Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker;
Honourable Premier;
Members of the Executive Council;
Honourable Members of this House;
The HOD and Management Finance;
Comrades and friends;
Ladies and gentleman;

Introduction

We present the Annual Report 2013/14 under unique conditions and interesting times for our country and democracy. This year, we are celebrating 20 years of democracy and freedom.

The 2014 elections were very significant in that our people gave us an unambiguous mandate to continue serving the citizens of Gauteng for the next five years. This Annual Report is unique in that it represents the last chapter of 20 years of democratic government, and our sights are now fixed on the next 20 years. Our experience in government, as the ANC, put us in a better position to move South Africa forward and Gauteng in particular.

We look back with pride at the ‘road travelled’ and recall our first ever approach to development, the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) which was initiated to transform the social, infrastructural and economic conditions of the country. To take this vision further, we have since completed the National Development Plan (NDP) which is a systematic process to eradicate poverty and inequality.

The NDP is a blue print to propel South Africa into a thriving and economically sustainable state. The government has adopted the NDP as a guiding coalition which encapsulates the essence of the South African vision of knowledge based economic model and a South African story line for generations to come. In Gauteng, vision 2055 framework, gives the necessary impetus to the practical realisation of NDP goals.

At the heart of the NDP, is easy access to global information by means of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Citizens will then use this information to create entrepreneurship opportunities. The role of the state will be to create an enabling environment for innovative thinking and trend setting. In line with the NDP, the Gauteng Department of Finance (GDF) is central to the notion of a connected government within the Gauteng City Region. This promotes an integrated viable local economy beyond political and geographic boundaries.

It is in this context that we table the 2013/14 Annual Report of the Gauteng Department of Finance. This is an important document which serves to assess the past financial year’s operations and outlines the Department’s preview of the next year. The document ensures that the Department complies with the Public Finance Management Amendment Act, No.29 of 1999.

Our Annual Report assures the community of Gauteng that the Department of Finance’s resources have been utilised in a manner that is consistent with the applicable corporate governance principles to deliver services for which the resources were allocated.

Key Performance Highlights

The Gauteng Department of Finance has sustained its unqualified audit opinion for financial and non-financial performance in 2013/14. The Department spent a total of 92 percent of its budget and there was no unauthorised expenditure in the year under review.

In the year under review, the Department has been repositioned to implement the ICT strategy of the province. This saw the Department hosting the second annual ICT summit. The summit provided an interactive platform where IT businesses shared expertise and benchmarked their service offerings. Mobility in government was the overarching theme.
In embracing technological developments and latest ICT trends, we have delivered 83 280 Wi-Fi connected tablets to 2082 public schools in Gauteng since the beginning of 2014 calendar year. This is our eLearning Solution project which aims to provide learners in public schools with a unique opportunity to access worldwide information to enhance classroom learning experience.

Another significant innovation is the Gauteng Broadband Network (GBN) project which will be the backbone of Gauteng Government’s network, initially connecting many government nodes, and later connecting citizens of Gauteng. This network will be the government’s “super highway” comparable to the best in developed countries. The full implementation of GBN will see over 95 percent of citizens accessing the internet. This will be a critical step in bringing government closer to the people in a smart and cost effective manner.

Job creation has been a cornerstone of this administration’s core outputs; the Department is playing a critical role in allowing easy access to government vacancies. The Maponya Mall Thusong Service Centre is improving daily through the increase in the number of people who are accessing its public sector job opportunities. The electronic application for jobs through the e-Recruitment facility simplifies applications for Gauteng government vacancies. Citizens can upload their details on the system and apply for any job. The system stores their details in a database and government applications can use it for future applications. The Maponya Thusong Centre enabled a total of 8 725 job applications to access various job opportunities.

Corporate governance has been a key pillar of this administration. The improving Gauteng Audit Services (GAS) focused not only on auditing the key service delivery priorities as per departmental strategic risk assessments and Strategic Plans, but also on playing a role in helping departments address critical findings raised by the Auditor General (AG) this help departments put in place adequate, internal controls within their operations and financial processes. GAS implemented a tracking system to monitor the implementation of audit recommendation, to facilitate the realization of unqualified audit opinions by all provincial departments at the end of the 2013/14 financial-year.

Madam Speaker, in the financial year under review, the Department has successfully concluded all scheduled forensic investigations, fraud detection reviews and anti-fraud awareness workshops in all departments. We have also developed a Case Management System to address recurring backlogs and to improve turnaround times in resolving matters through the National Anti-Corruption Hotline. We are determined that our proactive stance on preventing corruption is maintained.

In terms of enterprise development we focussed on Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises by ensuring that they receive payment for services rendered within 30-days of submitting their invoices to provincial departments. We also, successfully uploaded 572 GPG transversal legacies, national and current contracts on the Contracts Management System within 30 days. During this period we were able to register a total of 4 352 suppliers in our database.

Madam Speaker, I am concerned that the Auditor General reported that we did poorly insofar as it relates to non-adherence to procurement regulations. In this regard the Auditor General noted that R518 million was awarded to bidders based on points given for criteria that differed from those stipulated in the original invitation for bidding in contravention of treasury regulation 16(a) 6.3(a). I view this finding in a very serious light.

The Department has instituted an investigation to determine whether officials wilfully made or allowed these irregular expenditures, and in that manner committed a financial misconduct. If this is confirmed by the investigation disciplinary action will be taken against those who are implicated.

Measures have been put in place to ensure that all procurement within the Department is in line with policy, and in exceptional cases there is a need to deviate that prior approval be sought from the Treasury.

The Department is also reviewing the Consultant Reduction Plan, and in areas where we will still need to be use consultants, procurement laws will need to be fully complied with to avoid further findings of irregular expenditure.

Thank you for allowing me to provide a brief synopsis on the performance of the GDF. I now table the annual report for the Gauteng Department of Finance in accordance with Section 40 of the PFMA.

Thank you.

Issued by: Gauteng Finance