Billions of rand earmarked for education and health are being returned to donors or squandered on consultants because of the government's poor financial management.
This is according to a discussion document on health and education to be debated by ANC delegates at the governing party's national general council in October.
The governing party's subcommittee on education and health identified poor financial management, among others, as a serious challenge for departments, especially the health department.
"National departments are by their nature focused on policy formulation plus monitoring and evaluation; while provincial department districts and institutions are responsible for delivery of services...
"Basics of decentralisation of management of services must be implemented, as there are instances where funds from donors, for example billions of rand for education and health programs, are alleged to have been either returned to the European Union or dumped on service providers and consultants because of the lack of capacity of national departments to spend.
"This happened despite many provinces having dire need for these funds for their operational activities," the paper adds, calling for better cash controls, including the appropriate appointment of chief financial officers.
The party also noted - under issues that were not implemented from President Jacob Zuma's first term - that development of legislation to support the creation of the National Heath Insurance was still outstanding.
But the committee concluded that Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi's department had executed its plans with "distinction" .
Evaluation of qualifications for all hospital CEOs, focus on non-communicable diseases, research on child mortality rate and the implementation of programmes to achieve the Millennium Development Goals were some of the achievements made by the department.
On education, it was noted that both ministers of basic and higher education Angie Motshekga and Blade Nzimande had performed well in their portfolios.
But teachers were still not in class, on time , teaching while the department was failing to hold principals accountable for performance at schools. Lack of proper training of teachers was still a problem .
Billions of state funds wasted
Billions of rand earmarked for education and health are being returned to donors or squandered on consultants because of the government's poor financial management.
This is according to a discussion document on health and education to be debated by ANC delegates at the governing party's national general council in October.
The governing party's subcommittee on education and health identified poor financial management, among others, as a serious challenge for departments, especially the health department.
"National departments are by their nature focused on policy formulation plus monitoring and evaluation; while provincial department districts and institutions are responsible for delivery of services...
"Basics of decentralisation of management of services must be implemented, as there are instances where funds from donors, for example billions of rand for education and health programs, are alleged to have been either returned to the European Union or dumped on service providers and consultants because of the lack of capacity of national departments to spend.
"This happened despite many provinces having dire need for these funds for their operational activities," the paper adds, calling for better cash controls, including the appropriate appointment of chief financial officers.
The party also noted - under issues that were not implemented from President Jacob Zuma's first term - that development of legislation to support the creation of the National Heath Insurance was still outstanding.
But the committee concluded that Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi's department had executed its plans with "distinction" .
Evaluation of qualifications for all hospital CEOs, focus on non-communicable diseases, research on child mortality rate and the implementation of programmes to achieve the Millennium Development Goals were some of the achievements made by the department.
On education, it was noted that both ministers of basic and higher education Angie Motshekga and Blade Nzimande had performed well in their portfolios.
But teachers were still not in class, on time , teaching while the department was failing to hold principals accountable for performance at schools. Lack of proper training of teachers was still a problem .
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