DoD & DMV Quarter 4 performance; with Minister and Deputy Minister

This premium content has been made freely available

Defence and Military Veterans

03 June 2020
Chairperson: Mr V Xaba (ANC)
Share this page:

Meeting Summary

Video: Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, 3 June 2020

Khosa and Others v Minister of Defence and Military Defence and Military Veterans and Others (21512/2020) [2020] ZAGPPHC 147 (15 May 2020)

The Department of Defence (DoD) said the implementation of the 2015 Defence Review remained totally dependent on improved funding, as Treasury’s imposed compensation of employees (CoE) budget ceiling did not take account of increased missions, and the lack of funding put the country in danger. Presenting its fourth quarter performance report, the DoD said it had reduced its personnel from 78 000 people to 74 000, yet it was still R2.6 billion over budget on CoE, and had to divert funds from its goods and services budget to make up the deficit. Overall, its performance against target stood at 74%.

Members were concerned at the effect that depleting the goods and services budget would have on the readiness of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF). The Department kept saying that the Defence Review 2015 was a work in progress, but it was unachievable and unaffordable, so what were the alternatives to it? Operation Notlela soldiers had been exposed to Covid-19, and some had tested positive while being housed in hangars, so what provision had been made for them at 2 Military Hospital and rural hospitals? What would be the impact of the United Nations not extending the current contracts for the use of Rooivalk and Oryx helicopters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)? They commented on the limited total of flying and sea hours, and asked how the midlife refurbishment of frigates and submarines would be funded.

The Department of Military Veterans reported that its overall performance was 30%, with only six out of 20 targets being achieved. Amongst the targets not met were the development of a fully integrated database management system; the percentage of invoices paid within 30 days; the number of veterans with access to healthcare; the number of veterans whose details had been captured and verified; and the number of bursaries for veterans and their dependants.

Members commented on the wasteful expenditure on the DMV’s skills audit, the lack of urgency in capturing veterans’ details, the number of current fraud cases, the status of women in the Department’s employ, and what it was doing to assist military veterans to access medical services because of the lack of military hospitals. They said the Department was setting itself targets that it was unable to achieve.

Meeting report

The Chairperson said that Dr Sam Gulube, Secretary of Defence, would no longer be the Accounting Officer for the Department of Military Veterans (DMV), as the Department would have its own vote, Vote 26. Lt Gen (Ret) Derrick Mgwebi, Acting Director-General, would be the Accounting Officer.

Department of Defence: Fourth Quarterly Report

Dr Gulube reported on the 140 targets of the Department of Defence (DoD). He said the implementation of the Defence Review 2015 remained totally dependent on improved funding for the Department. For 2019/20, the Department had planned and budgeted for an average personnel strength of 74 901 at a cost of R31.89 billion, while Treasury’s final letter of allocation had been for R29.19 billion -- a shortfall of R2.6 billion. Treasury’s imposed cost of employment (CoE) budget ceiling did not take account of ordered commitments, current operations and exercises for which trained personnel were required, while the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) was custodian of all Covid-19 reports, and the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) coordinated and facilitated Covid-19 work streams.

The Department also took part in defence diplomacy and border safeguarding initiatives through Operation Notlela. He referred to Operations Mistral and Copper, and then addressed selected performance indicators, amongst which were the number of hours flown and the number of hours at sea per year, which stood at 94% and 66% respectively. Its overall performance achievement was 74%.

Financially, it had spent 99.98% of its budget. Expenditure on CoE was R2.6 billion over budget (108.94%) while goods and services was R2.6 billion under budget (80.77%). The over expenditure had been provided for through reprioritisation of the goods and services budget. He then spoke to the irregular expenditure of the Department to date, including accumulated irregular expenditure from previous years.

Discussion

Mr S Marais (DA) said that in future, there should be two separate meetings for the two departments. For a number of years, there had been overspending on CoE, and a consequent decrease in the Special Defence Account (SDA), and Treasury was constantly asking the DOD to remain within the limits of its budget, while the DoD kept saying it needed more money. Part of the goods and services budget had now been used for CoE. Why was this not done in the past, and how would this action affect performance and defence readiness? The SDA should be further discussed because of the constant decrease in its budget over the years.

With Operation Notlela, soldiers had been exposed to Covid-19, and some had tested positive while being housed in hangars. He asked to what extent provision was made for soldiers at 2 Military Hospital and at rural hospitals. He asked why the facilities at Youngsfield base were not being used. The Department kept saying that the Defence Review 2015 was a work in progress, but the Defence Review 2015 was unachievable and unaffordable, so what were the alternatives to it?

There had been reports that the Minister had met with the United Nations (UN) over the Rooivalk and Oryx aircraft regarding reimbursement for their use, and that the UN was not keen to extend the current contracts. What would the impact of this be on the budget? On defence diplomacy, he asked what the cost of additional work done was, and what value was attached to the 44 military attaches. On Operation Copper, he had heard that there was a possible ISIS conflict in Northern Mozambique, and he wanted further elaboration on the deployment of special forces. He asked if the limited total of flying and sea hours was because SDA money was not available, and how the limited hours would be mitigated. How would the midlife refurbishment of frigates and submarines be funded? He asked if the 2019/20 irregular expenditure financial figures were for Q4, or for the financial year.

DoD’s response

Replying on Operation Copper, Dr Gulube said that special forces’ operations were classified.

Regarding the Covid-19 cases, he said the members were being looked after.

The Defence Review 2015 was a work in progress. The Department did not want to change the requirements, because they were based on the requirements of the country and by not funding these requirements, it was putting the country in danger. He hoped not to find a situation where the Defence Review 2015 was scaled down or rejected, leading to South Africa having to ask other countries for assistance.

He said there had been challenges with Operation Mistral. The Minister had led a delegation to the UN peacekeeping offices, which had claimed that they had no money to keep the Rooivalks operational in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). South Africa’s position was that it could not have its troops in the DRC without the air support of the Rooivalks, and so they could not be withdrawn. The UN was currently paying, not on a contract basis but on a use basis, for services rendered, and this was still under negotiation.

The attaches were deployed as part of military diplomacy, and their impact was in support of promoting the government and the country. There was, however, a challenge in financing the attaches.

The limited sea hours of the navy were because of budget pressures.

The irregular expenditure was not just for Q4, but for the year to date and included accumulations from previous years.

Mr Eric Siphiwe Sokhela, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), SA National Defence Force (SANDF), referred to the overspending on CoE, and said that in 2017/18 the ceiling for CoE had decreased to 60 000 people, while the Department had budgeted for 74 000, which had led to a budget shortfall. The payment of salaries had been funded through the goods and services budget, which if it had not been done would have led to retrenchments. The goods and services budget had been used to save personnel from retrenchments.

Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, said there were 3 271 quarantine beds available for Covid-19 cases. Some members had been in quarantine, and many others had been tested. Among the regular forces there was a 90% recovery rate, and there had been no deaths except for retired military veterans. Committee Members could check the state of readiness by visiting the bases. There was a field hospital at 2 Military Hospital, and at Saldanha military base one was being set up containing 1 000 beds, which would be a quarantine site.

Regarding the attaches, a rationalisation process to downsize the number of diplomatic officers was under way at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), and the Department would take a decision to downsize as well.

Further discussion

Ms A Beukes (ANC) asked about the deployment of troops to the Northern Cape. She wanted to know if there were maritime deployments, because the local communities had reported sighting fishing boats and there was the smuggling of cigarettes from Namibia taking place. Deployment should be strengthened.

Mr D Ryder (DA, Gauteng) said staff of the Department had been reduced from 78 000 people to 74 000, yet there was still R2.6 billion over-expenditure on CoE, and it kept asking for additional funding to keep equipment running. He asked if the Department would provide a funded organogram, because he believed it was a legal requirement, and if it was unfunded, how was it going to get funding, as this raised a red flag. There had to be a strategy to reduce the defence force. The limited sea hours of the navy was a massive issue, as there was abuse of the fishing resources at night. Was there a plan to increase the sea hours?

On troop deployments, Dr Gulube said troops were deployed from the bases they were stationed at.

The challenge of reducing the size of the defence force had started in 2016, when the DoD had had to cut the budget by R3 billion per year for three years. Since then, over-expenditure had always hovered around the R3 billion mark. He questioned how the defence force could be cut to 65 000 people when the government increased the number of missions of the force. If the cuts were made, the defence force would not be able to meet its commitments. He asked the Committee to assist them in this matter.

Maj Gen Michael Ramantswana, Chief of Military Policy, Strategy and Planning, said the regular and reserve forces were deployed in all the provinces, and it also had additional capability. The force did respond with coastal patrols, as operations were intelligence driven.

The Department would look into increasing the number of sea hours.

The Chairperson said the Department had 78 indicators and 40 targets, yet had reported on only ten indicators and ten targets. What had been the rationale behind the ten targets that had been selected?

Dr Gulube said the rationale was based on the budget. The ten main budget areas had been selected as targets to report on.

The Minister said she would not discuss the question of Mozambique, where there were challenges which were being discussed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Regarding Operation Mistral, she said that as long as South African troops were deployed in the eastern DRC, the Rooivalks would remain. The UN had said it had no money for helicopters, but Ukrainian helicopters had been used there.

On the availability of quarantine beds, she said a follow up would be done on members who were positive but not in quarantine.

Operation Koba Tlala (Chase Away the Hunger) dealt with agricultural projects between the Department and communities in the North West and Free State provinces. It should have a footprint in all the provinces, as it dealt with food security.

The Chairperson said that since the Board of Inquiry into the death of Mr Collins Khosa, the Committee had been inundated with emails and petitions expressing outrage at the findings, and the matter was gaining momentum.

The Minister said neither she nor the Deputy Minister had received a report on the Board’s findings. The report had been taken to the SANDF, which had returned the report as it felt that not all the matters in the terms of reference had been attended to.

The Chairperson said the media must have had access to information in a provisional report.

The Minister said the two people who headed the Inquiry had not even seen the report, so the report had no status.

Mr Marais asked if an affidavit had been submitted by the Department to the court, in response to Judge Fabricius’ findings.

The Chairperson said the matter would come before the Committee when the Minister received and signed off on the report.

DMV: Fourth Quarterly Report

Lt Gen (Ret) Mgwebi, Acting DG, Department of Military Veterns, said that once Covid-19 had been declared an epidemic, the DMV had followed Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) circulars regarding its work practices. Provincial offices had closed as a result, and were now being sanitised prior to being re-opened.

He reported on the performance of the three programmes of the DMV for Q4.  Administration had achieved 43%, Socio-Economic Support had scored 13%, and Empowerment and Stakeholder management had achieved 40%. Its overall performance had been 30%, with only six out of 20 targets being achieved. Amongst the targets not met were the development of a fully integrated database management system; the percentage of invoices paid within 30 days; the number of veterans with access to healthcare; the number of veterans whose details were captured and verified; and the number of bursaries for veterans and their dependants.

Discussion

The Chairperson noted that two military veterans had passed away after contracting the Covid-19 virus.

Lt Gen Mgwebi said one had passed away, while the other had recovered.

Mr Ryder said the presentation had not reflected on the wasteful expenditure in the skills audit. Someone had misled Parliament, whether wilfully or not, and he was concerned that no declaration had been made.

Ms Beukes said the capture and verification of veterans’ details was taking too long, and there appeared to be no urgency. Was there a programme in place, with timeframes? What did the Department have in mind on the proposed skills development review? The Department wanted to review its corrective educational action. What programme did they have to engage with beneficiaries? What was the number of current fraud cases, and had there been any consequences? What was the status of women in the Department’s employ? Had there been any new appointments?

Mr M Shelembe (DA) said that there had been complaints that the Department was not paying educational institutions on time. How would it avoid this occurring in future? What was the Department doing to assist military veterans to access medical services because of the lack of military hospitals?

Mr T Mmutle (ANC) said the Department was not performing, because it had not met 50% of its targets. Why had the financial performance for Q4 not been given? The DMV had set itself targets that it was unable to achieve, and its performance left a lot to be desired while beneficiaries were left vulnerable. He asked why 42% of invoices were not paid within the 30-day rule, as this affected small businesses.

Ms T Legwase (ANC) asked if the unmet targets would be rolled over at the financial year end, or if the Department would develop new targets.

The Chairperson asked if the DMV had learnt anything from the experience of previous years, as the same targets were posted every year.

DMV’s response

Lt Gen Mgwebi referred to the skills audit, and replied that the Department had looked at what had happened and now knew what had occurred in terms of the objectives and agreements set with the service provider regarding what had been delivered, what had been paid, and the discrepancy between the two.

The Chairperson said that the Department should give a progress report on the issue and the action taken against officials responsible for the collapse at the next meeting.

On the capture and verification of veterans’ details, Lt Gen Mgwebi said the Department did have a plan, and the Department could provide a progress report if required.

Regarding the payment of educational institutions, he said the DMV had the challenge of people not providing correct dependants’ details, such as affidavits and unabridged birth certificates, and the fact that some qualified for funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). The Department had originally provided funding, but was now using NSFAS. However, this required better planning.

Ms Nontobeko Mafu, DDG: Empowerment and Stakeholder Management, DMV, referred to the skills development question, and said the Department had done introspection and accepted that it was reactive in waiting for military veterans to make applications. It had therefore approached sector education and training authorities (SETAS) to ask what their required skills were. The Department was also working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of South Africa (UNISA). The Department was aware of its shortcomings, and was addressing them.

Lt Gen Mgwebi said that the challenge with making payments on time was getting the original invoices from suppliers, as this was required. Some schools were also not tax compliant, while with other schools it was a question of getting the correct banking details. The Department had engaged with NSFAS to ensure that payments were made in time. The Department was putting in place a service level agreement with the provincial Departments of Basic Education to allow the DMV to piggy back on their systems to make payments on behalf of students, and also to get progress reports on the students. For students at private schools, the department’s provincial offices would be going direct to schools, as there were not many students at private schools.

Gen. Sibongiseni Ndlovu, CFO: DMV, said the issues related to the payment of invoices within 30 days were administrative in nature, and the Department was addressing them. In Q4, it had been because of the departure of a disbursement system code, and in a second instance, because of a backlog with the travel service provider.

Lt Gen Mgwebi referred to women’s empowerment in the Department, and said four women had been appointed to senior posts as directors.

He apologised for the absence of a Q4 financial report, and said it would be made available to the Committee within the week.

Mr Thabang Makwetla, Deputy Minister, Department of Defence and Military Veterans, said the quarterly report presented was a preliminary report, and if it were the final report, it would mean the Department had been doing worse than in previous quarters. He said Covid-19 could not be used as an excuse, as it had affected only the last week of the quarter.

He said Committee Members remarks on the weak planning were correct, and he was not sure whether the annual targets had been fully discussed before being set. He gave the example of the target for bursaries that had been set, based on the previous year’s recipients and the budget, yet no money had been spent throughout the year, except now between January and March, which suggested that a decision on the number of people had been made only now. However, DMV students had been sent to NSFAS for funding, and the plans did not reflect that.

The other challenge was the lack of information throughout the year, which suggested inaction. He gave the example of a policy where intense consultations had taken place, and it still needed to be signed off, yet the corrective action for this policy was that it still needed to be finalised. This was a contradiction, and therefore the integrity of the information shared was a problem and did not empower Committee Members.

On the approved burial claims target, which was indicated as having been met, he said the funding was for the burial of indigent people who did not have time for claims to be approved, so the target should have been “approved burial support,” which would have been more in tune with the needs of the people, because “approved burial claims” made payment long after the difficulty was experienced. Planning and financial cash flow throughout the year needed to improve, and the budget and the plans needed to mesh.

The Chairperson said the Department would be moving to a clean slate in the next financial year, as it would have its own Vote.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

Audio

No related

Download as PDF

You can download this page as a PDF using your browser's print functionality. Click on the "Print" button below and select the "PDF" option under destinations/printers.

See detailed instructions for your browser here.

Share this page: