PROFILE SUMMARY
Tania is a public finance economist with broad experience in the design, analysis and implementation of fiscal policy, sectoral public budget management and government monitoring and evaluation systems. Her principle areas of interest and expertise are intergovernmental fiscal relations, fiscal decentralisation, budget and public expenditure management reform, the restructuring of fiscal institutions and processes, monitoring and evaluation and the role of information technology in enhancing performance orientation, accountability and public oversight. She has a strong quantitative background in statistics and econometrics, as well as information systems. While lecturing at the School of Economics, University of Cape Town she set up AFReC (Pty) Ltd in 1999 and is currently its CEO.
She has served as a technical advisor to the Presidential Review Commission in 1997, and since then has been involved in several policy and implementation processes around both the Public Finance Management Act of 1999, as well as the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003. She has served as Special advisor the Western Cape Treasury and has also been involved in a project for the National Treasury designing draft municipal finance unit standards for the implementation of the Municipal Finance Management Act. She is a registered assessor and moderator with SAQA and has a certificate in Occupationally Directed Education and Training Practice. She has worked with National Treasury on their strategy for implementing performance budgeting in 2003. She was project leader for a project implementing a performance budgeting system National Prosecuting Authority (2002-2004). She provided technical support to the Presidency on the Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation Policy Framework in 2007 and well as the Green Paper on Improving performance in 2008.
She is the Managing Director of PBS (Pty) Ltd, a company which design performance information systems and is currently participating in implementation for the province of KwaZulu Natal. Tania also serves on the Financial and Fiscal Commission.
HISTORY
Director: Knowledge Centre
(2005 to date) |
AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Managing Director:
(2005 to date) |
PBS (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Chief Executive Officer:
(2002 – 2004) |
PBS (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Chief Executive Officer:
(1999-2002) |
AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Senior Specialist – Public Finance
(2003- 2004) |
AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Director:
(1999 – 2002) |
AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Deputy-Director:
(1997- 1999) |
AFReC (Pty) Ltd |
Lecturer:
(1997 onwards) |
School of Economics
University of Cape Town |
Senior Researcher:
(1996 – 1997) |
Provincial Fiscal Analysis Project
IDASA: Budget Information Service |
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
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Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations
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Budget reform
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Public expenditure management institutions
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Monitoring and Evaluation Systems
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Fiscal policy
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Performance budgeting
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Public finance
PROJECTS
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Premier’s Office GWM&E Good Practice Guide (2008). Tania is currently working with the Presidency in formulating a manual for Premier’s Offices to analyse existing M&E practices with have emerged at provincial level and to provide guidance on how the Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation policy Framework should be implemented.
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Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 15 year review (2008). This research paper was commissioned by the Department of Provincial and Local Government as part of the Presidency’s 15 Year Review.
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Provincial Finance Study (2007). Roland Hunter and Tania wrote this paper in October 2007 as part of the Department of Provincial and Local Government’s Policy Process on the Provincial and Local Government. The January 2007 Extended Cabinet Lekgotla approved and mandated the DPLG to review the system of provincial government with a view to establish a coherent policy framework for provincial government.
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Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation (2007). Tania provided technical support to the Policy Coordination and Advisory Services Unit of the Presidency in the development of the Governmentwide-Monitoring Evaluation Policy Framework
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Academic Board of ERSA (Economic Research South Africa). ERSA is a research initiative at the University of Cape Town, which is funded by the National Treasury. Tania has served this Board since 2006.
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Gordon Institute of Business Science and Institute of Directors Board Leadership Programme (May- Sept 2006).
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Support to the Finance Committee of the Indonesian Representative Council (2006). Tania went to Jakarta to provide on-site technical support and facilitate discussions on a budget oversight strategy for the Finance Committee with all relevant stakeholders. The outputs of the project includes a basic strategic plan for the budget committee, a template of questions to assist in budget scrutiny and contribute to the identification of issues and recommendations to underpin the Advisory Report, identification of research and other technical resources needed to operationalize the workplan, a draft workplan for the Committee culminating in an Advisory Report on the 2007 Budget to be submitted in August 2006 and a rough outline of a communication strategy for ht Advisory Report.
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Certificate in Occupationally Directed Education and Training Practice (2005).
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Registered assessor (2003), moderator (2004) within the SAQA NQF framework.
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Development of draft unit standard (2003/4) in municipal budgeting and finance for the National Treasury
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Project Manager of NPA Performance Budgeting Implementation (2001-2003). This long-term project involves the design and implementation of a performance budgeting system for all 8 business-units of the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa. Besides the restructuring of budgeting and related financial management business process, it also entailed the development of a web-based ASP. Net software solution.
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CEO of AFReC (Pty) Ltd. Functions included setting up the Company, negotiating the affiliation contract with the University, overall operational and financial management of the Company, implementing strategic plans of the Board of Directors, building capacity and human resources profile of the organisation (1992 to 2002).
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Special Advisory to the Western Cape Treasury. Tania was appointed in 2000 to assist the Western Cape Treasury in implementing the performance management aspects of the Public Finance Management Act of 1999.
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Commissioner on the Financial and Fiscal Commission. Tania served on the FFC from November 2001 to date.
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Special Advisor on Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations to the Department of Provincial and Local Government. Tania was seconded by UCT and DPLG from June to December 2002, to work mainly on the municipal finance management bill, linking IDP’s with budgets and the financing of the ISRDP and URP programmes.
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Consultant on intergovernmental fiscal relations for the Intergovernmental Audit commissioned by the Department of Constitutional Development and coordinated by the school of Government, University of the Western Cape (June – August 1999). This culminated in a presentation to Cabinet at Tuynhuis on 21 May 2000.
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Consultant to the Independent Development Trust on Public Finance Management Act compliance (2000)
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Municipal Budgeting and Finance Management. Developed a course on local government budgeting, financial and performance management, emphasising integration of local government budgets and Integrated Development Plans
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Performance Budgeting and Financial Management Course Manager. Tania was involved in coordinating the development of materials for the PBFM course, which is part of AFReC’s Public Financial Management Programme. Tania managed this particular course, which includes liaison with our strategic partners, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the GSB. (1998 – 1999)
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Deputy Director of the Applied Fiscal Research Centre. Tasks associated with the role of Deputy-Director are chiefly administrative in nature, including writing fund-raising proposals, research proposals for the Centre or various projects within the Centre. (1997–1999) A key function was coordinating Executive Training Programmes and managing materials development.
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Editorial Board. As a member of AFReC’s internal editorial board, Tania reviews every publication by AFReC, or any formal submission to Parliament or any other institution. (1997-1999
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Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Course Manager. Tania was involved in coordinating the development of materials for the IGFR course, which is part of AFReC’s Public Financial Management Programme. Tania managed this particular course, which includes liaison with our strategic partners, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the GSB. (1998 – 1999)
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General Materials Development. Tania contributed to development of the local government budgeting manual, Budgeting Basics, which was prepared but the Budget Project, grassroots section of AFReC. Tania is currently engaged in developing material on medium term expenditure frameworks for the Performance Budgeting and Financial Management Course.
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Presidential Review Commission on Public Sector Reform. As part of a team of AFReC economists, Tania was helped to write the Financial Planning and Budgeting section of the report by the Presidential Review Commission on Public Sector Reform (1997-1998).
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Consultant to Department of Finance. Tania was the leader of a project involved in evaluating the present intergovernmental fiscal relations configuration for the Department of Finance, and formulating a consistent over-arching frame-work which will then be the basis for developing subordinate regulatory frameworks for provincial taxation, borrowing and intervention. (1998-1999). Project terminates March 1999. Tania was also project leader of a project for the Department of Finance, which compiled provincial expenditure data from 1994 to the present for first time publication in an Intergovernmental Review (1998-1999)
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Corruption research. Tania was researcher in a project on public sector corruption lead by Conrad Barberton in 1999.
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Supporting Parliamentary oversight of the budget process at national and provincial level. In this regard Tania has been involved in workshops over the last two years to build capacity among the parliamentary portfolio committee researchers. My involvement also includes the following formal submissions:
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Presentation to Parliamentary Committee on Arts, Culture, Finance and Technology on their Budget vote, May 2000
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With Prof Chris Tapscott, “Lessons in Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations from India”, presented to the Portfolio Committee on Constitutional Development, Cape Town, 17 March 1999.
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“The Health Budget and Service delivery”, submission to the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Finance, Parliament, Cape Town, 19 February 1999
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“Fiscal Risk Management”, submission to the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Finance, Parliament, Cape Town, 18 February 1999
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With Iraj Abedian, “Comments on the draft Treasury Control Bill, submission to the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Finance, Parliament, Cape Town, 19 October 1998.
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“The Budget Process and Good Governance”, Presented to the Gauteng legislature portfolio committee on Finance, Johannesburg, 24 July 1998
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Facilitated an international workshop on Good Practice in Public Expenditure Management jointly with Oxford Policy Management, 22-24 June 1999, Cape Town
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Facilitated a workshop for the Department of Constitutional Development on guidelines on the institutional arrangements for local economic development at the local government level (7 July 1999)
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Performance budgeting systems implementation Tania was a member of the team designing and implementing a performance budgeting system for the Department of Health, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Responsibilities centred around building capacity at provincial, health district and hospital levels (1997 to date).
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Key research areas include:
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Intergovernmental fiscal relations
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The efficacy of public spending
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Fiscal institutions and processes.
PUBLICATIONS
Chapters in Books and Papers
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With Abedian, I (2009) “Fiscal Policy beyond 2008: prospects, risks and opportunities” in Parsons, R, (ed) Zumanomics: Which Way to Shared Prosperity in South Africa, Jacana Media, Aukland Park, pp 79-103
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With J. Aron (2009) “Transforming Fiscal Governance” in Aron, J, Kahn, B and Kingdon, G (eds) South African Policy under Democracy, Oxford University Press, pp 92-117
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“Integrating Strategic Planning and Budgeting: A PFMA Perspective” (2008) Journal of Auditing and Accountability Research, vol 8, 45-56
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“Integrating Strategic Planning and Budgeting: A PFMA Perspective” (2008) Auditing SA, Summer 2007/8, 29-33
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With J. Aron (2007) “ Fiscal Renaissance in a Democratic South Africa, Journal of Africa Economies, 23 August 2007, http://jae.oxfordjournals.org, DOI: 10.1093/jae/ejm014
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With N. Mkhize (2006) “The New Budgeting Approach in South Africa: A Critical Assessment”, Journal of Public Administration, vol 41, no 4, pp 761 - 775
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With Murray, C (2004) “The Courts, Socio-economic rights and Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations”, Paper Presented at the Financial and Fiscal Conference “Consolidation for Equity”, Cape Town, 12-14 August 2004
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With Maphiri, D (2004) Performance Budgeting In South Africa: Developing An Effective Implementation Framework, Research Monograph 26, Applied Fiscal Research Centre, University of Cape Town
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With Carter, J (2003) Coordinating Intergovernmental Planning and Budgeting, Research Monograph 26, Applied Fiscal Research Centre, University of Cape Town
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(2002) “Parliaments and Fiscal Oversight: In Support of Poverty Reducing Service Delivery”, Paper presented to the Gauteng Legislature Conference on “Parliaments and Poverty Alleviation” , Johannesburg, 2-4 October, 2002
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(2001) “Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in South Africa “ In Levy, N and Tapscott, C, Intergovernmental relations in South Africa: Challenges of Cooperative government”, IDASA, Cape Town
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(1999) “Fiscal Federalism in South Africa” In Calitz, E and Black, P (eds) Public Finance, University of South Africa, Oxford University Press
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Co-authored with I Abedian and C. Barberton (1999) “Fighting Corruption: Balancing Morality with Systemic Governance”, In Mavuso, V and Ballia, D. (eds) “Invitation to Ethics Management”, Public Service Commission, University of South Africa, Pretoria
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(1999) “Prioritisation and Fiscal Responsibility: How to Involve Politicians in Expenditure Management”, Paper presented at the Second International Workshop on Good Practice in Public Expenditure Management, DFID, Oxford, 25-27 July 1999
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Co-authored with C Barberton (1999) Developing a Systemic Approach to Combatting Corruption in South Africa, Research Monograph no 8, Applied Fiscal Research Centre, Cape Town
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(1998) “The Evolution of Devolution” in Abedian, I and Biggs, M. Fiscal Policy and Globalisation, Oxford University Press, Cape Town
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(1998) “Alternative Budget Deficit Measures and Fiscal Stance” in Abedian, I and Biggs, M. Fiscal Policy and Globalisation, Oxford University Press, Cape Town
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Co-authored with I. Abedian and B Strachan (1997) Transformation in Action: Budgeting for Health Service Delivery, University of Cape Town Press, Cape Town
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Co-authored with I Abedian and L Walker (1996) Promises, Plans and Priorities: South Africa’s Emerging Intergovernmental Structures, Idasa, Cape Town
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Co-authored with I Abedian (1998) “The Role of the Budget in Poverty Alleviation” presented at The Role of the State in Poverty Alleviation, SALDRU/CROP conference, Cape Town, 18-22 September 1998
Short Articles
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(2000) “The Public Finance Management Act 1999”, Financial Mail, 25 February 2000
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(2000) “The Impact of the Public Finance Management Act”, Institute for Public Finance and Auditing Journal, vol 1, no 2
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(1998) “NCOP challenged to make a bigger impact on the Budget”, Budget Watch, 4(2), June
Commissioned Research
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With J. Carter (2003) “Towards an intergovernmental framework for managing local government fiscal risk”, Technical discussion document, Office of the President, Pretoria.
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With Maphiri, D (2003) “Implementing performance budgeting in South Africa”, Technical discussion document, National Treasury, Pretoria
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(2002) “Financing the ISRDP and the URP: Towards Integrating Intergovernmental Planning And Budgeting Systems”, Technical Discussion Document, Department of Provincial and Local Government, Pretoria
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With Barberton, C (2001) “Managing The Devolution Of Accommodation, Maintenance And Control Of Functional Fixed Assets To Client Departments: A Framework For Discussion”, Research Paper for the national Department of Public Works, Pretoria
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With Barberton, C and Shall, A (2000) “Best Practice in Costing” Commissioned by GTZ
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With Barberton, C (1999) “Intergovernmental Fiscal Review of Provincial Budgets and Expenditures”, commissioned by the Department of Finance, Pretoria
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With C. Barberton (1999) “Framework Document on a Medium Term Vision for the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations System in South Africa, commissioned by the Department of Finance, Pretoria
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(1997) “National and Provincial Budget Processes”, Paper prepared for the Presidential Review Commission on Public Sector Reform
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With Abedian, I and Barberton C (1997) “Budgeting and Financial Management”, Specialist study prepared for the Presidential Review Commission on Public Sector Reform
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With Barberton, C (1998) “South Africa’s Intergovernmental Relations System”, Discussion paper for the Department of Finance, Pretoria
Other Activities
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(2005) “A Review of Fiscal Policy from 1994-2004”, Paper presented at the “South African Economic Policy Under Democracy: A Ten Year Review”, Joint Oxford University-Stellenbosch University Conference, 28-29 October 2005
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(2000) “Budgeting and Reporting and the PFMA”, Institute of Public Finance and Auditing conference “Professionalising Financial Management in the Public Sector, 17 May 2000, Centurion Lake Hotel
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(2000) ”The 3 E’s and line managers”, IPFA conference, Institute for Public Finance and Auditing conference in “Professionalising Financial Management in the Public Sector, 17 May 2000, Centurion Lake Hotel
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(2000) “Equity and intergovernmental fiscal relations in South Africa”, Decentralising to Democracy Conference, 22-23 November 2000, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
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