Honourable Speaker, the role of treasury, both public and private, continues to evolve.  The department is increasingly being requested to use its unique skills and expertise to play a more strategic role for our government.  The current emphasis on a more holistic approach to managing performance of departments and municipalities by the Provincial Treasury implies a need to improve the capacity of the department through skilled, competent and capable financial management workforce.

Therefore to address such skills, a survey was performed in the offices of the chief financial officers to identify the skills gaps, of which the findings indicated that there is a severe skills shortage that needs urgent attention.  The results of the survey correlates with the poor audit results that are being reported taking into account the fast changing financial management environment with regards to accounting reforms.

To address the challenge, we have solicited the assistance of South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) in partnership with the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) through a National Treasury initiative to provide competency based training. The competency based training offered by AAT would enable officials in financial management to make a positive contribution within their respective departments finance units. The training is practical and results in a SAQA accredited qualification, targeted at all staff levels, from clerical/administrative to professional accounting.It consists of both accounting theory and practical components that will allow officials to develop and apply skills in their work environments.

Honourable Speaker, I am proud to announce that the training of 25 provincial departmental officials for NQF level 4 will commence towards the end of this month and for the 77 that will be trained for NQF level 3 will commence next month.  One of the major milestones set for the current year is to pay special attention to monitor and oversee Internal Audits and Audit Committees in all delegated municipalities.

We will continue to provide support and assistance and we will further advocate for shared risk management services to be established in district municipalities.  We will advocate for the better coordination of efforts by all stakeholders who plays a monitoring and oversight role.