THE embattled National Youth Development Agency is due to open provincial operations‚ as amendments to the law governing the agency are in the pipeline to enable it to do so‚ says Deputy Minister of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, Obed Bapela.
The youth body has been engulfed in a series of controversies‚ the latest of which include the suspension of chief executive Steven Ngubeni. Chief operations officer Magdalene Moonsamy and corporate services manager Vincent Mulaudzi were suspended earlier this month‚ amid growing concerns about low morale among staff.
The disciplinary process brought against Ngubeni was scheduled to start yesterday. Neither Bapela nor National Youth Development Agency executive chairman, Yashin Pillay, would disclose the nature of the allegations brought against Ngubeni. But Pillay said the board was obliged to take action when the audit report on the agency’s finances disclosed that there had been maladministration amounting to about R35-million.
Pillay said the board was determined to “clean up” the organisation and would act decisively against fraud‚ corruption and maladministration. He said the board was repositioning the body and had adopted a new strategy that would take some time to bear fruit. The agency’s chief operations officer is also under investigation and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is probing a number of allegations made by whistle-blowers.
Bapela told parliament’s standing committee on appropriations that the agency was being prevented from establishing provincial offices because this was not covered by its legislative mandate.
He said the government was also undertaking consultations over a national youth policy for the 2014-2019 period‚ as the current policy expires next year.
He hoped this would be in place before the end of the current administration in March next year.
Bapela warned‚ if South Africa did not invest now in the future of its young people‚ who represent about 70% of the population, it would create a future disaster.
However‚ DA finance spokesman Tim Harris, said the agency should be abolished as the government’s “mainstream” departments were already tasked with dealing with the challenges facing the youth‚ such as enterprise development and education. Commenting on a report to the committee by acting chief executive, Ayanda Makaula‚ Harris noted that the agency had underperformed in 14 of its 27 key performance indicators for the first quarter of the financial year.
Only one new youth-owned enterprise had been established in the first quarter against a target of 125‚ while a target of 500 had been set for the whole year.
“It is time to pull the plug on the ‚” Harris said.
“South African taxpayers will contribute R392-million to the agency this year‚ but this morning’s committee meeting confirmed that it is not performing up to its own annual performance plan‚ and that taxpayers are not getting value for this investment,” he added.
National youth agency vows to clean up its act
The youth body has been engulfed in a series of controversies‚ the latest of which include the suspension of chief executive Steven Ngubeni. Chief operations officer Magdalene Moonsamy and corporate services manager Vincent Mulaudzi were suspended earlier this month‚ amid growing concerns about low morale among staff.
The disciplinary process brought against Ngubeni was scheduled to start yesterday. Neither Bapela nor National Youth Development Agency executive chairman, Yashin Pillay, would disclose the nature of the allegations brought against Ngubeni. But Pillay said the board was obliged to take action when the audit report on the agency’s finances disclosed that there had been maladministration amounting to about R35-million.
Pillay said the board was determined to “clean up” the organisation and would act decisively against fraud‚ corruption and maladministration. He said the board was repositioning the body and had adopted a new strategy that would take some time to bear fruit. The agency’s chief operations officer is also under investigation and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is probing a number of allegations made by whistle-blowers.
Bapela told parliament’s standing committee on appropriations that the agency was being prevented from establishing provincial offices because this was not covered by its legislative mandate.
He said the government was also undertaking consultations over a national youth policy for the 2014-2019 period‚ as the current policy expires next year.
He hoped this would be in place before the end of the current administration in March next year.
Bapela warned‚ if South Africa did not invest now in the future of its young people‚ who represent about 70% of the population, it would create a future disaster.
However‚ DA finance spokesman Tim Harris, said the agency should be abolished as the government’s “mainstream” departments were already tasked with dealing with the challenges facing the youth‚ such as enterprise development and education. Commenting on a report to the committee by acting chief executive, Ayanda Makaula‚ Harris noted that the agency had underperformed in 14 of its 27 key performance indicators for the first quarter of the financial year.
Only one new youth-owned enterprise had been established in the first quarter against a target of 125‚ while a target of 500 had been set for the whole year.
“It is time to pull the plug on the ‚” Harris said.
“South African taxpayers will contribute R392-million to the agency this year‚ but this morning’s committee meeting confirmed that it is not performing up to its own annual performance plan‚ and that taxpayers are not getting value for this investment,” he added.
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