Chairperson, the portfolio committee scrutinised the report of the department and some of its entities. We noted that in the first quarter of the year under review, the department was able to expend an amount of R14,9 billion, of which R10 billion consisted of transfers to our 23 universities and colleges.
But we noted the paucity of good governance and institutional ethics in some of the institutions, which resulted in three universities and one college being put under administration by the Minister in terms of the provisions of the Higher Education Act. We would like to propose that the Minister foster and promote a culture of good governance and visionary leadership in these institutions.
We noted that 57% of the staff complement at 50 public colleges are not properly qualified. We would like the Minister to introduce a special project to train staff in this sector so that the quality of education can be improved.
An amount of R1,6 billion was utilised by 23 Sector Education and Training Authorities and the National Skills Fund; with 21 of the Setas receiving unqualified reports. We have had the problem of a disclaimer for the Public Service Seta and of a qualified report for the Services Seta. We would like to recommend that efforts be undertaken to improve good governance in these underperforming Setas. But we also appreciate and embrace the tough stance taken by the Department for the Public Service and Administration to ensure that some of the culprits in incidents of dishonesty languish behind bars.
In general, we still would like to see an improvement in the performance of the Setas in terms of alignment of their targets with the human resource strategy of the country, the National Skills Development Strategy, the Industrial Action Plan Two and the New Growth Path initiatives.
The department also received an unqualified report which had only been dented by an irregular expenditure of about R4 million. We would like the Minister to ensure that the department strictly adheres to the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act and the concomitant regulations and the practice notes that are issued by National Treasury from time to time, and ensure that action is taken against any individual who is found to have breached the rules.
The Auditor-General also observed that there was no consistency between the annual report and the initial annual performance plan of the department. We would like to see an improvement in that area. This is an issue that we have always impressed upon the department in the current year. We hope that they will improve in that regard.
Lastly, there has been very slow progress regarding the establishment of the two universities in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape. We would like to urge the Minister to ensure that the department submits a comprehensive and detailed bid to the National Treasury in the forthcoming budgetary period to ensure that funds are made available to establish these two universities. The committee said I must emphasise this. Therefore I am emphasising that there must be a bid by the department to secure funds for the establishment of the two universities, whilst we are still alive. [Applause.]
The department should also prioritise the adult education and training programme in the coming year because there has not been any progress in that area. We have been told that the department has undertaken preparatory projects ... [Inaudible.] We recommend that this Report be adopted. Thank you very much, Chair. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
There was no debate.