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Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. Briefing on the 2004 / 05 Annual Report 25 October 2005. Strategic Objectives - 2004 / 2005. To establish the Commission as a focal point in the delivery of free and fair elections;
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Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs Briefing on the 2004 / 05 Annual Report 25 October 2005
Strategic Objectives - 2004 / 2005 • To establish the Commission as a focal point in the delivery of free and fair elections; • To develop and implement human resources management and development systems; • To prepare and maintain a high quality voters’ roll; • To offer high quality electoral services in order to facilitate voting by all eligible voters;
Strategic Objectives - 2004 / 2005 Cont • To inform voters on electoral processes and to ensure maximum political participation; • To maintain and consolidate organisational systems and infrastructure in preparation for future elections; • To operate and maintain sound financial management systems, including internal controls.
Strategic Objective 1To establish the Commission as a focal point in the delivery of free and fair elections Results: 2004 / 05 • Embarked on projects to enhance free and fair and democratic elections; • Developed programme to ensure a well-informed corps of domestic and international observers; • Liaised with civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, traditional leaders, youth, women and political parties to ensure understanding of voting processes and procedures;
Strategic Objective 1 Cont • Briefed diplomatic and donor communities in SA about IEC activities; • Liaised with government departments on IDs for voters and voting infrastructure; • Participated in 27 conferences, observer missions and technical assistance projects; • Provided technical assistance and participated in observer missions to the USA AND 11 African countries; • Independence and impartiality of Commission maintained.
Strategic Objective 2To develop and implement human resources management and development systems • The Commission has a total of 249 approved full time positions. There were 44 vacancies at the end of the financial year; • Total expenditure on personnel was 29.5% of the budget; • The relatively low staff turnover at the IEC is illustrated by the fact that only 9 staff members resigned during the period under review. • The Commission has a 5-year Employment Equity (EE) plan;
Strategic Objective 2 Cont • An EE Committee has been established which meets regularly to review targets set in the plan; • The Employment Equity report was submitted to the Department of Labour as required. • Staff attended 201 skills development and training activities during the year under review. • A Performance Management System linked to the training and developmental needs of staff was implemented; • No collective agreements were entered into but a staff association was established; • Promotion of HIV and AIDS awareness takes place in the workplace.
Strategic Objective 3To prepare and maintain a high quality voters’ roll • Focus on review of the 2004 elections and preparations for 2005/6 municipal elections: • To identify lessons for future election plans • To ensure continuous improvement in accuracy of voters’ roll • Challenges remain: • Develop mechanisms to ensure that voters’ roll is continually updated to complement general registration weekends; • Source data from state institutions and municipalities to improve service quality to voters in informal and rural areas.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE NET GROWTH IN REGISTERED VOTERS: 1999/2004
Strategic Objective 4To offer the high quality electoral services in order to facilitate voting by all eligible voters • The Commission has national, provincial and local offices. • The CEO convened a national debriefing workshop to discuss key lessons learnt during the 2004 elections. • The IEC’s provincial offices focused on the following: • Rollback of election material • Disposal of certain election material • Running by-elections • Ongoing democracy education projects • Capturing data from voter registration application forms • Fieldwork for re-delimiting voting districts for municipal elections
Strategic Objective 4Cont • The local offices are managed by the Municipal Electoral Officers (MEO) who are normally senior municipal employees identified to assist with electoral work on a part-time basis. • The MEOs facilitate co-operation between the Commission and municipalities. • There are 237 MEOs spread across the country. • Challenge remains: how best to cater for voters in far-flung areas.
Strategic Objective 4 Cont Electoral Logistics • Sufficient voting materials were available at voting stations for the 2004 elections; • Main Activities: • Provisioning for Election Day • Rollback of election material • Disposal of some election material • Maintenance and repair of Zip-Zip scanners
Strategic Objective 4 Cont • Number of Voting Stations: • Increased as follows - 14 652 (1999); 14 988 (2000); 16 966 (2004); and 18 569 (Post-2004); • With highest percentage change between 1999 and post-2004 being Northern Cape (71%) and Eastern Cape (69%). • IEC has embarked on projects to: • Improve alignment of voting districts to patterns of voter registration and human settlement distribution patterns; • Promote voter access to voting stations.
Strategic Objective 5To inform voters on electoral processes and to ensure maximum political participation • Registered Political parties At National level – 70 • Of which 2 were registered in the period under review At Local level – 34 • Of which 1 was registered in the period under review • 19 parties were deregistered • 6 due to failure to renew their registration; • 13 due to non-participation in the 2004 elections. • Floor-crossing resulted in the registration of 1 new party; • The status of parties after floor-crossing is reflected in pages 34 to 38 of the Annual Report.
Strategic Objective 5 Cont • 155 by-elections were held to fill ward vacancies following • Resignations of 83 councillors; • Deaths of 45 councillors; • 15 councillors ceasing to be members of parties that nominated them; • 12 councils being dissolved.
Strategic Objective 5Cont • More than 200 000 officials required training before the days set aside for special votes and Election Day • Training was based on registered statement of competence lodged with SAQA • Trainers drawn from ranks of municipal election officials and ABET Institute at UNISA • Presiding Officers and Deputies had to score 80% in a written test before they were regarded as sufficiently competent for voting and counting procedures.
Strategic Objective 5Cont • Results Centres were set up in all provincial capitals and the national Results Centre in Pretoria; • It took less than 3 days for the IEC to process in excess of 33 000 results from the voting stations
Strategic Objective 5Cont Electoral Democracy and Voter Education • Schools voter education • Piloted the infusion of Electoral Democracy into the school curriculum reaching out to 481 schools and more than 55 000 learners • Voter education for by-elections • Education for people with special needs • IEC collaborated with SA National Council for the Blind and Deaf Federation of SA to provide relevant education • Fieldworkers were drawn from this sector across all nine provinces and trained
Strategic Objective 5Cont • Mass education through: • Stakeholder management • Outreach programme (including assistance for the election of SRCs at tertiary institutions; SALGA [Gauteng]; SA Nursing Council; and EC Taxi Association) • Democracy development education • Multimedia education • IEC established a partnership with the SABC on an educational TV programme • Work with SABC and community radio stations on voter education
Strategic Objective 5Cont • Communication and Public Awareness • Advertising campaigns in media • SMS facility • ATM technology • Public website • Posters and billboards • Leaflets, booklets and communication brochures • Public call centre • Integrated Voice Response (IVR) system
Strategic Objective 6To maintain and consolidate organisational systems and infrastructure in preparation for future elections Results: 2004 / 05 • In preparation for the 2004 Elections, IT infrastructure was upgraded including all security and anti-virus processes; • IT enabled IEC to provide services to all citizens through extended communication technologies: • Mobile technologies • Call centre technologies • Web-based mapping and GIS • Other web-based facilities
Strategic Objective 6Cont • IEC received several awards in 2004: • Standard Bank CPSI for “Innovative Use of Information Technology for Effective Service Delivery” • “Innovative Use of Partnerships in Information Technology for Effective Services Delivery” • BMF 2004 for “Strengthening Democracy through Technology” • Top Women in Business & Government for “attaining the standard required for inclusion in the definitive guide to those organisations demonstrating the greatest commitment to, and achievement in, the promotion of workplace equality for women.”
Strategic Objective 7To operate and maintain sound financial management systems including internal controls Results:2004 / 05 Procurement • Implemented electronic procurement system (eProcurement) • Implemented stringent due diligence on companies under consideration for contracts. • Of the total of 440 contracts awarded, 430 (97.73%) were awarded to BEE companies at a value of approximately R92.61 million. • Approximately 90% of bids awarded through eProcurement auctions went to BEE companies
Strategic Objective 7Cont Contracts to SMMEs were awarded as follows: • 37 contracts were awarded to Micro enterprises (8.41%); • 115 contracts were awarded to Very Small enterprises (26.14%); • 235 contracts were awarded to Small enterprises (53.41%); • 39 contracts were awarded to Medium enterprises (8.86%); and • 14 contracts were awarded to non-SMMEs (3.18%).
Strategic Objective 7Cont • Actual expenditure in this respect was approximately R94.76 million spent as follows: • Tenders: R22.10 million • Quotations: R10.52 million • Auctions: R62.14 million
Strategic Objective 7Cont Internal Audit (IA) executed the following: • Reviewed statutory reports to the Commission and the National Treasury; • Reported fortnightly on issues as requested by the Finance, Audit and IT Committee of the Commission; • Reviewed and commented on all documents presented to the Procurement and Disposal Committees; • Conducted internal audits in 67 MEOs and each of the 9 PEOs; • Reviewed HR records as well as administrative IT systems linked to expenditure control; • Monitored the asset register verification process.
Strategic Objective 7Cont Funds received and spent • The Commission received R526.902 million from the state; • Sundry income of R11.224 million, consisting largely of interest earned, was generated bringing the total income to R538.126 million; • Including the surplus that was rolled over, the Commission had R651.466 million for the last financial year; • All the funds had been accounted for and disclosed in the financial statements.
Strategic Objective 7 Cont Finance • Continue to ensure that the financial management system promote the objectives of the PFMA and Treasury Regulations • Continue to improve financial management systems to ensure that they are integrated, fast and user friendly. • Strive to obtain an unqualified report from the Auditor General.
Strategic Objective 7 Cont Accounting Policy • The annual financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999 as amended. • The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis.
Strategic Objective 7 Cont Audit Report • The Electoral Commission has been getting an unqualified audit report since its inception. • The Electoral Commission also received an unqualified audit report for the 2005 financial year.
Strategic Objective 7 Cont BUDGET Parliamentary Allocation for 2004/2005 R 503, 029, 000 Additional allocation to cater for unforeseen R 23, 873, 000 * And unavoidable expenses Cash Roll over 31 March 2004 R 30, 200, 000 Capitalisation of stock purchased for election R 40, 200, 000 Day 14 April 2004 Interest and other Income R 3, 894, 000 Results Centre Sponsorship R 3, 200, 000 Total R 604, 396, 000 * Voting Station Infrastructure, Special Votes, Prison Vote and Results Audit
Strategic Objective 7 Cont ROLL OVER TO 2004/05 Bank balance as at 31 March 2004 R 130, 227, 475 Less: Creditors, Provisions and outstanding cheques R (126,315, 661) Add: Debtors R 26,380,494 Cash Roll over - 31 March 2005 R 30,292,310
Strategic Objective 7 Cont ROLL OVER TO 2005/06 Bank balance as at 31 March 2005 R 60,033,820 Less: Creditors, Provisions and outstanding cheques R 42,930,333 Less: Trust Funds R 135,903 Less: Salary Pledge Account R 8,828,631 Add: Debtors R 12,839,912 Cash Roll over - 31 March 2005 R 30,978,865 Note 1 Notes 2 - 9 Balance Sheet