Quarterly Reports from departments provide a committee with valuable information required for the effective monitoring of programme implementation. The information contained in the Quarterly Reports must reflect both non-financial and financial performance of the department. In an event where there are deviations, reasons for deviations must be provided and mitigating measures to remedy such.

The information contained in the Quarterly Reports provides the for the analysis of departmental performance. Any deviation between planned and realised performance targets and budget expenditure should be a cause for concern that a programme is not realising its key performance indicators. A committee must then determine whether unforeseen circumstances have hampered a department’s work, whether there was a challenge of inadequate planning by managers and/or implementers, or if a department’s staff and those they may contract, are failing to deliver for other reasons. The research analysis is done with a view to producing recommendations that will assist a department to make good progress with successful delivery.

It is against this background that on Friday, 11 February 2022, the Finance Portfolio Committee convened a virtual meeting to consider the Departments’ 3rd Quarterly Performance Reports for the Department of e-Government and Gauteng Provincial Treasury (inclusive of Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency) respectively. The first meeting during the assessment of the departments’ 3rd quarterly performance deliberates on the research analysis conducted by Committee Researchers. The purpose of the research analysis is to evaluate the extent to which the departments are achieving their performance targets as set out in their Annual Performance Plans and whether that is within budget. The research analysis coupled with previous departmental performance empowers Committee Members to engage meaningfully in subsequent engagements when the Departments presents on their performance reports. Furthermore, Committee Researchers also compile questions to be responded to by the departments during the presentation of their quarterly performance reports individually.