By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
23 April 2025– The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture said it received a briefing yesterday from the Office of the Auditor General (AGSA) on its review of the Department of Agriculture and its entities’ 2025/26 annual performance plans (APPs) and budgets. The committee said department and entities also made presentations on their APPs and budgets for the 2025/26 financial year.
The Chairperson of Committee, Dina Pule said during the engagements, the committee told the department to review its 2025/26 APP in line with the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP). Pule said as part of its findings, the AGSA told the committee that seemingly the MTDP indicators and targets are not included in the department’s strategic and annual performance plans.
“The committee heard that MTDP 2024–2029 is a five-year strategic blueprint developed by the 7th administration to drive national development. The MTDP aligns with the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 and integrates international commitments, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the AU Agenda 2063.
“The committee expressed concern after it learnt from the AGSA that the department has set annual reports as a target without clearly understanding the expected level of performance,” she said.
Pule further said the AGSA highlighted that lack of specificity makes both the indicator and the target unclear and ambiguous. She added that it also renders the AGSA unable to measure effectively, which undermines their usefulness for monitoring progress and evaluating performance.
“The committee told the department to revise its APPs, taking into account the AGSA’s recommendations, for presentation on 6 May 2025.
“The Minister of Agriculture, Mr John Steenhuisen, who led the departmental delegation, said the department met with the AGSA and has already undertaken to make amendments based on the AGSA recommendations,” said Pule.
She said AGSA also presented reviews of the APPs of the department’s three entities – the Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Biological Products and the National Agricultural Council. Pule said as part of the presentation, the AGSA recommended that the committee should ask the department to present a revised 2025/26 APP along with a matrix showing changes made to performance indicators, their definitions and associated date sources.
“In addition, the committee should also ask the department for regular updates on this information. We emphasised that the committee was not rejecting the APPs as presented, but rather allowing the department and its entities to reconstruct the APPs in light of the AGSA recommendations.
“The committee has noted with appreciation the extensive and insightful reviews the AGSA has made. The committee has noted your recommendations and we assure you about our commitment to translating them into progressive actions to take the work of the department to new heights,” she said.
The Guardian 