Xandla xa Xipikara na Yindlu ya wena leyo hlonipheka, ndza mi losa eka ndzhenga wa namuntlha. Ndzi lava ku burisana na n'wina swintsongo mayelana na matirhelo ya mikavelo ya mali hi tindzawulo ta mfumo. Komiti leyi yi xiyaxiya, ku landzelerisa na ku vona loko mali leyi kunguhateriweke tindzawulo yi tirhisiwa hilaha yi pimanyetiweke hakona. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[Mr D W MAVUNDA: Deputy Speaker and your august House, I salute you this afternoon. I want to discuss with you a little bit concerning the spending of allocated money by government departments. The committee oversees and monitors whether the money which is set aside for the departments is spent as budgeted.]
It should also be emphasised that this Standing Committee on Appropriations was established in terms of section 43 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, Act 9 of 2009, with the powers and functions conferred to it by subsection 4 of the Act and the Constitution. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act set out, amongst other things, the legislative framework for the amendments to the Appropriation Bill. In terms of this Act, the committee has to consider and report on spending issues, actual expenditure published by the National Treasury and amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill, the Appropriation Bill and the Adjustments Appropriation Bill, among other things.
It is, therefore, noted with great concern that the government in general reported an overall underexpenditure of R5,8 billion or 1,3% of the entire national Budget for the 2009-10 financial year. The general observation indicates that the bulk of this underspending emanates from the current payment and capital expenditure. However, the 2010-11 Budget has increased by R2,6 billion, or 0,6%, from the 2009-10 to the 2010-2011 financial year.
Be that as it may, if government wants to realise the strategic priorities arising from the 2009 state of the nation address of the hon President, the Appropriation Bill committee recognises that it will have to be effective in its oversight and other functions, and it will have to monitor the achievement of government goals for economic development and service delivery. Taking into consideration the Appropriation Bill issues raised during the public hearings and section 32 reports - the in-year monitoring instruments for government spending - it has been established that many departments do not fully comply with the range of prescribed legislation, rules, and procedures - amongst other things, the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Service Act.
Picking up but just a few departments like the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, which is regarded as the central and integral instrument of government, it has, in as far as service delivery is concerned, been allocated approximately R43,9 billion in the 2010-11 Budget compared to the R36,5 billion for the previous financial year.
The department spent R36 billion, which is R513 million less than the allocated amount in the 2009-10 financial year. The department reported underspending in all economic classifications during 2009-10 with capital expenditure reflecting the major underspending. The high levels of underspending are of concern since capital spending and transfer payments form part of government instruments which are meant to create jobs and enhance service delivery.
Having said that, the committee has also learnt with great concern that it has lost about R8,7 million in the 2009-10 financial year, according to the Public Service Commission, PSC, due to suspension of personnel with pay on misconduct and misappropriation of public funds.
This means that with so many departments, there is a lack of compliance with the Public Service Act which prescribes, amongst other things, that a case of any misconduct, including suspension, must be concluded within 60 days. However, there are departments that have in some other cases taken up to approximately 250 days to finalise formal disciplinary processes.
We, therefore, in this committee urge all the departments to comply with the Public Service Act in all respects in order not to misuse public funds unnecessarily. However, this committee, the members of the ANC in particular, has learnt with great interest of the passion, commitment and concern of the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs with regard to all that has happened at local government level, particularly in various municipalities.
The ANC is waiting with great anticipation for the turnaround strategy model that will strengthen and ensure that government funds are utilised appropriately, effectively and efficiently by highly skilled, suitably and highly qualified personnel who will be placed in the right posts and be equal to the task.
We hope that the turnaround strategy, as alluded to by the Minister himself, will design programmes with proper planning and control of state funds, with monitoring and evaluation being the order of the day. The committee is also impressed by the fact that the Ministry is aware of the challenges faced by both municipalities and provinces, and has come up with a clear programme called "Operation Clean Audit 2009-14" - which also clearly outlines those challenges and its problems - and has also come up with a plan to deal with those challenges that are hampering service delivery.
We appreciate the establishment of the new Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs with Dr Masenjani Sibanda as the director. It is noted with appreciation that from the moment of colonial occupation and the apartheid regime, traditional leaders have been at the forefront of the struggle against the dispossession of their land, subjugation, oppression and discrimination by those forces.
It was not by mistake that traditional leaders were central to the creation of the ANC in the year 1912, which culminated in prominent and progressive leaders like Chief Albert Luthuli being elected as the president of this revolutionary movement.
As we speak, in the democratic South Africa together with the leaders in government, we do realise that our enemies are no longer colonialism and apartheid. They are unemployment, crime and poverty that the majority of people in this country have been subjected to since the introduction of the so-called Land Act of 1913, which drove black people to the dry areas called reserves, later named homelands; as well as the Bantu Administration Act of 1938 which stripped away the powers and authority of our kings and chiefs and subjected them to the control of white supremacy then called the Governor-General.
It is our view that the new department will - in consultation with traditional leaders and structures like the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, Contralesa, and the House of Traditional Leaders - draw up programmes leading to proper land allocation and administration, and local economic development leading to service delivery.
The second example is the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. This committee has learnt, again, that we are still experiencing the legacy of the Land Act of 1913, which is still prevalent in landownership in our country; in the rural areas in particular, where farmworkers are still trapped by the injustice of this legislation. It is noted with great concern, because land is an asset for any societal development, and it is central to rural development.
The 2010-11 Appropriation Bill proposes a budget allocation of R6,8 billion to the department, which is an increase of R365,2 million as compared to the 2009-10 Budget. The department was allocated R6,4 billion in the 2009- 10 Budget. According to section 32 published by the National Treasury, the department has spent R5,9 billion of this budget, which reflects an underspending of R536,4 million at the end of the fourth quarter.
However, the Standing Committee on Appropriations does not encourage these practices that are being practised by other departments, like viraments, shifting of funds within the budget and rollovers. As a committee, we do not encourage such practices.
However, as the ANC, we have learnt with great disappointment that most of the land reform legislation has not benefited the majority of our people, and continues to keep them on the sidelines of economic participation. For example, the agreed principle of willing-buyer, willing-seller has no bearing at all. Instead, it sucks up all the money allocated to restitution and land redistribution programmes.
We have also noted with concern that at the end of the 2008-09 financial year, government had delivered approximately 2,9 million ha of white-owned agricultural land to land reform beneficiaries. This is just about 6% of the 8,2 million ha that government has planned to transfer by 2014.
Even though the initial planned transfer of 1,5 million ha of land was reduced by approximately 40,54%, the department only managed to transfer 443 600 ha due to the escalating land price that eroded all the buying power of the budget allocated to this department.
The attitude of most white farmers in this country, who inflate their prices more than the market value when selling farms to government, remains a serious challenge; hence, as the ANC, we fully support the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform when calling for progressive legislative instruments that will ensure that there are proper plans and programmes leading towards rural development, and which will make it viable for the department to buy farms at reasonable market value prices.
We also call on ... [Time expired.]