ATC140715: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development on Budget Vote 28: Economic Development and the Annual Performance Plan of the Economic Development Department for the 2014/2015 financial year, dated 10 July 2014
Economic Development
Report of
the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development on Budget Vote 28: Economic
Development and the Annual Performance Plan of the Economic Development
Department for the 2014/2015 financial year, dated 10 July 2014
The Portfolio Committee on Economic
Development, having considered Budget Vote 28 and the Annual Performance Plan of
the Economic Development Department for the 2014/2015 financial year, reports
as follows:
1.
BACKGROUND
The Economic Development Department (to be
referred to as the Department in the report) was established on 7 July 2009 in
terms of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation 103 of 1994). This was
following His Excellency, President JG Zumas creation of a new portfolio on
Economic Development on 10 May 2009 and the appointment of Mr E Patel as the Minister
for the new Department.
The mandate of the Department is to support job
creation, inclusive growth, industrialisation and social inclusion though
policy work, planning coordination, use of social dialogue, as well as
integration and coordination between departments, spheres of government and public
agencies.
The Department is responsible for monitoring and
implementation of the action plans on the various job drivers in the New Growth
Path (NGP). It is a key department for Outcome 4: Decent Employment through
Inclusive Growth. The Department is a core department in the economic and
infrastructure cluster of departments and in Outcome 6: An efficient,
competitive and responsive economic infrastructure network. It provides
technical support to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission
(PICC), whose Secretariat is chaired by the Minister of Economic Development.
EDD has five key strategic objectives, which are:
·
Coordination of
job drivers, sector and spatial projects and monitoring the implementation of
the New Growth Path (NGP);
§
Coordination of infrastructure development;
§
Promotion of investment, expanding of industrial funding and improving
the performance of the Development Finance Institutions;
§
Promotion of competition, trade and smart economic regulation; and
§
Facilitation of social dialogue and implementation of accords reached
through social dialogue.
The Department also provides support to the
Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Committee (PICC), through active
construction monitoring of the level of infrastructure construction and
completion and preparing the Quarterly Construction Update, providing oversight
of Strategic Integrated Projects (SIP) Intergovernmental Forums and
Coordinating Agencies.
The Department oversees the Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC) and its subsidiary, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency
sefa.
The Department is also
responsible for three specialist
regulators namely, the Competition Commission, Competition Tribunal and the
International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC).
The Department administers
the following legislation:
Industrial Development Corporation Act (Act
No. 22 of 1940);
Competition Act (Act No. 89 of 1998);
Competition Amendment Act S16 (2008) s16
promulgated 1 April 2013;
International Trade Administration Act (Act
No 71 of
2002); and
Infrastructure Development Act (Act No. 23 of
2014).
The following policy frameworks guide the APP of the Department:
·
State of the Nation Address (SONA) annually
·
National
Development Plan;
·
New Growth Path;
·
National
Infrastructure Plan;
·
Industrial Policy
Action Plan;
·
Delivery Agreement
on Outcome 4: Decent Employment through inclusive economic growth;
·
Delivery Agreement
on Outcome 5: Skilled and capable workforce to support inclusive growth;
·
Delivery Agreement
on Outcome 6: Efficient, competitive and responsive infrastructure;
·
Delivery Agreement
on Outcome 7: Vibrant, equitable, sustainable rural communities; and
·
Framework for
South Africas response to the international economic crisis.
The Department facilitated and monitors the
following Social Accords:
§
Basic
Education Accord;
§
National
Skills Accord;
§
Local
Procurement Accord;
§
Green
Economy Accord; and
§
Youth
Employment Accord.
2.
INTRODUCTION
The Portfolio
Committee on Economic Development (the Committee) analysed the Strategic Plan, Annual
Performance Plan and the budget of the Department.
Government has the responsibility to ensure
responsible spending
, given the limited nature of public funds.
It is important for budget plans to be linked to strategic plans so as to
ensure that key objectives and priorities are budgeted for and achieved. Thus,
the purpose of the meeting was to assess and analyse the Strategic Plan, APP
and budget of the Department with a view of ensuring that there is alignment of
reporting between the Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plan and budget.
This
report details the findings and recommendations of the Committee after its
engagement with the Department on the above.
This report covers the budget
vote and annual performance plan of the Department only and the report on the
Entities will be covered separately.
3.
THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN (APP) OF
THE DEPARTMENT
On
1 July 2014, the Committee engaged the Minister of Economic Development (the
Minister), Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Director-General, Chief
Financial Officer (CFO) and relevant Executive Managers of the Department on the
APP and budget.
The APP of the Department sets out what the institution intends doing in
the remaining nine months of the financial year and during the Medium Term
Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to implement its Strategic Plan.
The presentation of the APP also sets out Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
and targets for budget programmes, and sub-programmes whilst also indicating
how the Department aims to realise its goals and objectives set out in the
Strategic Plan.
The APP of the Department is therefore linked to the Strategic Plan, the
budget and the MTEF and is informed by updates to governments long-term plans,
the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and the broader Government implementation
plan of action.
3.1.
The
2014/15 financial year APP process
The Departments
Strategic Plan of 2012/13 2016/17 is currently under review, pending the
requirement of tabling of a five year strategic plan for the period 2015/16 to
2019/20 in March 2015. The APP for the 2014/15 financial year has been revised
to reflect the new MTSF approved by Cabinet. It is therefore effectively a plan
for the next nine months, specifically July 2014 to March 2015.
Governments
economic strategies are rooted in the vision of the NDP as well as the ruling
partys 2014 Elections Manifesto, which foresee an economy that is
characterised by robust growth, rising employment, and increasing inequality.
The NDP sets the target for creation of 11 million jobs by 2030. The NGP is the
economic strategy to implement these mandates, for which the MTSF provides
specific, practical and verifiable actions.
The APP of the Department
reflects substantial changes from the previous APP, which both reflect the
requirements for the new MTSF and mark a stronger outcomes-oriented approach.
The strategic objectives and the related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have
been revised to take into account the MTSFs core objectives, in particular in
terms of inclusive growth and economic infrastructure. Moreover, the APP is
directed at high-priority activities.
One of the
major aims of the APP is to strengthen managerial and political oversight by
focusing objectives to priority outcomes. The achievement of this objective may
require that the Department involves other departments, state agencies as well
as and in some cases, the main economic stakeholders.
3.2
. Budget of the Department
The 2014 Estimates of National
Expenditure (ENE) states that:
Over six Medium Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF) periods, funds made available for allocation to government institutions
have gradually decreased as a proportion of the total budget, from 7.4% in the
2009 Budget to 1.2% in the 2014 Budget. In this context, providing funds for
key government priority areas has meant that budget processes are increasingly
being focused on freeing these existing resources from areas of lower priority
and inefficiency, for allocation to areas that have a greater developmental
impact.
More service delivery needs to be achieved with the current
level of resources. (ENE, 2014: ii)
The Department gets a total
of R697 million out of the R635 billion national budget appropriation from
National Treasury. National Treasury reduced the Departments baseline
allocation by R6 million (goods and services) and a reduction of R50 million
related to the economic competitiveness and support package that was allocated
to
sefa
.
3.3. Departmental Budget by Programme
The EDD has
four (4) core business components, namely:
·
Administration
(which includes the PICC Technical Unit);
·
Economic Policy Development;
·
Economic
Planning and Coordination; and
·
Socio Economic
and Social Dialogue.
3.3.1 The budget allocations for the above programmes:
In terms of resource consideration, there has
been n
o major
increase anticipated in the budget.
The Administration programme
consists of 3 sub-programmes,
with the latest addition being that of PICC unit. As shown in figure 1 below,
this programme covers 12% of the total Departments budget. It is the second
largest of the programmes and constitutes the Departments overall management,
administration and policy development. Within the Administration programme is
sub-programme for the Minister, which also covers the PICC unit; Office of the
Director-General, and general management services. The PICC was initially not
part of the Administration but the Planning Programme. The budget allocation
for Administration increased as a result of the internal re-alignment of funds
to posts and the inflation adjustment provided for by National Treasury.
The Economic Policy Development programme
consists
of 4 sub-programmes. As shown in figure 1 below, this programme covers
3% of the total Departments budget, the third largest of the programmes.
Within the Economic Policy Development programme are sub programmes on Growth
Path and Creation of Decent Work; Economic Policy; Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment (BBBEE); and Second Economy. The budget allocation has reduced by
R2.4 million.
The Economic Planning and Co-ordination
programme
consists of 5 sub-programmes. As shown in figure 1
this programme covers 83% of the total Departments budget, making it the
largest of the programmes. Within the Economic Planning and Co-ordination
programme are sub programmes Spatial, Sector and Planning; Investment for
Economic Development; Competitiveness and Trade for Decent Work; Economic
Development, Financing and Procurement; and Green Economy. The original
allocation for the 2013/14 financial year was R663.8 million. There has been a
decline of R84.8 million. The decrease was mainly as a result of the budget cut
in the Economic Competitiveness Support package amounting to R50 million and
the internal re-alignment of funds to posts.
The Socio Economic Development and Social Dialogue
programme
(previously listed as Economic Development and
Dialogue in the strategic plan) consists of 4 sub-programmes. As shown in
figure 1 below, this programme covers 2% of the total Departments budget,
making it the smallest of the programmes. The original allocation was R18.3
million and this has been reduced by R3.3 million. The decrease has been as a
result of the budget cut and re-alignment of posts.
3.3.2 EDD Budget: Percentage share by Programme
Figure
1
3.4. Departmental planning process
The strategic planning
process in the Department entailed two elements:
Firstly, the Department
effected a number of changes in its focus in light of the successful conclusion
of 4 major Accords and the establishment of the PICC.
Secondly, a departmental
strategic planning session was held at which the overall objectives of the
Department were assessed together with the consideration of each units
programmes strategic objectives, medium and short-term plans and key projects.
In the APP, the Department
streamlined the performance indicators to make them smarter, and to enhance the
coherence and strategic focus of its work. A total of six (6) core-mandate
strategic objectives with 22 KPIs and 154 targets or outcomes were set and are
expected to be delivered in the course of the year. The Department has placed
an increased emphasis on the following:
·
Providing
quality information for better coordination;
·
Developing
simple, well-targeted dashboards to allow decision-makers to see progress;
·
Unblocking or
fast-tracking projects and investments;
·
Building
partnerships with stakeholders to ensure better implementation; and
·
Developing new
plans and policies where these lead to better implementation of existing
frameworks.
3.5. The
Departments strategic objectives
The strategic objectives of
the Department have been reviewed. The focus in the APP is into higher level
strategic objectives better equipped for the coordinating and integration
mandate of the Department.
The Departments six
strategic objectives are aligned to and supportive of its key programmes,
namely Administration, Economic Policy Development, Economic Planning and Coordination
and Socio Economic and Social Dialogue.
3.5.1.
Strategic
objective 1 (PROGRAMME 1 ADMINISTRATION)
Strategic objective 1 relates
to administrative support for the Ministry and the Department by ensuring that
there is a well managed Department which will support the economic development
through continuous refinement of organisational strategy and structure in line
with appropriate legislation and best practice.
The NGP raises the key
issue of improving the capability of the state and this requires re-tooling
across government including also the Department. As part of the new strategic objectives
and MTSF, the Department plans to review its organisational structure, the
budget programme structure, and the Strategic and Annual Performance Plans. The
review will ensure that the Department is appropriately resourced and
structured. Moreover, this will strengthen the Department to be able to play
its coordination and facilitation role on making the environment conducive for
the creation of jobs and improving the growth prospect of the economy.
3.5.2.
Strategic objective 2 (ECONOMIC POLICY
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME)
Strategic objective 2 relates to the coordination
of jobs drivers, sector/spatial projects and implementation of the NGP for job
creation, inclusive growth, industrialisation and social inclusion. This is in
line with the Departments core function of supporting alignment across all
state agencies to encourage sustainable, inclusive growth and job creation.
The Department has gained a lot of experience
with the PICC in infrastructure development. The experience has been
extraordinarily helpful and it will be used to develop mechanisms for
coordinating and supporting implementation for other jobs drivers in areas such
as manufacturing, mining, agriculture and services such as tourism.
The Department aims to develop effective
implementation systems that will drive the actions of the state to unlock the
potential of the productive sectors of the economy.
The MTSF requires that the Department develops similar systems for other
Job Drivers in the NGP and the economy as a whole.
The KPIs for objective 2 are:
·
KPI 1: to coordinate
and support implementation of two (2) job drivers, through development of
information and monitoring dashboards; collation of data on performance; aligning
activities with overall government plans and unblocking obstacles to
implementation;
·
KPI 2: participation
in the Cluster and Outcome 4 processes within government to facilitate
achievement of economic outcomes of the MTSF. The Department aims to have four
(4) quarterly progress reports on Outcome 4; and two (2) in-depth reviews of
progress, opportunities and risks for Cabinet Makgotla;
·
KPI 3: strengthening
the implementation of the NGP as part of achieving the National Development
Plan (NDP) goals by 2030. These are target 4 initiatives;
·
KPI 4:
completing six (6) spatial, local and/or provincial initiatives to support
inclusive growth and job creation, national economic priorities and promote
greater accountability. This also includes measures to improve provincial economic
development oversight and performance.
3.5.3.
Strategic
objective 3 (PROGRAMME 3 ECONOMIC PLANNING AND COORDINATION)
Strategic objective
3 aims at coordinating infrastructure development for inclusive growth, service
delivery, job creation, industrialisation and social inclusion. This arises out
of the Departments role in supporting the PICC under the Infrastructure
Development Act, in particular the provision of the technical unit and
strategic frameworks and targets. The MTSF sees the public investment programme
as central to economic transformation in particular because it can provide
extensive support for existing and emerging productive enterprises. On the one
hand, the build programme encourages investment to supply inputs, and on the
other it secures improved inputs for producers, notably electricity and water
as well as logistics. Infrastructure is fundamental to service delivery for
communities.
The KPIs for
objective 3 are:
·
KPI 5: The
Department plans to produce 60 Cabinet-level quarterly progress reports on each
SIP;
·
KPI 6: The
Department plans to unblock fast-track or facilitate a total of 8 Infrastructure
projects;
·
KPI 7: The
Department plans to implement four (4) Cabinet and PICC strategic decisions on
infrastructure (including policy, funding, users, development impact or
capacity-development areas); and
·
KPI 8:
Secretariat and coordination function provided for PICC: The Department intends
to hold 20 Council, Secretariat, Management Committee (MANCO) and SIP
Coordinators meetings.
3.5.4.
Strategic objective 4
(PROGRAMME
3 ECONOMIC PLANNING AND COORDINATION)
Strategic objective 4 aims at promoting
investments, expanding industrial funding and entrepreneurship and improving
performance of DFIs for job creation, inclusive growth, industrialisation and
social inclusion. The Department
supports new
investments that will diversify the economy and create employment both
directly, by addressing blockages, and through its oversight of the IDC and
sefa
. The Department needs to ensure
that investments do more to support inclusive growth by driving
industrialisation, creating jobs and providing more opportunities for women,
youth, Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and rural people.
In the MTSF, the Department will dedicate capacity to facilitate and unblock
productive investments as required through identifying innovative opportunities
for diversification and growth, helping to establish supportive frameworks, and
overcoming delays in decision making by relevant agencies. This also reflects
the Departments role of overseeing the IDC and
sefa
. These two agencies have a central role in increasing
financing for new investments to support growth in the core productive sectors,
diversification, employment creation, expansion in smaller enterprises, and
greater economic equality overall.
The Department will work to improve the efficiencies of the DFIs and
expand the level of industrial funding available across government and DFIs and
their impact on jobs, women, youth, small business, black industrialists,
township enterprises, rural development and entrepreneurship.
The KPIs for objective 4 are to:
·
KPI 9: Facilitate,
fast track and/or unblock 10 investment initiatives;
·
KPI 10: Make
four (4) to improve the efficiencies of DFIs and ensure world-class
institutions through strategic guidance and Departmental work;
·
KPI 11: Measure
and expand the level of industrial funding available across government and DFIs.
The target here is two (2) initiatives;
·
KPI 12: Undertaking
two (2) initiatives to measure and facilitate the improvement of the jobs
impact of industrial funding, administered through DFIs and/or government
departments; and
·
KPI 13: Take two
(2) initiatives to measure and facilitate developmental goals through
industrial funding (including women, youth, small business, black
industrialists, township enterprises, rural development, and entrepreneurship).
3.5.5.
Strategic objective 5
(PROGRAMME
3 ECONOMIC PLANNING AND COORDINATION)
Strategic objective 5 aims at promoting
competition, trade and other economic regulation in support of job creation,
inclusive growth, industrialisation and social inclusion. The Departments
oversight of key regulatory agencies, namely, the Competition
Commission, Competition Tribunal and ITAC involves setting policy frameworks
and goals and ensuring good governance and efficiency.
The Department will continue to strengthen the administrative efficiency
of trade and competition authorities and ensure world-class institutions
through strategic guidance and Departmental work and evaluate and strengthen
the impact of economic regulators on job creation, inclusive growth and
developmental goals.
Under the MTSF, the Department will also build the regulatory capacity
and effectiveness across the state, including through improved training of
regulators and, where necessary, the consolidation of regulatory institutions
or amendments to legislation.
The KPIs for objective 5 are:
·
KPI 14: Strengthening
administrative efficiency of trade and competition authorities and ensuring
world-class institutions through strategic guidance and Departmental work. The
Department plans to carry out three (3) initiatives;
·
KPI 15: Evaluating
and strengthening the jobs, inclusive growth and developmental impact of
economic regulators. The Department therefore plans to undertake four (4)
initiatives;
·
KPI 16: Seek to
reduce red-tape and unnecessary restrictions on enterprises and/or improve
impact assessment of government/regulatory measures. The target for the 2014/15
financial year is two (2) initiatives; and
·
KPI 17: Undertake
one (1) initiative to build regulatory capacity and effectiveness across the
state, including through improved training of regulators and where necessary,
consolidating regulatory institutions and administration/amendment of
legislation. The MTSF requires the Department to conduct a review of all
economic regulators and propose improvements.
3.5.6.
Strategic objective 6
(PROGRAMME 4 SOCIO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE)
Strategic objective 6 relates to the facilitation
of social dialogue and implementation of social accords; support productivity
and innovation for job creation, inclusive growth, industrialisation and social
inclusion; and promote broader consensus on other key strategic objectives. The
social accords concluded to date include the Youth Employment
Accord, the Green Economy Accord, the Local Procurement Accord and the National
skills Accord/Basic Education Accord. The Departments current task will be to
work with stakeholders to improve implementation. Social dialogue at national,
sectoral and workplace level is also crucial for sustainable long-run growth.
The KPIs for objective 6 are:
·
KPI 18: Supporting
local procurement of goods and services and/or implementation of the Local
Procurement Accord. The target for this KPI is four (4) interventions;
·
KPI 19: Supporting
the development of the green economy and green jobs and/or implementation of
the Green Economy Accord and the target is two (2) interventions;
·
KPI 20: Enhancing
skills development and/or implementation of the National Skills Accord and the
target is two (2) interventions;
·
KPI 21: Enhance
youth empowerment (employment, skills or entrepreneurship) and/or
implementation of the Youth Employment Accord and the target is four (4)
interventions; and
·
KPI 22: Assess
national, sector or workplace economic development partnerships facilitated
with social partners and the target is four (4) initiatives, covering
commitments to work together on economic goals; improve social equity and
productivity and reduce workplace conflict, and/or promote greater innovation
and entrepreneurship.
4.
COMMITTEE
FINDINGS/OBSERVATIONS
4.1. Economic Development
The Committee notes the importance of the Economic
Development Department and the critical role it has to play in addressing the
national triple challenges facing the country that is unemployment, poverty and
inequality. The Committee also acknowledges that innovative strategies and well
resourced programmes would enable the Department to deliver on its mandate, of
ensuring inclusive growth, job creation, improved service delivery,
industrialization and social inclusion.
4.2. Strengthen programmes, strategies and
policies that would ensure inclusive growth, support for the Youth; SMMEs and
Cooperatives
The development of policy frameworks for increasing productivity,
enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship is one of the aims and key activities
of the Department. The Committee stressed the importance of ensuring that the Department
enhances the development and implementation of strategies, policies and
interventions that would ensure inclusive growth, support for the Youth and put
more emphasis on the advancement of SMMEs and Cooperatives. The Committee
emphasised that Cooperatives need to be included in the real economy as they
are also one way of overcoming the gap between the rich and the poor.
The Department has a role in overseeing the DFIs which are the IDC and
sefa,
as part of the IDC. It was observed that the Department, through the entities,
can also play a critical role in industrial financing and promotion of
entrepreneurship. The Committee also welcomes the establishment of the new
Ministry of Small Business Development and recognises the important role that this
Ministry will play in advancing SMME development and support.
4.3. Enhanced oversight on the work of
the Entities that report to the EDD
The Department also has a role in overseeing three Economic Regulatory
Bodies (ERBs), namely, the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC),
the Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal. Strategic objective 5
of the Department requires that it promotes competition, trade and economic
regulation. The Department needs to continue strengthening the administrative
efficiency of trade and competition authorities, ensure that these entities
become efficient and effective, and commit to reduce unnecessary red-tape that
hinders investment, job creation, inclusive growth and development.
4.4. Implementation of Accords
The Committee commends the Department on the successful coordination
and facilitation of the Accords, namely Nationals Skills/Basic Education; Youth
Employment; Local Procurement and Green Economy. The Committee recognises that
a greater part of the work of the Department will be on monitoring
implementation of the Accords.
The Committee acknowledges
that all the Accords are important. However, the Committee re-emphasises that moving
faster on skills development would be critical as this would ensure that there
are no skills shortages for implementation of the key infrastructure
programmes.
Subsequent to the concern
that imports are still considerably more than exports, the
Department
is
urged to ensure promotion of local procurement and increase domestic production
by ensuring that more is sourced from local producers.
4.5. Develop mechanisms for coordination
and implementation of the additional identified job drivers
The countries unemployment rate of 25% remains a challenge. Thus unemployment
is still a major concern and remains top government priority. The high rate of
unemployment requires much more innovation in the development of mechanisms to
implement policies and strategies that would ensure creation of jobs and
unlocking potential of the productive sectors of the economy.
The Committee noted that unrest in the mining industry was one of the
key challenges that would negatively affect economic growth of the country and attainment
of set economic policy targets. The Committee noted that this challenge posed
as a threat in the attainment of economic growth and had spill over effects to
other industries. It was observed that the Department, in its APP, had
identified additional job drivers in productive sectors of the economy with high
potential for job creation. These sectors are manufacturing, mining,
agriculture and services such as tourism.
4.6. Acceleration of the
implementation of infrastructure programmes, especially the 18 identified
Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs)
The NGP seeks to create 5 million new jobs by 2020, identifies
structural problems in the economy to be overcome and points to opportunities
in specific sectors and markets or job drivers. Infrastructure has since been
identified as one of the jobs driver, thus laying the basis for higher growth,
inclusivity and job creation.
Following the formulation of the Infrastructure Development Act (Act
No. 23 of 2014), which the Department facilitated and coordinated, one of its
core responsibilities would be to provide oversight, ensure coordination,
implementation of the SIPs, National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) worth trillion
rands and also offer secretariat support to the PICC.
The Committee emphasised that the Department will have to be well
resourced and ensure that it quickly gets the required capacity. It would then be
able to monitor and ensure accelerated implementation of the infrastructure
programmes, especially the identified SIPs.
4.7. Ensure implementation of NGP and
provide reports on the impact of programmes on job creation and progress on the
implementation of infrastructure projects
Job creation remains the top
government priority and is at the heart of the countrys economic policies. The
Departments mandate is shaped by the NGP whose main aim is to ensure job
creation and thus sets a target of 5 million jobs by 2020.
The Committee observed
that the Department has to continue ensuring that there is enhanced effort for
the development and implementation of policies. The Department also needs to
ensure proposal that will transform the 2
nd
economy, broaden
participation in the economy and create more work opportunities. Moreover, the Department
has to enhance its efforts on the coordination, monitoring and implementation
of the NGP.
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the deliberations with
the Economic Development Department, the Portfolio Committee on Economic
Development recommends the following:
5.1.
The Department should ensure that it is well resourced
both financially and in terms of human resource capacity in order to be able to
deliver on the programmes and initiatives it has outlined.
5.2.
The Department should ensure that it fills the vacant
posts as a matter of urgency as lack of full capacity would adversely affect
delivery on the set programmes.
5.3.
The
Department
should, through its entities, expand industrial funding; ensure
support for entrepreneurship and development of SMMEs and Cooperatives.
5.4.
The
Department
should continue with its effort of ensuring that the regulatory
authorities strengthen their investigation on competition and unfair trade that
hinders the development of local industries.
5.5.
The
Department
should evaluate and strengthen the impact of the entities on job
creation, inclusive growth and developmental goals of the Countrys economy.
5.6.
The
Department
should focus more on skills development that would empower youth,
women and all other vulnerable groups.
5.7.
The Department should accelerate implementation of the accords and
provide the Committee with quarterly progress reports.
5.8.
The
Department
should continue with its coordinating efforts of ensuring that
formulating plans that would ensure regard for the future of the mining sector
are considered and that alternative strategies that would ensure sustainability
of the mining industry are developed.
5.9.
The Department should also continue with its coordinating efforts of
ensuring promotion of beneficiation strategies and plans that would ensure
creation of sustainable employment.
5.10.
The
Department
is urged to ensure that it devises mechanisms and policies
that would ensure promotion of local producers and local goods
.
5.11.
The
Department
should ensure close monitoring and coordination of
efforts to speed up the implementation of key infrastructure projects,
especially those identified by the President in the State of the Nation Address
(SONA).
5.12.
The Department should enhance oversight and coordination on ensuring
implementation of the NGP objectives across all spheres of government.
5.13.
The
Department
should measure impact of State programmes and projects on job creation
and provide the Committee with quarterly reports.
5.14.
The
Department
should develop a monitoring tool that would ensure effective tracking
of progress on the implementation of infrastructure projects and report as
often as required by the laws governing infrastructure implementation.
5.15.
The Minister should brief the Committee on the progress made on
economic development related matters on a continuous basis.
5.16.
The Minister should also brief the Committee on a continuous basis on
the progress related to treaties and agreements signed between South Africa and
various economic communities in and outside the Southern African region.
Related to that should be trade issues including plans in response to the (Southern
African Customs Union) SACU administration management related issues.
6. CONCLUSION
In
conclusion, the Committee would like to thank the Ministry and the entire
collective of the Department led by the Director-General (DG) on their
continuous effort to enhance the fight towards a national democratic revolution
by applying radical economic transformation methods. The Committee believes
that if the Department continues doing so, South Africa will move with speed to
achieve the desired socio-economic outcomes it so much desires.
Gratitude
also goes to the newly established Portfolio Committee on Small Business
Development, which participated in Budget Vote 28 discussions. Their input and
contribution is appreciated.
The
Committee thus recommends that the Assembly approves the implementation of the
Strategic Plan and APP of the Economic Development Department within the
allocated budget with amendments as reflected in the above findings and
observations.
Report
considered.
Documents
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