Pretoria - The Presidency on Friday tabled its annual report for 2015/16 having spent 98.1% of its appropriated budget in the year under review.
Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe tabled the report in Parliament.
He said the 2015/16 financial year was especially significant for government because it was the first full year in which the National Development Plan (NDP) was implemented.
Between 31 March 2015 and 1 April 2016, government collaborated closely with its social partners and South Africans in general to keep the implementation of the NDP on track, amid the economic difficulties facing the country.
During the 2015/16 fiscal year, the Presidency's commitment to the Nine-Point Plan resulted in a number of new investments in the economy which demonstrated confidence and contributed to job creation.
New investments and expansions were announced by major companies such as Ford, Nestle and Toyota.
Cooperation with business included meetings of the Presidential Business Working Group and the National Mining Consultative Forum, which focuses on stabilising the mining sector.
The President also convened the Presidential Youth Working Group, in order to discuss ways in which the agenda of youth empowerment can be advanced, with a special focus on addressing the huge challenge of youth unemployment.
A highlight of the cooperation process fostered between government and business was demonstrated in the first ever road show by business, government and labour leaders to the United Kingdom and the United States.
Other initiatives that were undertaken by the Presidency including the efforts of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in facilitating negotiations at NEDLAC on the minimum wage and his leadership in turning around some state-owned entities (SOEs).
In addressing the challenge of energy insecurity, comprehensive measures were implemented to resolve governance problems at Eskom, including the appointment of the board and the appointment of senior executives.
The interventions resulted in a much-welcome turnaround at Eskom and a halt being put on load-shedding, said the Presidency.
The 2015/16 agenda also included efforts to transform the economy.
On 9 August 2015 President Zuma launched the Women in the Economy Report, which led to him instructing all Ministers in the Economic Cluster of Cabinet to set specific targets in departmental plans pertaining to the economic inclusion of women.
Last year the President convened a landmark meeting with the judiciary following disagreements on some areas of work.
"This demonstrated the ability of our country to solve problems through dialogue. It also demonstrated the resilience of our democratic institutions and systems," said Minister Radebe.
When coming to the issue of university fees, President Zuma met the leadership of universities as well as student leaders to discuss the matter. He later appointed a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the funding of higher education and training.
Meanwhile, Minister Radebe reported that the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) that developed a Multi-Disciplinary Integrated National Action Plan to address the causes of conflict between local communities and foreign nationals is continuing its work.
The IMC was established in the aftermath of the attacks on foreign nationals in 2015.
Operations at the Presidency
The work of the Presidency took place under difficult economic conditions which necessitated the implementation of cost-containment measures.
Setting an example for government and the country, the Presidency did more with less while maintaining the essential work of coordinating government and delivering on government's mandate.
The Presidency has been on an austerity drive since the implementation of expenditure thresholds outlined as part of the cost-containment measures introduced by government in 2013/14.
It successfully implemented expenditure thresholds that entailed cutting back on spending on non-essential goods and services and re-prioritising, abolishing vacant posts and, in some cases, delaying planned capital projects.
The impact of the reorganisation of government, which began in 2014, reached its end-point in the Presidency, when the Ministry for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, which had resided in the Presidency, was transferred to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) during 2015/16.
A total of 15 new and revised operational policies and plans were processed to ensure compliance with government legislation, regulations and directives.
The policies deal with supply chain management, human resources, information and communication technologies, finance, performance information, and governance and compliance.
The Presidency adopted a language policy, which was published on 15 February 2016. The policy allows for the promotion of all official South African languages and for citizens to communicate with The Presidency in any official South African language.
As part of its fraud detection programme, the Presidency conducted a verification exercise of the educational qualifications of all staff. To date 948 qualifications of all staff have been verified.
Minister Radebe said the project will be finalised in the 2016/17 financial year.
Key interventions were made to address findings made in external reviews conducted by the Auditor General and the Management of Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) process, and responding to the recommendations to improve internal controls and compliance, as well as to enhance management processes and practices.
While the Presidency previously received an aggregate score of 2.75, the score improved to 3.04 in the current year.
“More work will be done in the new financial year to further improve corporate governance, especially in the areas of supply chain management and also in the management and reporting of performance information.
“Systems are being put in place to achieve these goals,” said Minister Radebe. - SAnews.gov.za
