Monitoring & Advocacy

Monitoring & Advocacy

The monitoring and advocacy focus of the PSAM aims to improve public service delivery and enhance the progressive realisation of constitutional rights. The PSAM evaluates budgeting, planning, expenditure and performance in the following service delivery departments of the Eastern Cape government: Education, Health, Local Government, Human Settlements and Economic Development and Environmental Affairs. The various social accountability monitoring tools used by the PSAM have been developed in order to systematically monitor the public resource management cycle and enable citizens to hold government officials accountable for service delivery and performance. The following outputs are produced annually:

i) Strategic Plan Evaluations – these are analyses of the coherence and responsiveness of a government department’s Annual Performance Plan (three-year plan) and Operational Plan (one-year plan). The evaluation focuses on the final draft of plans for departments.

ii) Budget Analysis – this is an analysis of the policy priorities and budget allocations of departments. It focuses in the impact of policy priorities, trade-offs and assumptions in a department’s budget and on its ability to implement effective and efficient service delivery and accountability system.

iii) Expenditure Tracking Reports – these are analyses of the implementation of expenditure management systems of departments. The report tracks public expenditure by providing an evaluation of a department’s reported expenditure against its equitable share allocations for main programmes and, where necessary, key sub- programmes in the financial year under review.

Fiscal Transparency and Public Participation

Advocating for fiscal transparency and inclusive public participation within parliamentary and budget processes constitutes a central element of the work of the Monitoring and Advocacy Programme; 

1. Since its inception in 2016 as a loose coalition, we’ve played a central role in the development of  Imali Yethu Coalition for Open Budgets. The Coalition’s objectives include;
   • • Promoting open and accountable governance through support for South Africa’s commitments in the Open Government Partnership
     • Promoting an equitable and development-orientated allocation of public resources
     • Promoting meaningful participation in budget prioritisation by marginalised communities

1. Our commitment to fiscal transparency  has seen the successful establishment of South Africa’s first national and provincial budget data portal, vulekamali. The portal is a unique collaborative project between the South African National Treasury and members of Imali Yethu. 
2. The Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) presents meaningful opportunities for collaborative budget advocacy to tackle social justice challenges in South Africa. The PSAM is a founding member of the BJC and currently a Steering Committee member.
3. Putting People in the People’s Parliament: Scaling up inclusive participation in South African Legislatures to enhance democratic oversightThe project contributes to building a more capable and accountable state through leveraging mechanisms for direct political participation of the public to increase the capacity and performance of legislatures to fulfil their constitutional mandates to oversee executive performance, develop law and respond to the public.  We work with a wide range civic organisations in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape

Education

2021

Education Budget Brief 2020