. Programme 1 (Administration): This programme coordinated the transformation process of the department to ensure alignment with the new mandate. One of the critical aspects in this regard is the reduction of vacancy rate. During the period under review, the vacancy rate was reduced from 16, 7% to 10, 24%. This included the filling of 21 priority posts, 17 of those were for the senior management levels. Significant achievements included the development of the CRDP Framework by the policy unit. The same unit was involved with the development of the draft Green Paper on Rural Development and Land Reform. However, the draft green paper was not released during the 2009/10 financial year. The committee commended the department for progress with regards to the pilot of the CRDP. It awaits information from the department on the emerging lessons from the pilot projects across the eight provinces of South Africa. The committee expressed concerns with this programme because 100% of the targets were only partially achieved.