ATC101116: Report: Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B 34 – 2010]

Standing Committee on Appropriations

Report of the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the 2010 Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B 34 – 2010] (National Assembly – section 77), dated 16 November 2010

 

Having considered and heard evidence on the Adjustments Appropriation Bill referred to it in terms of section 12(15) of the Money Bills Amendment procedure and Related Matters Act 9 of 2009, the Standing Committee on Appropriations reports as follows:

 

1. Introduction

 

The Minister of Finance tabled the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on 27 October 2010, outlining the budget priorities of government for the medium term estimates. The MTBPS was tabled together with the Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B34 - 2010] and the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill [B35 - 2010] in Parliament. The Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B34 – 2010] was referred to the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Standing Committee on Finance to consider and report, in accordance with their respective mandates as outlined in the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act 9 of 2009.

 

In preparing for the Adjustments Appropriation Bill report the Committee invited identified Departments (see below) to make submission before the Committee:

• Department of Water Affairs,
• Department of Arts and Culture,
• Department of Health,
• Department of Trade and Industry,
• Statistics South Africa, and
• Department of Communications.

.

2. Overview of the Budget Adjustments

 

According to National Treasury the spending for the first six months this year has increased by R26.4 billion when compared to previous year’s expenditure in the same period. The adjusted amount of R6.2 billion was for salaries and housing allowances. An amount of R2.33 billion was adjusted for national government while R3.81 billion was adjusted for provincial government. Even though the 2010/11 national expenditure has improved for the first six months when compared to the 2009/10 financial year in the same period, some departments have spent less than 50 per cent of their budgets for the first six months and have submitted requests for their budgets to be adjusted due to unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditures and roll-overs.  Although the Committee supports these adjustments it has noted that most of the unavoidable and unforeseeable expenditure was mainly due to the salary adjustments and housing allowances instead of policy priorities both at the national and provincial government spheres. Affected departments in this regard include Health (48.9 per cent), Water Affairs (37.7 per cent), Statistics South Africa (30.4 per cent), Trade and Industry (36.8 per cent), Rural Development (38.0 per cent), Home Affairs (35.4 per cent), Public Works (37.7 per cent), Communication (26.2 per cent) and Art and culture (44.3 per cent). The Committee is concerned about this state of affairs which is an indication of poor planning. Some of these Departments are the key pillars of the Medium Term Strategic Framework of government Priorities. 

 

 

3. The adjustment on policy priorities for the next three years

 

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement indicated that the revised baseline allocations have been prepared taking into account the carry through costs of the 2010 salary improvements, higher costs of municipal rates and service charges, identified savings and reprioritisation proposals.  In the 2010/11 financial year the overall increase amounts to R7.3 billion while a R67 billion increase can be seen over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. The table below shows that an amount of R22.1 billion has been set aside for policy priorities over the MTEF period, proposed wage bill of R26.3 billion as well as adjustment to baseline of R40.8 billion. The Committee supports the adjustment allocations, however  it has noted that the proposed wage bill over the MTEF is much higher than the amount allocated for policy reserves due to the inflationary wage settlement. This is a cause for concern. The Committee has noted that some of the departments have not yet filled their vacant positions, but have instead shifted the funds that were budgeted for vacant posts to other programmes. The proposed wage bill seems to be escalating when compared to the allocation for policy priorities. This means that fewer funds are being allocated for development and implementation of programmes, and will thus have a negative impact on the quality and completion of capital projects.

 

Table 1: Adjustment Allocation for MTEF

Policy Reserves	R22.1 billion
Adjustment to Baseline	R40.8 billion
Proposed Wage Bill	R26.3 billion

Source: National Treasury (2010)

 

Government prioritises its resources in the following areas:

 

• job creation initiatives and realigning support to business to enhance employment opportunities;
• enhancing the quality of education and skills development;
• improving the provision of quality health care;
• driving a more comprehensive rural development strategy; and
• intensifying the fight against crime and corruption.

 

These priorities are supported by a government strategy which includes the shifting of resources to labour intensive sectors of the economy. Furthermore, government will strive to improve State performance with specific regard to the delivery of services to the poor. In light of the current budget pressures, the Committee is of the view that limited resources should be utilised to produce maximum output, without compromising the quality of services.

 

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement for 2010 has outlined the macroeconomic assumptions, fiscal and public expenditure dimensions of proposed development path.  It emphasised the need for the increased infrastructure investment spending to faster growth and to reduce budget deficit over the next period. The estimated reduction of 4.1 per cent of the budget deficit for the 2010/11 which is projected to improve to 3 per cent of the GDP by 2013/14 financial year is noted. The government’s outcome approach which provides framework for enhanced monitoring of service delivery including guidelines for results driven performance that forms part of the basis of ministerial performance agreements as well as related service delivery agreements is a step in the right direction.  It was noted that the expenditure has increased by R67 billion relative to baseline over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework which is informed by the 12 outcome policy priorities which include education, health, infrastructure, and job creation.

 

• job creation initiatives and realigning support to business to enhance employment opportunities;

 

The Committee believes that capital projects are the backbones of job creation which is part of policy priorities. However, the Committee remains concerned that the unspent funds amounted to R12.4 billion which was budgeted for capital projects in 2009/10 financial year. The Committee has noted, nonetheless, the new approach adopted by government which seeks to address weaknesses in budgeting and planning in such projects. The Committee identified a number of weaknesses and challenges in the area of procurement and supply chain management, and has since made recommendations in regards to this. Therefore, the interdepartmental team and proposed scrutiny of non governmental agencies and other accounts which is informed by these findings is one step in the right direction. In support of the job creation process, the Committee believes that such areas in government need to be monitored and evaluated since these are the key drivers of the capital projects procurement.  The delays and termination of tenders due to irregularities is completely unacceptable as it hampers the levels of job creation and service delivery. 

 

The Department of Water Affairs reported that to date it has created about 26 331 job opportunities through the Working for Water Programme. While the Departmental budget has been adjusted from R7.9 billion to R8.2 billion the Department has only spent 37. 7 per cent in the first six months, part of the adjustment was R35.6 million received from other adjustments. The Committee was concerned about the level of virements and shiftings of 36.7 per cent which exceeded the 8 per cent permitted by the Public Finance Management Act. As provided for in the PFMA, virements exceeding this threshold  have to be approved by Parliament. Failure to attain Parliamentary approval will lead to  the Auditor General reporting this as an unauthorised expenditure. The Department has reported an under expenditure in the first six months of 37.7 per cent. The Department of Water Affairs indicated that the under expenditure was due to the late submission of invoices by the Department of Public Works (DPW), unspent funds of Change Journey and Master Systems Plan (MSP), unspent funds allocated to replace Masibambane, regionalbulk infrastructure: legal issues around Nandoni Dam project, delay in signing of Memorandum of Agreement by Municipalities, delay in submission of invoices by service providers.

 

The budget of the Department of Arts and Culture has been slightly adjusted from R2.40 billion to R2.44 billion. The Department has only spent 44.3 per cent in the first six months of 2010/11. Part of the adjustment was a R12 million roll over for 2010 FIFA World Cup and R18.6 million for Investing in Culture projects. The Department indicated that some 2010 World Cup projects were not finalised in March 2010 due to the fact that the event was in June 2010. Therefore the Department had to utilise its 2010/11 budget to finance these projects. The R12 million roll over will be utilised to supplement the budget for operational costs, legal fees, machinery rental, audit fees and SITA account which has been inadequately funded. An amount of R3.9 million was added for higher personnel remuneration increase which includes housing allowances.

 

The Committee was concerned about the lack of spending in the Investor to Culture project hence it is the view of the Committee that such projects are instrumental in the creation of jobs and poverty alleviation. The Department also indicated that an amount of R18.6 million could not be spent due to the investigation that was still being conducted in the Investor to Culture project which was aimed at verifying the legitimacy of various projects. The Committee needed more clarity on the R100 million expenditure which was used to maintain playhouses. The Department reported that it is responsible for all the playhouses which are located in various provinces. The Committee acknowledged the progress made thus far and also indicated that programmes such as EPWP, Working for Water, Working for Energy incentives need to be well supported and ensure that all provinces are spending their allocations according to planned targets in order to expand the levels of job creation.  

 

The expenditure of the Department of Trade and Industry at end September was 36.8 of the adjustment appropriation of R6.2 million for the year as a whole. In comparison to the mid-year expenditure in 2009/10, the expenditure in the first six months of 2010/11 decreased by 25.2 percent. The Department of Trade and Industry also reported on a number of enterprise investment project that were supposed to create jobs such as the East London industrial development zone which created higher than the estimate for the year. Due to the economic crisis some projects slowed down in this regard than estimated such as the Richards Bay industrial development zone. Creation of decent employment through inclusive economic growth was better than anticipated 230 projects where implemented, compared to the projected 275 for the year. The total value of investment and export credits programme has already reached its target to create 19 000 jobs for the year.

 

The Department of Communication was also invited to be part of the MTBPS process due to its under expenditure of 26 per cent in the first six months of the 2010/11 financial year. The Committee was concerned at the lack of cooperation and unprofessionalism showed by the Department upon being invited to appear before it. This was seen as a clear indication that the Department undermines Parliament and its processes. The Committee invited the Department to a public hearing on the Adjustments Appropriation Bill but the Department could not honour the invitation. When the Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) appeared before the Committee, the Committee expressed it’s displeasure at the appearance of the CFO instead of the Acting Directors General as the Accounting Officer of the Department. The Committee indicated that this would limit its engagement in seeking clarity on crucial issues which the Acting CFO might not be able to account on as he is not the Accounting Officer. No letter of apology was received from the Acting DG for not being able to attend the hearing. 

 

The expenditure of the Department as at end September was at a concerning figure of 26 per cent In comparison with the mid-year expenditure in 2009/10, the Department had spent 31 per cent which was also an under expenditure. In the current financial year this became even worse since it has decreased by 5 percent when compared to the previous financial year. According to the department the reasons that led to under spending were mainly due to capacity constraints, delays in the implementation of certain projects, reshuffling and backlogs in the Department. However, the Department is convinced that with the reconstitution of the Department and the appointment of the Acting General-Director things are going to improve. 

 

During its oversight the Committee discovered that more jobs can be created in the EPWP, through innovativeness and making sure that labour intensive programme is a condition of the contract between the Department in question and the contractor.  The Committee also welcomes a new economic growth path which is aimed to create job opportunities particularly for young people.  The Committee welcomes the proposed assessment for youth employment projects and incentive scheme which will be operating through tax system which aims to encourage the employment of youth in businesses as well as in the non governmental sectors. The MTBPS outlined the allocation of R1 billion for 2011/12 and R2 billion for 2012/13 and R3 billion for 2013/14 which is aimed at supporting projects that demonstrate a potential of cost effective job creation over the MTEF.

 

Despite the number of jobs that have been created in various areas, the Committee remains concern about the level of virements and shifting of funds which could have contributed towards creating more job opportunities.   

 

• improving the provision of quality healthcare

 

The Health Sector Delivery Agreement aims to reduce infant and maternal mortality rate, reduce child mortality to 30-40 per 1000 births over the medium term and also make further progress in preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS. However, the mid term report of the Department of Health indicated that severe staff shortages in forensic chemistry laboratories have led to backlogs and targets not being met in this regard. Furthermore the Department acknowledged that the delays in the filling of vacant posts in the National Department of Health have lowered the accreditation process, though the audits tools have been completed and piloted. However the Department must have a programme in place to respond to this challenge as well as to meet the targets and Millennium Development Goals by 2014.

 

While the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 reported that there has been an improvement in the antenatal care coverage and usage of modern contraceptive method maternal mortality is still amongst the challenges. The MDG6 reported that HIV prevalence has been stable and there seems to be a decline between the ages of 15- 24 years old from 10 to 8.5 per cent in 2008. Millennium Development Goals 4 acknowledges the fact that the infant and child mortality rate is unacceptably high in South Africa compared to international levels. The committee supports the interventions such as immunisations, prevention from mother to child HIV infection which has been undertaken by the Department of Health. This will assist to reduce child mortality, enhance nutrition and primary health care. The Committee supports the proposed spending which will focus on improving the monitoring of women and infants after child birth, upgrading support and training paediatric and maternal workers in district hospitals.

 

However, when the Committee raised concerns about the increase in the impact of HIV on infant and child mortality. The Department indicated that there has been a high level of inaccurate reporting on such matters done by different organisations which brings a lot of confusion in the society. Furthermore, the Department indicated that the infant and child mortality cannot be treated in the isolation of morbidity. While the Committee was concerned about this level of inconsistency and inaccurate information, it advised the Department to bring all of these organisations under one roof to come up with the most relevant and accurate statistics.  The Committee supports the initiative taken by provincial health departments to remedy and improve their financial management.  The Committee welcomes the agreement on the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) reached between the Department and 40 health therapeutic groups to retain most critical and skilled health staff and the prioritisation of filling important vacant posts.  

 

It is noted that though the department has under-spent in the first six months, the budget of the department has been adjusted from R21.4 billion to R21.6 billion an amount of R146 million was adjusted to its budget which includes R49.6 million from roll-overs and R105 million from unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure. This also includes an amount of R9.7 million which was adjusted for increased remuneration on personnel and housing subsidies for certain programmes.  The Department made virements and shifting of R6.1 million or 1.4 per cent, this movement of funds was mainly done in order to strengthen service delivery on programmes 1 and 3. The Department and treasury indicated that most of the shifting and virements were done from the savings made due to the reduction on consultants and special services in the 2010 FIFA World Cup expenditure.  While the Committee has noted the movement of funds and under spending of the department in the first six months, during its oversight the Committee identified a number of challenges this include the non availability of mobile or immobile clinics in some areas, usage of mud structures as clinics, prepaid electricity and solar panels of which some of these require maintenance and repairs yet it was not clear whose responsibility it is to maintain this facility.

 

The Committee welcomes the additional amount of R1.5 billion to Comprehensive HIV and Aids programme as well as R7.3 billion which was added to the provincial equitable share to address the priority issues in 2010/11. The Committee supports the introduction of Health National Insurance Scheme (NHI) which is going to be phased in by 2012/13 financial year.  This programmes aims to improve and bring about the universal access to health facilities for all South Africa whether reach or poor.  While the Committee appreciates the progress that have been made with regards to the Hospital Revitalisation programme but it was concern about the slow pace and under performance of this programme in other provinces. 

 

 

• enhancing the quality of education and skills development

 

Most of the challenges facing the education system include substantial backlogs in buildings and facilities, insufficient number of qualified teachers, poor school management and high absenteeism among students. The funding of R40 billion to provinces in the baseline to eradicate unsafe school buildings is welcomed and the committee will monitor the performance of such allocations. During its oversight visit undertaken in August 2010, the Committee found that, some provinces were under spending on certain conditional grants particularly those that are earmarked for school infrastructure. The under-spending persisted despite the high level of inappropriate structures including mud schools.

 

The Committee’s concern is that this culture compromises the dignity and safety of the learners and hampers the delivery of basic services such as water and electricity. The proposed national assessment in literacy and numeracy for all grade 3 and 6 learners which will be conducted as part of the long term exercise to benchmark and raise educational level is a step in the right direction. While the learner work books and teacher lesson plans for literacy and numeracy for grade R to grade 6 will be provided in the beginning of 2011, the Committee is still concerned whether or not appropriate measures have been taken by the Department of Basic Education to avoid delays in the distribution of workbooks which occurred in the current financial year resulting in the cancellation of the tender.

 

The proposed partnership between the Department of Basic Education and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to support educational infrastructure is welcomed. The Committee has noted the proposal to increase the number of fully qualified teachers which will be supported through the Funza Lusaka Bursary Programme. The Committee supports the additional R5.4 billion which is aimed at the implementation of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) for the next three years.  Although the Committee supports this allocation for the baseline, it remains concerned about the under expenditure by the Department of Basic Education during the first six months of the 2010/11 financial year.

 

The Committee noted that the Department has received a R1 million roll over and an adjustment amount of R4.7 million which was divided almost to all programmes. An additional R6.9 million was for the higher personnel remuneration and housing subsidy allowance and an amount of R1.9 million was transferred for the function shifted to the Department of Higher Education and Training for an annual contribution to the Common Wealth of Learning. The Department has spent 45.9 per cent in the first six months of 2010/11 financial year. 

 

The mid-year performance report of the Department of Basic Education indicated that the Department has exceeded its target of new 6000 learners enrolled for Kha Ri Gude mass literacy campaign in the first six months. The Kha Ri Gude campaign aims to improve the basic literacy and numeracy levels of adults. The Department managed to achieve 2000 more new learners; this was due to savings made in the production of learner and educator support materials and the costs of stationery which allowed more learners to be accommodated in the programme. The report also indicated that the number of learners had exceeded the yearly estimate which ranged between 480 000 and 486 000 as a results of more learners being enrolled.  

 

The proposed improvement and expansion of University and Further Education and Training enrolment is a step in the right direction.  This will assist in addressing the misalignment between the needs of the labour market and the education provided by institutions. Even though the Department has spent 72.3 per cent in the first six months, the Committee noted that the majority of this expenditure went to the transfer budget which was earmarked for NSFAS, Further Education and Training (FET) colleges and funds for the establishment of the new Department.  The Committee’s view is that there is need to ensure that the FET colleges are properly utilised and enjoy the same kind of prominence as universities do.

 

• driving a more comprehensive rural development strategy

 

Land Reform and Agricultural Development have a considerable potential to contribute to rural development, job creation, poverty alleviation, food production and redressing the past dispossession of land.  It is the Committees view that the Department of Rural Development is not the only department which can fast track rural development. The complexity of rural development requires a number of Departments to come on board such as Agriculture, Energy, Public works, Water Affairs, Social Development, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Education, Health and Transport. The role of Department of Rural Development is to coordinate such programmes.

 

The Committee has noted the additional funding to address the 7000 outstanding land claims. It also noted the new model which is going to be piloted aimed at supporting emerging farmers in partnership with the Land Bank. The Committee supports the proposed additional funding for provinces to improve the quality of extension services which is offered to newly settled farmers. While the Committee supports all these interventions, it is its view that a lot still need to be done to drive a more comprehensive rural development programme. While the 2010/11 MTBPS has made a number of interventions, it seemed not to be suggesting an intervention relating to challenges identified during the implementation of Land Assistance Act in the land reform programme.

 

The Land Assistance Act No 126 of 1993, makes provision for emerging farmers to be assisted in order to further their agricultural aspirations as well as change land ownership in the country through Land Redistribution Programme by Government. The Act is often misused for corrupt purposes by way of sub-divisions and the resale of subdivided land and illegal evictions.

 

• intensifying the fight against crime and corruption

 

The Annual Performance Plan (APP) indicates that the strategic priorities of the Department of Police are to combat crime to ensure that all people are safe. Whilst there has been a decrease in crime in general in the first quarter 2010/11 in some areas such as contact related crime, property related crime, and detection, the rate of crime has increased. Irrespective of the progress made to reduce the crime rate in certain areas, levels of crime are still unacceptably high in South Africa. It is well understood that the Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the Police was revised after the revision of the Estimate of National Expenditure 2010. The main focus of the Crime Prevention Programme is precisely to reduce crime levels specifically of the trio crimes and crime against women and children as well as the implementation of a comprehensive crime prevention strategy which will be focusing on reducing illegal firearms.

 

It is the view of the Committee that the reduction of crime mainly depends on members of the Police response and visibility together with the involvement of society at large. In its annual report, the Department of Police indicated that part of the challenges the Department is facing include the court case backlog, prisons overcrowding, high proportion of violent crime, as well as high rate of recidivism. The Committee supports an additional funding over the MTEF which seeks to expand detective services, crime intelligence and crime prevention particularly in local stations and the proposed increase of Police members from 200 660 to 203 025 by 2014/15. Part of the capacity expansion over the MTEF, will be to increase the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to 650 members by 2013/14 to fight corruption.  The Committees welcomes this move since the fight against crime and corruption is one of the government priorities for five years.  

 

The budget of the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been adjusted from R52.5 billion to R53.5 billion for the 2010/11 financial year. Therefore the total additional budget amounts to R973 million from other adjustments. This amount has been added precisely to address the issue of increase in remuneration packages and housing subsidy for various programmes, visible policing being the highest. Even though the Committee supports the adjustment but it is still concerned that the department had only spent 46 per cent in the first six months of 2010/11. This level of under expenditure is attributed to the slow spending on Information Technology Service which is rendered by SITA.

 

Furthermore, the slow spending was also attributed to delays in procurement processes such as the awarding of six tenders by the SITA for Integrated Justice Services Programme (IJSP) in the first six months. The 2009/10 Annual Report of the Department of Police has highlighted some of the challenges that the Department is faced with. These include the lack of control systems within the area of supply chain management, especially the management and controls of assets. The Committee is concerned about this state of affairs since the larger portion of the budget is largely dominated by current payments which accounts for R49.3 billion. Part of this figure goes to goods and services and to capital assets. To this end the Committee is of the view that urgent action needs to be taken by the Department to address these supply chain management issues. 

 

Although the Committee did not engage with the Department of Police, the Annual Report of the Department indicates a high level of expenditure under goods and services which is dominated by consultants, contractors, agencies or outsourced services. This is indicative of the lack of capacity. This level of expenditure has increased from R1.22 billion in 2008/09 to R1.44 billion in 2009/10. Of note is that the largest portion of this amount was for contractors (R622 million in 2008/09 to R816 million in 2009/10). The second largest expenditure was for agencies and other outsourced services which increased from R497 million in 2008/09 to R516 million in 2009/10. Payments for infrastructure and planning consultants increased from R3.4 million in 2008/09 to R5.3 million in 2009/10. The Committee is concerned about the utilisation of financial resources on consultants instead of the Department building its own internal capacity thereby creating more job opportunities. This higher level of expenditure on consultants is an indication that consultants are used both for policy work and even for functions which SAPS is supposed to have in its in-house capacity.

 

The Committee remained concerned about the capital work project which took longer than expected particularly the building of Inanda and Esikhawini police stations. According to the Annual Report of the South African Police Service, the Department of Public Works was responsible for these projects and the costs of these projects ended up escalating higher than the projected budgets. It is the view of the Committee that in order for the priorities of government to be achieved, these priorities need to be clarified and prioritised by all stakeholders during the budgeting and planning stage. It is also the view of the Committee that planning for the priority areas of government should be taken more seriously and can not be treated in the same manner as none prioritised areas. Reporting, transparency and accountability in these areas should be enhanced at all spheres of government so that problems and challenges are identified and addressed accordingly.

 

5. Findings:

 

• The Committee found that there is a clear persistence of the non compliance with   the provision of section 43 of the Public Finance Management Act which allows the Departments to make virements or shiftings of not more than 8 per cent. In the first six months of 2010/11 financial year the following departments have shifted and vired more than 8 per cent which then needs to be approved by Parliament: the departments of Water Affairs, Trade and Industry, Rural Development, Statistics South Africa, Arts and Culture, Higher Education, Correctional Services, Defence, Human Settlement, Science and Technology, and Tourism.

 

• Subsection (b) of Section 43 of the PFMA does not allow the money which is earmarked for transfers to be shifted to defray current payments. The Committee found that the departments of Art and Culture, Defence and Water Affairs in shifting their funds have not complied with this provision of the PFMA since some of their transfer budgets were shifted to defray current payments.

 

• Subsection (c) of section 43 does not allow the utilisation of capital budget to defray current payments. The Committee found that, contrary to this provision, the following departments have defrayed current payments through capital budgets: International Relations and Cooperation, Statistics South Africa, Higher Education, Correctional Services, Defence, Rural Development and Land Reform, Water Affairs.

 

• The Committee established that the delays in the completion of two Police stations (Inanda and Esikhawini) by Department of Public Works has led to escalated costs of building these stations when compared to the initially projected costs.

 

• Most of the adjustments have been made to accommodate the increased remuneration of employees, housing subsidies and roll-overs. The Committee also found that most of the shiftings and virements were done from budgeted vacant posts under the guise that departments are saving instead of under spending.

 

·         The under expenditure in the Department of Health was due to delays in finalising wage agreements, accruals amounts still to be paid, Capital expenditure funding being reviewed to address the turnaround strategy and the lack of spending on the Hospital Revitalisation programme in some provinces such as Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Eastern Cape.

 

6. Committee Recommendations

 

The Standing Committee on Appropriations, having considered the adjustments Appropriations and heard comments from identified stakeholders, recommends the House approves the adjustments Appropriation Bill [B34 – 2010] (National Assembly - section 77) without amendments. The Committee further recommends the following:

 

• That the National Treasury should monitor compliance with section 43 of the PFMA and report its findings to Parliament. The National Treasury must regularly engage Parliament on the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act and the Public Finance Management Act in respect of virements amounting to more than 8 per cent to avoid irregularities;

 

• That, in the event that funds are shifted, the relevant departments should ensure that their budgets are aligned to their respective strategic plans and must be utilised for the intended purposes;

 

• The Department of Basic Education and Public works should draw up a costed plan for the building of schools and eradication of mud schools;

 

• The Department of Education and the Department of Transport should draw up a costed plan to address the plight of learners in poor rural areas who still travel long distances to get to school; and

 

• The Department of Health should expedite the implementation of the Hospital Revitalisation programme so as to improve the level of availability, affordability and accessibility of health facilities for TB, HIV and AIDS, and other diseases.

 

The Standing Committee on Appropriations agrees to the Adjustments Appropriations Bill [B34 – 2010] (National Assembly - section 77) without amendments.

 

 

Report to be considered.