GDF Annual Report - Gauteng Provincial Treasury

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe 2010/2011 fiscal period was a successful onefor the Gauteng Department of Finance (GDF). Thedepartment recorded numerous important milestonesin its effort to effect prudent financial management inthe province, job creation and service delivery to thepeople of Gauteng.Achieving efficiencies in financial management andenhancing the internal control environment was one ofour key priorities for the year under review. As such, weimplemented stringent cost containment measures toensure that business units spend within their budgets.Amongst other things, we amended the TelephonePolicy, reduced monthly allowances for landlinesand mobile phones across the board. In addition, weimplemented a Soft-Lock facility on all departmentalmobile phones and also transferred mobile phonecontracts from the GDF to respective employees.With regards to our fleet management, we introduced theG-Fleet Control System, which resulted in the reductionof our transport operating expenditure. Significantsavings were also achieved by centralising stationery,stores, travelling, catering, and in the procurementof telephone, training, bursaries, and resettlementcosts. Finally, we introduced a moratorium on filling allnon-critical vacancies across the department. Thesemeasures enabled the GDF to operate within its budgetbaseline. As a result, the department had spent 98% ofits adjusted budget appropriation of R1, 515bn by theend of the financial year.Other successes achieved were in the managementof supplier payments. They were realised in a difficultperiod which was bedeviled by cash-flow challenges. Inthis regard, not only did we reduce the department’sliabilities, but also minimised potential and reallitigation, and it’s concomitant and negative publicity.The Procure to Pay Unit continued to provideprocurement services to the Gauteng ProvincialGovernment. We also leveraged from advancedtechnology to automate, standardise, and streamlinedadministrative processes. These initiatives enabled usto source 2% of all agricultural produce consumed by theprovincial government directly from emerging farmers.Consequently, we contributed to the creation of decentwork, and in building a growing- inclusive economy andsustainable livelihoods. For the second successiveyear, Procure to Pay received the South African Bureauof Standards prestigious ISO 9001:2008 certification.This award confirmed the high excellence standardsemployed in this business unit.From a health empowerment front, we awarded 74.1%of all maintenance contracts for medical equipment toBEE suppliers. These entities were accredited agentsunder the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)standard. What’s more, we realized an average of8% savings valued at R11, 2m on the procurement ofMedical Equipment.We intensified our drive to provide a world-class,customer-focused and consultative human resourceservice to the GPG. In this regard, we implemented anumber of innovative solutions to improve customerexperience in human resource administration. Inresponse to the high volumes of CVs that our TalentAttraction Unit received monthly, we established aProfessional Job Centre at the Thusong Centre whichis located in the Maponya Mall in Soweto. This was thefirst facility of this nature which brought governmentrecruitment closer to where people live, and in a retailcomplex frequented by millions.This intervention meant that whilst Sowetan’s weredoing their shopping and other related activities, theywere enabled to walk into our facility, check availablevacancies, receive career advice, and apply online forsuch vacancies.Other innovations considered and implementedincluded efforts to reduce the high volume of manualcapturing of payment of allowances. As such, the PayrollService Unit automated these processes which resultedin the reduction of processing times from three (3) days44Annual Report 2010 / 2011