1 / 15

Report on the Guardians Fund

Report on the Guardians Fund. Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development. Introduction and background. The Guardian’s Fund (GF) is a statutory trust established in terms of Chapter V of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (Act 66 of 1965).

jean
Download Presentation

Report on the Guardians Fund

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Report on the Guardians Fund Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development

  2. Introduction and background • The Guardian’s Fund (GF) is a statutory trust established in terms of Chapter V of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (Act 66 of 1965). • The purpose of the GF is to protect and manage monies of persons deemed to be legally incapable or lacking the capacity to manage their own affairs as well as undetermined, unknown or absent heirs and untraceable persons. • The GF has representation in Six Masters Offices namely Pretoria, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Grahamstown, Bloemfontein and Kimberley • Some of the functions are inter alia to - process inheritance applications and make payments to persons entitled thereto - invest monies held with the PIC - Interest calculation in respect of money's received on behalf of beneficiaries

  3. The Financial Management Response • The governance obligations of the Department demanded that a robust response be evolved to address the issues plaguing the Fund. • The Department mobilized resources and expertise and instituted a Project to turn-around and implement various financial and accounting initiatives to redress the decline of the financial environment and ensure better accounting for the Fund. • A multi skilled project team addressed: - Procedural challenges (staff doing things incorrectly); • - Non-compliance with key legislation and prescripts; • - Errors and accounting backlogs; • - Addressing all processing backlogs; and • Facilitating the completion of a computer system roll-out. • The Department has now appointed a permanent Chief Director for the Third Party Funds and a Director specifically for the Guardians Fund in that Chief Directorate

  4. Audited Outcomes • The Guardians Fund audit report has been consistently Qualified • or Disclaimed from 1993 through to 2006/7 Financial year. • Since then …. • 2009/10 Unqualified Audit report NAQ (No Audit Qualification) • 2008/09 Unqualified Audit report NAQ (No Audit Qualification) • 2007/08 Unqualified Audit report NAQ (No Audit Qualification) • 2006/07 Qualified Audit report (Uncertainty around opening balances)

  5. Accounting Challenges Accounting challenges facing the Guardian's Fund can be ascribed to the issues listed below: • Staff Capacity constraints • Skills Shortage • Inadequate/antiquated accounting systems • Evolving financial accounting standards (GAAP) • Continuous Growth in Fund Size

  6. Surpluses over the years 2006/07 – R65,1 million 2007/08 – R107,4 million 2008/09 – R48,2 million 2009/10 – R119,1 million These surpluses fluctuate as return on investment fluctuate. The beneficiaries are however shielded from the fluctuation

  7. Growth in beneficiary receipts and payments * Data for 2010/11 as at the end of September 2010

  8. Volumes and values of Receipts:

  9. Volumes and values of payments : * Data for 2010/11 as at the end of September 2010

  10. Transaction volumes and Receipts

  11. Total Assets vs. Beneficiary Liabilities

  12. Investments: Public Investment Corporation In terms of Section 87 of the Administration of estates Act, No.66 of 1965) beneficiary amounts received in the Guardians Funds should be invested with the PIC. All monies except for those required for immediate disbursements are invested with the PIC

  13. GUARDIAN’S FUND ACHIEVEMENTS • Return on investment of 8.5%; • Growth of Fund 15% or R770million in the last year • Improved Controls and Turnaround times • MOVIT – online verification of fingerprints in collaboration with Dept of Home Affairs • Unqualified Audit reports • 5 of the 6 Guardians Funds have complete verified beneficiary detail

  14. Service Delivery • The Fund is growing on average at 15% In terms of net-asset base • The transactions doubled from 2008-2010 due to the age of majority being reduced from 21 to 18 years • In 2009-2010 The Fund paid out R754m, which is money in the hands of vulnerable people enabling them to participate in the economy • Services to the beneficiaries are rendered at no cost to them • Interest rate is higher than most low risk investments • The beneficiaries are cushioned from market fluctuations due to the conservative investment strategy that we adopted few years ago i.e we invest at 8.5 return and we pay at 7.5% to beneficiaries. The 1% difference between 8.5 and 7.5 goes to reserves till the end of the financial year where after paid over to the National Revenue Fund.

  15. Highlights • The increase in the number of people served daily • Reduction of instances of Fraud: From 1 April 2010 to 31 January 2011 only 13 instances of fraud were discovered while we made more than 52 000 payments (9 in Pmb and 4 Pta) • ICMS and Guardians Fund System will be integrated to substantially improve Service Delivery • Online verification of fingerprints (MOVIT) implemented in 3 offices • The process of finding a suitable Accounting Solution is underway and a final decision on the matter is eminent

More Related