NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 428 [ORAL QUESTION 77] 4 NOVEMBER 2010
77. Mr M J R de Villiers (DA-WC) to ask the Minister of Public Works:
(1) Whether the reasons for the under-spending by her department on
the Expanded Public Works Programme (details furnished) have
been identified; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the
reasons and (b) which (i) municipalities and (ii) provinces
failed to spend their budgets;
(2) whether his department detected the under-spending in the 2009-
10 financial year; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details;
(3) how many job opportunities were affected as a result of the
under-spending;
(4) whether any corrective measures have been put in place to remedy
the under-spending; if not, why not; if so, what measures?
CO484E
REPLY
(1) Yes,
(a) The reasons for under expenditure have been identified. The main
factor that affected the EPWP in the 2009/10 financial year was the
lack of technical support to implement EPWP projects at Provincial and
Municipal levels. It was imperative to re-orientate and convince the
new office bearers to implement the EPWP utilising their line budget.
b) (i) None of the District and Local Municipalities spent more than 90%
of their budgets. (Refer to Annexure - Local Government - G2 and G3).
Out of 138 municipalities that reported only 53 spent more that 50%
of their annual budget. (Refer to Annexures - Expenditure patterns -
G2 and G3). 85 District and Local Municipalities out of 138 spent
less than 50% of their budgets.
(ii) Only 14 out of 156 Provincial departments that reported on the EPWP
achieved above 90% expenditure. (Refer to Annexure â Provincial
Government C2 ) 55 of the 156 exceeded 50% expenditure but fell short
of achieving 90%.(Refer to Annexure - Expenditure patterns C2). The
remaining 87 spent less that 50% of their budget.
(2) Yes, the under expenditure was detected on EPWP and reasons are
elaborated in (1) above.
(3) For District and Local Municipalities 226,231 job opportunities were
lost due to under spending. (Refer to Annextures - Local Government - G2
and G3)
For Provincial Departments 539,361 job opportunities were lost due to under
spending. (Refer to Annexture â Provincial Government C2)
(4) Corrective measures for under expenditure have been put in place
including the following
⢠Increased technical support to Public Bodies
⢠Employment of additional Data capturers to improve reporting
⢠implementing performance agreements with the executive to minimize
changes in planned projects
ANNEXURES
1. Provincial government 2009/10 - C2
2. Provincial government 2009/10 expenditure patterns - C2
3. District municipalities and metros 2009/10 - G2
4. District municipalities and metros 2009/10 expenditure patterns - G2
5. Local municipalities 2009/10 â G3
6. Local municipalities 2009/1 expenditure patterns - annexure G3