Thank you, Deputy Speaker. In April 2011 Cabinet gave a mandate to the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation to regularly assess the quality of generic management practices in departments. The department has developed a methodology to assess the quality of management, in collaboration with the Offices of the Premiers, National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration and in consultation with the Office of the Auditor-General and the Office of the Public Service Commission.
The methodology has been informed by similar management performance assessments carried out in other countries, such as Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Kenya, Turkey and India. The methodology involves working with the senior management of national and provincial departments to carry out self-assessments, which are then moderated by subject-matter specialists and cross-referencing to data produced by bodies such as the Auditor-General, the Public Service Commission, National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration.
In the 2011-12 financial year, assessments were made of the quality of management practices in 103 national and provincial departments out of the 158. These assessments will be carried out annually. The aim of these assessments is to establish a baseline on the status of management practices, to implement improvement plans, where necessary, and to monitor improvement against the baseline.
As a department we are available to make more detailed presentations on these management performance monitoring results to parliamentary committees, as we have started to do with the Portfolio Committee on Public Administration. The results of the 2011-12 assessment have been submitted to Cabinet and we will make a statement after Cabinet has finalised the process.