DA's Plan for Growth and Jobs - Democratic Alliance

assessment of the proposed measure; (ii) identify the various alternative options available(i.e. do nothing, propose self-regulation or introduce regulations); (iii) assess the relevantenforcement, monitoring and review mechanisms; (iv) provide a record of the consultationand information-gathering process; and (v) indicate a recommended option or course ofaction based on a cost/ benefit analysis. These indicators will be used to estimate the likelyimpact of proposed legislation and regulations on economic growth, employment creation,poverty reduction, income distribution, economic redress, public health, and environmentalsustainability.Increase penalties for corruptionAmend Section 86 of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999, so that the 5 yearlimit on prison sentences for persons convicted under the act is increased, and the relevantclause in subsections 86(1), 86(2) and 86 (3) reads ‘an accounting officer is guilty of anoffence and liable on conviction to a fine, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10years…’Enhance tender compliance oversightEnhance the powers of tender compliance and monitoring authorities to improve theiroversight capacities and investigate whether tenders and other contracts awarded by stateentities represent optimal value for money.National Business Interests of Employees ActIntroduce a National Business Interests of Employees Act, based on the Western Capeprovincial legislation, to significantly tighten restrictions on state employees doing businesswith the national government, and limit the scope for corruption. It will limit the amount ofstock, shares, membership or other interest an official may have in an entity that doesbusiness with the state and require that entities providing goods or services to thegovernment provide an affidavit disclosing whether or not it is owned or part-owned byemployees of national or provincial governments. In addition, state officials will be requiredto disclose their business interests at prescribed intervals.Public Service Graduate Recruitment ProgrammeDevelop a formal graduate recruitment programme for the public service featuring skillsstrategies and programmes for senior management, technical professionals and localgovernment staff components. The programme will require a basic entrance examination toensure that public officials possess basic competencies, and will, in addition, pilot a highperformance‘fast stream’ recruitment initiative modelled on the UK system to attractedtalented individuals from the best universities.Activity based costing pilot projectIntroduce Activity Based Costing (ABC) as a pilot project in four government departments toreduce costs and wastage, and promote efficiency. ABC is a special costing model thatidentifies activities in an organization and assigns the cost of each activity with resources toall products and services according to the actual consumption by each. This model assignsmore indirect costs (overhead) into direct costs compared to conventional costing models.The four departments are: the Presidency, International Relations and Cooperation, Arts andCulture and Correctional Services.64 | P a g e