Chairperson, when we talk about fit for purpose, we can never be selective. In this Western Cape, under the leadership of the then MEC of Agriculture and now the Premier Alan Winde failed to comply with the request from the Auditor-General to report according to standard format about transfer payment to Casidra Limited, who is an agency of the department. Accountability and good governance must apply to everybody across the border.
Deputy Minister, I really need to ask you this question, what is the level of improvement that the department has made in ensuring that it improves its financial viability and internal control measures particularly in addressing previous recommendations that were made by the Auditor-General? Thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL
AFFAIRS: Hon Chairperson, I think it is important to indicate that the matter of improvement in performance has been dealt with at two levels. The first one is in line with the new tender that was issued to appoint Non- Profit Organizations. Additional requirements were placed, including the imposition of penalties in instances of non compliance and that has enabled the department to then take the corrective action that I referred to earlier.
At a second level, there is an issue about the improvement within the department to the extent that we ensure that our own officials are held to account but also that we review the audit action plan. We are currently working with the office of the Auditor-General to review the audit action plan that was provided by the department and are exercising oversight directly from the ministry to ensure that the gaps identified by the office of the Auditor-General are being resolved and that the audit action plan responds to the issues that are necessary to ensure that we overcome the challenges that we currently have in the department. Thank you very much.
Question 135:
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL
AFFAIRS: Hon Chairperson, the Ngwathe Local Municipality has a
satellite office in Mokwallo Township, situated in the town of Vredefort, which was established to bring services to the community residing in the area closer. It has been established that the satellite office was unable to render services as intended because it was utilising an old database system. They could not handle the increased demand as the community grew.
The Ngwathe Local Municipality then phased out this system and has been using a new system for at least the past two months. The new system has enabled the municipality to provide the following services in the Mokwallo office: The selling of graves; the selling of electricity; the rental of halls; and payment of other municipal services.
Given the recent developments, we will monitor the impact on service delivery to the community using Cogta's Back-to-Basics monitoring tools and the municipality will be duly engaged through the process to ensure that where gaps are identified, these are promptly addressed and additional support is provided as and when required in order to effectively provide basic services to the community of Mokwallo. Thank you very much.
Sesotho: