Department of Premier 2021/22 Quarter 3 Performance; Progress and activities of the Office of the Commissioner for Children

Premier & Constitutional Matters (WCPP)

10 June 2022
Chairperson: Ms L Botha (DA)
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Meeting Summary

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In a virtual meeting, the Standing Committee received a briefing on the third quarter performance of the Department of the Premier. It was updated on the progress and activities of the office of the Commissioner for Children.

The Department reported it had spent 75% of its budget. Through its enabling, guiding and directing roles, it had ensured that 2021/22 was about pushing forward from the devastation wrought by COVID-19, and had created hope for recovery and renewal. Its 2021/22 annual performance plan (APP) had responded to the changed strategic context, and the indicators reflected a greater emphasis on the needs and aspirations of citizens, innovation and culture, digitisation, deriving greater strategic value from data and a "whole of Government" approach to work.

In the face of the pandemic, budget cuts and growing service delivery demands, the Western Cape government realised it could not be business as usual, so the Department had supported developing and implementing a provincial recovery plan. Foundational to its successful implementation was the digital transformation plan -- the new way of working, intergovernmental collaboration and an emphasis on evidence-based and data-led decision-making.

The people management programme achieved only 78% of its targets, but the Department's other five programmes achieved 100%. From a management perspective, more emphasis was placed on continuous and regular monitoring, reporting and verifying reported performance. A new electronic system developed in-house -- the annual performance plan (APP) indicator monitoring system -- enabled monthly tracking and reporting to the executive on departmental financial and non-financial performance.

The Western Cape Children’s Commissioner (WCCC) reported on child engagement and participation, and said that child government monitors (CGMs) drew from their lived realities and gave inputs to the WCCC to fulfil its monitoring and research duties. CGMs were nominated by their schools, child rights organisations, or communities. They discussed issues of concern and interest weekly, and distilled their insights into submissions. Issues included child rights, governance, social justice issues and self-care.

The WCCC had also piloted community child rights workshops, which aimed to understand the lived realities of children, especially in the rural parts of the province. The workshop methods included community safety mapping, discussing dreams and worries, and sharing child basic rights with parents and children in separate workshops. All participants made recommendations for service improvements.

The WCCC visited points of government service delivery during community visits, and engaged public officials to understand what was working and what was not working. It also engaged children, parents, and civil society stakeholders to understand their service delivery experience. Government service sites included clinics, schools, social services and child protection offices.

Members requested the Committee engage with the Department of Transport and Public Works, the Director-General and the office of the Children’s Commissioner to find a child-friendly permanent building, because most government buildings were not the prettiest and functional for children - this was a matter the Committee should focus on. They also wanted to know how children in faraway districts and rural areas would access services from the office of the Children’s Commissioner in a timely manner.

Meeting report

Briefing by Department of the Premier
Premier Alan Winde, in his brief introductory remarks, said there were two areas where targets were outstanding, but they would be dealt with in the next quarter. He was proud of what the team had achieved, and data showed that everything was working, and remedial actions would also be addressed.

Dr Harry Malila, Director-General, Western Cape Department of the Premier, reported the Department had spent 75% of its budget. Through its enabling, guiding and directing roles, it had ensured that 2021/22 was about pushing forward from the devastation wrought by COVID-19 and creating hope for recovery and renewal. The Department had recognised opportunities for harnessing work that had already commenced as part of the COVID-19 response, to make innovation part of how the Western Cape Government (WCG) functioned daily, and to entrench a culture that puts citizens first in everything they did.

In the face of the pandemic, budget cuts and growing service delivery demands, the WCG realised it could not be business as usual, so it had supported developing and implementing a provincial recovery plan. Foundational to its successful implementation was the digital transformation plan -- the new way of working, with intergovernmental collaboration and an emphasis on evidence-based and data-led decision-making.
   
The Department’s 2021/22 annual performance plan (APP) had responded to the changed strategic context, and the indicators reflected a greater emphasis on the needs and aspirations of citizens, innovation and culture, digitisation, deriving greater strategic value from data and a "whole of government" approach to work.

From a management perspective, more emphasis was placed on continuous and regular monitoring, reporting and verifying reported performance. A new electronic system, developed in-house -- the APP indicator monitoring system -- enabled monthly tracking and reporting to the executive on departmental financial and non-financial performance.

Dr Malila said two targets were not achieved during quarter three, but were met by the end of the financial year. All other programmes achieved all of their indicators by year end. The overall findings indicated that the evidence submitted had adhered to the standards of reliability, sufficiency and relevance, and was therefore consistent with the performance information.

To improve the quality and reporting of performance information, the executive committee (EXCO) had recommended continuous training to business units on the performance information, especially as it related to understanding the technical indicator descriptions in the APP; strengthening internal monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity for the Departmental strategy sub-directorate; and  all evidence should be checked by the different indicator owners before the performance information was submitted and attempts should be made to standardise the format of evidence submitted.

He reported that Programme 3 (People Management) was the only programme that had achieved only 78% of its targets, and all five other programmes had achieved 100% of their targets.

(Tables were shown to illustrate achieved and non-achieved targets)

Briefing by Western Cape Children’s Commissioner
Ms Christina Nomdo, Children’s Commissioner, informed the Committee her mandate, amongst other things, was to monitor the impact of government services, policies, and laws on children and point out negative impacts, advise government on improvements to realise child rights, engage all children to know the work of the Commissioner for Children, and to inform the Commissioner of their perspectives of their rights, needs and interests, and research policy or practice developments that affect child rights.

In building its brand, the WCCC was using child government monitors (CGMs), and their siblings had become the brand ambassadors so that they could use pictures of real children they knew. The Western Cape Children’s Commissioner (WCCC) website was launched on 15 March 2021, and had reached 2 000 by end-May 2021. 48 online articles profiled the WCCC in the first year of office.

Regarding child engagement and participation, she indicated that CGMs drew from their lived realities and gave input to the WCCC to fulfil its monitoring and research duties. CGMs were nominated by their schools, child rights organisations, or communities. CGMs discussed issues of concern and interest weekly and distilled their insights into submissions. They were engaged via WhatsApp weekly. Issues include child rights, governance, social justice issues and self-care. 75 CGMs became involved in the WCCC office in year two and were included in operational matters such as staff interviews, visits to potential offices, and policy development.

The WCCC had also piloted community child rights workshops. The workshops aimed to understand the lived realities of children, especially in the rural parts of the province. The workshop methods included community safety mapping, discussing dreams and worries, and sharing basic child rights with parents and children in separate workshops. All participants made recommendations for service improvements -- the parents with voice notes, and the children with drawings. Published reports were sent to the heads of mandate-relevant departments for responses. Between October 2020 and March 2021, the WCCC had travelled to conduct these workshops in many rural areas such as Matzikama, Bergrivier, Hessequa, Bitou, Plettenberg Bay, and the Karoo region.

Commissioner Nomdo added that the WCCC had consultations with children. The aim was to gain insights into children’s experiences and views on certain issues. The WCCC invited children to complete a survey on WhatsApp to understand their experiences and gather recommendations. During March 2021, the child consultations focused on #LearninginCOVIDtimes. The current project was hearing the voices of the representative councils of learners (RCLs). The children had concerns about finishing the old year and starting the new year, coping with COVID-19 health protocols in schools, and adapting to distance learning during COVID-19.

On monitoring and awareness, the WCCC had visited points of government service delivery during community visits, and engaged public officials to understand what was and was not working. It also engaged children, parents, and civil society stakeholders to understand their service delivery experience. Government service sites included clinics, schools, social services and child protection offices.

The WCCC used investigations to improve the WC governance system. The investigations incorporated a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, and were longitudinal. They would include a panel of experts if necessary. The investigations would be a rigorous inquiry into the nature of provincial laws, policies, programmes and services to understand their impact on children's rights, needs and interests and recommend strategies for improvement. Incoming complaints would be referred to the implementing department for escalation. The WCCC would not seek to resolve the problem directly, because that was the responsibility of the provincial department.

Between June 2021 and March 2022, 82 complaints/enquiries were received from citizens across the Western Cape concerning the social sector departments. Of the complaints received, the majority were linked to the Department of Social Development (DSD), followed by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), then the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sports, and the Department of Health reported the least cases.

She concluded by saying the Department of Transport and Public Works had identified a permanent office for the WCCC, and had committed to invest in maintenance and refurbishment. The current offices are located in the Cape Town central business district (CBD), at the Waldorf Arcade.

Discussion

Deliberations with WCCC
Ms D Baartman (DA) requested the Committee engage with the Department of Transport and Public Works, the Director-General and the office of the Children’s Commissioner to find a child-friendly permanent building, because most government buildings were not the prettiest and functional for children - this was a matter the Committee should focus on.

The Chairperson wanted to know how children in faraway districts and rural areas would access services from the office of the Children’s Commissioner in a timely manner.

Commissioner Nomdo responded that by travelling to communities, they made themselves known to the children through the workshops they staged. This was the value of the community-child’s rights workshop approach and child-government monitors’ approach. The children got invited to these child’s rights workshops to become child-government monitors. This meant they joined a virtual group with her on WhatsApp, and the office provided data to them so that their part in the WhatsApp group was secured.

In each of the communities she had visited, like Rietpoort and Bitterfontein, they made efforts to create contact points for children to be child-government monitors and human rights defenders. She would be engaging the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and municipal leaders to facilitate her visits to the districts, how children in municipalities could contact her, and ask them to be children's rights champions. Encouraging children in far-flung areas to connect with her was important, and the child participation strategy was really meeting this need.

The Chairperson said the Committee would make recommendations to the office of the Children’s Commissioner.

Dr Malila indicated he had noted the suggestion from Ms Baartman, and would discuss it with the Department of Transport and Public Works. Money was set aside to refurbish and maintain the child-friendly building once the legal paperwork was completed. He thanked the Commissioner for her work, and indicated the Department had an excellent working relationship with her office.

Resolutions
The Committee resolved that it be given timelines so it could attend the Children’s Commissioner's office engagements with the municipalities and districts. It further resolved to plan an oversight visit to the office of the Children’s Commissioner. It requested timelines for reporting on the identification and finalisation of the permanent building of the office of the Children’s Commissioner.

Adoption of minutes
The Committee considered and adopted the minutes of its meeting on 3 June 2022.

The meeting was adjourned.


 

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