Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on its activities undertaken during the 4th Parliament (May 2009 – March 2014)
1.
1.1
Introduction
Department/s and Entities falling within the Committee’s portfolio
Due to the nature of the Committee’s oversight role, all national and provincial departments as well as municipalities, who receive conditional
grants, fall within the Committee’s field of oversight. National Treasury as well as provincial treasuries are also vital stakeholders, as they are
requested to make presentations whenever a department or municipality reports to the Committee on its spending and the performance of
conditional grant funds.
With regard to other stakeholders, the Financial and Fiscal Commission is a regular role player in the Committee’s oversight work. In terms of the
Money Bills Act, the Committee must consider recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, including those referred to in the
Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act, 1997 (Act No 97 of 1997). In addition, the Commission is also invited to make presentations when the
Committee conducts oversight visits to specific provinces and municipalities. Another stakeholder that the Committee interacts with whenever
matters affecting municipalities are considered is the South African Local Government Association (Salga). Other stakeholders that the Committee
interacts with when conducting oversight visits to provinces and municipalities, are the Auditor-General of South Africa, the Department of Water
and Environmental Affairs, national and provincial departments of Cooperative Governance and Eskom.
1.2
Functions of Committee:
Parliamentary committees, in general, are mandated to:



Monitor the financial and non-financial performance of government departments and their entities to ensure that national objectives are met.
Process and pass legislation.
Facilitate public participation in Parliament relating to issues of oversight and legislation.
The Select Committee on Appropriations was established in terms of Section 4(3) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters
Act, 2009. According to Section 4(4) of this Act, “a committee on appropriations [in the National Council of Provinces] has the power and functions
conferred to it by the Constitution, legislation, the standing rules or a resolution of a House, including the considering and reporting on-
1
(a) spending issues;
(b) amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill, the Appropriation Bill, Supplementary Appropriations Bills and the Adjustment Appropriations
Bill;
(c) recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, including those referred to in the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act, 1997
(No. 97 of 1997);
(d) reports on actual expenditure published by the National Treasury; and
(e) any other related matter set out in this Act.
1.3
Method of work of the Committee
The Committee dealt with the legislation referred to it in terms of the requirements of the Money Bills Act, the Constitution and the Standing Rules
of the National Council of Provinces. This included placing newspaper advertisements in all official languages to invite interesting persons and role
players to comment on the Division of Revenue and the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, as well as inviting specific stakeholders like the
Financial and Fiscal Commission, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and the Municipal Demarcation Board to submit
comments. In the case of the Division of Revenue, which is Section 76 legislation, Members of the Committee also briefed their respective
provinces on the Bills. This exercise took place with the technical assistance of officials from National Treasury. Thereafter the Committee
considered and adopted Negotiating and Final Mandates from provinces before reporting on the Bill to the House.
With regard to the Committee’s oversight over provincial conditional grant spending, the practice has mostly been to choose the three or four worst
performing provinces in a particular quarter of the financial year and invite them, together with the national transferring department and National
Treasury to come and report to the Committee at a hearing. The Committee would then report its findings and recommendations to the House.
The Committee’s oversight role in respect of conditional grant allocations and spending in the local government sphere has mainly been a feature
of oversight visits to a select number of municipalities within a province that have been chosen for oversight. Hereby municipalities are called upon
to account before the Committee by reporting on conditional grant expenditure and service delivery performance and explaining reasons for any
variation from budgetary and performance delivery targets.
The Committee has also on occasion undertaken site inspections of projects funded by both provincial and local government conditional grants to
verify the outputs and also assess if there is value for the money spent.
1.4
Purpose of the report
2
The purpose of this report is to provide an account of the Select Committee on Appropriations’ work during the 4th Parliament and to inform the
Members of the new Parliament of key outstanding issues pertaining to the oversight over the spending of conditional grant funds and the budget
process.
This report provides an overview of the activities the Committee undertook during the 4th Parliament, the outcome of key activities, as well as any
challenges that emerged during the period under review and issues that should be considered for follow up during the 5 th Parliament. It
summarises the key issues for follow-up and concludes with recommendations to strengthen operational and procedural processes to enhance the
Committee’s oversight and legislative roles in future.
2.
Key statistics
2.1
Meetings
The table below provides an overview of the number of meetings held, legislation and international agreements processed and the number of
oversight trips and study tours undertaken by the Committee, as well as any statutory appointments the Committee made, during the 4th
Parliament:
Activity
Meetings held
Legislation processed
Oversight trips undertaken
Study tours undertaken
2009/10
No meetings, the
Committee
started operating
in 2010/11
No meetings, the
Committee
started operating
in 2010/11
No meetings, the
Committee
started operating
in 2010/11
No study tours
2010/11
2011/12
19
22
25
2013/14
28 (up until 25
March)
4
6
4
5
19 (up until 25
March)
1
2
1
None
4
No study tours
No study tours
No study tours
No study tours
Nil
3
2012/13
Total
94 (up until 25
March)
Activity
International agreements
processed
Statutory appointments
made
Interventions considered
Petitions considered
2009/10
were
undertaken. The
Committee only
started
functioning in
2010/11
No international
agreements
were processed
by the
Committee.
No statutory
appointments
were made by
the Committee.
No interventions
were considered
by the
Committee.
No petitions
were received by
the Committee.
2010/11
were
undertaken.
2011/12
were
undertaken.
2012/13
were
undertaken.
2013/14
were
undertaken.
2
No international
agreements
were processed
by
the
Committee
No
statutory
appointments
were made by
the Committee.
No interventions
were considered
by
the
Committee
No
petitions
were received by
the Committee.
No international
agreements
were processed
by
the
Committee
No
statutory
appointments
were made by
the Committee.
No interventions
were considered
by
the
Committee
No
petitions
were received by
the Committee.
No international
agreements
were processed
by
the
Committee
1
2
No interventions
were considered
by
the
Committee
No
petitions
were received by
the Committee.
Nil
No
statutory
appointments
were made by
the Committee.
No interventions
were considered
by
the
Committee
No
petitions
were received by
the Committee.
4
Total
1
2.2
Date
Reports (other than legislation)
Report
Responsible Department
5
01 June 2010
Third Quarter of 2009/10 expenditure patterns of Community Library Grant
01 June 2010
Third Quarter 0f 2009/10 expenditure patterns of Devolution of Property Rates Grant
01 June 2010
Third Quarter of 2009/10 expenditure patterns of HIV and AIDS (Life Skills) Grant
14 June 2010
Third Quarter of 2009/10 expenditure patterns of Comprehensive HIV and AIDS, Forensic
Pathology and Hospital Revitalisation Grants
First Quarter of 2010/11 expenditure patterns of National School Nutrition Grant
14 September 2010
14 September 2010
14 September 2010
Oversight visit to Eastern Cape Municipalities
First Quarter of 2010/11 expenditure patterns of Mass Participation and Sport Programme
Grant
14 September 2010
First Quarter of 2010/11 National School Nutrition Programme Grant
09 March 2011
First Quarter of 2010/11 spending patterns of the Hospital Revitalisation Grant
22 June 2011
Third Quarter of 2010/11 expenditure patterns of Community Library Grant
19 October 2011
First Quarter of 2011/12 Spending of Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant
19 October 2011
First Quarter of 2011/12 spending of Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Grant, Hospital
Revitalisation grant and forensic Pathology Services Grant
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 spending patterns of Land Care Programme Grant, and
Poverty Relief and Infrastructure Development Grant
Oversight visit to Pelonomi Hospital in Free State to assess value for money spent on
Hospital Revitalisation Grant
19 October 2011
19 October 2011
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National
and
Provincial
Departments of Arts and
Culture
National
and
Provincial
Departments of Public Works
National
and
Provincial
Departments
of
Basic
Education
National
and
Provincial
Department of Health
National
and
Provincial
Department
of
Basic
Education
Eastern Cape Municipalities
National
and
Provincial
Departments of Sport and
Recreation
National
and
Provincial
Departments
of
Basic
Education
National
Department
of
Health
National department of Arts
and Culture
National
Department
of
Transport
National
Department
of
Health
National
department
of
Agriculture
National Department of health
19 October 2011
23 November 2011
First Quarter of 2011/12 spending of Mass Sport and Recreation Participation Programme
Grant
Oversight visit to conditional grant projects in North West Province
24 January 2012
Oversight visit to conditional grant projects in Northern Cape
05 June 2012
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 expenditure of Forensic Pathology Services Grant
19 September 2012
Fourth Quarter expenditure of Community Library Services Grant
19 September 2012
Progress Report on 12 Eastern Cape Municipalities visited in 2010
19 September 2012
Progress Report on Northern Cape and North West Hospital Revitalisation Grant
19 September 2012
08 May 2013
18 June 2013
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 Dinaledi Schools Grant, Technical secondary Schools
Recapitalisation Grant and Schools Infrastructure Backlog Grant
Fourth Quarter of 2011/12 expenditures of Social sector Expanded Public Works
Programme Incentive Grant
Progress Report on Local Turn-Around Strategy, Operation Clean Audit by 2014 and
establishment of Municipal Infrastructure Support agency
Report on the Appointment of Director for Parliamentary Budget Office
Fourth Quarter of 2012/13 expenditure of Community Library Services Grant
18 June 2013
Fourth Quarter of 2012/13 expenditure of Ilima/Litsema Project Grant
18 June 2013
Third and Fourth Quarter of 2012/13 of Dinaledi Schools Grant
18 June 2013
Third and Fourth of 2012/13 Quarter expenditure of National Health Insurance Grant
18 June 2013
Report on FFC submission on Local Government Fiscal Framework
27 November 2012
27 November 2012
7
National
Department
of
Sports and Recreation
National
Departments
of
Health,
Public
Works,
Transport, Arts and Culture,
Sports and Recreation
National
Department
of
Education and Health
National
Department
of
Health
National Department of Arts
and Culture
Department of Cooperative
Governance
National
Department
of
Health
Department
of
Basic
Education
National Department of Public
Works
National
Department
of
Cooperative Governance
Parliament
National Department of Arts
and Culture
National
Department
of
Agriculture
Department
of
Basic
Education
National
Department
of
Health
Department of Finance
09 October 2013
First Quarter of 2013/14 of Human Settlements Development Grant
09 October 2013
Annual Performance Evaluation Report of Provincial Roads maintenance Grant
09 October 2013
Annual Performance of Further Education and Training Colleges Grant for 2012/13
13 November 2013
Medium Term Budget Policy Statement
3.
National
Department
of
Human Settlements
National
Department
of
Transport
Department
of
Higher
Education
Department of Finance
Issues arising from hearings
With regard to the Committee’s oversight over provincial conditional grant spending, the key findings are as follows:







1
A number of grants register significant under-expenditure at financial year-end.
Under-expenditure is more prevalent in respect of capital grant allocations, which can mainly be attributed to poor planning and budgeting.
Poor capital grant expenditure has also been attributed to a lack of expertise in terms of project and contract management, lack of technical
expertise such as engineering and poor performance of contractors due to a lack of appropriate supervision by the contracting department or
implementing agent.
Grant under-expenditure is mainly attributed to significant capacity constraints within both the national and provincial departments with regard
to the availability of human resources; grant management ability; inadequate supply chain management skills; and a lack of budgeting and
monitoring and evaluation skills.
Under-expenditure of grant allocations at year-end is generally accompanied by requests for roll-overs. The approval of rolled-over funds in
most cases was not a guarantee in itself that the rolled-over funds are spent according to the grant framework. National Treasury as the
approver was accordingly advised to strengthen its oversight over roll-over requests and was requested to report to Parliament whether the
rolled-over funds were spent accordingly.
Fiscal dumping1 is also a major feature of some grants, which in turn undermines the credibility of the grant expenditure. In addition, when
fiscal dumping takes place, funds are usually spent on goods and services that are unrelated to the purpose of the grant.
Expenditure of grant allocations is sometimes used to fund other operational expenses such as staff salaries which is not compliant with the
conditional grant framework.
Fiscal dumping refers to the expenditure phenomenon whereby departments under-spend significantly on their budget in the first nine months of the financial
year, only to spend a greater proportion (i.e. between 40 to 50 percent) of their allocated budgets in the fourth and final quarter of the financial year.
8


Reporting of grant expenditure against projected quarterly budget targets is lacking, which made it difficult for the Committee to gauge whether
grant expenditure is on track or deviating from planned expenditure. This highlights the need for national departments, together with provincial
departments and National Treasury, to develop sectoral budgeting norms per quarter that takes into account the nature and implementation
conditions of the relevant sector.
Reporting of non-financial performance information has also been poor. Both national and provincial departments would report on service
delivery outputs but in the absence of predetermined targets. This kind of reporting is meaningless because it does not allow the Committee to
perform its oversight role in determining whether grant spending is resulting in the desired service delivery outcomes.
The Committee in its oversight over provincial conditional grants have made countless recommendations in respect of improving both the quality
of grant spending and service delivery outputs and the reporting thereof. The Committee has also made follow-ups regarding the implementation
of its recommendations in order to ensure progress is made with regard to the quality of conditional grant spending and service delivery outputs
with the intent purpose of supporting departments in achieving the goals of the grant.
4.
Legislation
The following pieces of legislation were referred to the Committee and processed during the 4 th Parliament:
Year
Name of Legislation
Tagging
Objectives
2009/10
No Legislation was
referred. The Committee
operated with effect from
2010.
Not applicable
Not applicable
2010/11
Division of Revenue Bill
[B4 – 2010]
Section 76
Appropriation Bill [B3 –
2010]
Division of Revenue
Amendment Bill [B35 –
2010]
Section 75
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year
To appropriate money from the National Revenue Fund for the
requirements of the State for the 2011/12 financial year.
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year
Section 76
9
Completed/Not
Completed
Not applicable
Completed
Completed
Completed
Year
2011/12
2012/13
Name of Legislation
Tagging
Objectives
Adjustments Appropriation
Bill [B34 – 2010]
Section 77
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three spheres of
government
Finance Bill [B5 – 2012]
Section 77
To approve unauthorised expenditure
Completed
Additional Adjustment
Appropriation Bill [B6 –
2012]
Section 77
Completed
Division of Revenue Bill
[B4 – 2011]
Section 76
Appropriation Bill [B3 –
2011]
Division of Revenue
Amendment Bill [B17 –
2011]
Adjustments Appropriation
Bill [B18 – 2011]
Section 75
To appropriate an additional amount of money for the
requirements of the Department of Transport for the 2011/12
financial year to support the SA National Roads Agency in
paying debt relating to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement
Project
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year
To appropriate money from the National Revenue Fund for the
requirements of the State for the 2011/12 financial year.
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2011/12 financial year
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three spheres of
government
Division of Revenue Bill
[B4 – 2012]
Section 76
Completed
Appropriation Bill [B3 –
2012]
Section 77
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2012/13 financial year
To appropriate money from the National Revenue Fund for the
requirements of the State for the 2012/13 financial year.
Division of Revenue
Amendment Bill [33-2012]
Section 76
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2012/13 financial year
Completed
Section 76
Section 77
10
Completed/Not
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Year
2013/14
Name of Legislation
Tagging
Objectives
Adjustments Appropriation
Bill [B32-2012]
Section 77
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three spheres of
government
Division of Revenue Bill
[B2 - 2013]
Section 76
Appropriation Bill [B1 –
2013]
Division of Revenue
Amendment Bill [38 -2013]
Section 77
Adjustments Appropriation
Bill [B37 -2013]
Division of Revenue Bill
[B5 – 2014]
Section 77
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2013/14 financial year
To appropriate money from the National Revenue Fund for the
requirements of the State for the 2013/14 financial year.
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2013/14 financial year
To appropriate adjusted funds to all three spheres of
government
To provide for the equitable division of revenue raised
nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of
government for the 2014/15 financial year
Section 76
Section 76
Completed/Not
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed
Completed (on 25
March 2014)
a) Challenges emerging
The following challenges emerged during the processing of legislation:


Technical/operational challenges that were encountered relate to constraints created by the Parliamentary Programme that at times would
not provide sufficient time for the Committee to comply with time frames in terms of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related
Matters Act, 2009 as well as Mandating Procedures of Provinces Act, 2008. This in some instances led to clashes in NCOP processes
with some Provincial Legislature processes.
Content-related challenges:
11
Although over the course of the Fourth Parliament, the Committee has not proposed any amendments to the Division of Revenue Bills, the
Committee has raised a number of issues for consideration by the Minister of Finance. Some of the issues that were raised during the
Committee interaction with National Treasury and also in Committee Reports are as follows:
- Strengthening payment schedules of conditional grants to create certainty for receiving institutions;
- How to avoid the unintended consequences of withholding of funds;
- Ensuring that devolution of functions to other spheres of government does not lead to unfunded mandates, by making sure
that
funding follows functions;
- Poor infrastructure management (maintenance and repairs) by municipalities that contributes to increasing backlogs, aging infrastructure,
wastage/spillage and poor service delivery;
- Revision of local government equitable share of revenue formula; and
- Provision of funding to ensure that changes in municipal boundaries that lead to merging of certain municipalities minimise unintended
consequences such as inheritance of debts, backlogs and contractual obligations.
b) Issues for follow-up
The 5th Parliament should consider following up on the following concerns that arose:
During the 5th Parliament the Committee should ensure that its legislative plans and processes are timeously shared with the Provincial
Legislatures as well as Parliament as a whole to ensure that there is an alignment of plans and processes within Parliament and also
Legislatures.
5.
Oversight trips undertaken
The following oversight trips were undertaken:
Date
Area Visited
Objective
27- 30
July 2010
Eastern Cape
Meetings with identified
Eastern Cape municipalities
and other stakeholders
Issues to be followed up from Committee
Recommendations

12
A joint follow-up visit with the Select Committee on
Local Government and Traditional Affairs, to
ascertain the progress made with implementation of
commitments by stakeholders in trying to assist the
Status of
Report
Adopted by
House
Date
Area Visited
Objective
Issues to be followed up from Committee
Recommendations
Status of
Report
above municipalities, should be considered.

The Public Protector should investigate the
misappropriation of funds by municipalities.

The National and Provincial Department of
Cooperative Governance, the Auditor-General,
Provincial and National Treasury should contribute
to the Municipal Turnaround Strategy by developing
tools to assist municipalities to comply with all
provisions of the Municipal Finance Management
Act.
16-19
August
2011
Free State
Site visit to Pelonomi
Hospital to monitor progress
with the Hospital
Revitalisation Project
The Free State Health Department should work closely with
and support the consultants it appoints to monitor the
quality of work of contractors and furthermore be vigilant
and make every effort to avoid overspending on its projects.
Adopted by
House
14
October
2011
North West
Briefings by provincial
departments and to visit
hospitals, community
libraries and road
maintenance projects to
monitor spending on
conditional grants
The national Department of Health should investigate
factors contributing to the escalating costs of hospital
projects.
Adopted by
House
24 – 27
January
2012
Northern Cape


Interact with the
Northern Cape
Department of
Education on their
conditional grant
spending.

13
The National Department of Health should conduct
thorough investigations into the Northern Cape
Mental Health Hospital Project, as the completion
date was shifted back yearly and the costs kept
escalating.
The Northern Cape Department of Health should
Adopted by
House
Date
Area Visited
Objective






21-24
August
2012
21-24 August 2012

Issues to be followed up from Committee
Recommendations
Assess the
performance of
these grants as at
the end of the third
quarter of the
2011/12 financial
year.
Interact with the
Northern Cape
Department of
Health on Hospital
Revitalisation Grant
projects.
View and verify the
progress made thus
far on these
projects.
Ascertain how
much has been
spent on these
projects to date and
the projected
overall cost of each
project.
Find out if project
management
principles are
adhered to.
Ascertain the
completion dates of
the projects.



Engage with five
identified
municipalities on

14
Status of
Report
refrain from contravening the Division of Revenue
Act by spending conditional grant funds meant for
other projects on the Northern Cape Mental Health
Project.
The capacity of the Northern Cape provincial
departments of Education and of Health to manage
capital infrastructure projects was a concern and
the Committee recommended that the national
departments of Basic Education and Health should
consider providing in-house building engineers to
these provincial departments.
The Committee further recommended that the
Northern Cape Department of Education consider
utilising the 5 percent allocation for staff within each
conditional grant to employ project managers and
support staff to manage grants.
Measures taken to improve audit outcomes of
municipalities.
Steps taken to enforce municipalities’ compliance
Adopted by
House
Date
Area Visited
Objective

Issues to be followed up from Committee
Recommendations
issues regarding
service delivery and
the prudent
management of
financial resources
Visit identified
projects to monitor
whether resources
are being spent in
an efficient manner,
promoting delivery
of services to
communities.




Status of
Report
with legislation and policies.
Follow up on servicing of ESKOM debt by
Randfontein Local Municipality.
Follow-up on steps taken against employees who
failed to disclose their interests.
Action taken against section 21 schools who owe
municipalities.
Measures in place to minimise losses of water and
electricity in municipalities.
a) Challenges emerging
The following challenges emerged during the oversight visits:

Technical/operational challenges encountered have to do with the congested Parliamentary and NCOP Programmes and activities that at
times led to the cancellation of planned oversight trips.
b) Issues for follow-up
The 5th Parliament should consider following up on the following concerns that arose:

6.
To ensure that Committee oversight activities are not compromised by other Parliament/NCOP Programmes and activities
Study tours undertaken
15
No study tours were undertaken due to time constraints and Parliamentary Programmes /activities.
7.
International Agreements and protocols:
Year
2011
Nature of the agreement
Trade agreement
2011
Protocol
8.
Purpose
Agreement between Republic of South Africa and Republic of
Kenya for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of
fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Protocol between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland to amend the conversion for the avoidance of
double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to
taxes on income and on capital gains
Completion
Completed
Completed
Statutory appointments
In terms of subsections 15(5) (a) and (b) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters, Act 2009, the Committee must
recommend to the House a person for appointment as the Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office, as well as the conditions of service
including the salary of the Director. The following appointment was made:
Date
9 May 2013
Type of appointment
Director of Parliamentary
Budget Office
Period of appointment
Five years
a) Challenges emerging
The following challenges emerged during the statutory appointments:
16
Status of Report
Adopted by House

Technical/operational challenges were due to a lack of clarity on the appropriate procedure to be followed when appointing the Director for
the Parliamentary Budget Office. In terms of section 15(7) of the Act, any Committee considering making a recommendation for the
appointment of the Director for the Parliamentary Budget Office must do so in an open and transparent manner. This section however
does not unequivocally stipulate that a formal interview process should be followed hence no formal interviews were conducted when the
current Director was recommended for appointment.
b) Issues for follow-up
The 5th Parliament should consider following up on the following concerns that arose:

9.
The Committee during the 5th Parliament should ensure that the procedure to be followed when appointing the Director for the
Parliamentary Budget Office is unequivocally stipulated by means of either legislation/Rules/policies to avoid any ambiguity in this
process.
Interventions
No interventions were referred to the Committee.
10.
Petitions
No petitions were referred to the Committee.
11.
Obligations conferred on Committee by legislation:
As mentioned above, the Committee was established in terms of Section 4(3) of the Money Bills Act. According to Section 4(4) of this Act, “a
committee on appropriations [in the National Council of Provinces] has the power and functions conferred to it by the Constitution, legislation, the
standing rules or a resolution of a House, including the considering and reporting on(a) spending issues;
17
(b) amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill, the Appropriation Bill, Supplementary Appropriations Bills and the Adjustment Appropriations
Bill;
(c) recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, including those referred to in the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act, 1997
(No. 97 of 1997);
(d) reports on actual expenditure published by the National Treasury; and
(e) any other related matter set out in this Act.”
12.
Summary of outstanding issues relating to the department/entities that the Committee has been grappling with
The following key issues are outstanding from the Committee’s activities during the 4 th Parliament:
Responsibility
Department
of
Higher
Education
National
Department
of
Transport
Department
of
Human
Settlements
13.
Issue(s)
Response to the Committee Report dated 09 October 2013
Response to the Committee Report dated 09 October 2013
Response to the Committee Report dated 09 October 2013
Recommendations
As indicated earlier on there is a need for proper planning and alignment of the Parliamentary Programme and activities of the two Houses of
Parliament as well as Provincial Legislatures to enable the Committee to comply with legislative processes as well as its oversight work.
14.
Committee strategic plan
The Committee held its first strategic planning workshop during March 2011. An updated strategic plan was adopted during a second workshop on
26 July 2012.
18
19