Building of a Capable State: a collaboration with impact

In September 2021 the Building a Capable State project, a collaboration between GTAC, DPME and the Canadian government, drew to a close. The project which ran from 2013 to 2021 aimed to improve service delivery and accountability within the public service in order to enhance public sector performance and improve the lives of South Africans.

The project focused on strengthening institutional capacity in the areas of policy development, planning, budgeting, designing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting in all spheres of government (national, provincial and municipal). The project was implemented by the Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC), with some activities led by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME).

Some of the project highlights:

1. Establishment of the GTAC Public Economics Winter School which has helped to build a cadre of young economists and academics from diverse backgrounds that are skilled in solving some of South Africa’s most pressing challenges.
2. Established a system to analyse government spending using Performance Expenditure Reviews (PERs). Over 240 performance and expenditure analyses have been completed and over 200 treasury officials have been trained in the methodology. Find the reviews here. 
3. Established the flagship IMALI YETU project. This coalition of civil society organizations have developed an on-line budget portal, Vulekamali to enable more effective information sharing, analysis and research on the budget process.
4. Public Expenditure and Policy Analysis (PEPA) hosted a Baseline Assessment and New Policy Costing Course. View the PEPA Knowledge Hub here.
5. GAC Covid-19 Rapid Response enabled GTAC to produce the 1^st edition of the SA Country Report on Covid 19, the Gauteng Province Case Study on the Covid -9 pandemic and the Criminal Justice Case Study on the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thank you Global Affairs Canada (GAC) for walking this ultimate journey with us! You have helped us make a significant difference and the impact on state capability will be impacted for a long time to come.