Parliament, Wednesday, 12 November 2019 – The Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communications was briefed by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) on the Department of Communications’ (DoCs’) annual report over the past three years.
Briefing the committee, DPME said the overall departmental score for strategic management declined from an average 3.0 in 2017 to 2.0 in 2018 overall. The departments performance for this key performance area varies across the reporting period, with issues identified in monitoring and evaluation.
DPME said DoC’s mandate is to develop appropriate policies to improve government communication and drive the communications sector to ensure universal access for all citizens.
The DoC achieved 76% of its targets in 2016/17, 83% in 2017/18 and 73% for 2018/19. The unachieved targets are largely in core functions, including policy development and the roll-out and completion of the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) Programme, with problems related to human capacity and implementation delays that have impacted on industry. Eighteen analogue transmitters were switched off in the core towns of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Northern Cape in 2016/17 and none in 2017/18.
DPME said the department performed at below compliance in governance and regressed overall, but is doing fairly well, nonetheless. The information presented by DPME was based on a synoptic analysis and synthesis conducted using monitoring and evaluation systems, including the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT).
After the DPME’s presentation, the committee Chairperson, Mr Tshitereke Matibe, asked about the extent of DPME’s role when departments fail to meet performance targets. “If we use the MPAT assessment, we would able to meet service delivery, but when targets are not met, service delivery is affected,” he said.
Other committee members asked how the DPME can exert pressure to ensure that in the next cycle the DoC’s performance improves. They also wanted clarity on the relationship between the Auditor-General and the DPME with respect to departmental financial management.
In response, the DPME said it presents its reports to Cabinet and thereafter their reports are directed to the various departments. This enables DPME to alert departments if they are in danger of not meeting their targets, so that measures can be put in place.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND COMMUNICATIONS, MR TSHITEREKE MATIBE.
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