Personnel expenditure analysis of the Directorate Veterinary Services in the North West Province / Boitshoko R Ntshabele

The purpose of this study was to analyse personnel expenditure of the DirectorateVeterinary Service in the North West Province and how it impacted on service delivery.Literature on personnel expenditure and its influence on service delivery, particularly inthe field of Veterinary Services is still in its infancy. Financial condition was referred as atool to evaluate trends and patterns in how personnel budgets increases over a period oftime as a fraction of the total budget affected the ability of the directorate to deliverservices to the citizens of the province. Financial condition uses a percentage change toanalyse changes in the budget over time for the Directorate.Budget reports (2000-2002) collected from the Provincial Department of Agriculture,Conservation and Environment was analyzed in terms of a split between personnel andoperational. This analysis was then used to elucidate patterns over time for theDirectorate as a whole, which were then compared between the regions (using costcenters) to determine any bias in terms of resource allocation. The percentage change wasalso done per standard budget item used in the Province.From the study it is evident that there was deterioration in financial condition for thefinancial year 200112001. This deterioration in financial condition is shown by a drop inbudget but also in terms of a bias towards personnel. This phenomenon was howeverreversed in the following year of 2002/2003.This study has identified a negative correlation between personnel budget and otherexpenditure,:, needs for the Directorate Veterinary Services that had negative consequencesfor service delivery. To this extent it recommends a regular monitoring process to be putin place and the use of public partnerships where practical as a solution to risingpersonnel costs.