ATC100914: Report First Quarter Conditional Grants Spending Patterns on Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme Grant for the 2010/11 financial year

NCOP Finance

Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on the First Quarter Conditional Grants Spending Patterns on Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme Grant for the 2010/11 financial year, dated 14 September 2010

 

The Select Committee on Appropriations, having analysed the first quarter spending patterns by various provincial departments of Arts and Culture in the 2010/11 financial year, reports as follows:

 

1. Introduction

 

The Select Committee on Appropriations (the Committee) invited identified provincial departments of Sports and Recreation, who were either under-spending or over-spending on the Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme Grant, to come and make a presentation on their first quarter spending in the 2010/11 financial year. The statistics on spending patterns were published by National Treasury in August 2010. 

 

The Committee meetings took place on 25 and 27 August 2010.  

 

2. Terms of Reference

 

The hearings formed part of the Committee’s ongoing interaction with provinces to monitor their spending on conditional grants allocated to them. A framework for each grant sets out, amongst other things, the purpose of the grant, measurable objectives, conditions, allocation criteria, and past performance.

 

Provinces were requested to make an oral presentation on National School Nutrition Programme Grant and to take into consideration the following:

• Data trends in allocations, transfers and actual expenditure of conditional grants of the department;
• Assessment of department’s monitoring capacity for the 2009/10 financial year and indicate under/overspending and what capacity constraints that impacted on these outcomes; and
• Report whether monthly reports are received from receiving departments and or municipalities, and if not, what the departments are doing in order to ensure compliance with monthly reporting.

 

The provincial departments of Sport and Recreation of Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape, Gauteng, Free State, and KwaZulu Natal were identified and invited. All provinces honoured the invitations.

 

National Treasury was invited to brief the Committee on the first quarter spending of the above-mentioned provincial departments. 

 

3. Presentations

3.1 National Treasury

 

National Treasury presented that the main budget for provinces as at 30 June 2010 was R426 385 million and R123 227 million was received by provinces. However, National Treasury said that the actual amount spent by provinces as at the end of the first quarter was R70 230 million (57 percent of funds received).   

 

National Treasury reported that the general reasons for under-spending were, amongst other things, due to: restructuring of programmes in certain provinces; some federations are not properly registered as business entities or NGOs and this has led to procurement delays and challenges; late signing of business plans and programme implementation agreements (PIAs) in certain provinces; and  poor performance on certain outputs, (for example, a low number of athletes absorbed into formal structures and a low number of communities, schools and clubs with access to local sporting facilities).

 

3.2 The Province of Gauteng

 

The Province of Gauteng (Sport and Recreation) reported that it received R25.3 million for the first quarter of the 2010/11 financial year and spent R8.7 million as at 30 June 2010. The Province of Gauteng reported that there are three programmes under this grant: Siyadlala Programme, School Sport Mass Participation Programme and Legacy Programme. The Province of Gauteng informed the Committee that the total budget for compensation of contract workers is R4 million.

 

The Province of Gauteng reported that it under-spent on this grant and the reasons that were given for under-spending were as follows:

·         That most of the programmes were not implemented due to the FIFA World Cup.

·         That the Department implemented the integrated Gauteng Provincial Government Holiday Programme and most of the Human Resources were deployed to this activity. Since this took place during June/July months, the expenditure will only reflect during the second quarter.

 

With respect to challenges experienced, the Province of Gauteng reported the following: that events that were hosted in the evening posed risks for personnel and spectators, especially in far out and unlit areas; that reaction to events as they surfaced stretched the capacity of the directorate; that there was lack of staff in some units which hampered the implementation of programmes; that stakeholders did not submit their business plans timeously; that there were change of plans that were not communicated or effectively communicated by relevant stakeholders; and that slow procurement processes hampered the delivery of some services.

 

With regard to monitoring, the Province of Gauteng reported that monitoring of the programme is lacking. However, the required staff to assist with this directorate is being reworked for submission to the Head of the Department.

 

3.3 The Province of KwaZulu-Natal

 

The Province of KwaZulu-Natal (Sport and Recreation) reported that R13.6 million (40 percent) of the first quarter budget of R22.2 million was spent as at 30 June 2010.

 

With respect to personnel capacity and, monitoring and evaluation of the programme, the Province of KwaZulu-Natal reported that the Mass Participation Programme structure includes: a Manager who is overall responsible for the conditional grant; three Deputy Managers (School Sport Mass Participation Programme, Siyadlala, and Legacy) and four Conditional Grants Administration Officers tasked with the monitoring and evaluation of the programme in each cluster. The Province of KwaZulu-Natal added that the structure allows for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of the three sub-programmes from ward to provincial level.

 

Furthermore, the Province of KwaZulu-Natal reported that the Strategic Management Unit was tasked with the function of monitoring all Mass Participation Programme’s projects to ensure compliance with the business plans. TheProvince of KwaZulu-Natal added that Finance and Supply Chain Management Units are responsible for ensuring compliance with the grant framework. Regular checks of projects against the operational and business plans are made in order to ensure that fruitless and wasteful, and unauthorized expenditure are avoided. Weekly cash flow reports are presented to all managers with an iam to detect early possible over-/under-spending. The Province ofKwaZulu-Natal added on saying that monthly Finance Committee meetings between the Finance Unit and the Mass Participation Programme Unit are scheduled to address grant compliance and spending issues.

 

With respect to under-spending, the Province of KwaZulu-Natal reported that the reasons for under-spending in the first quarter were as follows:

• That the training of 770 contract workers and 648 educators (totalling a budget of R6 165 000) has been rescheduled for the second quarter due to the closure of schools during the World Cup 2010 and the involvement of some volunteers in the World Cup 2010.
• That the hub/club festivals were also rescheduled for the third and fourth quarters due to the intensive World Cup 2010 Mass Mobilization Programmes that was prioritized.

 

3.4 The Province of North West

 

The Province of North West (Sport and Recreation) reported that it spent R2.5 million out of R8.5 million that was received for the first quarter of the 2100/11 financial year. The Province of North West explained that all of the three sub-programmes (Siyadlala, School sport and Legacy) have under-spent.

 

The Province of North West reported that the pending appointment of 95 sport co-ordinators, 110 sport assistants, 45 sport development officers and administrators for the Siyadlala, School Sport and Legacy sub-programmes respectively. The appointment of these personnel is pending due to litigation has impacted negatively on procurement of equipment and attire to implement the Siyadlala sub-programme. Furthermore, the pending confirmation of the roll-over of funds is also hampering implementation of activities.  

 

With respect to monitoring, the Province of North West reported that Management and Monitoring Information System is in place to monitor and evaluate projects. The Province of North West further reported that weekly, monthly and quarterly reporting are done timeously and that assists in early detection and allows timely interventions to address identified challenges.

 

 

3.5 The Province of Western Cape

 

The Province of Western Cape (Sport and Recreation) reported that, for the first quarter of 2010/11 financial year, it has spent R7 million (38 percent) out of R18.8 million that were received. The contributing factors to the under-spending were reported as follows:

·         Most of the funding for the 2010 “fanjols” were only paid out in July 2010.

·         There were logistical challenges with regard to the implementation of School Sport Mass Participation Centres.

·         Clubs and federations did not respond timeously with regard to the effective roll-out of the club development programme

 

The Province of Western Cape reported that the following capacity constraints that are contributing to under-spending:

•        Long distances to be travelled for meetings, events and, monitoring and evaluation.

•        Lack of understanding of efficient and effective service delivery by activity coordinators/sport assistants.

•        Slow response of federations with regard to reporting.

 

With respect to addressing its challenges, the Province of Western Cape reported that: additional vehicles have been purchased and allocated to the regional offices to alleviate the situation; induction training programme with activity co-ordinators, and regular monthly and quarterly meetings with all personnel, are scheduled; federations have been connected to regional offices and this has improved communication and, reporting lines and timeframes.

 

3.6 The Province of Free State

 

The Province of Free State (Sport and Recreation) reported that it spent R2.6 million (9 percent) of the total budget of R28 million as at the end of the first quarter of the 2010/11financial year. The Province of Free State reported that the reason for under-spending was as a result of putting on hold many programmes that were not connected to the 2010 World Cup.  Another reason for under-spending that was mentioned by the Province of Free State was that contracts of volunteers had expired and there will be no reappointments of these contractors. The contracts of the other 28 volunteer/contract workers are due to expire in March 2011.

 

The Province of Free State reported that a new strategy has been proposed to capacitate educators. The Province of Free State informed the Committee that the long term plan is to assist the targeted schools in the programme to compete in the mainstream school sport competitions.

 

3.7 The Province of Limpopo

 

The Province of Limpopo (Sport and Recreation) reported that it received R11.3 million for the Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme and has spent R12.3 million (109 percent) as at the end of the first quarter of the 2010/11 financial year. The Province of Limpopo explained that over-spending was as a result of the liabilities carried over from the 2009/10 financial year (that is payment of sport equipment which could not be delivered on time by the end of the 2009/10 financial year due to challenges faced at the harbour).

 

With respect to monitoring, the Province of Limpopo reported that monthly reports are submitted to the National Department of Sport and Recreation through forms 14 and 15 as well as statistics. The Province of Limpopo added that these are quantitative reports which culminate into the submission of quarterly reports that are aligned to the business plan.

 

3.8 The Province of Northern Cape

 

The Province of Northern Cape (Sport, Arts and Culture) reported that it received R8.9 million for the first quarter of the 2010/11 financial year and it had spent R4.8 million (54 percent) as at the end of the first quarter of the 2010/11 financial year. The Province of Northern Cape explained that the reason for over-spending on the Legacy programme was due to the “My 2010 Schools World Cup” Programme. The Province of Northern Cape reported that this was part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Programme which resulted in additional costs (in the form of accommodation, transport, and procuring of sport attire for the team) that were incurred when sending the Provincial Team to the National Tournament.

 

The Province of Northern Cape assured the Committee that, to avoid over-spending at the end of the 2010/11 financial year, the planned legacy programmes for the remainder of the year will be scaled down to bring planned spending within budget.

 

With respect to under-spending in Siyadlala and School Sport Mass Participation programmes (MPP), the Province of Northern Cape reported that all planned first quarter programmes did not take place as a result of the 2010 FIFA World Cup; and these programmes have been rescheduled to take place in the remaining quarters of the 2010/11 financial year.

 

With respect to monitoring of the grant, the Province of Northern Cape reported that management team has been established comprising of assistant manager for each of the programmes (Siyadlala MPP, School Sport MPP and Legacy) to monitor the overall performance of the grant. The Province of Northern Cape added that support staff includes grant financial officer, programme facilitator and three administrators to monitor implementation of programmes and grant spending.

 

Furthermore, the Committee was informed that a Project Management Unit is to be established within the Sport & Recreation Directorate by end of November 2010 to:

•          Respond timeously and assist in the implementation of effective and efficient systems to account and verify,

•          Ensure the provision of accurate, reliable & quality information on time,

•          Assist the Province in determining its impact and growth path, and

•          Achieve excellence and advance social cohesion.

 

3.9 The Province of Eastern Cape

 

The Province of Eastern Cape (Sports and Recreation) reported that it projected to spend R19.9 million as at the end of the first quarter of the 2010//11 financial year but only R14 million was spent (71 percent). The Province ofEastern Cape infomed the Committee that the reason it did not spend all of the funds that were received was due to the following: a delay in replacement of coordinators; a delay in implementation of stipend increment; and a delay in procurement and payment processes. The Province of Eastern Cape explained that the devolution of procurement/payment function to districts further contributed to under-spending because the Province of Eastern Cape had to follow correct channels and capacitate districts before they can be able to perform this function.

 

3.10 The Province of Mpumalanga

 

The Province of Mpumalanga (Sport and Recreation) reported to the Committee that it spent R4.8 million (83 percent) of the R5.7 million that it received in the first quarter of 2010/11 financial year. The Committee was informed that the reason for under-spending was due to Golden Oldies and Regional Indigenous Games that could not be facilitated in the first quarter of the 2010/11 financial year towing to the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. These games are postponed to the second and third quarters of the 2010 financial year. In addition, slow submission of documentation by service providers which led to the delay in the processing of payment further contributed to under-spending. The Province of Mpumalanga informed the Committee that all programmes that were put on hold will be rolled out the remainder of the 2010/11 financial year and payment of service providers will be prioritized.

 

The Province of Mpumalanga further reported that the Mass Sport and Recreation Participation has been implemented in three regions (Gert Sibande, Nkangala and Ehlanzeni) and eighteen municipalities of the

Province of Limpopo are benefiting from this programme. The Province of Mpumalanga added on saying that 260 schools are participating on the programme and that 536 volunteers are employed through this grant.

 

With respect to the outputs, the Province of Mpumalanga reported the following: 90 sport administrators, coaches and technical officials were trained; Municipal and Regional Sports Councils were established and assisted to coordinate meetings; Bafana-Bafana Supporters Club was established and will continue to get support in the 2010/11 financial year; two workshops were facilitated to train 800 volunteers on how to run Public Viewing Areas; and a container gym was provided to one school in Kwaggafontein.

 

With respect to monitoring capacity, the Province of Mpumalanga reported that, at municipal level, Sport and Recreation Officials visit Hubs twice a week to monitor the work of Hubs Coordinators and Cluster Coordinators. At regional level, regions facilitate monthly meetings, which are chaired by Regional Heads, with volunteers to discuss and evaluate implementation of the programme. The Committee was further informed that, at provincial level, monthly reporting meetings are convened with all officials to discuss reports including conditional grant reports; unannounced Hubs visits are conducted by the Director and the Chief Director.

 

The Province of Mpumalanga added that the filling of the Deputy and Assistant Directors contract posts for Monitoring and Evaluation will be finalized by the end of second quarter of the 2010/11 financial year and the employment of three data capturers will increase the monitoring and evaluation capacity. Furthermore, the Province of Mpumalanga reported that Provincial Treasury continues to monitoring the grant spending. The Province of Mpumalangaconcluded that the National Department of Sport and Recreation visits it on quarterly basis to evaluate and monitor the implementation of the Mass Participation Programme Grant.

 

4. General findings

 

The Committee noted the following:

• That the framework of the grant requires provinces to employ contract workers. However, these workers have taken provinces to court demanding permanent employment. As a result of this, provinces cannot contract new volunteers/contract workers until judgement on litigation cases has been given and this causes provinces to under-spend.   
• That the provinces purchased the 2010 FIFA World Cup tickets and it is not clear whether this was in line with their business plans as required by conditional grant framework.
• That the Province of the Free State only spent on activities that had to do with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Because all other activities were put on hold, the spending outcomes as reported by the province are virtually nothing.

 

5. Recommendations

 

Having considered the spending patterns on the Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme Grant by the afore-mentioned provincial departments of Sport and Recreation, the Select Committee on Appropriations recommends that the National Council of Provinces considers the following:

5.1   That the provinces, in particular the Province of North West, should approach the National Commissioner and the Senior Commissioner of the Commission on Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration and report to them the slow process of finalizing the litigation cases and its effect on service delivery.

5.2   That National Treasury should conduct a thorough review of all Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme Grant’s business plans and submit its findings to Parliament within three months after the adoption of this report by the House.

5.3   That the Province of the Free State should intensify and improve on the rolling out of all activities that had been put on hold.

5.4    That Provincial Treasury, in consulation with National Treasury and the Auditor-General, should investigate the appropriateness of the use of public funds by any provincial departments on the 2010 FIFA World Cup and report to Parliament and the National Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs within three months after the adoption of this report by the House.

 

 

Report to be considered.