Legacy Report & Analysis on Revised APP: committee staff briefings; Department Annual Performance Plan, with Minister

Meeting report

Mr L Mphithi (DA) proposed that Members should not go through the Legacy Report because Members did not receive it in time just like the other documents from the Department.

Ms B Maluleke (ANC) stated that the Legacy Report should be presented because it was dealing with outstanding matters and achievements.

The Chairperson felt it was unfair for the Members to receive documents late because they would not be doing justice to the work. She, however, suggested the Legacy Report should be presented, so that Members know what was done during the 5th Parliament and be aware of matters that should be done in the next five years. Concerning late documents from the Department, she indicated that was an inconvenience to staff members because that was making them unable to prepare for the meetings. There was no reason for the Department to submit late documents because it was informed in time about the meeting.

Briefing on the Committee Legacy Report
Ms Kashifa Abrahams, Committee Content Advisor, informed the Committee the purpose of this legacy report was to provide an account of the Committee’s work during the 5th Parliament. The report gave an overview of the activities the Committee undertook during the 5th Parliament as well as outcomes and challenges that emerged during the period under review, and issues that should be considered for follow-up during the 6th Parliament. It also provided recommendations to strengthen operational and procedural processes to enhance the Committee’s oversight and legislative roles in the future.

During the 5th parliamentary term, the Committee engaged with its key stakeholders - the Department of Women and the Commission for Gender Equality - on their financial and programme performance. It was also briefed on issues impacting on the lives of women, including gender transformation and incidents of violence and abuse against women. Throughout these interactions and engagements, it was clear programmes and initiatives for women were not adequately resourced and prioritised. It was, therefore, imperative for the Committee to look into gender-budgeting, gender mainstreaming, and transformation. In addition, as a structure to take forwards the advancement of women, the revival of the National Gender Machinery was an important area for the Committee to keep track of.

She reported on the challenges that emerged. Amongst others, these were around issues related to the late or non-submission of documentation by entities, especially the Department of Women. This impacted negatively on the quality of the engagement and deliberations the Committee was able to have. In addition, the Committee was often not included or consulted on legislation which impacted on its target group such as the Traditional Courts Bill. Therefore, there was a need for more conferral and engagement with other committees. Changes to Parliamentary programme were also cited as impacting directly on Committee programme, and this resulted in postponement of meetings and objectives for a term not met. The unavailability of the Department of Women in the Presidency to brief the Committee was identified as another challenge.

Furthermore, the Department of Women in the Presidency tabled a revised APP for 2016/17 a month short of the end of the financial year. This had direct implications for the oversight by the Committee over the Department as targets were discarded, changed and merged. The Annual Report of the Department focused on two APPs and this posed challenges for evaluation. The Committee had warned the Department in the previous financial year to desist from changing its APPs at the end of the financial year a month before submitting new APPs for the following financial year. The Department had previously submitted revised APPs in 2015/16 as well. The Committee found a disjuncture between what the Department had reported to the Committee during its quarterly briefings versus what the findings of the Auditor General of South Africa were and that of the Internal Audit and Risk Committee.

Based on engagement with various government departments and or entities during oversight, it was quite evident there was a slow pace of progress with regard to gender mainstreaming. Even though progress has been made, more needed to be done in terms of women, particularly in certain sectors which were male dominated. The oversight visits and engagement with the Office on the Status of Women situated in the Office of the Premier had indicated that certain provincial departments were performing poorly in terms of the number of women in senior management positions. The achievement of the 2% target for the employment of persons with disabilities has also been found to be dismal. Gender Focal Points within government departments were not having the desired impact due to their limitations in terms of roles and responsibilities.

The Committee was shocked during its engagement with the Department of Basic Education in February 2017 when it was informed the Department had no access to the Sexual Offences Register. Given the number of cases related to abuse of children by educators and staff working in schools, the Committee raised it as a major concern, but it was reassured by the Department of Basic Education that it was developing a draft policy to deal with the matter.

The Legacy Report has recommended, amongst other things, there should be more integration and created opportunities between committees for conferral and joint deliberations seeing that issues affecting women were transversal. It also recommended a need for stricter enforcement of Committee requirements with regard to timeous submission of documentation.
The Report also suggested there was a need to develop a mechanism in order to foster and strengthen relationships with other committees, particularly the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Joint Multi-Party Women’s Caucus. This would ensure committees were undertaking joint oversight visits to avoid duplication.

Even though the Committee inadvertently dealt with all the thematic areas as per its Strategic Plan during the 5th Parliament, it did not have enough time to engage with the Departments of Science and Technology, Small Business Development, Economic Development, and Trade and Industry. This was necessitating the Committee to do a follow-up on issues and recommendations of these departments over the next five years to assess how far the government has done in promoting women in the economy and to determine progress on women entrepreneurs and funding spent.

Briefing on revised APPs 2019/2020
Ms Abrams informed the Committee that the Department’s draft strategic plan should - in its transitional arrangements - clearly outline the process to deal with the inclusion of youth and disability related structures from the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, the National Youth Development Agency and Social Development, respectively. This should include transfer of funds, human resources, assets, etc. It should also indicate what the plan was to house all staff in terms of office space and provide clear time frames as to when the process would be concluded.

The briefing on the draft Strategic Plan should, amongst other things, indicate the mandate, vision and mission and strategic focus of the new Department, indicate how the Department had factored in the relevant government priorities, outline the Department’s organogram in detail and give an update on the DPSA process in terms of what has been signed off and approved with regard to funded and unfunded posts, and outline the governance structure within the Department.

On financial matters, it should, amongst other things, indicate measures that have been put in place to contain costs with the merger of youth and disability structures into the Department, explain how the Department arrived at a budget forecast for the next 5 years and state if the strategic objectives and targets have been costed, provide financial breakdown per programme, outline forecast for office space and indicate if the Department would be renting, and provide total Compensation of Employees for the entire department and breakdown per programme.

She further pointed out the briefing on the updated Annual Performance Plan 2019/20 should, amongst other things, indicate key priorities for 2019/20, indicate the link between draft Strategic Plan and APPs, state how programmes and sub-programmes are interlinked particularly with youth and disability to ensure coordination, effectiveness, efficiency, optimal use of resources and to avoid duplication of work undertaken; and outline each programme with sub-programmes and provide break down of international activities for 2019/20.

In addition, the Department should provide a financial forecast of the use of consultants and indicate clearly per programme when the services, purposes and duration of consultants would be procured. It should also indicate measures in place for skills transfer by the consultant. Furthermore, it should provide detailed outline of events/campaigns it intends hosting for 2019/20 along with a financial forecast of each initiative, intended number of beneficiaries targeted, location of initiative, purpose and expected outcomes and how these would be monitored and evaluated; and provide break down of international activities for 2019/20, size of delegation, estimated cost per trip, purpose and expected outcomes and how these would be monitored and evaluated.

On the structure of the Department, Ms Abrams reported the Department has indicated changes to the structure within the revised Strategic Plan for 2015-2020. With the inclusion of youth and disability structures from the Departments of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and Social Development respectively, two more programmes were added.  But the former Department of Women in the Presidency’s three programmes had remained the same in the new Department. It was still unclear whether the programme and services pertaining to women and persons with disabilities would then be incorporated into structures previously established by the NYDA.

She also found that a discrepancy existed between the amount allocated for Compensation of Employees (CoE) and the number of funded posts versus the current number of posts which the Department has, of which 93 were filled and 8 were vacant. It was not clear why the missing 11 funded posts were not accounted for, and that clarity had to be sought in this regard.

Whilst the new opportunities listed by the Department were to be commended, these lacked specificity and appeared to be more general statements of intent. It was also unclear what the link was between the new opportunities the Department identified and how these were translated into the strategic objectives, key performance indicators and targets within the revised APPs and adjusted Strategic Plan. Because the new opportunities were not specific enough, it was unclear how the Department would achieve these.

The establishment of the new Department, it was hoped, would provide new opportunities to redress the inequalities and inequities that continue to impact the lives and livelihoods of women, young people of both sexes, persons with disabilities as well as LGBTIQA+ members within these sectors. Whilst the Department has to be commended on focusing on these sectors, it was unclear how these groups would be dealt with in a coherent manner over the next 5 years as the new Strategic Plan has yet to be submitted for consideration to the Committee.

As with the new opportunities, the potential key synergies remained vague and lacked the requisite details that explained how the Department would give effect to the synergies that were identified. Also, it was unclear as to whether the synergies identified were intended for the 2019/20 financial year or for the next 5 years. Because the newly formed Department was a merger of women, youth and disability structures, the synergies should not only be outward looking but be inward looking as well for a cohesive, well-coordinated government structure was required to effectively mainstream women, youth and disability into policy and programmes. These three focus areas have functioned independently of each other in separate departments prior to the merger. It would be important for the Committee to establish what measures the Department has put in place to ensure the programmes within the Department do not work in silos.

The budget which appeared in the initial APPs 2019/20 was the same as that in the revised APPs of 2019/20 insofar as Programme 1-3 is concerned. The Committee had adopted the Budget Vote Report for the Department and it was passed in the House. This means the budget which was voted on and agreed to was linked to objectives, key performance indicators and targets that appeared in the initial APPs. Of importance to note was that the revised APPs have incorporated new targets and discarded other targets when compared to the initial APPs of 2019/20. It would be important for the Committee to establish what the implications were for having changed and discarded the targets.

Briefing on the Youth Report

Ms Tasneem Mathews, Committee Researcher, informed the Committee that there was a lack of synergy between the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the National Youth Development Programme.  In recent years, the NYDA has shifted its primary core business away from Enterprise Finance towards Education and Skills Development. The fundamental change in this area of development was the change from loan provision to grant provision for young entrepreneurs.

The NYDA no longer offered loan finance to young entrepreneurs. The agency provides financial support in the form of micro-finance grants to young entrepreneurs and youth cooperatives. The objective of the NYDA Grant Funding was to provide young entrepreneurs with an opportunity to access both the financial and non-financial business development support to establish their survivalist businesses.

On the other hand, the National Youth Development Programme’s purpose was to oversee youth development policy and its implementation and to transfer funds to the NYDA. One of its objectives was to oversee the transfer of funds to the National Youth Development Agency. Its functions would now be the responsibility of the Department for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

As noted in the APPs, the financial resources for the Youth Development Programme were still with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The transfer of financial resources would only happen in the financial year 2020/2021. During 2020/21, it was envisaged the Department would receive R497.4 million, of which R 484.8 million would be transferred to the NYDA. The APP had indicated that the Department would provide oversight over the NYDA. This KPI was vague, and the Committee needed to get clarity from the Department in this regard.

Briefing on the overview of Programmes 2 and 3

Ms Crystal Levendale, Committee Researcher, pointed out these programmes have been continued from the previous department. On Programme 2 (Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment)
the number of annual targets has increased from 7 to 8. The programme’s purpose did not include youth and persons with disabilities, even though these two groups have been added on to some of the targets. Clarity had to be sought regarding the Sanitary Dignity Framework which was submitted to cabinet for consideration and approval because this was a target in the 2018/19 APPs.  She proposed the Committee should find out if the Department was working collaboratively with the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development because there was a large focus on the sanitary dignity campaign throughout this programme.

Ms Levendale suggested  the Committee should caution the Department against becoming involved in service delivery activities, or undertaking activities and utilising resources that could be provided by other departments because it aimed to have 400 women, youth and persons capacitated to participate in the Sanitary Dignity Value Chain Program during 2019/20, and it has made it clear in its revised plan that it would provide strategic leadership, coordination and conducts oversight to government departments. 

She further advised the Committee to seek clarity from the Department about its exact role in the Gender Based Violence Council following the Presidential Summit held in 2018 where the Interim Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Steering Committee that consisted of government departments, civil society organisations that represented networks or coalitions and intergovernmental organisations was formed. This Steering Committee has been working under tight deadlines given by the Summit to develop the National Strategic Plan (NSP) which must be integrated within the 2019−2024 Medium Term Strategic Framework and appoint the Gender Based Violence Council by September 2019.

Pertaining to Programme 3 (Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management),
the number of targets has decreased from 12 to 8. Just like Programme 2, the programme’s purpose did not include youth and persons with disabilities, even though these two groups have just been added to some of the targets. For many of the targets under this programme, the Department has added youth and persons with disabilities. While it was commendable that these groups have been included, it was also a cause for concern. The target groups of this Department were diverse with specific needs and challenges. Therefore, the Department should take the specific needs of each group into account in terms of the programmes and activities it was undertaking.

She advised the Committee to establish when the Framework on Gender Response Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation was concluded and finalised because it has not yet been presented to the Committee, and the Department has indicated it would implement the framework during this 2019/20.financial year. In the previous APPs, the Department indicated it aimed to develop guidelines on gender-responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation.

She indicated that the KPIs and targets had been amended and discontinued, and new targets have been introduced in the revised APPs. She asked the Committee to find out from the Department if resources had been re-allocated for these amended targets and what would happen to work undertaken during Quarter 1 because the discontinued targets were agreed to when the budget was concluded. There was very little detail provided on programmes and activities to be undertaken and the Department did not provide information on the other departments it was collaborating with. The Department has included the LGBTQIA+ sector in some targets, but the sector has not been integrated throughout the APPs. Overall, there was no coherence in the plan and there was no synergy between programmes because they appeared to be running in isolation. This was impacting on resource allocation and expenditure.

Briefing on overview of Programme 5 (Rights of Persons with Disabilities)

Ms Abrahams said this programme had a total of 3 KPIs and 3 related annual targets for 2019/20. She advised the Committee to seek clarity on why two KPIs for this programme which was previously located in the Department of Social Development appear to have been discarded. She pointed out progress in achieving the 2% employment target for persons with disabilities within the public sector has been dismal due to a lack of enforcement, general non-compliance and lack of awareness.
Discussion
Ms Maluleke could not understand why the targets were changed after they were approved by the Committee She could not understand whether the Department changed the initial targets it had or if it changed those of the two components – persons with disabilities and youth - added to the Department.

Ms Abrams explained that targets should be done per programme and the Department should be asked how it was planning to do that. There was no indication of how money was allocated to deal with the amended targets and no explanation was given why approved targets were changed.

Ms F Masiko (ANC) was not happy that the Committee had only a day to engage with the APPs whereas the Department was informed long time ago about the meeting, yet the Committee only got the information late yesterday afternoon.

Ms Masiko pointed out that the financial implications had not been spelt out when different departments have been collapsed into one, and there was no clarity on the integration process. She further noticed that there was resistance in terms of cooperation or working together from the merged departments for they were still longing for working in silos. This came out during the strategic planning session of the Department she attended.

Mr Mphithi remarked that the Department appeared to be experiencing structural problems because of the amalgamation. He pointed out there was a recurring trend in the manner the Department was conducting itself because documents were sent very late to the Committee. He suggested the Committee should decide on the type of action it would take regarding this problem of not receiving documents in time. For example, he said the Committee has not received the draft strategic plan, organogram, and the nature of existing vacancies in the Department. He suggested the Committee should write a letter to the Minister about the unacceptability of the situation.

Ms T Mgweba (ANC) commented the matters that were picked up by the Members have been raised many times before. She wondered how the Committee was going to implement its work slogan “Khawuleza / Move Fast” if there were so many things going wrong within the Department.

Mr S Ngcobo (DA) wanted to understand if the 2% equity for person with disabilities was a target set for all government departments and municipalities; and he wanted to find out if the Department had key stakeholders dealing with persons with disabilities.

Ms Maluleke suggested the Department should carry the costs of the meetings if it was continuing to present shoddy work to the Committee. In that way, that would make it take the Committee seriously.

The Chairperson suggested that all matters raised by the researchers and content advisors should be incorporated into the Department’s draft strategic plan and APPs, and she pointed out the Department should not concentrate too much on an intervention programme of Sanitary Dignity because that was not its core business. She further asked the researchers to write down the concerns that came out during the meeting so that Members could familiarise themselves with them before engaging with the Department.

Ms Abrams suggested the Committee should seek clarity from the Department on the dissolution of the KPIs.

Ms Masiko wondered if it would be fruitful for the Committee to engage with the Department when the Committee had not been forwarded the new strategic plan for 2020/2025 because the only strategic plan that was before the Committee was the old 2015/2020 one.

Remarks by the Minister
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane commented that the Department’s presentation was occurring during the 2019 Women’s Month, and that the President has indicated there must be joint women’s programmes by all departments. During the Presidential Summit, the President declared gender-based violence a national crisis. On 28 August 2019 there would be a session in Parliament with the LGBQT+.

The presentation covered the programmes for women, youth, NYDA, and persons with disabilities. It also included the Sanitary Dignity Programme. The Department had resolved that it was imperative to include enterprises owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities in terms of job creation to ensure resource allocations were aligned with the priorities of the 6th Parliament.

The focus of the Department was on inter-sectorality because women and persons with disabilities continued to be suppressed. In order to respond to these challenges, they needed a capacitated Department to bring about change. Cabinet had also approved the Gender Framework and this would be a game-changer for the empowerment of formerly marginalised groups. The work of the Department would be to realise the APPs to improve the lives of women, youth, and persons with disabilities. It would continue to advocate for equal pay for work with equal value.

Briefing by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD)
Ms Shoki Shabalala, Acting DG, DWYPD, briefed the Committee on the key performance areas of the Department. Key priorities were on the following:

Special focus on youth Not in Employment, Education and Training (NEET)
Youth Employment Strategy
National Youth Service
Youth Entrepreneurship
Eradication of GBV
Establishment of Multi-sectoral body arising from GBVF Summit and finalising the NSP
Monitoring and Evaluation of the implementation of GRPBMEA and integration of youth an disability rights priorities in plans and budgets at all levels
Monitoring and Evaluation of the Sanitary Dignity project in 9 Provinces including the Rollout of Sanitary Dignity Implementation Framework
She mentioned that during 2019/20 financial, the Department would prioritise the following key performance areas:

Sanitary Dignity Framework to be submitted to Cabinet for consideration and approval
Collaborate with key strategic partners – DPME on infusing the current monitoring and evaluation framework of Government with indicators responsive to issues of empowerment and equality for women and ensure that before each budget policy speech
Establish the National Council on Gender Based Violence
National Treasury clear targets will be set to the implementation of gender responsive budgets in the country embedded on the MTSF planning cycle of government
Produce a consultation report on the Country Gender Indicator Framework
Produce reports on performance monitoring review on women’s empowerment and gender equality
Produce a National Strategic Plan for Gender Based Violence and Femicide
Monitor the implementation of the declarations of the Gender Based Violence summit
The budget programme structure for the 2019/20 financial year would be reviewed to report on five programmes:

1. Administration;
2. Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment; and
3. Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management
4. National Youth Development Branch and
5. Rights of Persons with Disabilities

With regard to Programme 1 (Administration), the Department would conduct annual risk assessments and produce annual risk plans. 4 quarterly risk mitigation progress reports against the target in the risk plan would be produced. The Department would produce Strategic Plan 2020-2024 and APP 2019/20 and submit these to the National Treasury and DPME. 4 Quarterly performance review reports would be submitted to DPME. The Department would also roll out a three-year strategic internal audit plan for 2019/2021 and an annual internal plan for 2018/2019 which was approved by the Audit and Risk Committee.  5 Internal Audit Reports against the Annual Internal Audit coverage plan would be produced. 4 Quarterly reports on gender communications and information would be made available on DWYPD media platforms. The Department was planning to maintain a less than 2% under spending in expenditure against budget allocation. 95% of external audit recommendations would be implemented. 100% of all disciplinary cases would be resolved internally within 90 days of the cases being initiated. 4 progress reports on the implementation of business systems plan would be produced 

Mr Prince Booi, Chief Director: Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment, DWYPD, took the Committee through Programme 2 (Social Transformation and Economic Empowerment). He reported the
Sanitary Dignity Framework has been submitted to Cabinet for consideration and approval. 4 progress reports on the implementation of the Sanitary Dignity Framework in quintiles 1-3 schools, farm schools and special schools would be developed. The Integrated Entrepreneurship Development Strategy has been submitted and considered for approval. 400 women, youth and persons with disabilities would be capacitated to participate on the Sanitary Dignity Value Chain Programme. The National Gender Machinery (NGM) Coordination & Accountability Forum would be established. GBVF. The GBVF National Strategic Plan would be developed seeing that the GBV Council has been established.

Ms Ntsiki Sisulu, Acting DDG: Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management, DWYPD, presented Programme 3 (Policy, Stakeholder Coordination and Knowledge Management).
She stated 10 public participation / outreach Initiatives targeting women, youth and persons with disabilities, including LGBTQIA+ would be undertaken. 4 community mobilisation initiatives on factors affecting women youth and persons with disabilities would be conducted. 3 quarterly progress reports on International Relations worked would be developed. Two performance monitoring reviews on gender responsive plans and budgets would be produced. The Framework on GRPBMEA (Framework on Gender Responsive Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation) would be implemented. The concept paper on the development of the guidelines would be developed. The concept paper on CGI Framework consultation was also going to be developed.

Ms Bernice Hlagala, Acting Chief Director: Youth Development, DWYPD, expanded on Programme 4 (National Youth Development). She indicated 4 National Youth Programme (NYP) monitoring reports would be produced. The NYP has been reviewed and consulted.  The Youth Mainstreaming (YM) Guidelines for youth responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring, evaluation and auditing would be developed and consulted. The NYDA reports on quality assurance and assessment would be developed. 5 site visits were going to be conducted and reports be produced (2 Gauteng, 2 Mpumalanga, 1 Limpopo). 4 Site visits would be conducted and reports be produced (1 Limpopo, 1 Western Cape, 1 Eastern Cape, 1 Northern Cape). 2 Site visits were going to be conducted and reports be produced (1 North West and 1 in Free State). National and International engagements with stakeholders would be conducted annually. It was reported the financial resources for the Youth Development Programme were still with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The transfer of financial resources would only happen in the financial year 2020/2021.

Mr Bennie Padima, Director: Disability, DWYPD, talked about Programme (Rights of Persons with Disabilities). The Frameworks on Disability Rights Awareness Campaigns as well as Self-Representation by Persons with Disabilities was going to be developed.  4 virtual think tanks or Disability Awareness Framework would be established during Quarter1. Public comments on discussion documents and draft National Frameworks on Disability Rights Awareness and Self-Representation would be done during Quarter 2. The Draft National Frameworks on Disability Rights Awareness and Self-Representation would be validated during Quarter 3. The Guidelines for District and Local Disability Inclusion Institutional Arrangements would be finalised. The National Frameworks on Disability Rights Awareness and Self-Representation would be submitted for approval on Quarter 4. The Guidelines for embedding of Disability Inclusion in Government-wide Institutional Arrangements would be submitted for approval.

One Progress Report on the Implementation of the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would be developed. 1 performance report on Disability Inclusion in Departmental Strategic Plans and APPs for 2019-2024 MTSF would be developed during Quarter 4. The financial resources for the Persons with Disability Programme were still with the Department of Social Development. The transfer of financial resources would only happen in the financial year 2020/2021.

Mr Mbazima Shiviti, Chief Director: Corporate Services, DWYPD, reported that the Department had 101 funded posts, of which 93 were filled and 8 vacant. This would be augmented through the NMOG 2019 process where 15 funded posts (11 filled and 4 vacant) have been ring-fenced by the DSD, and 8 (7 filled and 1 vacant) by the DPME. Accordingly, the start-up structure of the DWYPD would have a post establishment of 124 posts (111 filled and 13 vacant).

The refinements to the Strategic Plan 2015/20 should be read in conjunction with the Strategic Plan 2015-2020 as this was not a replacement but an improvement to ensure alignment and compliance. The vision and the mission of the Department have been refined.  Furthermore, Section 5.2 on the organisational environment and Part B on strategic objectives and five year targets were also refined. The strategic objectives and five year targets for all programmes have been refined. The Women Programmes has removed the strategic objective indicator in all programmes.

Ms Desree Legwala, CFO, DWYPD, reported that the allocation of the Department would increase over the 2019 MTEF.  The major area of spending was in compensation of employees (CoE) which constituted 38% of the total budget over the 2019 MTEF period. The CoE allocation was earmarked for funded and vacant funded posts as at 31 March 2018 in the establishment of the Department.  A significant portion of goods and services budget was allocated to property payments and travel and subsistence. The goods and services budget represented 26% of the 2019 MTEF. The allocation of the Department included an amount of R270.4 million which was earmarked for transfer to the Commission for Gender Equality during the 2019 MTEF. This allocation represented 35% of the total budget of the Department.


Discussion
The Chairperson asked if the Department had considered the Act dealing with the appointment of the NYDA board members seeing that there were four vacancies. She reminded the Department it was Parliament that was responsible for the appointment of board members.

Ms Shabalala replied in the affirmative, adding that have asked the Minister to allow the three remaining board members to continue their work. The Department would provide full details when the Committee engages with the NYDA in the next meeting.

Mr Herman Tembe, OISD Legal Officer, RSA Parliament, explained that according to the NYDA Act it was the Parliament that had to action the appointment of board members until the matter was finalised even if the Minister wanted to appoint the four board members. Currently, the board was not quorating.

Mr Mphithi wanted to establish how the Committee was going to proceed with engaging with the Department when the APP documents were received very late and there were discrepancies between what they received before the meeting and what was presented in the meeting regarding KPIs and programmes.

Ms T Marawu (ATM) expressed her disappointment because on 3 July it was recommended the Department should send documents to the Committee seven days before making a presentation to it. The targets that were presented were not even clear.

Ms T Masondo (ANC) wanted to understand if there were barriers that made it difficult for the Department to communicate with the Committee for all work related matters. She suggested the Committee should be given more time to digest what has been presented because two APP documents were completely different.

Ms Abrams added the many discrepancies made it difficult for Members to engage with the Department on content, and this was made worse by the absence of a strategic plan.

Ms Maluleke remarked that what was presented was not helpful to the Members because it made it difficult to engage with the Department. She wanted to know if the Department had considered the added targets from Social Development and DPME when the APPs were drawn up. Ahe wanted to know the financial implications for the changing of targets that were approved.

Ms Masondo explained that the main cause for the delay in engaging with the Department was because the Committee was discussing the problem of late reports and if it was going to be beneficial to deliberate with it. She further asked for clarity on the transitional process and integration of the youth and persons with disabilities components into the Department.

Ms D Hlengwa (IFP) pointed out the presentation did not talk about specific programmes.

Ms Masiko asked the Chairperson to decide what should be done if Members have been given two different APP documents, or let the Department explain the reasons for the two documents.

The Chairperson remarked there was no way the Department could change the KPIs which have been adopted by the House. It was not understandable how something planned by Social Development could be changed because the department was going to transfer money for the implementation of its plans. So, she suggested, the Department should incorporate those plans into its programmes. She further challenged the Department to interrogate its report, and it would see the targets and KPIs have been changed. She said the Department should redo its APPs. The Committee was not convinced if the Department was going to be able to do its work with other departments because it was not willing to change the manner in which it was doing things; and did not appear to know whether gender-based violence was on the increase or decrease. There were important social development programmes the Department should be taking seriously, instead of wasting time on the Sanitary Dignity initiative which was an intervention. She pointed out the Department had not even said a thing about the NYDA which was going to present to the Committee soon. The Legacy Report would be given to the Department, so that it could identify important things that should be given priority. She indicated what the Members have raised was not meant to discourage the Department from doing its work, but to give it a chance to learn to work with the Committee in a better coordinated way.

Ms Maluleke commented the Department should be given enough time to rectify its work, so that there were no discrepancies, and it was asked to furnish the Committee its draft strategic plan and respond to concerns raised by Members when it engages with the Committee again.

Ms Shabalala explained there were many resolutions taken on many issues like homelessness, land reform, etc. because it was not going to be easy to make an intervention on any matter that came up. The Sanitary Dignity Programme was pronounced by the former president and that was why the Department adopted it. She further informed the Committee the Department was monitoring some other programmes the Department was dealing with with other departments, but it was not doing the oversight work of the Committee. The Department was not an implementing agent. In her view, the presentation was responding to matters that were raised in the last meeting with the Committee.

Minister Nkoane-Mashabane said she had taken note of what the Members have raised, and that the Department was seeing the Committee as a partner in walking a very difficult journey. In June 2019, the Department was declared a new department. The amalgamation of the youth and persons with disabilities components from Departments of Social Development and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation was still a challenge that was not going to be solved overnight.  Concerns from the Committee were indicating the Department should not be relaxed in the manner it was doing its work because its main goal was to do advocacy, monitoring, and evaluation, but not to implement anything. Regarding the NYDA, she said the dilemma facing the Department was that the mandate of the current board was nearing the end, May 2019, to be precise. The chairperson of the board has asked the Department for intervention, so that the entity could continue functioning. She also stated the Sanitary Dignity Programme could not remain neglected because menstruation starts at an early age and pads were a business. So, it stands to reason the programme should be given attention because a policy to distribute free condoms was adopted. That was why they were still advocating sanitary pads should remain tax-free. She profusely apologised for the discrepancies and promised her team would come back with a better document; and she warned her team the Committee would continue to ask questions and those questions should be responded to sincerely.

The Chairperson thanked the Department for the presentation and hoped it would do the necessary corrections. A date for when the Department would present to the Committee all outstanding matters would be made known, but it would be in the early weeks of September.

The meeting was adjourned.