The Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities raised concern on Thursday that a combined R54.7 million in donor funding intended for gender-responsive governance, women’s empowerment, and gender-based violence and femicide programmes remained unspent.
The concern is contained in the committee’s Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR), which it adopted with amendments on Thursday.
The report records that approximately R36.5 million in European Union (EU) funding remained unspent, while R18.2 million received from the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA) for implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBVF) had not been used. Among the reasons the department cited for the underspending were research projects that were still underway, final reports and invoices that had not yet been received or because funds were only made available late in the first year of implementation. The department also lacked sufficient time to procure and deliver all planned activities.
Although this was donor-funding, it points to broader poor spending patterns.
The committee noted that the department spent 96.8% (R232.1 million) of its R239.6 million operating budget, resulting in an underspend of R7.5 million. It noted that this underspending has continued into the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year and is concerning. The committee noted that the department constantly raises concerns about being underfunded but continues to underspend. Not spending its existing allocation makes it difficult to motivate for additional funding from National Treasury, the committee noted.
Among its recommendations, the committee directed that the department provide quarterly reports on donor expenditure and performance. The department must also strengthen monitoring of the implementation and funding of the NSP on GBVF, identify departments that are not meeting their obligations and report how these failures are escalated. It must also clarify the respective roles, staffing and resources of the department and the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
The BRRR is an annual parliamentary oversight mechanism through which oversight committees of the National Assembly interrogate whether departments have used allocated budget resources effectively and achieved their planned targets. As part of this process, the committees make recommendations on how resources should be used in future. It also identifies financial, governance and performance matters requiring corrective action.
The committee noted that the department achieved 43 of its 56 annual targets while spending 99.4% of its total allocation. Noting that the department’s mandate is leading policy, coordination, monitoring and advocacy, the committee insisted on clearer evidence of how this work contributes to measurable improvements in the lives of women, youth and persons with disabilities.
The committee resolved that the department, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) must submit their first implementation reports within 60 days and report monthly thereafter.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Liezl van der Merwe, said implementation of the recommendations should not be left open-ended. “Clear timelines were necessary so that the committee could monitor progress throughout the year rather than waiting for the next BRRR process,” she said.
The committee directed the department, as the NYDA’s shareholder and Executive Authority, to review the Shareholder Performance Agreement within 30 days and include measures addressing non-compliance or underperformance. Regarding the CGE, the committee recommended that targets be revised to be more demanding and reduce its reliance on consultants, among other things. It also called for mandatory vetting against the sexual offences register before people are employed in schools.
Distribué par APO Group au nom de la République d'Afrique du Sud : Le Parlement.
