Senior national and provincial Treasury officials who were locked in a heated meeting in the Bhisho legislature this week, were not pleased that Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s department had failed to spend R415-million of the R1.6-billion earmarked for the eradication of mud structures in the Eastern Cape this year.
This emerged in Bhisho during a presentation by national Treasury officials on the division of revenue amendment bill.
National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP) Lennox Gaehler said the key challenge which resulted in underspending, was the centralisation of the tenders by the national Department of Basic Education (DBE), which controls the school infrastructure grant.
He said the department contracted service providers without taking cognisance of the terrain and geographical location of these schools.
As a result, when appointed companies visited the sites and found bad roads and poor access to water, they abandoned the projects, causing the non-expenditure.
The underspending was even more worrying, considering the province received the lion’s share of more than 60% of this grant, which is shared among provinces every year, a director at national treasury, Spencer Jenari said.
According to Jenari, the under-expenditure of the Eastern Cape’s grant allocation has been recurring every year since 2009 with the exception of just one year when it was spent in its entirety.
Gaehler suggested it was high time the department of education in the province and provincial treasury spoke to the DBE to allow the provincial education department to appoint service providers.
Provincial treasury HoD Daluhlanga Majeke said this was not going to be easy because “it is a protected terrain”.
DA leader in the Bhisho legislature, Bobby Stevenson, called the continued under-expenditure of the grant and slow pace in replacing mud schools in a province like the EC which is lagging behind in dealing with mud schools was simply unacceptable. “This province cannot afford to lose R415-million, particularly when it is specifically allocated to alleviate the plight of those learners who are subjected to mud schools,” he said. “This is a violation of the basic rights of learners.”
Senior economist at national Treasury, Letsepa Pakkies, told the portfolio committee poor spending performance was a result of delays in appointing contractors, finalising the merger and rationalisation of schools and reappointing contractors to replace non-performing contractors. — zingisam@dispatch.co.za
Officials’ anger at unspent R415m
This emerged in Bhisho during a presentation by national Treasury officials on the division of revenue amendment bill.
National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP) Lennox Gaehler said the key challenge which resulted in underspending, was the centralisation of the tenders by the national Department of Basic Education (DBE), which controls the school infrastructure grant.
He said the department contracted service providers without taking cognisance of the terrain and geographical location of these schools.
As a result, when appointed companies visited the sites and found bad roads and poor access to water, they abandoned the projects, causing the non-expenditure.
The underspending was even more worrying, considering the province received the lion’s share of more than 60% of this grant, which is shared among provinces every year, a director at national treasury, Spencer Jenari said.
According to Jenari, the under-expenditure of the Eastern Cape’s grant allocation has been recurring every year since 2009 with the exception of just one year when it was spent in its entirety.
Gaehler suggested it was high time the department of education in the province and provincial treasury spoke to the DBE to allow the provincial education department to appoint service providers.
Provincial treasury HoD Daluhlanga Majeke said this was not going to be easy because “it is a protected terrain”.
DA leader in the Bhisho legislature, Bobby Stevenson, called the continued under-expenditure of the grant and slow pace in replacing mud schools in a province like the EC which is lagging behind in dealing with mud schools was simply unacceptable. “This province cannot afford to lose R415-million, particularly when it is specifically allocated to alleviate the plight of those learners who are subjected to mud schools,” he said. “This is a violation of the basic rights of learners.”
Senior economist at national Treasury, Letsepa Pakkies, told the portfolio committee poor spending performance was a result of delays in appointing contractors, finalising the merger and rationalisation of schools and reappointing contractors to replace non-performing contractors. — zingisam@dispatch.co.za
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