The Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has raised serious concerns about the late tabling of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities’ 2025/26 Annual Report, discrepancies in the information presented to Parliament, the department’s regression in its audit outcome, and whether its spending is translating into measurable improvements in the lives of women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Opening the committee’s meeting to assess the department’s performance, the Chairperson, Ms Liezl van der Merwe, said the department tabled its Annual Report late, regressed in its audit outcome, continued to underspend its budget, and achieved fewer targets than in the previous financial year.
“The late tabling of the Annual Report should not be taken lightly,” Ms van der Merwe said.
She said the department had submitted a version of its Annual Report to Parliament’s Clerk of Papers on 30 September 2026, but it was subsequently revealed that the report had not been finalised and was later withdrawn.
“The committee was not kept abreast of these developments. Instead, we had to make our own inquiries with Parliament. We received conflicting reports, had to follow up with various role players, and ultimately took it upon ourselves to move the department’s appearance from its scheduled slot last week to this week when it became apparent that the department would not be able to appear before us. That, colleagues, is simply not acceptable,” Ms van der Merwe said.
Despite these concerns, Ms van der Merwe said the committee has always been unanimous in its view that the department has a vital role to play, given its broad mandate and the ongoing challenges faced by women, youth and persons with disabilities. The department has an important centre-of-government mandate. However, she said a persistent concern was that its expenditure and activity reporting did not sufficiently demonstrate measurable improvements in the lives of the people it is mandated to serve.
The committee noted that although 96.8% of the operational budget was spent, administration absorbed 55% of operational expenditure. Significant variances and underspending in core programmes raised concerns about planning and whether resources were aligned with priorities. Persistent vacancies, leadership instability, limited capacity in internal audit, risk management, ICT and human resources, as well as reliance on consultants, were also highlighted as concerns.
Ms van der Merwe said it was the committee’s constitutional responsibility to exercise rigorous oversight over the department and ensure that its allocated budget was spent in ways that made a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
“We want to see meaningful, measurable outcomes. Achieved targets must translate into changed lives and better futures,” she said.
The Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga, apologised for the late submission of the Annual Report.
“While this arose from efforts to ensure the accuracy and audit readiness of the report, we acknowledge our obligation to comply with reporting timelines, and we have put measures in place to strengthen future compliance,” Minister Chikunga said.
The Minister reported that the department achieved 43 of its 56 annual targets, representing 77% performance, while spending 99.4% of its allocated budget. She acknowledged concerns about the 13 targets that were not achieved but highlighted progress in advancing the rights, empowerment and inclusion of women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Committee members interrogated whether the department’s expenditure was adequately reflected in its performance and questioned the credibility and consistency of some of the information presented.
Ms Samantha Graham-Maré raised concerns about inconsistencies in figures presented to the committee, particularly those relating to vacancies, expenditure and performance.
“I think it’s unacceptable that we are working with documents that are not 100% correct. It’s very difficult to conduct oversight if the information we are being given is not accurate,” Ms Graham-Maré said.
She also questioned the relationship between the department’s 99.4% expenditure and the achievement of 77% of its annual targets.
“You spent 99.4%. You only achieved 77%. So my question is: is this poor planning at the outset, or is it poor financial management?” she asked.
The committee said it is concerned that some targets were reportedly not achieved because budgets had been reprioritised or were unavailable. Members questioned whether this pointed to weaknesses in planning, financial management or the costing of Annual Performance Plan targets.
On the department’s performance and regression in its audit outcome, Ms Chauke-Adonis questioned whether the failure to achieve targets was a result of inadequate resources, insufficient human capacity, or weaknesses in planning and management.
Ms Chauke-Adonis expressed concern about targets affecting persons with disabilities and questioned whether these had been sufficiently costed and supported by realistic implementation plans. She also sought clarity on outstanding legislation affecting women, youth and persons with disabilities, and the department’s work relating to gender-responsive planning and budgeting.
The committee expressed concern about the department’s regression from a clean audit to an unqualified audit opinion with findings. Members questioned why weaknesses identified through internal audit processes had not been corrected before the Auditor-General conducted the audit and called for stronger consequence management where officials were responsible for financial and performance failures.
Minister Chikunga acknowledged the audit regression and said the department was addressing the matters raised by the Auditor-General with the aim of returning to clean-audit status.
The Minister said the department had strengthened its audit action plans, enhanced management oversight, prioritised the filling of critical vacancies, improved performance verification systems, and submitted a business case to National Treasury to strengthen the department’s organisational capacity and internal control environment.
Vacancies and institutional capacity were another area of concern for the committee. Members highlighted conflicting information about the actual number of vacant posts and requested clarity on which vacancies were funded, how long critical positions had remained vacant, and the extent to which vacancies had contributed to the department’s failure to achieve some of its targets.
Minister Chikunga told the committee that the department was operating under substantial human and financial resource pressures. She said that even if all 146 posts were filled, the department would remain extremely short-staffed because of its expanding responsibilities.
“The staff is extremely stretched and have reported serious health concerns, and we are experiencing high staff turnover as a result,” she said.
The Minister highlighted the disability branch as one area experiencing capacity challenges, noting that it had two chief directors but no Deputy Director-General to take ultimate accountability for the branch.
The committee also expressed concern after learning that departmental officials had been seconded to assist with the establishment of the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. Members questioned the impact of the secondments on a department already experiencing capacity constraints.
Dr Kgosi Letlape, a committee member, said the matter raised serious concerns about the viability and sustainability of the department and indicated his intention to approach the Public Service Commission regarding the arrangement.
“I’m extremely concerned about the support and viability of the department,” said Dr Letlape.
He questioned how the department would continue performing its functions while officials were seconded.
“Who is doing the work that is supposed to be done in the ministry? Is the ministry being closed down? I am concerned,” said Dr Letlape.
The committee requested clarity on how the secondments were being managed and what measures had been put in place to ensure that the department’s work and service-delivery responsibilities were not compromised.
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) also came under scrutiny. Ms van der Merwe reiterated the committee’s disappointment at the NYDA’s failure to table its Annual Report on time for a second consecutive year and requested a written update on the forensic investigation at the agency.
“Can we please get an update on where we are in terms of the forensic audit in writing? You will recall that I also asked for the terms of reference in this regard,” Ms van der Merwe said.
The committee’s concerns about the credibility of the department’s reporting intensified during the meeting when it became apparent that the Annual Report contained a discrepancy relating to one of the department’s performance targets.
Ms van der Merwe stressed that Parliament has established processes governing the tabling of Annual Reports and said the integrity of those processes must be protected.
“We do have parliamentary processes that guide us, and once an Annual Report is tabled, it cannot be altered. Therefore, I need to seek formal advice given what has transpired this morning, because I need to protect our processes and the work that we need to do,” she said.
“As we now know, the current Annual Report is incorrect as it pertains to one target, and it would either need to be withdrawn and retabled or an addendum needs to be published,” Ms van der Merwe said.
She stressed the impact that incorrect information could have on the committee’s ability to complete its Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR).
“We cannot be furnished with information that is incorrect because it impedes the work that this portfolio committee has to do, and it has a bearing on our BRRR report. As we know, we are out of time because by Thursday we would need to adopt our BRRR report,” she said.
The committee supported the proposal to correct the information through an addendum and reiterated that inaccurate information compromised Members’ ability to conduct effective oversight.
The Chairperson stressed that the committee’s willingness to find a way forward did not diminish the seriousness of the situation.
“This is a very unacceptable situation that you have put us in because you are expecting us to consider something that is not final and that contains discrepancies,” she said.
Yoliswa Landu
14 October 2026
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