The choice is yours, ma'am. [Laughter.]
Chairperson, I think hon Motau suffers from selective amnesia, because he can recall that the Deputy Minister and the Minister were not in the meeting, but he decides to forget that there was an official apology, which was unanimously accepted. The meeting was never under any threat.
What he is saying is nothing but wishful thinking, but I forgive him because it is Monday today. [Laughter.]
Hon Chair, allow me to contribute to the debate on Budget Vote No 6 of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The journey of the department continues with moving South Africa forward in ensuring accountable and transparent government regarding the performance of the state. The committee has engaged with strategic and annual performance plans as part of opening ongoing discussions of continuous improvement in the Public Service.
South Africa is a developing state. We are all finding ourselves placing a greater emphasis on results by looking back through monitoring, evaluation and evidence of impact on justifying our effectiveness and responding to a growing demand for accountability. The establishment of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation is an integral part of the developmental state in ensuring that there is feedback within the government policy cycle.
Chairperson, the existence of the department assists government in outlining measures to improve the performances of government.
Many departments have acknowledged the new approach of focusing on measurable results and impacts, and the entire government is achieving a number of targets which it has set. South Africans are looking forward to the services of the department to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of government departments.
The President cited a number of directives, and it is true that in his state of the nation debate he said, and I quote:
An Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Revitalisation of Distressed Mining Communities has been established.
The Department ... will continue to conduct unannounced visits to service delivery sites ...
He also referred to the monitoring of government performance against five key priorities of education, health, reducing crime, job creation, and the development of rural communities.
This has already been alluded to by formers speakers.
The ANC manifesto states that the party will establish institutional mechanisms and build up capacity in the state to undertake long-term planning. It will draw, where necessary, on the expertise that exists in the wider society. The National Development Plan, NDP, which is a culmination of the vision of the Freedom Charter, provides a common, national vision for development. This long-term planning for the country cuts across all sectors of society and it identifies the critical trade- offs and challenges to be addressed by our country over the next 20 years and beyond.
Chairperson, as has happened in the fourth administration, the vision culminated in the development of the delivery agreements. Regular monitoring of the delivery agreements will enhance the performance of the government. The reviewing and refining of the delivery agreements is one of the functions of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
This empowers the department to be in position to monitor and evaluate government outcomes. The ANC manifesto states that the national and provincial government will oversee the performance of municipalities and ensure that communities are empowered to hold public representatives and public servants accountable. The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation's programmes are intended to address the need to hold public representatives accountable.
Chairperson, the President highlighted important issues that the fifth administration will embark upon to carry out a critical role in fast- tracking delivery on the priorities included in the National Development Plan. Government is embarking on the new approach, called Operation Phakisa, as mentioned during the state of the nation address.
The department's role is critical in monitoring the provision of quality services in all aspects of the projects implemented under this operation. The committee welcomes the desire of the department to work with the Department of Environmental Affairs in unlocking the economic potential of South Africa's ocean resources as the first project implemented under Operation Phakisa.
The President reiterated the significance and impact that Operation Phakisa will have on the economy of the country. This also has been alluded to by former speakers. Programmes under the department are magnificent in measuring accurate results of government performance. However, the department should build more capacity at the provincial and local government levels.
The Offices of the Premiers should follow the model of the department in overseeing provincial government departments by conducting onsite monitoring and ensuring regular reporting through publishing results of their provinces and municipalities.
The department should strengthen its human and financial resources capacity on the Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring programme. These efforts will enable the department to spread its services to all corners of South Africa to unblock the bottlenecks of service delivery, particularly at the local government level.
Hon Chair, the President further mentioned that to improve performance and inculcate a culture of excellence, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation will continue to conduct unannounced visits to service delivery sites in order to monitor service delivery results.
The initiative is welcomed as it makes all the government officials perform their work diligently and serve customers according to the Batho Pele principles. To this end, a number of success stories have been witnessed and will continue to be witnessed by communities.
Chairperson, let me urge the committee also to adopt this approach and support the department by conducting unannounced and announced visits to service delivery centres such as clinics, police stations and so forth.
The engagements with communities through citizen-based monitoring, which focuses on soliciting their knowledge and their perception by interacting with citizens who receive services, is crucial and demonstrates how committed government is. This initiative should indeed be applauded.
Experience during the elections and before should have taught us that the performance of government is judged by what happens at local government level. Ordinary citizens are concerned about what happens with regard to their daily lives and this happens only at grass roots. Hence it is important for local government to be brought on board in all planning processes.
This approach is in line with the strategy that has always been applied consistently by the ANC, the imbizo campaigns where communities are invited to engage politicians and officials on issues relating to them and, through the same approach, of giving feedback to communities on issues of service delivery.
The department produced a number of reports in the fourth administration and should intensify efforts to conduct monitoring and evaluation activities and go back to the drawing board to inform and improve on the planning cycle. The committee will assist the department by ensuring that government departments actively pursue and forge forward with the service delivery programmes.
The Presidential Hotline keeps on adding value to the lives of many South Africans who feel neglected by some strategic and operational officials of government at times. There are success stories and challenges encountered here; the committee will persuade the department to attend to and resolve most of the complaints lodged.
The overwhelming response to the hotline is certainly positive. The monitoring of the Presidential Hotline is critical. I come from a municipality where the hotline is used effectively and I have seen how enthusiastic our people are in taking advantage of such a service.
Chairperson, it is essential that government changes its culture of ensuring that it constantly collects evidence of whether or not its policies and programmes are working and use this evidence to inform interventions through proper planning. The National Planning Commission, NPC, should therefore be informed by evidence generated as part of reviewing planning tools of government towards contributing to objectives of the National Development Plan: Vision for 2030.
The establishment of the Secretariat in the National Planning Commission will ensure alignment of National Development Plan objectives. Monitoring and evaluation is emerging as a central tool for government and the positive contribution that it makes is very good for government. The ANC's manifesto is explicit about that, and it is seen in the unwavering commitment by the ANC-led government to clean and good government. We support the Budget Votes of the department. Together, we move South Africa forward. Thank you. [Applause.]