Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker. Is government annually issuing an updated checklist of the Public Finance Management Act requirements, Treasury Regulations and Public Service Regulations to ensure that those who sign off on the strategic plans, and other similar documents, acknowledge, in writing, that all the essential requirements listed on the checklist were fully complied with and ticked off accordingly? This would mean, therefore, that the person who signs off could be held personally liable if the Auditor-General found otherwise. Alternatively, are government annual review issues updated per PFMA requirements, Treasury Regulations and Public Service Regulations?
What systems are being followed to ensure that those who sign or sign off on strategic plans and other similar documents comply fully with these laws and are accordingly held personally liable if found out by any audit being undertaken by the Auditor-General? Thank you.
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY - PERFORMANCE MONITORING, EVALUATION AND ADMINISTRATION: Hon Botha, as a former director-general yourself, I think you are quite aware of the challenges that the administration is facing. I am sure that even you, when you were still a director-general, might have contravened that area. Nevertheless, as you would see in the audit reports of various institutions in government, there are challenges with regard to compliance with the various regulations and laws which we are supposed to comply with in the work that we do.
We are working closely with the Auditor-General and other institutions to improve the systems in government. We have indicated that, after the performance delivery agreements have been agreed upon and signed off, our next task is to team up with institutions that are relevant to provide support to government to ensure that we improve government systems and service delivery outputs as quickly as we can.
That process has commenced and, it is hoped, we should be able to begin to implement it, if everything goes well, by the beginning of the next financial year. Obviously, it is going to take a bit of time, but we hope that we will be able to make an impact in the shortest possible time. Thank you.
Position regarding mechanism to measure impact made by municipal infrastructure grant spending 223. Mr A J Williams (ANC) asked the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs:
1) Whether his department has any mechanism to measure the impact made by the municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) spending; if not, why not; if so, (a) what mechanism and (b) what is the form of this impact;
(2) (a) how much money has not been spent by municipalities who received MIG funds and (b) what is his department doing to ensure that this does not occur in the 2011-12 financial year?