sahr2001 - Health Systems Trust

7 • Annual Reports and the Public Finance Management Act
Box 3:
Review of the Annual Report of the 10 Departments of Health
With reference to this part of the Treasury Guideline, the 2000/2001 Annual Reports clearly
set out the performance against objectives. The strategic goals with situational snapshots
should set out the achievements for the Departments. The 2000/2001 Annual Reports only
provide statistics in terms of the existing situation. Attention should be devoted to what the
Department intends to do about reducing or changing the statistics to meet the specific
goals.
The strategic objectives should state quantifiable performance measures that can be used to
assess if the Department actually achieved its objectives. These objectives must also relate
to the information that has been published during the Minister of Finances’ Budget speech
and relate to the information that has been published by the national Treasury on Budget Day
in the National Medium Term Expenditure Estimates.
Example:
A programme on decreasing infant mortality rates. This should include the measurable
objective that there would be a 5% reduction. The Annual Report would then contain a
schedule of the previous year’s deaths as compared to the current year’s deaths. This would
indicate if the target reduction has been achieved.
Part 4:
Audit Reports, Financial Statements and other Financial Information
The annual report and audited financial statements must fairly present the
state of affairs of the Department, its financial results, its performance against
predetermined objectives, and its financial position as at the end of the
financial year concerned. The Annual Report must include information
regarding the Department’s economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in delivering
outputs and achieving its objectives/outcomes against the measures and
indicators set out in the strategic plan for the year under consideration. The
annual report must include any other additional financial information that
may be required by Parliament/Provincial Legislature. The use of any foreign
aid assistance (including aid-in-kind), the source of the assistance, the intended
use of the assistance, performance information in relation to the Department’s
use of the assistance, and any pending applications for assistance must also
be reported. The value of aid-in-kind must be reported in South African
Rands.
The Treasury Regulations require that the Department include notes on the
following in the annual report:
◆ Information on the tariffs policy, including any free service(s) that were
rendered, but not taken into account in the budget and which could
have yielded significant revenue
◆ All contingent liabilities incurred during the financial year
◆ Any material losses recovered or written off
◆ Any material losses through criminal conduct, and any unauthorised,
irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure that occurred during the
financial year
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