announcements, tablings and committee reports - Parliament of ...

4834 [Tuesday, 29 October 2013o Update and review Moveable Tangible Assets Registero Benchmarking nationally and internationally to obtain andimplement best practiceso Internal Audit to evaluate Moveable Tangible Assets to ensurecomplianceo Establish a nodal point to facilitate audit enquiries within theDepartment.5.2. Service delivery performance for 2013/14Oversight visit reports - summary of key service delivery issues.Some of the salient issues raised during the 2013 oversight visits include:• The poor condition of the infrastructure, equipment and facilities. Whilesome blame can be apportioned to the poor relationship between theDepartment and inability of the DPW, the continuous delay to properlyauthorise and capacitate the Defence Works Capability, the DOD isalso to blame.• Transformation in terms of race, gender and the utility in the rankstructure is still work in progress. Although the various units have madesignificant improvement in terms of transformation, it emerged that thedesired end state is still at a distant future.• The retention of scarce skills in especially the SAAF and SAN isconcerning and the Department is encouraged to dedicate moreattention to this aspect.• In certain units the grievance system does not operate optimally forvarious reasons.• The review of defence policy and especially the policy framework forthe restructuring of the South African defence related industry shouldbe clarified and finalised as a matter of urgency.• Accommodation for students, single and married members is achallenge in most of the units and were found to be either inadequate orin a poor condition.• The state of the vehicles in various units is unsatisfactory. Some of thevehicles are unserviceable and waiting for disposal through auctions.5.3. Concluding comments on service delivery performanceGiven that the Department is experiencing severe funding pressures asindicated throughout this Report (especially section 5.3), and the fact thatcurrent funding allocation is not commensurate ordered commitments, theDepartment had to resort to austerity measures and reprioritisation in orderto execute its mandate. The allocations in especially the 2013/14 budgetreflect the Landward Defence Programme correctly as the largestprogramme followed by the Maritime defence and Force EmploymentProgrammes. These spending trends are in line with the ministerialpriorities discussed earlier. The respective increases in the variousprogrammes are also in line with the spending over the MTEF period whichwill focus on border control and anti-piracy measures. Additional fundshave been allocated to accommodate the number of foreign deployments.ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS NO 147─2013