Okay. With regard to performance against predetermined objectives, the department has developed an action plan to get a clean audit by 2013-14. A critical enabler of this, however, is putting the IT infrastructure and the business systems of the department onto a solid footing, aligned to the performance indicators and their data elements in the strategic plan and the annual performance plan.
The DCS beefed up its capacity in financial accounting during the 2011-12 financial year. As a result, the department was able to clear all zero suspense accounts for month-end closure with effect from July 2011. The suspense accounts team monitors the clearance of suspense accounts and unblocks any challenges experienced at both national and regional or management level.
We were, for the first time, able to clear all year-end zero suspense accounts by 26 April 2012. This enabled the department to perform the financial year-end closure on the Basic Accounting System without being force-closed for March 2012.
Hayi, siqhwabeleni ndiyanicela. [No, please give us a round of applause.][Applause.] This has not happened for 13 years, and in this regard the DCS was one of the first departments to successfully close its books.
The budget allocations over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period will increase the baseline to R17,732 billion, a 7% increase, in 2012-13. Of course, this is a matter that will be addressed through the infrastructure roll-out that we will announce during the adjustments estimate in September.
We present this budget as an account of the progress we have made on the commitments made in our previous Votes. It is our submission that the bulk of the work undertaken represents a significant measure of success. In this regard we thank the House, and the members of the portfolio committee in particular, for their ongoing support and effective oversight.
Once more, I would like to thank our managers and officials for the sterling work they continue to do in support of our policy objectives. The amount of progress made to date is a sign that we will make it.
This year I want to dedicate my speech to my late mother. Thank you very much. [Applause.]