18 Dec 2022

Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng has reiterated government’s intention to ensure continuous evaluation of projects from planning to the end during implementation of the Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP).

Concluding the deliberations before MPs unanimously voted in favour of the chapter on Thursday, Mr Morwaeng said accountability and sectoral coordination were a priority and would be achieved through the development and implementation of a National Evaluation Plan to enhance better and timely decision making.

He said the extensive debate by the MPs has highlighted the need for a coordinated implementation and assured Parliament that risks and factors that hinder implementation would be analysed further to effectively deal with them. He agreed with the MPs that the implementation of development programmes was a long-standing challenge which led to failure of good initiatives.

Chapter 10 of the Transitional National Development Plan focuses on the areas of Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Contributing to the debate, Acting President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said it was important to allocate a larger share of funds towards investment spending than consumption.

He said this could be achieved by ensuring greater funding for the development budget, which finances infrastructure development, in relation to the recurrent budget, which is operational and often used for wages, utilities and other incidental expenses.

Mr Tsogwane also said it was key that government budget gravitated toward surplus to ensure a buffer in the treasury in the aftermath of the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For this to happen, Mr Tsogwane said there was a need to prevent leakages in the public funding system, by strengthening performance audits, monitoring and evaluation. He further called for those companies tendering for projects to be evaluated extensively for their capacity to deliver on developmental tasks they seek to undertake.

Minister of Communications, Knowledge and Technology, Tlokweng Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Thulagano Segokgo said the rapid growth of peri-urban villages such as Tlokweng needed to correspond with improved service delivery and investment in development projects in key areas such as healthcare, education, roads, portable water, storm water drainage and sanitation services.

The Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Sefhare-Ramokgonami MP, Mr Setlhabelo Modukanele said participatory democracy should be fused into development planning, with communities being actively engaged during the planning and implementation processes.
Mr Modukanele also said monitoring and evaluation should be an integral part of every government project undertaken, and also called for the Public Service Act to be reviewed to ensure that it facilitates productivity.
Assistant Minister in the same ministry and Mochudi East MP Mr Mabuse Pule said midway through the two government financial years of its implementation, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 the TNDP should have the type of mid-term review that normally accompanies National Development Plans (NDP).

He said his constituency was faced with challenges such as the poor state of internal roads, but while there have been proposed remedies, delayed tendering and other administrative challenges delayed the process of implementation. As such, Mr Pule said proper monitoring and evaluation of projects was key in ensuring better service delivery.

Jwaneng-Mabutsane MP, Mr Mephato Reatile called for government to improve performance audits, and for government departments to regularly monitor and review their execution of projects instead of awaiting the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) to identify irregularities.

He also called for government to invest in initiatives to support the disabled, their protection from abuse and assistance to meaningfully live their lives, adding that this should be a priority to cater for those already disabled, and all other citizens since “everyone is a candidate for disability as long as they live since illness and accidents could befall anyone.”

Mahalapye East legislator, Mr David Tshere said during tour of government projects countrywide as part of the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises, he noticed that the bare minimum standards were being used in implementing projects such as the Charles Hill-Ncojane road to the detriment of communities.

Mr Tshere said Parliament had an oversight, check and balance role, and should stringently scrutinise some statutory bodies, some of which he said do not produce audited financial reports though utilizing public funds. ENDS