1. This circular has been revised and repeals Circular 0040/2007 in its entirety.

2. In terms of section 38(1)(d) of the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA), 1999 (Act 1 of 1999), every manager must have a system in place for the control and safekeeping of assets. In addition, the Head of Department must have a register of assets which should indicate the exact location of such assets. A full record must be kept of all A-class accountable items (e.g. tables, chairs, computers, fax machines and other labour-saving devices) that are in the possession of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

3. After the recent stocktaking, inventories of all the items (furniture and equipment) within each official’s responsibility were signed by the official concerned and placed behind the door of every location for which they are responsible. This means that the items must be there when the Auditor-General audits the asset register.

4. In Circulars 0028/2005 and 0041/2005, dated 23 May 2005 and 17 August 2005 respectively, officials were requested not to transfer any assets between offices without notifying the Procurement Management Directorate of such movements. A movement form must be completed for this purpose.

5. During the stocktaking of 2017/18 and the submission of the asset register for auditing, it was noticed that responsibility managers had often not complied with the measures stipulated in the abovementioned circulars, as inventory items had been moved without the submission of movement forms.

6. All responsibility managers are again requested to adhere to the following:
6.1 No item may be moved from a location unless a movement form (Annexure A), has been completed and approved.
6.2 Any item which is stolen or lost must, in terms of the loss control procedure, immediately be reported to the Departmental Loss Control Officer, as well as the Asset Management Unit, so that the asset register can be updated.
6.3 If there is a shortage of any item or any item is redundant/damaged, the relevant asset management division must be notified by means of a surpluses/shortages form (Annexure B). The asset control official(s) will follow the necessary procedures and supply the duly completed and signed form to the Asset Management Division (for the attention of Mr HG Barnes) at Head Office. No unserviceable/unused item(s) may be left in the passage or close to the lifts. In such cases notice of the redundancy must be given per requisition, accompanied by a completed PGWC 002 form, so that the item(s) concerned can be removed.
6.4 The Asset Management Unit must also be kept informed of all purchases, gifts and transfers so as to ensure that the inventories are continually updated.
6.5 Should any newly purchased equipment be delivered directly to an office by a supplier, for example, computers (desktop or laptop) or furniture, this must immediately be reported to the Asset Management Unit, who will arrange for the marking and bar coding of the items and the updating of the asset register. With regard to desktop computers, it must be indicated who the user will be, the computer's precise location and the relevant serial number. It is incumbent upon officials to arrange with the Centre for e-Innovation for the installation of computers. If an existing computer is replaced, the details of the replaced computer must be provided and the disposal thereof requested, using a Log 1 requisition form. All this information is required in order to update the asset register.
6.6 Should the bar code label of any item become detached or lost, it must immediately be reported to the Asset Management Unit, who will re-attach or replace the label.

7. Responsibility managers are also required to appoint an official (one for each directorate or district office) whose job description must include the tasks of an asset controller for that particular directorate or office (a job description for an asset controller is attached as Annexure C). Every responsibility manager will be requested to send the name of the person so appointed to Mr A Betz at the following address:
Room 620, 6th Floor
Grand Central Towers
Cape Town

8. It is trusted that the instructions contained in this circular will be adhered to at all times in a spirit of mutual cooperation.

9. Enquiries regarding the content of this circular may be directed to the following officials:

Mr A Betz tel. no. 021 467 2805
Mr H Barnes tel. no. 021 467 2049

10. Responsibility managers are requested to inform all personnel of the contents of this circular.


SIGNED: BK SCHREUDER
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2018:09:10

Public Finance Management Act (PMFA), 1999 (Act 1 of 1999)  (size: 487 KB)
Annexure A: Asset Movement Form  (size: 52 KB)
Annexure B: Reporting of Surpluses/Shortages  (size: 55 KB)
Annexure C: Job description - Asset controller  (size: 60 KB)