/21 financial year, up by four (4) targets from the 15 set targets for 2019/20 financial year.

 

Programme 1: Administration and Governance

 

The focus of the programme is on promoting and maintaining organisational excellence and sustainability through effective and efficient administration that includes performance, employee wellbeing, cost containment as well as brand enhancement and recognition.

 

This programme has total number of seven targets planned for the 2020/21 financial year. Amongst others, the NDA plans to achieve a 100% compliance to consequence management framework and a 100% compliance to the preferential procurement policy. It also wants to achieve 80% reduction of cumulative balance of UIFW expenditure reported in the prior year annual financial statements.

 

 

Table 11: Expenditure items for programme 1

Key Expenditure items

2020/2021

2021/2022

2022/2023

Office leases and ICT costs

R24.6 million

R22.1 million

R23.8 million

Operating costs and overheads

R28.4 million

R33.3 million

R32.6 million

Compensation and employee related costs

R59.2 million

R60.4 million

R63.9 million

Capital Expenditure

R3.9 million

R1.0 million

R1.1 million

Total Programme allocation

R116.2 million

R117.0 million

R121.5 million

 

The main cost drivers of programme 1 include Compensation of Employees (COE) at R59.2 million that is 60% of the programme’s total budget. This is followed by operating and overheads costs at R28.4 million and office leases and ICT costs to the value of R24.6 million.

 

It is worth noting that the budget increase in this programme is in line with the increase in the number of set targets for 2020/2021. The programme budget increases by a real percentage of 9.66%.

 

Programme 2: Civil Society Organisation Development

 

This programme provides a comprehensive package that aims at developing CSOs to their full potential, to ensure that CSOs, especially those operating in poor communities, have capabilities to provide quality services to the communities they are serving.

 

This programme has a total number of seven targets for the 2020/21 financial year. During the year under review, the NDA plans to raise R100 million to fund CSOs and intend to assist the CSOs to increase their income to R5 815 530.00 as the result of NDA interventions. It also plans to capacitate about 3400 CSOs during the year under review.

 

 

 

 

Table 12: Expenditure items for programme 2

Key Expenditure items

2020/2021

2021/2022

2022/2023

Mobilisation & formalisation of CSO's

R5.7 million

R5.5 million

R5.8 million

Capacity building of CSO's

R5.8 million

R6.1 million

R6.4 million

Granting of funds to CSO's

R13.9 million

R17.5 million

R17.9 million

Compensation of employees

R78.2 million

R82.5 million

R88.0 million

Total programme allocation

R103.8 million

R111.8 million

R118.2 million

 

The Compensation of Employees (COE) consumes 75.3% or R78.2 million of the total budget of programme 2. The grant for CSOs only receives 13.4% or R13.9 million of the total budget under this programme. 

 

Programme 3: Research

 

The focus of this programme is on action research and impact evaluative studies that will be used to inform programme planning, implementation and management of NDA CSOs development Programmes.

 

This programme has a total number of five targets for the 2020/21 financial year. The Agency is planning release three research publications and three evaluation reports for the year under review. It is also planning to have five external dialogues to engage on the NDA research outputs during this period under review.

 

Table 13: Expenditure items for programme 3

Key Expenditure items

2020/2021

2021/2022

2022/2023

Research Studies conducted

R3.4 million

R2.8 million

R2.9 million

Monitoring and evaluation of programmes

R1.4 million

R1.4 million

R1.5 million

Compensation of employees

R5.9 million

R6.2 million

R6.6 million

Total programme allocation

R10.8 million

R10.5 million

R11.1 million

 

 

14. Implications of the Covid 19 pandemic

The NDA had to play a significant role to assist the department in its measures to fight against impact of Covid 19 pandemic. As shown above the core mandate of the NDA is to provide capacity building and grant funding to CSOs. Some of these CSOs are involved in food generation. It responded to the fight against the pandemic by formulating five (5) projects at a total cost of R47.4 million. The table below indicates budget allocated per project:

 

Table 14: Budget allocation per Covid 19 projects

Project

Budget

Timeframe

Volunteer Support Programme

R20.4 million

6 months

Grant Funding Programme to CSOs for delivery of Covid related goods from small enterprises

R17.9 million

2020/2021 financial year

Digitisation of CSO development initiatives

R2 million

3 months for development

6 months for roll out and implementation

Supplement CARA programmes by granting funding additional CSO involved in GBV sector

R2 million

2020/2021 financial year

Covid 19 response to implement health and safety measures for staff over pandemic duration

R5 million

2020/2021 financial year

Total

R47.4 million

 

 

The following are some of the implications on the operations of the NDA due to COVID 19 and lockdown:

 

  • Reprioritisation of budget allocated to economic classifications under Programme 1 – Goods and Services, Capital Expenditure and Compensation of Employees. There was also reprioritisation of budget allocation under Programme 3. The reprioritised funds amounted to R21. 8 million.
  • The other R25.6 million came from savings operational costs, such as, cut in travel costs due to lockdown restrictions, non-renewal of operating leases, freezing of vacant posts, research and monitoring and evaluation costs.
  • A significant number of KPIs will be reviewed as a result of the budget reprioritisation and Covid-19 regulatory restrictions (e.g. Civil Society Organisations CSOS Capacity Building, Research, etc.),
  • Some service delivery based activities such as grant funding to CSOs will be exponentially increased to broaden Covid-19 support on the ground,
  • The NDA will review the APP to ensure that it is COVID-19 responsive,
  • The APP will be re-tabled and presented to the Portfolio Committee.

 

15. Committee deliberations and observations

  • The joint committee wanted to know the reasons behind NDA’s decision not to request the AG to review its APP and strategic plan (SP). 

The NDA explained that its planning process had not been concluded by the 31st of January 2020 due to a lengthy consultation process with internal and external stakeholders. The planning process was only concluded by mid-March at which point it was already late for the AG review both the SP and APP.  

  • It also wanted to know the kind of support the NDA was providing to the NPOs that are facing closure during the period of Covid 19 lockdown.

 

The NDA explained that it increased the budget for grant funding from R17 million to R30 million in the advent of COVID 19 pandemic. This budget was aimed at supporting CSOs that are facing closure after a period of inactivity due to the impact of the prolonged lockdown period.

 

  • Furthermore, the joint committee was interested to know the contribution or work that the NDA is involved in to ensure that the insights it reported on in its presentation are addressed as they relate to   its primary mandate.

 

The NDA reported that it has produced reports and policy briefs through a range of research work with its research partners. These outputs are used in creating engagement platforms that bring the public sector and civil society sector to discuss and debate development policy challenges in the country with the aim of creating consensus on the role the sector can play in responding to implementation challenges. The outcome of these processes are to increase the participation of the civil society is building the South Africa we all want to live in.

 

Secondly, the aim of the reports is to address and open the space for all civil society sector to see their roles thus bridging the fragmentation gap within the sector. Because of the mistrust between these sectors, the process will take time to yield the results for both sectors to view each other as allies in fighting poverty, unemployment and inequalities, which are the enemies of the state. In the current financial year, the NDA has planned 5 (five) such dialogues and engagement between these sectors but have extended these engagements to include the private sector. In addition, the CSOs development programme has planned similar engagements with grassroots’ civil society organisations across the country to empower them to participate effectively in these fora and bring the community voice into policy debates in South Africa.

 

  • The joint committee made reference to the earlier presentation made by the AG which reported on certain factors that made the Supply Chain Management processes of the NDA move very slow.  It wanted to know whether there were any measures put in place to address these challenge.

 

  • The joint committee reiterated its concern over the lack of visibility of the NDA. 

The NDA reported that it has footprint in all provinces in the country mainly targeting poor rural and semi-urban areas. The small budget for marketing and communication of programmes and projects implemented by the NDA in such areas contributes towards the non-visibility of its work. There is however in the current APP a sharp focus on the brand improvement of the NDA as it will pursue the approval and possible implementation of a comprehensive brand strategy.

  • The committee wanted to know if the NDA had put in place regulations to monitor compliance of the Non Profit Organisations and Civil Society Organisations. It further asked if the NDA conducted any monitoring processes to ensure that Covid 19 funds were spent on what they were intended for.

The NDA explained that it developed a monitoring tool. All CSOs appointed for the Volunteer Support Programme implemented as a response to Covid-19 were provided with tools aimed at monitoring the implementation of the Programme at the community level. CSOs submit these reports to the Situation Room (War Room).

 

  • The joint committee welcomed the NDA’s additional workforce in the form of volunteers to assist in the food distribution during the Covid 19 pandemic period.  It wanted to know what will happen to the volunteers post the pandemic period.

 

The NDA reported that it will continue to implement the CSO development model, which is aligned with its mandate of contributing towards eradication of poverty and its causes through capacity building and grant funding of level 1 CSOs. Volunteers will be capacitated to formalize their organisations to be able to receive support from the NDA.

 

  • The joint committee also wanted to know the role of the NDA to support Community Nutrition and Development Centre (CNDCs) in terms of skills development and exit plans.

 

The NDA reported that it appointed 52 Civil Society Organisations to manage 580 Volunteers allocated to all 52 Districts of the country. The volunteers support initiatives implemented by the Social Development Portfolio such as food preparation in CNDCs, distribution of food parcels to households, assisting in SASSA pay-points and dissemination of COVID 19 information in local languages.

 

  • The joint committee wanted to know the reasons for budget decrease on CSOs capacity.

The NDA explained that the budget allocated to capacity building of CSO’s in Programme 2 was decreased by R4,3 million year-on-year, due to reduced activity targeted for this sub-programme. This programme far exceeded its operational targets set for the 2019-20 financial year. Further to this, cost saving initiatives had been identified for implementation in this programme, particularly with regards to venue hire and training material. The majority of budget in this programme will now be reprioritized towards the COVID-19 response projects, as capacity building projects may not proceed due to social distancing rules.

 

 

 

16. Recommendations

Having considered the strategic plans and the annual performance plans of the department and its entities the Committee makes the following recommendations:

Department of Social Development

  • The Minister should ensure that the department submits its annual performance plans to the office of the Auditor-General for a review within the prescribed or agreed deadline. This is in spirit of upholding good governance and effective planning, improvement of accountability and transparency.
  • The Minister should ensure that the department in its annual plans set clear targets aimed at addressing issues of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and violence and murder of children.

 

  • The Minister should ensure that the department’s senior management effectively use reports of the internal audit units. This will ensure that the department responds timeously to any issues identified by these units. Any weaknesses to the internal controls and systems and non-compliance to legislation and policies can be addressed on time.

 

  • The Minister should ensure that the department in its anti-gangsterism and anti-substance abuse campaigns have clear emphasis on family strengthening interventions and youth skills development.

 

  • The Minister should ensure that the department within this financial year develops clear guidelines that will direct its collaboration with community based organizations (CBOs), non-government organizations (NGOs) as well as corporate organizations in the distribution of food parcels or cooked meals. This will ensure better coordination and the strategy should be bottom up.

16.2 South African Social Security Agency (SASSA)

 

  • The Minister should ensure that SASSA during the 2020/2021 financial year puts in place effective queue management systems, such as using a queue marshal system. In addition, SASSA should ensure that pay points have adequate ablution facilities, water supply and seating arrangements to uphold the dignity of beneficiaries.  

 

  • The Minister should also make sure that SASSA before end of May 2020 develops a clear communication strategy on the execution of the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant as well as application processes that will need to be followed. 

 

16.3 National Development Agency (NDA)

  • The Minister should ensure that the NDA submits its annual performance plans to the office of the Auditor-General for a review within the prescribed or agreed deadline. This is in spirit of upholding good governance and effective planning, improvement of accountability and transparency.
  •  

Report to be considered.

 

 

 

 

 

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