Parliament, Wednesday, 21 August 2019 – The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) today received the first quarter reports from the Department of Cooperative Governance and the Department of Traditional Affairs.
At the outset, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on CoGTA, Ms Faith Muthambi, advised the department that it being the first time that the department is reporting to this committee on its performance, the department should be cognisant that a partial achievement will be regarded as a non-achievement. The targets set in the Annual Performance Plan (APP) are the targets of the department, and therefore the department must closely monitor the programmes as set out in the APP against its quarterly financial performance.
Issues must be flagged early and addressed before the financial year ends. The committee would like to see a comprehensive report outlining the progress of targets in the APP, the performance of both departments and the financial implications of not reaching targets.
The committee noted with concern that to date, the Department of Cooperative Governance has not yet received the audit report from the Auditor-General due to the late submission of the annual financial statements.
The committee has also noticed that the Annual Report of the Department of Cooperative Governance was not submitted on time previously, and therefore calls on the department to table its report by the due date of 30 September 2019, as set out by Parliament.
The Chairperson is concerned that if targets are partially achieved, that may impact on municipalities, how then do we expect the municipalities to comply if the department is not complying?” asked the Chairperson.
At the same time the committee commends the Department of Traditional Affairs and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent for achieving a clean audit.
The committee has noted that there are discrepancies with Programme 6, the Community Work Programme, which has reported that it has exceeded its target of creating 247 466 work opportunities in the first quarter. The Department of Cooperative Governance will revert to the committee on the formula which is being used, and the impact this programme has in terms of the actual number of people who have been assisted.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COGTA, MS FAITH MUTHAMBI.
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