ATC210901: Report of the Select Committee On Health and Social Services on the Annual Performance Plan (Budget Vote 20) of the Department of Women, Youth And Persons with Disabilities for the 2021/22 Financial Year, Dated 31 August 2021

NCOP Health and Social Services

Report of the Select Committee On Health and Social Services on the Annual Performance Plan (Budget Vote 20) of the Department of Women, Youth And Persons with Disabilities for the 2021/22 Financial Year, Dated 31 August 2021

The Select Committee on Health and Social Services, having considered theAnnual Performance Plan and Budget of the Department in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities for 2021/22on the 24 August 2021, reports as follows:

1.INTRODUCTION

The Select Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, in performing its constitutional oversight mandate, engaged with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (hereafter referred to as the Department),considers all matters pertaining to the Department.

2.MANDATE AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities was on the gazette of 26 June 2019 following the Presidential Announcement of the sixth administration.At that stage, the Department was once again reconfigured and was charged with “taking the lead on socio-economic transformation and implementation of the empowerment and participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities through mainstreaming, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation.”[1]Of importance to note is the change to the Department’s mandate as articulated in the amended Strategic Plan and APP 2021/22, from a paradigm shift from being a facilitation department to a regulatory one. To this end, Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane stipulates in her foreword of the current APP this shift from being a facilitation department to one that regulates government programmes and monitors the empowerment and prioritisation of women, youth and persons with disabilities in these programmes.

(a) Vision

The Department indicated that its revised vision is“Rights of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities realized.”[2]

(b) Mission

The revised mission of the Department will by undertaken “by regulating the rights of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.”[3]

(c) Constitutional mandate

The Department derives its mandate from theConstitution of the Republic of South Africa, in

particular, section 9 (3) which states that “the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth”. Further, Section 10 states that everyone has inherentdignity and the right to have their dignity respectedand protected.Therefore, the mandate of the Department is toregulate the socio-economic transformationand implementation of the empowerment andparticipation of women, youth and persons withdisabilities.

In order to give effect to its mandate, the Department will implement the following programmes as outlined in the APP of 2021/22:

Programme 1: Administration, managed by three (3) sub-programmes – Departmental Management, Financial Management and Corporate Management.
Programme 2: Social Economic Empowerment and Participation, with three sub-programmes, which are Economic Empowerment and Participation;Social Empowerment and Transformation; and Governance Transformation, Justice and Security.
Programme 3: Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management, with four sub-programmes, which are Research, Policy Analysis and Knowledge Management;International Relations; Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Stakeholder Coordination and Outreach.
Programme 4: Rights of Persons with Disabilities: This programme will be realised with three sub-programmes namely Management; Advocacy and mainstreaming RPD and Governance and compliance RPD.
Programme 5: National Youth Development Programme with two sub-programmes, which are the National Youth Development Programme and the National Youth Development Agency.

3.ANALYSIS OF THE BUDGET FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN, YOUTH AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

The2021 Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) indicates that the Department will focus on the following over the medium term:

Addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and supporting empowerment,
Promoting gender-responsive planning, budgeting and M&E across Government,
Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and
Supporting the empowerment of young people.

In reflecting on the budget allocation and expenditure for the Department for 2020/21, Table 1 provides a summary to illustrate the allocations, reprioritised budgets and expenditure as presented by the Department during itsthird quarter presentation of 2020/21.

According to the National Treasury 2020 ENE released in February 2020, the Department under Vote 20 initially received an annual appropriation of R778.5 million. Transfer payments are then done for two entities, namely the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). Hence R89.9 million is to be transferred to the CGE and R478.7 million to the NYDA. This amounts to R568.8 million. As such, the Department was left with an operating budget of R209.7 million to undertake its programmes and meet its targets for 2020/21.

Table 1: Department budget 2020/21[4]

Programme	Programme operational budget Q1	Revised budget as per presentation	Q3 Exp.	Expenditure as % of budget	Remaining budget
1.Administration	R93.3 m	R90.8 m	R70.8m	78.0%	R19.9m
Social Transformation & Economic Empowerment	R124.7m – R89.9 CGE transfer = R34.9m	R27.3 m	R12.0m	44.1%	R15.2m
Policy, Stakeholder Coordination & Knowledge Management	R49.1m	R39.3 m	R18.1m	46.1%	R21.1m
Rights of Persons with Disabilities	R19.9m	R15.9 m	R7.6m	47.9%	R8.3m
National Youth Development	R493.3m –R478.7m NYDA transfer = R12.7m	R10.5 m	R3.8m	36.6%	R6.6m
Total	R209.7m	R183.9m	R112.5m	61.2%	R71.3m

However, Government budgets were reprioritised towards funding to deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To this end, the Department reported in July 2020 that the revised or reallocated budget amount was R27.228 million, thus cutting the Department’s operating budget and leaving it with an operating budget of approximately R183 million for the 2020/21 financial year. Table 1 therefore reflects the reprioritised budget amounts which were extracted from the Department’s reprioritisation presentation in July 2020. The adjusted appropriations as presented in the 2021/22 Estimates of National Expenditure indicates a total appropriation of R621 million (and a calculated operational budget of R174.6 million), hence further reductions and adjustments were made.

While a reduction has been recorded in the Administration programme (R2.9million), the bulk of the reduction (R23.6 million) was found across programmes 2 to 5, which are the “service delivery/output/outcome” programmes. In terms of expenditure up until the end of Quarter 3 of 2020/21, Programme 1 has spent the highest proportion of its budget out of all the programmes as at the end of quarter 3 at 78%. The Department indicated that there were a number of outstanding invoices and items for procurement that will impact on the 4thquarter budget. For the remaining programmes, under-expenditure is indicated in the table above, with the National Youth Programme (Programme 5) spending the least of its overall budget as at 31 December 2020 only 36.6% (R3.8 million). Savings/under-spending was recorded across all programmes, primarily as a result of vacancies and restrictions on travel and public engagements.

According to the National Treasury 2021 ENE released in February 2021, the Department under Vote 20 received an annual appropriation of R763.5million. However, it must be noted that the Department facilitates transfer payments to two entities, namely the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). During the 2021/22 financial year, the Department was expected to transfer R91.4million to the CGE and R471 million to the NYDA. This amounts to R562.2million as reflected in Table 2. This means that the Department would be left with an actual operating budget of approximately R201.1 million to undertake its programmes and meet its targets for 2021/22.

Table 2: Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Budget Summary[5]

Programmes	2021/22				2022/23	2023/24
Programmes	Total	Current Payments	Transfers Subsidies	Payment for Capital Assets	Total	Total
Administration	98.0	95.8	0.0	2.2	95.3	95.5
Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment	124.2	32.4	91.4	0.5	128.0	128.7
Policy Stakeholder, Coordination and Knowledge Management	40.	39.8	–	0.9	43.0	43.4
Rights of Persons with Disabilities	17.4	16.8	0.2	0.3	17.9	18.1
National Youth Development	483.3	12.3	471.0	0.0	494.1	496.1
Total Expenditure Estimates	763.5	197.1	562.6	3.9	778.3	781.9

Of the R201.1 million, R111.2 million (55.2%) of the Department’s operating budget is allocated to Compensation of Employees and R85.8 million (42.6%) to Goods and Services. The key cost drivers under Goods and Services for the Department is as follows:

Travel andSubsistence: R18.6m.
Property Payments: R18.5m.
Consultants: R16.4m.
External Audit Costs: R4.3m.
Venues andfacilities: R4.2m.

The aforementioned cost drivers consume approximately 72% of the Goods and Services allocation.

The next section provides a more in-depth analysis of the budgetary allocation per programme for the Department and a reflection of the targets.

3.1Programme 1: Administration

The purpose of the Administration programme is toprovide institutional overarching support to the Department. The sub-programme objectives are:

Departmental Management: The purpose of the sub-programme is to provide executive support, strategic leadership and management of the DWYPD.
Financial Management: The purpose is to provide and ensure effective, efficient financial management and supply chain services. This includes budget planning and expenditure monitoring; and the management of procurement, acquisition, logistics, asset, and financial transactions.
Corporate Management: The purpose of this programme is to provide effective human capital management; facilities and auxiliary management; Information, and Communications Technology (ICT) systems enablers for the Department of Women.

The Department still refers to the former Department of Women under the Corporate Management Sub-Programme with no explanation as to why.

The total allocation for this programme is R98 million which constitutes 49% of the Department’s operational budget. This allocation is R5.4 million more than in the 2020/21 financial year. However, when taking into consideration the Real Rand change, this programme only sees an increase of 1.57% to its allocation which amounts to R1.4 million.

Expenditure under Programme 1 is reflected in Table 3.

Table 3: Sub-programme allocations for 2021/22

Sub-Programme	2021/22
Ministry	R22 579million
Departmental Management	R17 038million
Corporate Services	R24 269million
Financial Management	R15 835million
Office Accommodation	R18 296million
Total	R98 017 million
Compensation of employees	R57 414million (58.5%)
Goods and services	R38 397million (39%)

The key cost drivers as per the APP 2021/22 are as follows:

Compensation of Employees (R 57.4 million) which constitutes 60% of the overall allocation for this programme.
Good and services (R 38.4 million) which constitutes 39% of the overall allocation for this programme.

As per the ENE 2021, the main cost drivers for Good and services are as follows:

Property payment R18.5 million.
Audit costs: External R 4.4million.
Computer services: R3.7 million.
Travel and Subsistence R 4.4million.

This programme has a staff compliment comprising of 76 posts and is earmarked to achieve 6 targets. Most of the targets are compliance related as listed below:

Unqualified Audit opinion on predetermined objectives.
Full (100%) payment of all valid invoices within 30 days.
Unqualified Audit opinion on Annual Financial Statements.
Maintain a vacancy rate of less than 10% annually.
Human Resource Plan developed and implemented.
Approved Master Information Technology Strategy and Plan (MITSP).

3.2 Programme 2: Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment

The purpose of the programme is tomanage policies and programmes that mainstream the social transformationand economic empowerment of women in South Africa. The programme consists of three sub-programmes:

Management STEE: Strategic leadership and management.
Economic Empowerment and Participation: To provide intervention mechanisms on policies and program implementation for mainstreaming the economic empowerment and participation of women towards economic transformation and development.
Social Empowerment and Transformation: To provide intervention mechanisms on policies and program implementation for mainstreaming the social empowerment and participation of women towards social transformation.
Governance Transformation, Justice and Security: To provide guidance for enhancing existing systems and procedures, addresses barriers to the equal participation of women in the public and private sectors, and contributes to the elimination of GBV.

Expenditure under Programme 2 is allocated as follows:

Table 4: Sub-programme allocation for 2020/21 and 2021/22 in Programme 2

Sub-Programme	2021/22
Management: Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment	R6.367
Social Empowerment and Transformation	R7.630
Governance Transformation, Justice and Security	R13.701
Economic Empowerment and Participation	R 5.167
Total	R 32.865million
Compensation of Employees	R14.603 (44.4%)
Goods and services	R17.804 (54.3%)

This programme’s operational budget (less the CGE transfer) increased by R6.9 million from R25.9 million in 2020/21 to R32.8 million in 2021/22. However, the Real Rand change was R5.6 million (21.54%).

Although the total programme allocation as per the APP is R124.2 million for 2021/22, it must be remembered that R91.4million constitutes the transfer payment to the CGE, leaving the programme with an operating budget of R32.865 million. Of this, R14.603million (44.4%) is for Compensation of Employees and R17.804million (54.2%) will go towards Goods and services. This programme consumes 16.3% of the Department’s operational budget. The main cost driver under Goods and services is Consultants: Business and advisory services at R8.6 million (48%) as per the Estimates of National Expenditure 2021.This is a significant increase from the previous financial year 2020/21 when R5 million was allocated. In addition, the other key cost driver under Goods and services is Travel and subsistence, which is allocated R5 million (28%).

This programme has 18 posts and is earmarked to achieve nine annual targets for the current financial year as listed below:

One research report on the development of a socio-economic index developed.
Four interventions to support economic empowerment and participation of WYPD implemented.
Four progress reports on implementation of the Sanitary Dignity Implementation Framework by provinces produced.
Four interventions to support social empowerment and participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities implemented.
Twelve national departments monitored on implementation of the NSP Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), 9 provincial departments and 4 municipalities’ plans monitored on the implementation of NSP GBVF.
Nine Rapid Response Teams established.
Comprehensive National GBVF Prevention Strategy approved.
NSP GBVF M&E Framework approved.
Integrated Gender, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Framework approved.

3.3 Programme 3: Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management

The purpose of Programme 3 as per 2021/22APP is toensure policy and stakeholder coordination and knowledge management for the social transformation ofwomen in South Africa.

The Programme consists of four sub-programmes:

Research, Policy Analysis and Knowledge Management: To promote the development of gender-sensitive research and knowledge, and conducts policy analysis to effect transformation for the empowerment of women and gender equality.
International Relations: Promotes international engagements on women, youth and persons with disabilities and South Africa’s compliance with international treaties on women.
Monitoring and Evaluation: To monitors and evaluates progress on the social-economic empowerment of women in line with national laws, regional, continental and international treaties and commitments.
Stakeholder Coordination and Outreach: To conduct public participation and outreach initiatives to promote the empowerment of women and gender equality.

The total allocation for this programme is R40.632 million which constitutes 20.1% of the Department’s operational budget. This allocation is R6.5 million more than in the 2020/21 financial year. However, when taking into consideration the Real Rand change, this programme only sees increase of 14.26% to its allocation, which amounts to R4.9 million.Expenditure under Programme 3 is allocated as follows:

Table 5: Sub-programme allocation for 2020/21 and 2021/22 in Programme 3

Sub-Programme	2021/22
Management: Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management	R 4.561
Research, Policy Analysis and knowledge management	R 7.884
Stakeholder Coordination and Outreach	R 18.385
Monitoring and Evaluation	R 9.802
Total	R40.6 million
Compensation of Employees	R14.603 (57.7%)
Goods and Services	R17.804 (40.1%)

The programme has a total allocation of R40.6million, of which R14.603 million (57.7%) is allocated for Compensation of employees and R17.804million (40.1%) is allocated for Goods and services. Of the Goods and services budget, R4.4million or nearly 11% is allocated for Travel and subsistence as per the Estimates of National Expenditure for 2021. The other main costs drivers under Goods and services are as follows:

Catering: Departmental activities – R1.7 million.
Consultants: Business and advisory services – R3.6 million.

This programme has 27 posts and is earmarked to achieve 13 annual targets for the current financial yearas listed below:

Review the National Gender Policy Framework.
Develop regulations on the socioeconomic rights of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
Develop an integrated knowledge hub.
Produce research reports on government priorities.
Produce reports on the implementation of international and regional commitments on women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Implementgender responsive, planning, budgeting, M&E and auditing Framework.
Produce annual monitoring report on government performance in realising the rights of women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Commence the gender responsive evaluation.
Establish and strengthen bilateral partnerships, collaborations, coalitions and alliances.
Coordinaterepresentation and participation at global, continental and regional multi-lateral and bilateral engagements on women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Develop the WYPD Stakeholder Management Framework.
Conduct stakeholder engagements on the empowerment of women, youth and persons with disability.
Coordinatehybrid community mobilisation initiatives on the rights of women, youth and person with disabilities.

Targets in Programme 3 are similar to the 2020/21 targets, with the Regulatory Framework for WYPD Mainstreaming and the Stakeholder Management Framework being new targets.

3.4 Programme 4: Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The purpose of Programme 4 is to oversee the implementation of programmes pertaining to the rights of persons with disabilities.

The programme consists of three sub-programmes namely:

Management of RPD: Management of the Branch.
- Advocacy and Mainstreaming RPD: To develop, maintain and implement advocacy and mainstreaming guidelines and frameworks for the rights of persons with disabilities.
- Governance and Compliance RDP: To promote good governance regarding the rights of persons with disabilities.

The total allocation for this programme is R17.4 million, which constitutes 8.6% of the Department’s operational budget - the smallest allocation. This allocation is R4.4 million more than in the 2020/21 financial year. However, when taking into consideration the Real Rand change, this programme only sees an increase of 28.45% to its allocation, which amounts to R3.7 million. Even though this programme is comprised of sub-programmes, the budget allocation has not been delineated as such.

Notwithstanding that, of the total allocation of R17.4 million, R8.5 million (48.9%) is allocated for Compensation of employees and R8.3 million (47.7%) is allocated for Goods and services. Of the Goods and services budget, R4.3 million (24.7%) is allocated for travel and subsistence as per the Estimates of National Expenditure for 2021. The other main costs driver under Goods and services is for Consultants: Business and advisory services, R2 million (11.5%).

This programme has nine posts and is earmarked to achieve five annual targets for the current financial yearas listed below:

Frameworks on Disability Rights Awareness raising on rights of Persons with Disabilities developed.
Framework on self -representation for persons with disabilities developed.
Reasonable accommodation framework developed.
Universal design and access framework developed.
One status report on national/international obligations on the rights of persons with disability produced.

3.5 Programme 5: National Youth Development Programme

The purpose of the programme is to promote the development and empowerment of young people by reviewing the legislative framework andother interventions to advance youth rights.

Programme 5 has two sub-programmes namely:

National Youth Development Programme: To facilitate the development and implementation of national youth strategies and policies and provide aimed at young people
National Development Agency (NYDA): Oversees the transfer of funds to the National Youth Development Agency.

The total allocation for this programme is R483.3 million of which R471 million (97.4%) is transferred to the NYDA leaving the programme with an operational budge of R12.3 million to action and implement outputs and targets set in the APP 2021/22.Thus when considering this programme’s operational budget, the allocation is R3.4 million more than in the 2020/21 financial year. However, when taking into consideration the Real Rand change, this programme only sees an increase of 32.22% to its allocation which amounts to R2.9 million.The total allocation of R12.3 million constitutes 6% of the Department’s operational budget. Expenditure under Programme 5 is allocated as follows:

Table 6: National Youth Development expenditure trends by sub-programme

Sub-programme	2021/22
Management: National Youth Development	R12.329 million
Youth Development Programmes	R470.962 million
Total	R483.291 million
Compensation of Employees	R7.313 million
Goods and Services	R4.972

Of the R12.3 million, of which R7.3 million (59.3%) is allocated for Compensation of employees and R5 million (40.7%) is allocated for Goods and services. Of the Goods and services budget, R1.7 million (34% of Goods and services) is allocated to Consultants: Business and advisory services as per the Estimates of National Expenditure for 2021. The other main costs driver under Goods and services is for Operating payments R1.5 million (30% of Goods and services).

This programme has nine posts and is earmarked to achieve four annual targets for the current financial yearas listed below:

Produce 2 National Youth Policy implementation monitoring reports
Submit the NYDA Amendment Bill to cabinet
Produce 4 NYDA quarterly monitoring reports
Convene 4 national youth machinery meetings

4.OBSERVATIONS

Having met with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the Committee made the following observations:

4.1 General matters

4.1.1 Mandate

The Committee noted that the mandate of the Department has been reviewed to that of a regulatory Department and requested the Department to provide more clarity in this regard as the requisite detail was lacking in the amended Strategic Plan and the APP.
The Committee noted the regulatory role of the Department is not incorporated in Programmes 2-5 and requested an explanation on the matter.
The Committee raised its concern regarding the increasing cases of GBVF and femicide, particularly citing the reported rape and assault cases.
The Committee enquired how theDepartmentwould continue with awareness campaigns and working with other stakeholders as well as mainstreaming gender, youth and disability.
The Committee was concerned that there is misalignment between Programmes 1 -5 of the Department and its mandate.
The Committee was concerned that the Department changed its mandate from facilitating to regulating.
The Committee was concerned that targets planned by the Department are not specific, measurable and realistic.
The Committee was concerned about the high numbers of reported teenage pregnancies.

4.1.2 Unmet Targets

The Committee questioned whether the Department plans to meet the unmet targets in 2020/21 during 2021/22 financial year and what the time frames were in order to do that.

4.1.3 Dysfunctional Website

The Committee was concerned that the website of the Department that was not functional for months and questioned its accessibility to civil society and other stakeholders in such cases.

4.2 Programme 1: Administration

4.2.1 Human Resources

The Committee noted that the Department continued budgeting for Consultants and raised this as concern. The Committee also enquired as to when the Department would stop procuring the use of consultants given the fiscal constraints.
Moreover, the Committee noted that the Department has 41 staff who are paid more than R1.3 million per annum and thus questioned why the budget was still allocated for Consultants to implement programmes of the Department.
The Committee noted with concern that the majority of staff were employed within the Administration programme as opposed to the core programmes and requested an explanation in this regard.
The Committee enquired as to what mechanisms are implemented to deal with the lack of capacity and resources in in specific areas of the Department.

4.2.2 Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE) Bill

The Committee was concerned that the APP had no target related to the proposed WEGE Bill.

4.3Programme 2: Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment

4.3.1 Frameworks and Socio-Economic Empowerment Index

The Committee queried the difference between the Socio-Economic Empowerment Index (SEEI) and the Gender Barometer developed by the Commission for Gender Equality.
The Committee was concerned that the new SEEI did not link and build onto the Country Gender Indicator Framework; Women’s Financial Inclusion Framework and the Gender Responsive, Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring, Evaluation Framework.
The Committee noted with concern that the proposed new framework would only be finalised, implemented and monitored in the outer years of the MTSF cycle.

4.3.2 Interventions

The Committee requested clarity on the four intervention to support socio-empowerment and participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities.

4.3.3 Sanitary Dignity

The Committee question how the Department conducts the M&E of the roll out process and the usage of the equitable share allocation given the Committee’s engagement with the provinces on the Sanitary Dignity Programme and all the challenges raised.
The Committee noted that production of progress reports in and by itself is not a true reflection of whether the Sanitary Dignity Framework has been successfully implemented or not, what the challenges are and what the Department has done to address these. Hence the progress on the implementation of the Sanitary Dignity Programme across Provinces was not accurately or clearly reflected in the APP which was concerning to the Committee.
The Committee was also concerned that there was no target in the APP that relates to the total number of beneficiaries that would be reached through this programme -nationally and provincially. Based on the Committee’s prior engagements with the Provinces, there appeared to be no uniformity or informed choice for deciding on the number of beneficiaries to target.

4.3.4 Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF)

Finance: The Committee requested the Department to explain what the R5 million that was allocated to implement the NSP on GBVF in 2020/21 would be spent on.
The Committee was also concerned that there were no clear activities to achieve programme of GBVF.
National Council on GBVF: The Committee requested the status report on the establishment of the National Council on GBVF.
National Strategic Plan on GBVF: The Committee questioned how it is meant to hold the Department accountable for the development of guidelines on GBVF and a requisite Bill when these are not reflected as targets in the APP.
M&E: The Committee queried what the Department is doing to monitor the implementation of the NSP on GBVF. The Committee noted that government has committed R12 billion to implement various components of the NSP on GBFV and questioned how the Department was monitoring expenditure in this regard as well as the time frame in which the funds should be spent.

4.4 Programme 3: Policy, Stakeholder Coordination Knowledge Management

4.4.1 Monitoring and Evaluation

The Committee questioned what the difference is between the roles of the Department of Planning, M&E and the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities concerning the new mandate of the Department.
The Committee also queried what the difference was between the new mandate presented to the Committee and the Frameworks that were previously presented to the Committee.

4.4.2Programme 4: Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Finances: The Committee was concerned about the budget allocated to Programme 4, which was miniscule given that the Department spends at present more money on office accommodation (R18.3 million) than it does on the entire national programme dedicated to persons with disabilities. To this end, the Committee questioned why the Department has allocated such a small budget to this Programme.
Absent Role of Regulator: The Committee was also concerned that the regulatory role of the Department is not incorporated in Programme 4.
Disability Rights Bill: The Committee was concerned that there was no APP target on tracking the development of the Disability Rights Bill. In addition, the Committee questioned why the Department indicated within its APP that the South African Law Reform Commission was developing the Bill and not the Department.
Presidential Working Group: The Committee queried whether there is a working relationship between the Presidential Working Group on Disabilities and this programme.
M&E of DSD: The Committee queried whether the Department monitored the work done by the Department of Social Development in terms of services rendered to persons with disabilities.

4.5 Programme 5

Finance: The Committee noted that Programme 5 has a budgetary allocation of R12,3 million and noted this Programme will also procure the use consultants. More clarity was sort in this regard.
Targets: The Committee also noted that the Programme 5 has only 5 targets planned for the current financial year and enquired as to whether the targets will be met with the budget allocated to the Programme. Furthermore, the Committee also noted with concern that the Programme referred to additional activities it intends undertaking for the current financial yearbut this was not reflected in the current APP thus holding the Department to account in this regard would be difficult for the Committee to do.
The Committee also enquired as to whether the objectives of the Department is aligned to the 5 targets of the Programme.
National Youth Policy (NYP): The Committee also enquired as to whether the National Youth Policy Implementation Monitoring reports were any different to that of the NYDA’s quarterly reports submitted to the Committee.
NYDA Amendment Bill: The Committee enquired as to whether the Department has engaged with youth in communities especially youth in rural areas on the NYDA Amendment Bill.
Relationship with Department: The Committee was concerned about the lack of a working relationship between the NYDA and the Department especially Programme 5.

5.RECOMMENDATIONS

Having considered the Annual Performance Plan and Budget for the Department, the Committee makes the following recommendations to the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

The Department should:

Ensure that its key performance indicators and targets are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.
The core mandate of the Departmentshould be clearly articulated in the Strategic Plan and APP.
Ensure that the APP and the Strategic Plan should be aligned and that the regulatory part of the mandate should be incorporated in Programmes of the Department.
There should be clear targets related to gender machinery.
Provide the Committee with a status report on the WEGE Bill.
Present a progress on the establishment of the National Council against GBV.
Submit to the Committee the detailed report on the use of consultants, the nature of the consultancy and the cost incurred per programme.
Minimise the use of Consultants and ensure there is a skills transfer to the internal staff members (from the Consultants).
Consider optimal use of internal staff.For example,some of the staff in Programme1 could bereallocated or seconded to the core programmes such as Programmes 4 and 5.
Provide a detailed report (in collaboration with the Departments of Basic Education and Health as well as other relevant stakeholders) on teenage pregnancies and terminations of pregnancies, across provinces.
Mainstream the implementation of the Sanitary Dignity Programme across the provinces taking into account the dignity of girls and women.
Utilise the NYDA branch offices to publicise the Bill and as platform to consult with youth on the Amendment Bill, the National Youth Policy and the Integrated Youth Development Strategy.
Utilise the NYDA branch structures to discuss the proposed Disability Bill.
Look at the budget allocation for Programme 4 (Rights of Persons with Disabilities) given the work that still needs to be done to ensure the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities across the country.
Work with Statistics South Africa to ensure there is availability of empirical data in relation to standards for persons with disabilities.
Provide detailed plan with timeframes on the Department’s ICT plan.

6.CONCLUSION

The Committees commended the work of the Department and its support of programmes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Committees emphasized that the Department should be more visible, strengthen its monitoring systems, assess the implications of the pandemic on its programme outcomes and minimize the use of Consultants.

The Committee highlighted that it remains committed to fulfilling its mandate on the Department, and contributing to the improvement of the lives of women, youth and persons with disabilities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) communities. Further, the Committee indicated that all local public offices, South African Police Service (SAPS) and other relevantrole-players should be equipped to deal with matters related to GBV; and that there needs to be visible social behavior change.

Unless otherwise indicated, the Department should respond to the Committees’ recommendations in three months, from the day the report is adopted in the House.

Report to be considered.

[1]Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Strategic Plan 2020-2025, pg.10.

[2]Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Annual Performance Plan 2021/22, pg. 109.

[3]Ibid.

[4]Levendale, C (2021) Overview: Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities - Annual Performance Plan 2021/22 and Budget 2021/22: Programmes 1, 2 and 3.

[5]Adapted from Estimates of National Expenditure (2021), Vote 20

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