Department of Justice and Constitutional Development Quarterly Reports; with Deputy Minister

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Justice and Correctional Services

13 October 2020
Chairperson: Mr G Magwanishe (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The virtual meeting was a briefing by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on its Quarterly Reports.

The Department achieved 57 of the 112 planned targets in the Annual Performance Plan of 2019/20. The performance translated to 51% of targets being achieved. The Department achieved 45% of its targets in Quarter 1 of 2020/21.

The Department reported that performance has largely been impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown measures. Some of the additional challenges experienced by the Department include a 23.4% vacancy rate at senior management level.

The Department recorded an overall expenditure of 96% in the 2019/20 financial year. Overall underspending was approximately R757 million. The biggest contributors to the underspending were the compensation of employees and capital expenditure. A 2% drop in compensation of employees was recorded while capital expenditure fell from 100% in the 2018/19 financial to 70% in the 2019/20 year. The Department recorded R 1.6 billion in irregular expenditure in the period under review. The Department had a budget appropriation of R 22.4 billion for the 2020/21 financial year, of which R4.4 billion was spent in quarter 1.

The Committee expressed grave concern at the declining performance of the Department. MPs expressed disappointment in the quality of the report presented by the Department and particularly criticised the lack of substantive detail. The Committee said the Department cannot oppose any proposed budget cuts considering that it has failed to achieve most of its targets and has underspent by R757 million. Additionally, the Department reported approximately R1.6 billion in irregular expenditure for the 2019/20 financial year. The Committee agreed that it is necessary to consider the external assistance of the Public Service Commission to address the challenges faced by the Department. Members indicated that the Minister must brief the Committee on the Department’s turnaround plan but commented that the entity needed a rescue plan insrtead.

Another arising matter was the state of the Masters Office which was recently hacked in September. The cyberattack resulted in the theft of R10 million from the Guardian’s Fund. MPs asked if the stolen funds have been recovered and what intermediary plan the Department has made to ensure that beneficiaries receive their payments.

The Committee agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be blamed for all of the challenges faced by the Department. The Department has been on a downward trend for years. The Chairperson said it is difficult to understand how the Department has related entities such as the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the Public Protector who have consistently demonstrated good performance over the years while the central structure has reported underperformance, underspending and non-compliance. The Department committed itself to providing additional explanations behind its performance, these are expected to be submitted in the following two weeks. The Committee looks forward to engaging further with the Minister who was absent due to illness.

Meeting report

Opening Remarks
The Chairperson said that the meeting was scheduled for the Portfolio Committee to receive a briefing from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on its Annual Performance Plan of 2019/20 as part of the Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR) process. The delegation was led by Mr John Jeffery, Deputy Minister.

Apologies were read for Minister Lamola who was not well.

Deputy Minister Jeffery explained that the Department would provide a performance overview of the 2019/20 financial year as well as some insights on Quarter 1 of the 2020/21 financial year. He highlighted that Quarter 1 coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly impacted the Department’s performance.

Meeting Report
Briefing by Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD)

The Department achieved 57 of the 112 planned targets in the Annual Performance Plan of 2019/20. The performance translated to 51% of targets being achieved. The progress on the implementation of the APP was monitored on a monthly and quarterly basis.

The presentation highlighted performance per programme per quarter.

Programme 1 was the worst performing with only 2 out of 11 (18%) targets achieved.

Programme 5 was the best performing with 2 out of 3 targets (67%) achieved.


2020/21 Quarter 1 Performance
The Department achieved 32 out of 71(45%) of its planned targets for this quarter. This was during the height of the national lockdown. The Department was severely impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown and failed to achieve goals which required gatherings such as recruitment processes, workplace skills training and consultations with key stakeholders for the designation of Sexual Offences Courts.

The presentation highlighted the target, output and corrective measures per programme.

Changes to Strategic Plan and APP
The Department underwent several changes to its Strategic Plan and APP. In response to lockdown restrictions, the Department introduced two new outcomes: Modernised and digitized justice services platforms and Increased access to justice services to ensure the delivery of justice in the absence of face-to-face consultations. Digitised services include the provision of electronically filled applications for Masters Services, Online Family Law, Domestic Violence and Harassment order and virtual court hearings.

5 indicators were removed from the APP:

Programme 1: A call centre for complaints management operation by target date
Programme 2: Number of magisterial districts and sub-districts with a supplier database of Foreign Language Interpreters.
Programme 3: Number of service points where PEAS and Masters’ Own Verification Technology (MOVIT) were rolled out (excluding 15 Masters’ offices)
Programme 5: Number of sites of government departments and entities where Person Verification Services are deployed.

5 new indicators were introduced to the revised APP:
There is indicator introduced under Outcome 1: “1.10 Covid-19 Risk adjusted plan implementation report’.
There were 3 new indicators introduced under Outcome 2: Modernised and digitised justice services platforms.
Only one new indicator was introduced under Outcome 3. The indicator aims to track progress relating to finalisation of backlog cases that are on the priority roll. Below is the new indicator introduced.

Budget Expenditure Overview
Mr Nhlanhla Mthembu, Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO), DoJ&CD, reported that the Department had recorded an overall expenditure of 96% in the 2019/20 financial year. Overall underspending was approximately R757 million. The biggest contributors to the underspending were the compensation of employees and capital expenditure. A 2% drop in compensation of employees was recorded while capital expenditure fell from 100% in the 2018/19 financial to 70% in the 2019/20 year.

The Department recorded R 1.6 billion in irregular expenditure in the period under review.

Quarter 1 expenditure 2020/21
The Department had a budget appropriation of R 22.4 billion for the 2020/21 financial year, of which R4.4 billion was spent thus far.  Some of the biggest spending pressures for the Department include: Psychiatric observations, implementation of passed legislation, provision of security services, review of apartheid legislation and the take-over of cleaning and garden services from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI).
Additional challenges faced by the Department include its structure and vacancies, procurement bottlenecks, dependence on DPWI for implementation of court infrastructure projects, misaligned planning processes and an aging workforce and limited room for skills transfer. These have all been exacerbated by the current budget cuts.

The Acting Director-General reported that the Department has set aside R52 million to address a gap in its internship programme for the 2020/21 and 2022/23 performance cycles.  The Department continues to face challenges with its organisational structure; however, it has managed to review several sub-structures during the 2020/21 performance cycle.  Additionally, there is still a 23% vacancy rate at the Senior Management Services (SMS) level. The Department has managed to fill the post of Deputy Director-General: Corporate Services. Recruitment processes are currently underway to fill the position of Director-General (vacant since April 2020), Chief Master (vacant since 2016), six Heads of State Attorneys and three Regional Court Services Heads.

Infrastructure performance
Adv JB Skosana, Deputy Director-General: Court Services, DoJ&CD, reported that the 2019/20 capital budget allocation was originally R855 637 000 but reduced by R345 000 000 to R510 635 000. The budget was split between Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and Independent Development Trust, as the implementing agents for Infrastructure portfolio. The DPWI requested a budget allocation of R531 349 630. The amount is made up of R397 236 639 for construction costs and R134 112 991 for Professional fees. The requested amount covers a total of five hundred and eleven Capital Projects that are at Pre-Design to Final Delivery stages. Only R241 392 605 (45%) of the budget requested was spent. The remainder of the budget R324 287 370, was set aside for the IDT programme. All the projects which were under implementation by the IDT have been completed and currently operating.

Following Covid-19 lockdown, the capital budget was further reduced to R518 995 000. The reduction was used for State Capture, DOJ Covid-19 PPE and National Treasury Covid-19 surrender.

DPWI does not have capacity to implement the infrastructure portfolio of DoJ&CD. For the past five years, DPWI has been underspending DoJ&CD allocated funding of CAPEX. There is lack of technical capacity within DoJ&CD, with only eight (8) technical staff responsible for overseeing more than 500 active projects across the country. National lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic has affected the construction industry. All construction sites were shut down and that had a negative effect on the budget, hence the under spending. DoJ&CD Infrastructure delivery will be negatively affected by the slow delivery from DPWI. The unit is currently in the process to find another implementing agent.

Internal Audit Findings
There were 79 findings in the 2019/20 Audit Action, 138 interventions were planned to address these findings, of which 7*% have been completed (as of 31 August 2020).

The Department has started with the process of developing the Audit Action Plan 2020/21 and is based on the management report from the Auditor-General. The 22% interventions not completed in the previous financial year will be included in this plan, and will be tracked and monitored accordingly.

Ms Pillay said the Department’s performance is extremely poor and has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. This further calls for an overall turnaround strategy to improve under-performance and a plan to enact consequence management on those who have not delivered on their tasks.

Ms Besky Ngunjiri, Chair of the Audit Committee, reported that for four months there was a vacuum in the Audit Committee which is non-compliance from a governance standpoint. This has been remedied since February 2020.

Ms Pillay has made efforts for the appointment of a fully constitutional Audit Committee that will sit for three years beginning March 2021.

The Committee has made recommendations to deal with contingent liabilities which have presented challenges for the Department. This undertaking is a big data challenge that requires collaboration from several arms of the Department, so far, efforts have not been congruent.  
The Audit Committee will be looking at both the Audit Turnaround Action Plan and overall Departmental Turnaround Strategy to monitor progress. 

(See Presentation)

Discussion
Mr Q Dyantyi (ANC) said the only good news presented by the Department was that it has severed ties with the IDT. He had hoped that the Minister would have attended the meeting because he had previously committed to presenting a turnaround strategy for the Department, this was in October 2019. The Committee is still waiting for this plan 12 months later.  It is very clear that the Minister had inherited a variety of challenges on his arrival. The Department’s percentage performance was 84% in 2016, 74% in 2017, 61% in 2018 and 51% in 2019. This clearly illustrates that the Department has been and continues to be on a downward trend. The situation is getting worse and no intervention has been made by the Minister. The presentation made by the Department is a Red Sea. He expressed disappointment that the Department is not improving. If one removes the NPA from the Department’s performance review, its success is most likely less than the current 51%. The process towards independence must be fast tracked.

The fact that the Department recorded 98% budget expenditure but performance is at 51% does not make sense. This is similar to the situation in the Free State where 100% of a housing budget can be spent, yet no infrastructure is delivered. Additionally, the Department reported R 757 million has been underspent, this alone can run an entire Department and could deliver 15 000 housing units. Despite this, officials have highlighted budget cuts as one of the main challenges faced by the Department. Given what the Department has reported, it would only be logical for National Treasury to make cuts to its budget. The Department cannot complain about budget cuts when it is failing to perform.

It is not surprising that the Department has an SMS vacancy of 23% especially because the Director-General post has not been filled. The Department is currently a Department of actors. All they need is a stage.

The Department claimed to have a monthly reporting programme yet the results do not indicate this. What was being monitored? This indicates that the monitoring itself is mediocre and ineffective. The Department can elaborate as much as it wants on the processes and procedures it performed, however, these amount to nothing if they fail to translate to positive performance.

The presentation shows that the Department has failed to achieve anything in terms of Programme 2: Court Services. This is particularly worrisome because this is essentially the heartbeat of the Department. The NPA, Magistrate Courts and SAPS depend on this Programme.  Therefore, what is the Department succeeding on? This is indicative of a bigger systemic problem which will not be solved by reviving and making alterations to performance targets. There is a deeper problem. 

There is a big problem with the language services provided by the Department, particularly, the cost of foreign language interpretation. Local language interpreters are currently paid R114 per interpreter while foreign language interpreters receive between R 1000 and R1800 each. Why is there such a huge discrepancy in the pay scale?
He suggested that the Minister appears before the Committee before the end of the year to provide a report on the Turnaround plan he promised a year ago. What is he doing about a Department that continues to be on a downward spiral? In fact, the Department requires a rescue plan and a memo should be made to Cabinet for the Department because it is failing on almost every aspect. It is clear that the Minister did inherit a Department that was wrought with challenges; however, he has failed to demonstrate any effort to intervene.  What assistance does the Minister need?

It is also very clear that there might be a failure in the oversight role played by the Committee. The problems currently being dealt with are old problems which have been inherited. He recommended that the Committee writes to the Public Service Commission (PSC) in relation to the current state of the Justice Department.

Adv G Breytenbach (DA) agreed with Mr Dyantyi that the Department’s report is dismal and is a matter for deep concern. She said the report lacks crucial details and fails to account for how the critical issues will be dealt with. She requested more information from the Department, specifically on:
-How it intends on addressing the R1.2 billion it recorded in irregular expenditure?
-How it will address the continuing trend of declining performance? 

COVID-19 cannot be used as an excuse for the issues being presented and the Department’s abysmal performance. In fact, some of the challenges should have been dealt with during the lockdown period while officials were working from home. She agreed that the Department needs a rescue operation and not a turnaround strategy.

After receiving three consecutive qualified audit opinions, the Department had committed itself to getting an unqualified opinion. It failed to do so and also failed to provide any explanation on why it received this outcome in the report.

The Justice College, which is an important component of the Department, is currently in shambles regardless of the essential services it provides. It has not produced any results in six or more months and nothing has been done to address the matter. How has this been allowed and what plans are there to remedy the situation. Masters’ Offices are currently in shambles and have been for years. Why has this been allowed to happen and why has the Department failed to provide details on the matter? The National Action Plan to Combat Racism and Xenophobia is a critical target yet the Department has not made any of its targets in this current quarter. The country is currently in a situation where these issues are of critical importance yet no progress is being made. 

The Department has reduced targets for the employment of women, Africans and people with disabilities without explanation, why is this so?

She asked about the current status of the suspended CFO. The Committee was told that disciplinary actions would be instituted within 60 days-this was in May 2020. What is the progress in this matter and when can the Committee expect an outcome?

The Committee has repeatedly requested a report on the Bosasa security contract. This has not been furnished by the Department. When will this be submitted?

It is apparent that the State Attorney’s Office is in trouble given reports of non-compliance from the Auditor General.  The supply chain management system has been rendered unfair, not equitable, not transparent and not cost-effective. On whose watch did this happen and what will be done to remedy this?

Ms N Maseko-Jele (ANC) said the Department’s report is embarrassing. The report is full of issues of non-compliance, under performance and underspending. It is clear that the Department has no sense of performing for good results.

The issue of fulfilling payments within 30 days is a recurring one which has a significant impact on small companies which are contributors to the economy. How can the Department claim to have a monthly monitoring mechanism but still have issues with non-payment? When looking at the history of the Department, its reports show that the majority of its issues emanate from the past, therefore, COVID-19 cannot be used as an excuse. These are historical issues.
The most disappointing is the 18% performance achieved in Programme 1. This is an essential target that deals with matters of governance.  In addition to this, the Department has failed to provide an explanation of its poor performance or any risk mitigation strategies it has implemented in response to its challenges.

How dare the Department oppose potential budget cuts after giving such a report? It has incurred approximately R1.6 billion in irregular spending, of which R367 million relates to maintenance contracts which has been incorrectly categorized as irregular yet it is non-compliant.

The Department needs strong leadership to get through its challenges.

Adv S Swart (ACDP) echoed MPs sentiments and said their scathing criticism of the Department is justified. He expressed support for Mr Dyantyi’s statement that the Committee needs to improve its oversight and urged officials to improve their performance while understanding the critical role played by the Department in the country at a time of poor economic growth and an increase in crime.
He asked for more information on several issues; namely, the status of the temporary suspension of the CFO and the debt owed to the Department of Justice by other departments. According to the report, the Department is owed a total of R668.7 million. What is being done to recover this money?

The Master’s Office in Pietermaritzburg was recently subject to a cyberattack during which R10 million was hacked from the Guardians Fund.  What actions have been taken to prevent any further cyberattacks and to recover the funds which were stolen?

What steps are being taken to improve the State Attorney’s condition and the complaints which have issued against it?

The Gauteng High Court has been hit by an infrastructure collapse following a system failure on 26 September. The court now lacks basic services such as internet and email access. How can the courts be expected to perform their duties without services? Is it correct that private contractors responsible for providing these services have left? Additionally, there is an apparent shortage of judges in Gauteng which impacts on the delivery of justice. The current norms set by the Chief Justice recommend 4.5 hours for court sittings yet district courts currently sit for 3 hours. This clearly impacts on the delivery of justice. The overall decline of the Department’s performance occurred well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there have been some areas of improvement, the performance has been generally dismal. There is a deep admission by the Acting DG that there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

Mr W Horn (DA) said the Committee has seen a disastrous backslide in the Department’s performance and cannot be accused of over exaggerating if it concludes that the Department is teetering over a cliff. The Department is indeed in need of a rescue plan. The reality is the Department sees the current state as business as usual because the Committee was very critical in relation to the performance during the previous financial year. The Department simply responded by downgrading some of the targets it failed to meet and has done the same thing in this financial year. What is crucial is for the Department to now identify its core function and the essence of its mandate. Its rescue plan should be based on clear, workable solutions.

The Department needs to understand that it is dealing with the lives of real people who depend on assistance from the Master’s Office. The entire institution is supposed to look after children and families who have lost loved ones and providers, yet it is failing even on the most basic tasks. Additionally, it is failing to communicate with beneficiary families on why it is not delivering. This has a practical implication for people who have suffered loss and sit without food due to the actions of the Master’s Office. There is a clear correlation between the lodging of maintenance complaints and the overall deterioration of the Department. During a briefing with the Deputy Minister, the Committee was assured that issues relating to the Master’s Office in East London were a rare and regional occurrence. However, the very same people who initially filed complaints have reported that the issue has not been adequately attended to.  The Department has joined the ranks of the most dysfunctional and this has real implications for the livelihood of South Africans.

As previously stated in a budget speech, the Department has made a liar of the President. The President assured South Africans that the government is making Gender Based Violence (GBV) a priority issue to address and highlighted the passing of the Bill and the Sex Offenders List. However, the Department has recorded a 26% performance rate in as far as auditing the registry is concerned.  This is a specific task that could have easily been done during lockdown. Why has the Department failed to perform despite the President proclaiming that GBV is a priority?

It appears as if the Department perceived that the national lockdown was imminent and disregarded its duties.

Dr W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC) said she too was disappointed in the Department’s presentation which lacked details on why targets have not been met. The Committee requires an explanation behind the poor performance in order to be able to provide recommendations on what is needed. It is not enough to simply reduce the targets without addressing underlying problems. Though this is a lengthy process, it is crucial.

The Chair of the Audit Committee explained that there was a vacuum in the Committee which will be filled from March 2021. What does the Committee plan to do to improve the situation in the interim?

The Department cited an aging workforce as one of its challenges, yet youth unemployment is currently at a high. Additionally, what has happened to the 300 interns which previously completed the Department’s internship programme?

Has the R10 million stolen from the Guardian Fund been recovered?

She said it is concerning that the Department is planning on taking over garden maintenance from the DPWI. This is not a function of the Department and should not be a consideration given that it cannot even meet its own targets. 
During a visit to Malmesbury in the Western Cape, councillors had expressed concern that there were no isiXhosa translators in the court, only Afrikaans interpreters. What is the Department doing to ensure that local African languages and interpreters are prioritised and not just foreign translators? Lastly, what coronavirus related expenditure has the Department made during Quarter 1 and Quarter 2? Does the Department contribute towards the COVID-19 relief fund?

Ms J Mofokeng (ANC) expressed her disappointment in the Department’s report. She wished the Minister a speedy recovery and looked forward to his appearance before the Committee to account for the Department’s performance.

Similarly, to Mr Dyantyi and Adv Breytenbach, she raised the issue of the Department’s vacancy rate which is a critical matter that has been repeatedly raised by the Committee. It is also important for the Audit Committee to have a stable structure with all posts filled.

The Department needs to account for the R1.6 billion it incurred in irregular expenditure and the internal investigations it has in process. What is the status on the measures taken against those who are responsible?
A judge recently wrote an open letter detailing the issue of court infrastructure and lack of internet. This is disappointing given the fact that judges are still expected to deliver on their duties and will be asked if they are making progress towards relieving the current backlog of cases. The Committee has heard of challenges in the Masters Office in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria and that the SIU is now involved. Who should care for the nation if the people are suffering at the hands of the Masters Office?

The Committee needs to engage with the Public Service Commission to address the challenges at the Department. Although the Minister may have had plans to turnaround the Department, it is evident that there are many rampant issues that need attention. Even though the Department has highlighted that recruitment processes are in place for the filling of the Director General position, this process is likely to take another three months before this is finalised. The Committee needs reassurance that the role will be filled in the coming weeks.

One of the Department’s obligations is community rehabilitation in relation to truth and reconciliation, however, very little has been presented regarding this. Secondly, the Department missed its deadline to submit Treaty Reports to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). When will it finalise these reports? The Department also needs to pay particular attention to the National Plan to address racism and xenophobia which it has failed to meet its targets on yet this is a pertinent issue in the country.

Mr X Nqola (ANC) said he agreed with all the points brought up by previous speakers and did not want to belabour the matter. However, it is clear that the Committee is dealing with a serious administrative mess.

Adv Breytenbach said she had been informed that the Guardian Fund account had been frozen following the theft of the R10 million before any payments were made to beneficiaries (minors of deceased parents). Payments are usually disbursed within the first week of the month and none have been made since. Is this the case and how does the Department plan on addressing this critical issue?

Response from Deputy Minister and Department

Deputy Minister Jeffery thanked MPs for their contributions. He emphasised that one of the biggest challenges has been the Department’s leadership vacuum, particularly the position of DG. The absence of a permanent DG has impacted the Department and it has not been an easy task for the officials who have been appointed to act in this role. Some of the senior posts have since been filled. The Chief Masters position is currently in the process of being filled, interviews were completed about three months ago, hopefully an appointment will be made by Cabinet soon.

Unpaid invoices
The Deputy Minister explained that although the target for the payment of invoices within a 30-day period was missed, it was only by 1%. Although it is problematic to not achieve targets, the Department recorded a 99% success rate.

Gauteng High Court
The Deputy Minister clarified that it was not an open letter from a high court judge, rather a private WhatsApp message was leaked detailing the working conditions at the court. In any case, the judge was correct in making the communication public. The Committee is encouraged to raise this matter with the Office of the Chief Justice as this falls under their purview.

Sexual offenses
The current legislation does not provide for the register to be made public. There is now legislation that allows for this which is still being engaged with. However, it is a concern that the scope of the register will be extended to accommodate more names yet the performance is currently dismal with the numbers the Department has.

Adv Skosana added that the Department’s operating model in terms of the NSO has been flawed from the beginning and needs to be revisited. The process of centrally collecting all cases of sexual offences has backfired and cases need to be located at a provincial level before being migrated to a national system.

Eastern Cape Maintenance
The Deputy Minister confirmed that during a visit to East London, the majority of the maintenance issues had been addressed. Most of the challenges were as a result of the recent IT system crash when the Department migrated from Justice Deposit Account System (JDAS) to a new system called MojaPay. This impacted other provinces but interestingly enough, only seven courts were affected in the Eastern Cape. Admittedly, one of the valid complaints was against the Department’s lack of communication on the issue.  He asked Mr Horn to provide more details on the problems noted in Bloemfontein.

Backlogs
Although the Department has tried to keep the courts as open as possible, the current COVID-19 situation has worsened the backlog in cases. A large number of courts were forced to close including the Head Office which had to be fully sanitised due to the virus. An additional challenge is that at the height of the pandemic, staff members were in a rotation which made it difficult to deliver with half the staff compliment.  The Department hopes to present on the issue of backlogs and court performance as well as the stakeholders involved in this matter which includes SAPS.

Court Performance
The Department has a Court Optimisation Committee chaired by the Deputy Minister which consists of representatives from the Regional Court Presidents, the Chief Magistrates, the Department of Social Development, Correctional Services and SAPS. The Committee meets monthly to look into some of the courts' critical issues. Some provinces such as Limpopo have taken the initiative of implementing interventions to expedite the delivery of justice.

Foreign language interpreters
Adv Skosana said the local language interpreters are permanently appointed by the courts. Only casual interpreters were paid the daily fee of R114 while foreign language interpreters were paid a higher rate. Foreign language interpreters would previously provide their services for courts outside of their province in order to claim an augmented salary including travel expenses. This practice has since been stopped and a circular has been delivered which would provide for uniform tariffs. The Department also requires foreign language interpreters to render services within the province they are in.  The Department will provide more information on the tariffs in a written response.

Court Infrastructure
The termination of the mandate with the IDT relates to new courts which would have been constructed on behalf of the Department. The IDT had been tasked with building a total of eight courts, however, only four were built prior to the termination.  Two outstanding courts have been transferred to the DPWI, two hangovers are still being finalised and currently being probed by the SIU.

Court Maintenance
Adv Skosana clarified that the Department is not taking the function of grounds maintenance from DPWI. DPWI is in fact dumping the responsibility on the Department. DPWI has done this without providing a budget to do so. There is an ongoing discussion on this matter and the Department hopes to receive guidance from the Committee in order to reach a suitable conclusion.

Underperformance
Overall, this is a general issue with consequence management. The Department has not only spent more than what it has delivered. The performance management system has allowed officials to be rewarded despite the overall performance of the Department because individual performance has in the past not been linked with organisational performance. This is an issue the Department is seeking to fix.

Vacancies
Ms Constance Mametja, Deputy Director General: corporate Services, DoJ&CD, responded that the 23.4% vacancy rate at SMS level has negatively impacted the performance of the Department.  A plan has been put in place to expedite the recruitment process. The Department is establishing a Rapid Response task team for this purpose.

Disciplinary processes
The disciplinary process is unfolding. The Department will submit an updated report in the next meeting to provide detail on how much progress has been made.

State Attorney Challenges
Mr Fhedzisani Pandelani, Acting Solicitor General, said he is unable to answer why the position of Solicitor General is currently an acting position. This is an issue the Minister will address when he gets the opportunity. However, he is not an internal employee of the Department, he was appointed as an external practitioner to implement the provisions of the State Attorney’s Amendment Act.

As the State Attorney of the country, the office needs cooperation from all client departments. There are currently disparities and lack of cooperation from client departments where procurement is concerned. Client departments are resistant and prefer to brief the State Attorney once they have depleted their own budgets.

Another aspect that needs to be taken into account is the lack of policies where this issue is concerned.
There has been a disjointed approach to procurement whereby some people do not appear on the database intended to ensure that procurement is efficient.  A directive has been issued to State Attorneys to make sure that anyone who renders legal services to the state must be on the database, be registered on the National Bar Council of South Africa and must comply with all procurement prescripts. The intention is to streamline the procurement process to avoid some of the challenges which have been noted in this area.

Complaints against State Attorneys
The Acting Solicitor General responded that this issue of State Attorneys is a recurring challenge and that 13 officials still needed to be appointed prior to his appointment. Two vacancies have since been filled and four more positions still need to be filled in order to achieve a full complement.

Masters Office and Guardian’s Fund
Ms Pillay responded that the Department had acted quickly in shutting down the system due to the magnitude of the situation, ultimately no payments could be made. The Department now has a backup plan for the payment of beneficiaries and how these are managed through the submission of payment requests made to the bank. Communication was made concerning why payments had not been disbursed. There is currently a criminal investigation underway and further details will be provided to the Committee in writing.

The turnaround of the Masters Office is part of the greater Departmental Turnaround, the Department hopes to brief the Committee on how it intends to address both these matters.

The Department committed itself to providing answers to any outstanding questions in writing. 

Closing remarks
The Chairperson thanked the Department for the presentation; however, he echoed the same sentiment that the report was disappointing. The Department’s downward spiral has been ongoing and has reduced MPs to being perpetual complainants as there has been no improvements. As stated by Adv Swart, these are not simply targets and numbers, these are the real lives of South Africans who are represented by the Committee. The Chairperson is generally unimpressed when people report on processes rather than impact. The Committee expects to see results with real impact, however, the majority of the reports presented by the Department are generic and give the impression that they are simply an exercise done to manage MPs.

The Committee cannot in good conscience support the Department’s opposition to budget cuts when it has failed to spend R757 million. Although the Department has highlighted that it has filled several positions and has recruitment processes underway, the position of DG has been vacant since 2016. It is crucial for the Minister to be present to explain some of challenges relating to senior management posts and to account for the reasons why. The Committee still requires more accountability.

The Chairperson supported the view that the Public Service Commission needs to be engaged with better understand what is happening at the Department. It does not give the Committee much confidence that the majority of the present officials have been with the Department for an extended period of time and have not been successful in turning the organisation around without external help.

Although the Department insists it missed certain targets such as the payment of invoices by 1%, this is 1% too much. Many small businesses are dependent on these payments and the Department’s failure to deliver negatively impacts business and employment prospects.

In the previous financial year, the Department had promised to employ interns but failed to do so. The Committee is therefore unconvinced that the Department will do so this year even though it says it has made budget provisions for this. 

It is difficult to understand how the Department has entities within it such as Legal Aid that have achieved clean audits for 19 consecutive years and have been choice employers for 11 consecutive years. The performance of the Public Protector was previously at 50%, the following year, it rose to 70%. Similarly, the SIU has demonstrated good performance outcomes. However, the reports always indicate irregular expenditure, non-compliance and underspending when it comes to the Department.

The Department has failed to recover over R600 million from other departments and has written this off without explanation.

The Committee had previously asked the Department to provide information on expenditure related to the Zondo Commission. This took more than two months despite the Department committing to produce a response within seven days. This is the behaviour that the Department continues to demonstrate, it is unclear if this is related to internal capacity or a total disrespect to Parliament.

Following the request for an external intervention by the Public Service Commission, the Committee needs to begin to consider whether or not the senior management at the Department are fit for their positions. The Committee is convinced that it will continue to get the same results if things continue as they have. The Minister will be invited to account for the issues he is responsible for, this is expected to be after 28th November.  If the reports submitted by the Department fail to provide tangible results, they are not worth the paper they are written on and cannot be honoured. The Committee wants to see real action and does not want to leave a poor legacy. As a collective, the Committee refuses to be party to the Department’s failure.

The Committee requests all written responses to be submitted within the following two weeks.

The meeting was adjourned.



 

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