Delivered by: Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms T Mgweba

Honourable House Chair,
Honourable Members,
Distinguished Guests, Colleagues and Fellow South Africans,

It is my honour to address this House today on the occasion of the debate on Budget Vote 09: the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), a department that lies at the heart of the government’s commitment to building a capable, ethical, and developmental state, as envisioned in the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030.

We meet at a time when the nation is undergoing a critical transition under the Seventh Administration. The Cabinet has adopted the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) 2024–2029, a blueprint that translates the NDP’s long-term goals into actionable medium-term priorities. It is within this context that the DPME is expected to play a coedinating role in driving integrated planning, ensuring policy coherence, monitoring delivery, and evaluating outcomes across all spheres of government.

Honourable Members,

The Department’s budget allocation for the 2025/26 financial year stands at R509.1 million. While this allocation reflects a modest growth from the previous year, we must ask ourselves: Is it adequate to equip the Department to deliver its entire mandate? The evidence suggests otherwise.

Programme 2, which includes the National Planning Commission and national planning coordination functions, continues to face resource constraints. This underfunding threatens to undermine the Commission’s ability to offer long-term strategic foresight, mobilise multi-stakeholder engagement, and conduct meaningful research to inform national policy development and monitoring. If we are to succeed in advancing inclusive economic growth, social transformation, and spatial equity, this Programme must be adequately capacitated with sufficient technical capacity.

Honourable Members,

Our oversight has identified several areas that require focused interventions:

Firstly, the lack of a dedicated legislative framework defining the DPME’s statutory powers, functions and institutional authority remains a significant gap. Although the Department operates by sections of the Constitution and the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, the absence of a specific legal framework limits its ability to enforce performance accountability and coordinate planning effectively across government. This shortcoming must be addressed with urgency.

Secondly, the absence of a formalised oversight and consequence management model hampers the Department’s ability to hold underperforming departments and entities to account. Without clear protocols for escalation, performance tracking, and remedial action, we risk perpetuating a culture of non-compliance and administrative impunity. Effective governance demands that we institutionalise accountability mechanisms with measurable performance outcomes.

Thirdly, while the DPME is tasked with assessing action plans submitted by departments, there is currently no standardised matrix or methodology to evaluate the feasibility, realism, or alignment of these plans with national priorities. This impedes our ability to ensure that strategic planning is not only compliant on paper but is also implementable in practice. We urge the Department to enhance its internal planning evaluation mechanisms and establish clear benchmarks for success.

Honourable Members,

The challenges within state-owned entities remain of particular concern. Despite the DPME’s monitoring role, there are tangible improvements in the performance of SOEs. The Committee has emphasised the importance of targeted interventions, including tailored improvement plans, rigorous performance tracking, and enhanced interdepartmental coordination, to support effective turnaround strategies.

Moreover, as part of the Presidency, the DPME must play a greater role in fostering intergovernmental alignment and coherence in planning. Annual Performance Plans (APPs) and departmental strategic plans must be developed in tandem with the MTDP to ensure vertical and horizontal policy alignment. The Department must institutionalise structured engagements between national, provincial, and local governments before finalising strategic and annual plans.

To this end, the Committee has made the following critical recommendations:

1. That the Department consider the development of a dedicated legislative framework to consolidate and clarify its mandate and institutional authority.
2. That a comprehensive oversight and consequence management model be adopted, with clearly defined protocols for monitoring performance, responding to non-compliance, and escalating remedial actions.
3. A standardised feasibility assessment framework should be developed to evaluate departmental operational plans, supported by a performance dashboard that enables real-time tracking of progress.
4. That additional financial and human resources be allocated to Programme 2, particularly for the National Planning Commission, to enable long-term strategic research, national consultations, and stakeholder mobilisation as we draw to the end of the 2030 NDP.
5. The DPME, working with the National Treasury, report to Parliament on the alignment between the MTDP and the approved Annual Performance Plans of all national and provincial departments.
6. That the National Planning Commission, under the stewardship of the DPME, initiate the development of a new long-term plan for South Africa, building on the legacy of Vision 2030 while responding to emerging socio-economic realities.

Honourable Members,

This Budget Vote is not simply about numbers; it is about strengthening the institutional engine room of government that is tasked with translating political intent into measurable, accountable, and transformative action. A weak centre of government will yield fragmented planning, uncoordinated implementation, and limited impact on the ground. That is a risk we cannot afford to take.

Let us, therefore, adopt this Budget Vote with a shared understanding that a well-resourced and empowered DPME is essential to rebuilding trust in the state, improving service delivery, and advancing the developmental aspirations of our Constitution.

I hereby table Budget Vote 09 for adoption and urge all Honourable Members to support it.

I thank you