1. BRIEFING ON THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT 2011/12
PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM
BRIEFING ON THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT 2011/12
12 February 2013

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE Introduction Application of M&E System
Feedback on the implementation of PSC
recommendations
Financial Management
Expenditure vs Performance
Development orientation
Accountability
Professional Ethics
Transparency
Good HR practices
Employment Equity
Concluding remarks 2

3. INTRODUCTION
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is required by the Constitution to provide an evaluation of the extent to which the values and principles governing public administration, contained in section 195, are complied with.
An indicator-based tool was developed that produces a summary assessment of the performance of a department against each of the nine values and principles.
The tool was applied to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in the 2010/11 cycle and the results of the assessment was presented to the Portfolio Committee on 14 September 2011.
The PSC has now been requested to brief the Committee on the assessment/evaluation of the Department and the progress made with the implementation of particular recommendations made by the PSC in 2010/11. 3

4. INTRODUCTION
We have not since 2010/11 re-assessed the department (the PSC does not assess all departments each year).
In this presentation we have updated some of the assessments, using more recent data from-
Annual report for the 2011/12 financial year
Other data available, e.g. PSC tools, DPSA and Vulindlela 4

5. APPLICATION OF THE M&E SYSTEM
The PSC applied its M&E system in the Department in the 2010/11 evaluation cycle. Our scores for the Department on each Constitutional Principle then were:
Principle
2010/11
Total Score %
Professional Ethics
3,75
75%
Efficiency, Economy and Effectiveness
2,00
40%
Development-Oriented Public Administration
4,00
80%
Impartiality and Fairness
4,25
85%
Public Participation in Policy-making
5,00
100%
Accountability
3,00
60%
Transparency
4,50
90%
Good HR Management and Career Development
3,50
70%
Representivity
Total
33,50
74%
Average
3,72 5 5

6. FEEDBACK ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Progress
Time taken to resolve cases of misconduct
 The Department should ensure that all discipline cases are finalised within working days
To enhance tracking of cases an electronic disciplinary tracking system has been developed. This will be ready for use by 1 April Monthly case review meetings takes place to improve turnaround times.
Good project management standards
 The Department should include a section in land reform project plans, which spells out the monitoring and evaluation arrangements for the project
A number of M& E governance documents were implemented.
There is also a draft guideline on Monitoring and Evaluation at project level and the following evaluations were done. 6 6

7. FEEDBACK ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Progress
The communication of administrative decisions (PAJA)
Communication of administrative decisions should indicate the opportunity to make representations, the right to appeal or review or the right to request reasons for decisions.
The manual for PAIA was updated, and at the consultation process. The final Manual should be signed off by 31 March 2012.
(This is not responding to the recommendation)
The implementation of the fraud prevention plan
The Department should determine its exact capacity requirements for the handling of the fraud cases
Ensure that the necessary training in the handling of fraud cases is provided
There is a Directorate: Forensic Audit and Investigations, Chief Directorate: Risk Management and a Directorate Fraud Prevention.
Posts are currently being filled and capacity is upgraded through learnership programmes. 7 7

8. FEEDBACK ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Progress
The content of the departmental AR
 The content of the department’s AR for 2010/11 must fully comply with the requirements for annual reporting set by the national treasury and the DPSA
The Department has taken into account the Treasury regulations and DPSA guideline in preparing the 2011/12 AR.
Time taken to fill a vacancy
The Department should review its processes for the filling of posts and put in place measures that will improve performance on the time spent to fill funded vacant posts
The Recruitment and Selection policy has been reviewed.
HR delegations have been reviewed to empower line managers with decision making powers.
Challenges with verification of qualifications as it takes longer than the norm to obtain confirmation from SAQA 8 8

9. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT QUALIFIED
Audit opinions by the Auditor General (AG) for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform:
In 2011/12, the AG–
found that the Department did not have adequate systems in place to maintain records for all state land situated in the former TBVC states and self-governing territories in the immovable tangible capital asset register;
noted that legal claims against the Department amounting to R2 042 million are subject to the outcome of legal proceedings; and
found that in respect of compliance with laws and regulations, the Accounting Officer did not take effective steps to prevent irregular, as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
‘09/10
‘10/11
‘11/12
QUALIFIED 9

10. EXPENDITURE VS PERFORMANCE
% of budget spent
Achievement of targets
2010/11
2011/12
92%
98%
30%
45%
Spending for 2011/12 was within the generally accepted margin of 2% set by National Treasury.
Although almost the entire budget is spent, the achievement of predetermined outputs (45%) is still fairly low.
The following are the major reasons for the under-spending on the operational budget in 2011/121:
Difficulties in filling professional posts, for example, surveyors.
Restitution process challenges such as community/boundary disputes.
Institutionalising the Comprehensive Rural Development Plan (CRDP).
Integration of infrastructure plans.
/12 Annual Report 10

11. EXPENDITURE VS PERFORMANCE (cont)
There was a noticeable (15%) improvement in performance against pre-determined objectives from the 2010/11 financial year.
With regard to reporting on performance information in 2011/12, the AG found that-
46% of the indicators were not well defined in that clear, unambiguous data definitions were not available to allow for data to be collected consistently.
30% of the actual reported performance was not verifiable. This was due to a lack of monitoring and review of the recording of actual achievements by senior management.
Indicators and targets were not suitably developed.
The AG mentioned that there were significant internal control deficiencies in 2011/12. 11

12. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION
The Department contributed to poverty reduction projects through the CRDP and the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) grant
The CRDP assisted 3058 households with clean drinking water, created employment opportunities, and capacitated 3819 beneficiaries in enterprise development.
The LRAD has redistributed 392,850 hectares of strategically located land, which benefitted at least 310 projects and beneficiaries.
277 farmers were capacitated through agricultural training programmes. 12

13. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION
These achievements should be seen in the context of the scale of the problem the Department is facing in its efforts to resolve the land question.
There are 2920 rural wards across the country and 6,5 million rural households with greater levels of poverty than their counterparts in the city.
In 2011/ 12 the department profiled 57 wards and households under its rural development programme.
The cost per household of the Department’s interventions are also high.
The Department would require innovative programme designs to make an impact on rural development on a significant scale.
DPME: Mid-Term Review of the Priorities of Government. March 2012 13

14. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION
Indeed both the CRDP and the RADP (Recapitalisation and Development Programme) are clearly still developing their programmes, such as the integration of infrastructure plans across spheres of government, the deployment of new technologies, and engagement of strategic partners and mentors.
Interpretation and coordination is notoriously difficult to achieve – the Department is institutionalising its CRDP management system.
The Department is developing new administrative practices.
If the Department continuously tests and improves practices, it will become more effective in the future. 14

15. ACCOUNTABILITY
If accountability is to be practiced in the public service, EAs and HoDs should visibly support performance management processes and ensure that these cascade down to other levels in the SMS.
Submission of the PA of the HoD by the due date:
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Not applicable
(Appointed w.e.f 1/10/2012)
Submitted after
due date
Submitted on time
The current HoD qualified for evaluation in the 2011/12 financial year. No evaluation documentation has been submitted.
The submission of the HoD’s PA on time is a positive indication of the example set from the top. 15

16. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
To root out corruption and maladministration, matters of ethics and integrity should be addressed:
32 cases of alleged irregularities were under investigation by internal audit in 2011/12.
The Special Investigating Unit investigated 36 cases of alleged irregularities in certain land reform projects in 2011/12.
87 cases were referred from the National Anti-Corruption Hotline to the Department.
However, the feedback and closure rate in respect of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline cases as at December 2012 requires improvement:
Cases Referred
% Feedback Received
% Cases
Closed
Outstanding Cases 87
31%
11% 77 16

17. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS (cont)
Financial Disclosure Framework – For the last four financial years the Department failed to submit FD forms to the PSC by the due date of 31 May 2012.
The compliance rate AFTER the due date has also not been on the required level. There has been significant improvement in 2011/12, with only one form outstanding.
While there has been an improvement, the department must target 100% by the due date!
2008/ %
2009/ %
2010/2011  0%
2011/12 0%
2008/ %
2009/ %
2010/2011  95%
2011/12 99% 17

18. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS (cont)
In the 2011/12 financial year, the PSC found that 21% of SMS members in the Department may have potential conflicts between their private interests and their official responsibilities.
Number of SMS Members
Cases of Potential Conflicts of Interest
Percentage of Potential Conflicts of Interest
202 42
21% 18

19. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS (cont)
Manage precautionary suspensions in cases of serious misconduct. FY
No of people on suspension
Average no of days on suspension
Cost of suspension (R'000)
2010/11 3
126
R 118
2011/12 9
270
R4195
Financial misconduct cases reported to the PSC revealed that-
In the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 financial years, the Department reported 5 cases each year.
The number of cases of financial misconduct is low given the AG’s finding that the Department did not take effective steps to prevent irregular, as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. FY
Amount
Amount Recovered
No Loss To The State
Amount Not Recovered
2009/10 R R
R0.00 R
2010/11
R102 201.68
2011/12 R R R R
1 As at August 2012 19

20. TRANSPARENCY
The Department’s Website is user friendly and most documents are easily accessible.
The Manual on Access to Information is easily accessible and available in the official languages.
The annual report is a key accountability mechanism, but it only serves to promote transparency if it is readily available.
The Department’s Annual Reports for previous financial years are available on its Website.
As on 31 January 2012, the 2011/12 AR was accessed through the Government Information Website, but there is no link to the document on the Department’s own Website and it is not uploaded on the Website. 20

21. GOOD HR PRACTICES
Vacancy Rate1
Average period in months of post vacant2
% post of filled additional2
% of posts filled out of adjustment2
18.5%
6.33
35.13%
33.69%
The vacancy rate as at 31 March 2012 was 11.47% and increased to over 18.5% in December 2012.
The high vacancy rate for the Department was due to attrition, and the stringent requirements for the filling posts in the Occupational Specific Dispensations.
In the 2011/12 FY an amount of R (6%) of a total budget of R billion was spent on consultants for 48 different services.
1 Vulindlela as at December 2012
2 DPSA’s Public Service Management Watch as at June 2012 21

22. GOOD HR PRACTICES (cont)
Extract from Public Service Regulations
An EA may employ persons additional to the approved establishment where-
the incumbent of a post is expected to be absent for such a period that her or his duties cannot be performed by other personnel
a temporary increase in work occurs
(c) it is necessary for any other reason to temporarily increase the staff of the department
A high % of staff is held additional to the establishment, which could be attributed the implementation of the revised approved structure following the finalisation of the turnaround strategy referred to in the Department’s Annual Report.
Contract appointments used strategically can be of benefit to the State in terms of savings as well as providing an opportunity to access talent and potential without any commitment beyond a contractual obligation. 22

23. PSC M&E report for the ‘10/11 cycle
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY
Public administration must be broadly representative of South African people, with employment and personnel management practices based on ability, objectivity fairness and the need to redress the imbalances of the past to achieve broad representation.
Designated Group
PSC M&E report for the ‘10/11 cycle
2011/12
Dec 2012
Black people: Target 75%
77%
80.9%
83%
Women: Target: 50% at SMS level by March 2009
37%
38%
People With Disabilities
Target: 2% to be achieved by 31 March 2010
2.1%
1.8%
1.45% 23

24. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Colonial and apartheid land dispossession is the major underlying cause of poverty and inequality in South Africa. Land reform cannot fail.
Improvements have been made in respect of some of the values and principles, but serious concerns remain around the department’s governance and management performance.
The sustained failure to get a clean audit must be addressed.
The performance management process requires urgent attention. Requires clear, unambiguous and measurable indicators, and appropriate management action on poor performance.
The PSC would like to see the Department do more to actively and aggressively manage its integrity system and relentlessly follow up on and close cases of corruption.
It should be recognised that the Department is developing new processes and these take time to bed down.
The Department has undertaken re-engineering to fast-track the implementation of its programmes.
However, continuous restructuring negatively affects the Department’s performance in its core functions of CRDP and RADP – implementing a new structure, strategy and appointing 68 new senior managers diverts attention from core business. 24

25. Siyabonga enkosi PSB Website: www.psc.gov.za
National Anti-Corruption Hotline for the Public Service:
Siyabonga
enkosi