Page 40 - Department of Social Development Annual Report 2021

The Department continued its efforts of developing,
implementing
and
reviewing
effective
management and administration policies. Through the
Finance Branch, the Department made significant
progress in the reviewing, updating and approval of
financial management and administration policies with
relevant Instruction Notes and Circulars from National
Treasury to ensure that irregular, fruitless and wasteful
expenditure are reduced and prevented. The Bid
Committees
and
Evaluation
(Bid
Specification,
Adjudication) continued to perform efficiently and
effectively within the Department with regards to tenders
above the value of R500 000. Internal Control
coordinated the external audits effectively.
Entity Oversight
During the reporting period, the Department developed
an Entity Governance and Oversight Framework. The
Framework gives guidance on how the Department
should perform its governance and oversight function on
its public entities. The Framework was presented to the
Oversight Forums, Audit Committee and Management
Committee
was
(MANCO)
and
approved
for
implementation.
The other major achievement was the strengthening of
the interface between the Department and the Public
Entities. This was achieved through the establishment of
quarterly Oversight Forum between the Public Entities
and the Department.
The aim of the Forum is to discuss governance and
oversight issues in relation to Public Entities. Through
this Forum, the Department convened a number of
meetings with NDA, SASSA, South African Council Social
Services Professionals (SACSSP) and Central Drug
Authority (CDA) to discuss quarterly performance reports,
achievements,
including
challenges,
other
and
governance issues. The Forum further held a meeting
with CDA, as part of handing over from the old board to
the incoming board.
The Forum also coordinated a Joint Executive Committee
(EXCO) to conduct oversight on the SASSA and South
African Post Office (SAPO) and the Service Level
Agreement (SLA) between the two entities. The Joint
EXCO assisted in improving and resolving some of the
challenges that were experienced by SASSA and SAPO in
relation to paying of grants.
PART B: PERFORMANCE INFORMATION Financial Management and Administration financial
PERFORMANCE BY PROGRAMME
The Department, through this unit has the responsibility • Preliminary work towards an impact
to clear all correspondence from the Public Entities and evaluation of Children’s Act, 2005 (Act, No. 38
to be the liaison between the Entities and the of 2005),
Department and make recommendations on such • Synthesis Evaluation of Social Sector’s
communication. The unit developed a clear credential response to Food Relief Mechanisms during
form that assists in tracking of all the recommendations Covid-19, and
to the Director-General and the Minister. • Implementation evaluation of capacity
building on the Children’s Act, 2005 (Act, No.
Monitoring and Evaluation 38 of 2005) and Implementation evaluation of
Social Sector Infrastructure Programme.
The Department is in a process of developing an
electronic Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system for These studies are at various stages and have been
the Social Development Sector. The project will assist the presented in various forums. The evaluation processes
Department to improve its data collection, quality of data were aligned to the National Evaluation Policy
collected, reporting and risk management. To this end, an Framework (NEPF) and thus ensured that evidence from
inception report was produced and presented to the evaluations is used to inform decision making by
Steering Committee. managers and improve programme planning and
performance.
During the 2020/21 financial year, the Department
conducted various evaluations of priority interventions. Furthermore, digital transformation is a priority for the
These include amongst others; sector and the Real Time Monitoring Tool was developed
• The implementation and utilisation of the and tested in Mpumalanga in partnership with the
R350 Covid-19 SRD Grant, integrated justice system.
• Key Monitoring Indicators Measuring the
Impact of Covid-19 Lockdown on Child The Department finalised a report on sharing social
Wellbeing in South Africa, protection administrative data across government which
• Rapid assessment of Covid-19 Effects on 2020 demonstrated the academic performance of 2020 Grade
Grade 12 Learners receiving social protection 12 learners receiving social protection interventions. The
interventions, report was disseminated to key stakeholders.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT 2020/21 40