DID ANNUAL REPORT 2023_24

Annual Report 2023-2024

4. REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER

This Annual Performance Plan serves as a roadmap to implementation of the department’s strategic objectives as set out in the five-year strategic plan for the 2020 2025. The performance data presented in this report is an expression of planning, sound monitoring and evaluation, as well as demonstrable implementation of our mandate. The achievements of the Department, as summarised in the Annual Report, reflects delivery of services. To this end, the Department remains committed to improving the technical and administrative capacity as a means of maintaining an efficient, effective, and development-oriented public service that actively collaborates with empowered, fair, and inclusive citizens. The Department continues its efforts to strengthen control measures to address key issues around budgetary constraints and its critical dependencies on client departments; with the aim of ensuring that all invoices are paid within the prescribed time, and are of acceptable quality, and costs. In terms of capacity, the Department currently has 147 registered built environment professionals and 1512 technical staff in total, a number that is better than, or comparable to some of the best infrastructure delivery organisations in the country. In the 2023/24 financial year, the weekly tracking workstreams were established for coordinating the implementation of action plans and strengthening internal control to address areas of weakness identified in the department. In the same vein, I am pleased to report an improved notable milestone in the attainment of the fourth consecutive unqualified audit outcomes on the annual financial statements and annual performance report with no material misstatements and reduction in non-compliance with laws and regulations as determined by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). Furthermore, the Department continues to ensure 100% compliance with e-disclosure requirements for the Senior Management Team and all other official as determined by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).

Overview of the Operations of the Department: I have great pleasure in presenting this annual report of the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) for the period 2023/24. The performance of the Department is benchmarked against the objectives and targets which are included in the Annual Performance Plan for the 2023/24 financial year, aligned to the Growing Gauteng Together action plan, and the goals of the National Development Plan. This annual report serves as a reflection of what the department has accomplished and what the impediments were for not attaining other planned targets against the background of various factors in our operating environment that affect the pace of the DID infrastructure delivery programme. The factors include projects delayed by contractor terminations for performance reasons, lengthy intergovernmental processing of project plans and certifications, project stoppages by interest groups in communities, and the impact of current economic conditions on the ability of contractors to carry projects through the different phases of implementation, among others.

12

DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT