House Chairperson, I don't know whether the pastor can give us an opportunity. Pastor, can you give us an opportunity, please? The Department of Higher Education still has a lot of work to do that is both meaningful and sufficient to the youth and the economy of our country. We see that many of the issues in this department revolve around technical and vocational education and training in skills development which are TVETs.
The department's performance has been underwhelming in this regard to say the least. Nearly R600 million allocated for maintenance in TVET colleges has not been achieved. This figure does not have any meaning. We are now at the stage where underexpenditure in this sector has become so critical. We almost immediately see a protest action as a poor and lack of infrastructure. We need to ensure that when we develop plans for implementation that the department carries out these plans efficiently and effectively or else people would not receive the intended service delivery.
We cannot therefore allow students to face uncertainty due to lack of infrastructure in particular TVET colleges. The TVET colleges unlock opportunities for young and old people who would otherwise be forced to a life of substance abuse to the economic circumstances. These people have not chosen this way of living and therefore government must ensure that it achieves its target.
We need to look at the NSFAS programme and its serious shortcomings in addressing the issue of learners. Finance management is at the core of NSFAS in competency areas. Yet, we see that the expenditure management and unstructured ... is a total mass. The NSFAS has not followed their statutory requirements regarding the prevention of irregular expenditure as stated in section 51 of the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA. This mismanagement of funds is completely out of control that even when the underadminstration irregular expenditure has risen from R2,84 million to R7,6 billion. This amount is what we know at least for now, but the truth of the matter is that the final figure is still unknown of irregular expenditure. At the end of the day, irregular expenditure deprives our youth of much-needed resources. The IFP does support this report in principle.
IsiZulu:
Ngiyathokoza Sihlalo, nina beSilo.