Committee Reports on 2018/2019 Annual Reports

Public Accounts (SCOPA) (WCPP)

26 November 2019
Chairperson: Mr L Mvimbi (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee met to consider and adopt draft reports and minutes.

The Annual Report resolutions document for the 2018/19 financial year was adopted, after a short discussion over an irregular expenditure issue.

They agreed to make an amendment to the quarterly reports so that alternate Members were reflected as such, and not just the primary Members.

The Committee expressed an interest in meeting with the national SCOPA to gain experience from them. It was also suggested they should visit the SCOPA committees in other provinces, particularly Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which had similar economies to the Western Cape. Members also supported the idea of empowering themselves by participating in training programmes in 2020.

Meeting report

Annual Report resolutions

The Committee considered the Annual Report resolutions document for the 2018/19 financial year.

Ms L Maseko (DA) read from paragraph 4, and noted a concern regarding irregular expenditure. She asked for clarity as to whether the Department of Justice would be paid directly.

The Chairperson said that it meant that it was irregular expenditure, unless there was a legislation that could address that issue.

Mr D America (DA) said that if expertise was required for a particular assignment, and if that service provider was procured and it was properly motivated, then it should not be deemed as irregular expenditure..

Ms Maseko proposed that the report be adopted.

She was seconded by Ms D Baartman (DA).

The Chairperson said that the report was adopted. 

Committee minutes

The Chairperson said that all of their annual reports were generic, and they all referred to all the resolutions in this report.  For example, if one went to page 9 of the report, one would see those resolutions there. They would be seen as duplicates if they include them in the minutes and in the report. All the stakeholders did it the same was.

He said that if they took the minutes as adopted, then they could move on to the next item.

Quarterly Reports

Mr America proposed that they adopt the reports as presented.

Ms Baartman seconded the proposal.

The Chairperson referred to the second Committee report from July – December, and asked if they wanted a few minutes to go through it.

Ms Maseko proposed they adopt it. She was seconded by Mr America.

Ms N Nkondlo (ANC) said that she was looking at Committee membership on page 1, and commented that they were writing the names of the primary members there. She said that “if we are not permanent members, we need to recognise alternate members.” If it was a legal matter, she was sure those with legal eyes could talk to this.

Mr Dustin Davids, Committee Coordinator, said he could update and amend the reports so that alternate members were reflected for both the first and second quarter reports, and other quarterly reports.

Resolutions

Ms Baartman said that the Committee budget was quite low, and asked if the Committee should consider training at the beginning of the year, from next year.

Ms Maseko said they should go into the details of consequence management, which the Auditor General was now going to include in his report, conceptualising to understand how he was going to do things differently, and to what extent, and how, he was going to hold departments accountable.

Mr America suggested they should arrange a meeting with the national Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), to learn how they did things in the National Assembly. Perhaps, during the course of next year they could meet with the SCOPAs of other legislatures, such as Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), to see how to align their operations and improve their performance as a committee. 

Ms Nkondlo said she supported Mr America’s proposal. KZN and Gauteng had similar economies to the Western Cape. Maybe they should identify one of the rural provinces to visit as well, in order to compare their service delivery. It would be enriching. It would also help them to understand where unnecessary red tape may be added. She also suggested and engagement with the Department of Trade and Industry to widen their perspective.

The Chairperson summed up the discussion around the resolution on training on public accounts, and said Committee must look at accredited training, as that would empower and capacitate them. He said there were various certificates, but he did not want a certificate of attendance -- he wanted a certificate of competence, or a qualification at the end. Various institutions offered suitable training. Stellenbosh offered a post graduate diploma in public accountability. However, he warned against expensive short-term courses, which he described as money-making schemes which did not empower one.

He said the national SCOPA Chairperson had been invited by the European Union (EU) to share the South African experience on public accounts. The EU did not issue invitations for no reason, so there had to be something they had noticed about SA’s public accounts. He advised the Committee Coordinator that there was a need to consider study group visits the Committee could undertake, and they should discuss potential opportunities and exchange visits to other provinces at the next meeting. Other provinces wanted to come to the Western Cape to see best practices. These exchanges were empowering, and would be explored at the next meeting.

The meeting ended with an exchange of pleasantries and good wishes for the Festive Season.

The meeting was adjourned.

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