Hon House Chairperson, hon members, the ad hoc committee to inquire into the North West intervention was established by the National Council of Provinces to facilitate inquiries and also to conduct oversight in terms of section 100 of
the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, in order to pronounce on whether the intervention in the North West provincial government is warranted or not.
The adopted committee report dated 30 October 2018, resolved that the intervention was indeed warranted and contains recommendations proffered by the committee in order to give meaningful effect to its purpose and mandate, as well as the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the intervention.
This report provides a summary of the progress made in implementing the executive directives and committee recommendations sets out key achievements since the inception of the intervention and highlights critical issues to be followed up by the Sixth Parliament. This will further ensure continuous engagement between Parliament, Interministerial Task Team and the North West government until the intervention addresses most of the challenges set out in the diagnostic reports and until that stage that the national executive terminates the intervention.
Section 100, referring to sections 100(a) and 100(b) gives a legislative framework that guides the intervention in the North West
province. I am not going to repeat that since it is stated in the Constitution.
The departments under section 100(1)(a) is the North West Department of Social Development; the Local Government and Human Settlements; the Department of Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development; the Department of Tourism; and the Department of Rural Economy and Agricultural Development.
The departments under Section 100(1)(b) is the North West Office of the Premier; the Department of Health; the Department of Education and Sport Development; the Department of Transport and Community Safety and the Department of Public Works and Roads.
The report also gives a dashboard sequence of events and milestones of the North West Intervention in terms of section 100(1)(a) and 100(1)(b) and this is in our committee report that was tabled in October.
There cross cutting issues to be followed up in the Sixth Parliament. The Department of Public Service and Administration, the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the National Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
should develop legislation to guide the implementation of the intervention, in terms of Section 100(3) of the Constitution.
The Interministerial Task Team, IMTT, should ensure the sustainability of the intervention post the intervention referring to the following: sound financial management systems; internal controls, governance and accountability systems; that supply chain management processes are improved; improved service delivery because that has collapsed; the prevention of irregular expenditure, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure; audit findings to be addressed on a continuous basis; and that the NCOP should monitor all the disciplinary actions taken, as well as criminal investigations.
The IMTT should table a financial report for all the 10 departments under the intervention during the Sixth Parliament since it was unable to do so in the Fifth Parliament. This will assist Parliament to have a complete picture for both performance and the fiscal position of the North West province.
The intervention is now in its implementation phase of the action plan to be followed by the recovery phase. The exit phase and strategy has to be done in such a way that it ensures sustainability
of the intervention post the intervention and that the set objectives are met.
In conclusion, great strides have been made since the NCOP approved the intervention in the North West provincial government on 31 October 2018. The various sector departments have engaged in the process of implementing both the executive directives and committee recommendations by rebuilding the supply chain management systems and internal controls management processes which had collapsed before the intervention.
Steps have been taken to terminate irregular contracts and the Hawks are investigating 46 cases, while the SIU is investigating 44 more cases. Some officials who were implicated in the wrong doing have resigned and some have been suspended and disciplinary actions are underway.
The list of the service providers who were overpaid has been compiled and the consequence management process is underway. This incident should serve as a case study and a lesson for other provinces and other spheres of government, where they need to ensure that financial management systems, supply chain management and internal controls are sound and solid. It should also serve as a
lesson that there is a need to further strengthen, monitoring and evaluation function across government as well as the internal audit units and ensure the appointment of the independent audit committees.
The provincial legislatures should implement closer monitoring and evaluation and ensure robust oversight over provincial government departments and provincial entities, including proper political oversight. These calls for collaborative and synergic efforts from all the relevant bodies whether internal or external oversight bodies to join hands and work together to push back the frontiers of poverty and ensure a better life for all North West citizens because the people come first.
Hon House Chair, I appreciate and appreciation goes to all the members of the ad hoc committee for the value they added in the committee work and the expertise they brought to the table. Also appreciates our professional committee staff for the excellent work they did to support the committee. I hereby table this report for consideration. Thank you, House Chair.
Debate concluded.
Question put.