Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694846152748.pdf (South Africa)
Following up on our commitments to the people.Vol.

16 ISSUE 1 2016Citizens line route to Houseof State Nation Address Vision An activist and responsive people’s Parliament that improves the quality of life of South Africans and ensures enduring equality in our society.
Mission Parliament aims to provide a service to the people of South Africa by providing the following: • A vibrant people’s Assembly that intervenes and transforms society and addresses the development challenges of our people; • Effective oversight over the Executive by strengthening its scrutiny of actions against the needs of South Africans; • Participation of South Africans in the decision-making processes that affect their lives; • A healthy relationship between the three arms of the State, that promotes efficient co-operative governance between the spheres of government, and ensures appropriate links with our region and the world; and • An innovative, transformative, effective and efficient parliamentary service and administration that enables Members of Parliament to fulfil their constitutional responsibilities.
Strategic Objectives 1.

Strengthening oversight and accountability 2.

Enhancing public involvement 3.

Deepening engagement in international fora 4.

Strengthening co-operative government 5.
Strengthening legislative capacity 5 6 8 9 Message froM the NatiONal aSSeMBly I put the queStiON BIll tRackeR Bills tabled in parliament in february hIghlIghts froM the cOMMittee ROOMS 11 launch of Independent adViSORy PaNel tO aSSeSS key legiSlatiON 12 oversIght In KZn aNd eaSteRN caPe SchOOlS 17 coMMIttee InvestIgates RegulatiON Of Ott cell PhONe SeRViceS 18 spotlIght on StudeNt RegiStRatiON 20 Budget 2016 22 partIes respond to the 2016 State Of the NatiON addReSS ‘all south afrIcans MuSt haVe NutRitiOuS fOOd’ Iec hands over atlaS Of electiON ReSultS seMInar on RiSk factORS iN POliciNg the sweet sMell Of SucceSS iN giyaNi 26 28 30 32 33 oBItuarY tribute to former serJeant-at-arms 34 puBlIc educatiON Office the state of the nation address and the Budget explained 5 12 20 28 COVER: cultural dancers welcome guests to parliament before the state of the nation address.
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regulars Presiding Officers Ms Baleka Mbete, Ms Thandi Modise, Mr Lechesa Tsenoli and Mr Raseriti Tau Secretary to Parliament Mr Gengezi Mgidlana editor-in-chief Luzuko Jacobs editor Moira Levy design and layout: Angelo Lamour copy editors: Jane Henshall and Vusumzi Nobadula Writers: Rajaa Azzakani, Mava Lukani, Cedric Mboyisa, Sakhile Mokoena, Justice Molafo, Malatswa Molepo, Abel Mputing Photography: Mlandeli Puzi distribution & subscriptions: Jacqueline Zils Publisher: Parliament of the Republic of South Africa Printer: Capitil Press copyright INSESSION is a monthly publication, which is published by the Information and Content Development Unit of the Parliamentary Communication Services of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
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editORial eNquiRieS telephone 021 403 8738 fax 021 403 8096 e-mail insession@parliament.gov.za Subscriptions jzils@parliament.gov.za Post PO Box 15, Cape Town, 8000 OuR idealS ViSiON An activist and responsive people’s Parliament that improves the quality of life of South Africans and ensures enduring equality in our society.
StRategic OBJectiVeS Strengthening oversight and accountability; enhancing public involvement; deepening engagement in international fora; strengthening cooperative government; strengthening legislative capacity.
Facebook “f ” Logo CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai Facebook “f ” Logo ViSit uS ON www.parliament.gov.za www.facebook.com/parliamentofrsa twitter.com/ParliamentofRSA youtube.com/ParliamentofRSA BOOk a tOuR To tour Parliament Tel 021 403 2266 Fax 021 403 3817 Email tours@parliament.gov.za iSSN 2227-1325 (Print) iSSN 2227-3778 (Online) www.parliament.gov.za regulars MESSAGE fROM THE national assembly speaker of the national assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete The theme chosen for today’s event, “Becoming an active citizen”, is critical at this juncture in the continued day challenges and can play a role in turning the situation around.
development of our country.

In fact the national development plan, which is our developmental road map until 2030, draws extensively on the notion of an active citizenry, to work alongside our government to ensure that all of our people have a better quality of life.

as a country that has respect for fundamental human rights, we have the constitution which upholds the right to human dignity.
the cornerstone of south african democracy, the Bill of rights, states that “everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected”.

these constitutional provisions serve as a reminder and a lesson for us to change our perceptions towards the elderly.

we have the responsibility to treat our senior citizens with respect and the dignity they deserve.
the value of being older and having lived long lives is that you have experienced the totality of the experiences that form part of a human being’s journey.

this includes the lessons that you have learnt based on mistakes and decisions you might have made.
In this sense, part of the role of older persons in society is to share these lessons with the young and upcoming generation so that they can make better decisions and thereby contribute to building a better future for their children and future generations.

I also firmly believe that senior citizens can play a pivotal role in nation- building and social cohesion in society.

Mutual trust, respect and reciprocity are what will build a better society for ourselves, our children and their grandchildren.
the polarisation that we are witnessing in politics at the moment is highly distressing and, in this regard, it is our elders who are in the best position to encourage mutual respect and tolerance, listening to each other and tolerating different and diverse views.

this province has a painful history of racism and discrimination.

as elders, it is your responsibility to talk about racism and end it.

as elders, you must talk about class inequality and end it.
let us not be swayed by the dictates of divisive elements in our society.

let us make up our own minds and declare unequivocally that race and class shall be a thing of the past, all over the country, but especially in this province.

the power of diversity can only lead to greater socio-economic advances and more opportunities for all to prosper.

thus we must unite in action.

the fifth local government elections since 1994 are but months away.
as senior citizens, you have a critical role to play in making your voices heard during the elections and thus the development of local communities.

I make this statement to highlight the reality that older persons who live in communities are alive to day-to- I urge you, as senior citizens, to exercise your right and turn out in your numbers to register and vote in the upcoming local government elections.
Indeed, as the elders, your responsibility is to school the young in holding your leaders accountable for open, honest government at every level – government that stamps out corruption and protects the rights of every citizen to speak freely, to worship openly, and to love whomever they choose.

as senior citizens you can ensure that women are no longer second-class citizens, that girls take their rightful places in our schools.
as elders, you must continue to stand up and say that violence against women in any form, in any place including the home – especially the home – is not just a women’s rights violation.

It is a human rights violation.

and it has no place in any society.

with freedom comes responsibilities – we must not take it for granted that our progress is inevitable.

all of us must play our part – with the kind of patriotism and dedication of a lifetime.

It requires citizenship and a sense that we are one.
this is an edited extract of the address given by the speaker of the national assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete, at the launch of the national programme: digging into dignity – promoting human dignity at home and throughout society, in gugulethu, cape town recently.

5 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA regulars i put the question and Industry in the second half of 2014.
Questions asked in Parliament in February were all directed towards the Department of Trade and Industry and concerned, among other things, the protection of South Africa’s poultry industry and a review of Proudly South African and its presence at the World Economic Forum’s 2016 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Mr dW Macpherson (da) asked the Minister of trade and industry, Mr Rob davies, what plans and strategies have been put in place by the department of trade and Industry for armscor and the south african defence industry in order to benefit from the predicted growth in total sector revenues of the global aerospace and defence industry in 2016. the minister responded: the department of trade and Industry is working closely with the south african aerospace, Maritime and defence Industry association, armscor, denel and a range of private sector companies in the aerospace and defence (land and marine) industry.
the purpose of this work is to build upon existing domestic value-added manufacturing capabilities to increase high-value manufacturing both for domestic and export demand; broaden the supplier base; increase employment and contribute to economic growth.
subject to strategic and confidentiality considerations, this work includes stronger deployment of localisation criteria for domestic procurement; the inclusion of aerospace and defence companies in the Manufacturing competitiveness enhancement programme (Mcep); provision of export support through the aerospace and defence export council; establishment of supplier Incentive scheme for the aerospace and defence Industry to further broaden the supplier base and strengthen its integration into the global supply chains and the incorporation of state-owned aerospace and defence national strategic testing facilities into the critical Infrastructure programme – of which the majority are owned by armscor.
In addition to the above, the department of trade and Industry has an aerospace Industry support Initiative hosted at and managed by the council for scientific and Industrial research.

Its intention is to accelerate government strategic objectives such as industrialisation of technologies with stronger emphasis on technology transfer, job creation and industry transformation.
Mr geordin hill-lewis (da) asked the Minister of trade and industry, Mr Rob davies, whether he requested that a review of proudly south african (psa) be conducted and when the review, if it exists, will be made public.
the minister responded: a scoping review of proudly south african was undertaken by the department of trade 6 the purpose of the scoping review was to gather information which could assist engagements with the national economic development and labour council (nedlac) and the psa board, which is constituted by nedlac, to strengthen the work of psa.

a copy of the scoping review can be made available.
Mr geordin hill-lewis (da) asked the Minister of trade and industry, Mr Rob davies, why psa participated in south africa’s delegation to the world economic forum’s 2016 annual meeting in davos, switzerland, and the total cost of its participation, including travel, subsistence and the events it hosted or sponsored.

he also asked how its participation at davos correlates with its mandate.
the minister responded: the chief executive officer and staff of psa report to a board appointed through the trade and Investment chamber of nedlac.

with the possible exception of members of this Board having participated in their own or other capacity at the world economic forum, representatives of psa did not travel to the world economic forum in davos.
consequently, psa did not incur any costs associated with the world economic forum with respect to travel, subsistence and events it hosted or sponsored.

no correlation is possible or required since psa did not participate.
Mr Ja esterhuizen (ifP) asked the Minister of trade and industry, Mr Rob davies, to furnish information on the measures that his department will put in place to ensure the continued survival and growth of the country’s domestic poultry market, specifically regarding trade policies that may be considered in order to assist local poultry producers to be able to compete better both locally and abroad.
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA regulars the minister responded: the department of trade and Industry continues to support the sustainability of the local poultry producers through a number of measures, including the import tariff for bone-in chicken which was approved and implemented in september 2014. the anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in portions against us companies also remain in place.
the 65 000 ton exemption from the anti-dumping duty would constitute, in volume terms/tonnage, 13.6% of south africa’s imports of poultry meat in 2015.

In addition, an application for the designation of locally produced poultry meat for government procurement is in the approval process with implementation expected in less than six months’ time.
the department continues to provide incentives for investment into poultry production and animal feed industry in order to help mitigate costs towards competitiveness of the industry.

as an example, astral’s Meadow feeds investment of r193 251 000 was facilitated through an incentive to the value of r14 433 754 over a period of two years.
a further area of support is the work underway with the sa poultry association and the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries (daff) towards opening up new market opportunities.

an example is the upcoming mission to the united arab emirates.

south africa and the united states agreed to a developmental component to assist poultry producers in south africa, particularly historically disadvantaged individuals.
this development component will be facilitated by the department of trade and Industry and daff, together with relevant us stakeholders.

7 Mr dw Macpherson (da) PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA regulars Bills tracking bill tracker Bills tabled in Parliament in february Bills before parliament in february included the foreign service Bill and the higher education amendment Bill, among others.

compiled by Sakhile Mokoena.


foreign Service Bill the aim of this Bill is to provide for the management, administration and functioning of the foreign service of the republic of south africa and for the operational requirements that are suitable and supportive of the operations of the foreign service in a global environment.
It creates an enabling administrative and management framework through which the foreign service will be managed and regulated in a consolidated and coherent manner by the department of International relations and cooperation.

at present, the management of officials from various departments serving abroad are fragmented, not consistent and in many cases not optimal.
It was decided that legislation should be developed that can address these concerns and the Bill will be operationalised within the existing legislative framework governing the public service sector and the security services in south africa and the constitution.
higher education amendment Bill the main object of the Bill is to amend the higher education act of 1997 to ensure alignment and consistency with the administrative law provisions of the constitution, the promotion of access to Information act (paIa), the promotion of administrative Justice act, (paJa) and other administrative legal norms and judicial decisions relating to administrative actions.
the Bill is not aimed at broadening the scope of the act to cover areas beyond higher education, such as the central applications service and the admissions agency, but seeks to account for the changes and envisaged changes (with specific reference to the white paper for post-school education and training) in the higher education landscape and the lessons learnt from recent tendencies and experiences in the public and private higher education sector.
this Bill seeks to provide for the determination of transformation goals and oversight mechanisms for the public higher education system; the development of articulation and recognition of prior learning frameworks; the conversion of public higher education institutions; the powers of the council of a public higher education institution to invest funds; to provide further for the issuing of ministerial directives; to provide for indemnification of an independent assessor; to provide for the indemnification and termination of the term of office of an administrator; to provide for different categories of registration of private higher education institutions and the associated rights; and to provide for the withdrawal and revocation of qualifications by public higher education institutions.
films and Publications amendment Bill the Bill seeks to amend the films and publications act of 1996 so as to insert and amend certain definitions; to provide for the establishment of the penalty committee; to provide for the powers and duties of the penalty committee; to regulate online distribution of digital films and digital games; to extend the functions of the film and publication Board 8 in monitoring compliance with the films and publications act; to include online distributors in respect of the requirements to comply with the films and publications act; to revise and further regulate the functions of compliance officers regarding the entering and inspection of premises and facilities in which the business of the sale, hire or exhibition of films or games is being conducted; to further regulate the classification of publications, films and games; to provide for independent industry classification bodies accreditation thereof by the film and publication Board; to provide for classification of publications, films and games by the independent industry classification bodies; to provide for foreign classification systems and approval thereof by the film and publication Board; to provide for the use of classification ratings issued by a foreign classification authority or body; to provide for the right of appeal against classifications issued by independent industry classification bodies; to provide for exemptions in respect of online distribution of films and games; to further provide for the obligations of internet service providers regarding curbing the use of their services in advocating racism and hate speech; and lastly, to revise and strengthen penal provisions.
administrative adjudication of Road traffic Offences amendment Bill the aim of this Bill is to amend the administrative adjudication of road traffic offences act of 1998 to simplify the manner of service of documents; to provide for financing of the authority and the apportionment of penalties.

It also seeks to promote road traffic quality by providing for a scheme that discourages road traffic contraventions; and facilitate the efficient adjudication of road traffic infringements.
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA highlights from the committee rooms Every month parliament’s committees exercise their law-making and oversight function.

Cedric Mboyisa compiled this summary of committees’ deliberations.

the Portfolio committee on home affairs noted the electoral court order in respect of the pending tlokwe Municipality by-elections.

the order postponed the by-elections scheduled to take place in six of the seven wards in tlokwe, north west.
the committee further noted the decision by the electoral commission of south africa (Iec) to postpone other by- elections scheduled to take place on 24 february around the country.

while the committee respects the rule of law and encourages the Iec to abide by the electoral court order, the committee is concerned about the implication of the order on the planning for the impending 2016 local government elections.
It is also troubling that there seems to be a divergence between this order and the constitutional court order of the 30th of november 2015. the constitutional court order 5(c) stated that: “It is declared that when registering a voter to vote in a particular voting district after the date of this order, the electoral commission is obliged to obtain sufficient particulars of the voter’s address to enable it to ensure that the voter is at the time of registration ordinarily resident in that voting district.” the constitutional court order (6) further directed that order 5(c) is prospective in its implementation.
the committee is thus convinced that the Iec in preparing for the by-elections complied with the constitutional court order.

the committee encourages the Iec to take steps to attend to the electoral court order, and ensure that the 2016 local government elections are not negatively affected.

Meanwhile, the committee has welcomed progress made so far in preparations for the 2016 local government elections.
the committee is of the view that all necessary systems are being put in place to ensure that the electoral commission continues in its proud tradition of managing and delivering free and fair elections.

the committee welcomes the conclusion of procurement of registration materials.

this will ensure that the Iec rolls out the registration campaign without any hindrance.
the committee also welcomes the announcement that the Iec has factored into their processes all aspects of the tlokwe constitutional judgment.

furthermore, the committee welcomes the finalisation of a network of voting district boundaries impacted by the local government elections 2016 ward boundaries.

the committee also welcomes the commitment by the Iec to a continuous and open communication with registered parties as well as other stakeholders.
this will ensure that the legitimacy of the elections is guaranteed.

the committee is of the view that political parties have the responsibility to assist the Iec to deliver credible elections.

to this end, the committee also welcomes the announcement that vote counting will start immediately as voting stops at every voting station.

regulars the Select committee on trade and international Relations has welcomed the Black Industrialists’ programme as conceptualised by the department of trade and Industry.
the committee received a briefing on the programme and was informed that the programme will facilitate access to market and capital for black industrialists.

the chairperson of the committee, Mr eddie Makue, said the committee would want to make sure that the programme used a correct approach to address economic challenges.

“capitalisation and access to markets are critical in supporting black industrialists.
the committee welcomes the assurance that this programme will not exclude people, but will prioritise a section of our society that was ignored for too long.

this would put us on a new development paradigm.

and it ought to be noted that this is not a project that will benefit those who are politically connected.

It will instead help those who are prepared to work as entrepreneurs, prepared to take risks and prepared to control their businesses,” he said.
the Standing committee on Public accounts (Scopa) will closely monitor the passenger rail agency of south africa (prasa) following the auditor- general’s (a-g’s) finding that more than r550m had been irregularly spent at the entity in the last financial year.

the chairperson of the committee, Mr themba godi, said the intention was to make sure that public money was handled with care at the entity.
“we all should have a sense of national responsibility when dealing with public finances, including officials at prasa.

It is important that we take our work 9 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA regulars seriously and work in the best interest of the country,” Mr godi said.

plan and is in line with the Back to Basics strategy.

prasa appeared before scopa to explain gross irregular expenditure, as reported by the a-g, in its annual report for the 2014/15 financial year.
It was revealed at the meeting that more than r550m was irregularly spent by prasa and that there were challenges with the r59bn locomotive contract awarded to gibela consortium for a new fleet.

prasa highlighted challenges that included a culture of non-accountability, especially by senior managers.

the Select committee on finance has lauded the land Bank’s efforts to help farmers hit by drought.
Many parts of the country are currently experiencing extreme drought conditions and therefore the committee commended the land Bank for its interventions taken to provide relief and assistance to emerging and commercial farmers.
some of the drought relief interventions for the farmers entail the carry-over of the debt facility for production credit, the granting of the repayment holiday depending on cash flow projections and the extension of the repayment period for the remaining term of the loan, among other things.

thus far r700m has been targeted for support for emerging farmers.
the Portfolio committee on Police has welcomed president Jacob Zuma’s announcement regarding the establishment of two new crime- fighting units which would fall under the hawks (directorate for priority crime Investigation).

the committee is pleased with the president’s announcement and believes the establishment of the two specialised units will go a long way in fighting organised crime.
committee chairperson, Mr francois Beukman, said the president’s announcement is in keeping with the kind of the police service and crime-fighting efforts envisaged in the national development Making this announcement during his reply to the state of the nation address debate, president Zuma said: “as part of the Back to Basics strategy, the ministry of police will establish special units to deal with drugs and related transgressions and transnational crimes, as well as violence and the proliferation of firearms in our society.” the new units will deal with narcotics and illegal firearms.
the Portfolio committee on Justice and correctional Services has called for greater rehabilitation and social integration at correctional facilities across the country.

committee chairperson, dr Mathole Motshekga, said the involvement of students in the humanities faculties was important to achieve this goal.
“university students studying social work or psychology can be used to fill the gap where vacancies exist in the department.” he added that honours and Master’s students could be used to provide this service.

In a presentation to the committee, the department of correctional services indicated that it was struggling with the high rate of resignations of its officials.

In the last year, 740 officials resigned.


the committee further reiterated the importance of establishing halfway houses or rehabilitation centres.

the committee heard that these facilities exist in most provinces but the department was experiencing challenges in three provinces.

dr Motshekga emphasised that these facilities should be a priority.

“If we do not rehabilitate them, the same group of offenders will be returning to correctional centres, adding to the burden of new entrants.
this will lead to further overcrowding of already full facilities and that will make the system unworkable,” said dr Motshekga.

the committee heard that correctional facilities could only accommodate 120 000 offenders but currently had 158 000 people in their care.

the Portfolio committee on Mineral Resources is worried about the increasing number of accidents which could possibly be caused by the lapse of safety measures.

this after a mine shaft collapsed in Mpumalanga.


the accident involved about 90 workers.“although we appreciate a swift rescue of most of those workers, we remain worried about the missing three people.

our strong view is that accidents of this nature should not happen in the first place,” said Mr sahlulele luzipo, chairperson of the committee.
this accident reaffirms the committee’s long-held belief that drastic measures in the form of legislation should be considered, as in the case with road safety laws.

Mr luzipo added that it was unacceptable that ordinary workers, most of whom are africans from destitute backgrounds, leave their families to go to work and are often injured or killed.
“workers go to work in order to put bread on the table for their families and contribute to the growth of the economy, hence we do not expect them to come back dead or injured as if they had gone to war,” he said.

the committee is concerned that while the industry is faced with looming job cuts due to low commodity prices and other matters, there is another challenge in the form of mine safety that is avoidable.
however, the committee acknowledges the speedy intervention by the Minister of the department of Mineral resources and will convene a meeting to engage with the minister and industry to hear what steps will be taken to ensure no harm in the future.

10 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Independent advIsorY panel GEnERAl nEwS Advisory panel to review laws passed, says Chair ASSESSInG lEGISlATIOn IMPACT: Members of the advisory panel, with its chairperson, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe in the centre.
The establishment of the Independent advisory panel to assess key legislation passed by parliament since 1994 is the idea of the speakers’ forum, the speaker of the national assembly Ms Baleka Mbete told members of the media at the launch of the advisory panel in parliament, writes Mava lukani.

“I have established, as mandated by the speakers’ forum, an Independent advisory panel on the acceleration of change and transformation,” said Ms Mbete at the launch.
according to Ms Mbete, the key purpose of the panel is to assess the impact of legislation passed by parliament since 1994.

“the panel aims to review legislation, assess implementation, identify gaps and propose steps that would impact on certain areas in our society,” she said.
furthermore, Ms Mbete said the mandate of the panel will be to investigate the impact of legislation on areas such as the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, creation of an equitable distribution of wealth, land reform, land redistribution, security of tenure, nation-building and social cohesion.

outlining how the panel will work, Ms Mbete said it will conduct its work through public consultations countrywide.
Ms Mbete told the members of the media that the panel will synthesise its findings and all the evidence that has been collected and will make recommendations and submit its final report to the speakers’ forum in 12 months’ time.

Members of the media asked Ms Mbete to explain the difference between the work of the panel and parliamentary committees, given that the passing of legislation is the mandate of parliament and that parliament uses its committees to assess the efficacy of the legislation it passes.
In response, Ms Mbete and members of the panel emphasised the importance of the panel’s independence in assessing the impact of legislation.

the deputy speaker of the national assembly, Mr lechesa tsenoli, said members of the panel, unlike Members of parliament, will be able to view the legislation through a lens that is free from party political doctrines.
“their assessment is certainly going to be The Speakers’ Forum is composed of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the national Assembly, the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the national Council of Provinces and the Speakers and Deputy Speakers of all nine Provincial legislatures.

The Speaker of the national Assembly is the chairperson of the Speakers’ Forum and acts as the contracting authority on behalf of the Secretaries’ Association of the legislatures of South Africa.
objective to a greater extent,” said Mr tsenoli.

Members of the media also mentioned the national council of provinces’ programmes, such as taking parliament to the people, and government’s imbizos, among other things, that assess the impact of legislation on the lives of the people.

Mr tsenoli explained that there is a clear line between the purpose of the panel and existing parliamentary structures and programmes.
the former president of the republic of south africa and the chairperson of the panel, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, said the panel will ensure that it works to meet the purpose for which it was established.

he said the panel will expose ineffective and cumbersome legislation and make recommendations in a report to the speakers’ forum.

“we are not going to reinvent the wheel,” Mr Motlanthe assured members of the media.
the 17-person panel includes former justice minister Ms Brigitte Mabandla, former reserve Bank governor Mr tito Mboweni, former auditor-general Mr terence nombembe, public health expert dr olive shisana, the centre for law and society's dr aninka claassens, prof haroon Bhorat, director of the graduate school of development policy and practice Mr alan hirsch, former united nations special ambassador Judge ravi pillay and the head of the university of cape town, Ms vivienne taylor.
11 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA SPECIAl FOCuS oversIght vIsIt to e cape and KZn schools OVERSIGHT PROGRAMME: schools in the eastern cape and KwaZulu-natal were the focus of oversight visits from the portfolio committee on Basic education and the select committee on education and recreation.
State of readiness of KZN schools for 2016 under spotlight The portfolio committee on Basic education and the select committee on education and recreation recently conducted a joint oversight visit to schools in KwaZulu-natal (KZn).

Rajaa Azzakani accompanied the group.

various stakeholders and visited several schools during the visit.
Members of parliament asked tough questions to the stakeholders of the provincial department of Basic education in an attempt to understand the deep-rooted challenges that led to the decline of national senior certificate results in the province.
teacher development, the number of teaching hours that educators spend outside of the classroom, labour relations, challenges regarding mathematics and science educators, the use of foreign educators, filling of vacant posts, instability when teachers are moved in the middle of the year, curriculum management, the huge size of districts compared to the norm (some districts have 700 schools while the norm is around 200), multi- grade schools, non-viable schools and the attrition of educators were thoroughly discussed.
the committees indicated that the sudden dramatic decline in the performance of learners can only confirm suspicions of cheating in the previous examinations at some schools.

they said the support provided by circuit offices as well as district offices must be improved.

select committee on education and recreation chairperson Ms lungelwa Zwane said: “one of the reasons in my opinion is that cheating or copying in previous years has deceived us.
teacher development programmes are also of critical importance and teachers must be skilled to use learner teacher support Material effectively.” the chairperson of the portfolio committee on education, Ms nomalungelo gina, said: “we found that little teaching and learning was happening in the classroom.
some managers are also afraid to exert authority.” at the onset of the oversight visit, Ms gina said the committees would like to have an understanding of the challenges being faced, the contingency plans in place and possible assistance that may be forthcoming.

the committees held meetings with the allegations of organised labour the visit formed part of the committees’ oversight programme to monitor the state of readiness of schools for 2016.
It also focused on the 2015 national senior certificate (nsc) results.

the oversight approach entails visiting provinces, districts and schools to continually monitor he implementation of key priority areas.

the committees said that KZn was chosen for the visit as this province’s 2015 nsc results declined and performed the second lowest of all provinces.
the province registered the highest number of candidates at 200 945 out of the overall national figure of 799 306. some of the key challenges observed by the committees during the visit to schools include a lack of effective leadership, a reluctance or incapacity to implement existing school policy and legislation, a lack of suitably qualified teachers, an acute shortage of subject advisers, a lack of sufficient parental support and challenges regarding learner discipline.
12 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA oversIght vIsIt to e cape and KZn schools SPECIAl FOCuS having taken over the administration of education in the province were also discussed.

Ms Zwane cautioned the stakeholders against crossing the line of administration of the provincial department of Basic education as the impression exists of co-management of the department by the departmental management and labour unions.
Members of the committees heard, among other things, that district officials are unable to apply disciplinary measures to teachers who do not teach due to the problem of co-management of the department by the departmental officials and labour unions.
Both chairpersons told departmental officials that in January 2015 when the portfolio committee on Basic education visited the province, the departmental officials had assured the committee that the challenges contributing to the poor matric results in 2014 would be eliminated through “operation Bounce Back”.

But according to the committee, that assurance did not translate into any meaningful difference.

“we cannot be coming back every time to the same province for the same reason.
we need to see implementation of the plans.

otherwise it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Ms Zwane.

the meeting heard that inexperience and lack of ability of funza lushaka (mathematics and science) bursary holders created challenges.

officials indicated they had been made aware of “posts for sale” but there was no real evidence with regard to that.

the chairperson for the KZn portfolio committee on education, Ms linda hlongwa-Madlala, said it is clear that teachers in the province cannot teach.
she said this in reference to an earlier statement that the provincial department recruited tellers from supermarkets, took them through a short training programme and appointed them as teachers.

in what they do and care more about the learners.

on behalf of the south african democratic teachers union (sadtu), Ms nomarashiya caluza told members of the committees about the existence of the education labour relations council (erlc) in KZn where labour issues are discussed and resolved.
however, according to Ms caluza, the provincial department did not implement decisions taken by the elrc.

according to Ms caluza, the districts of education in KZn are not providing the necessary support to schools.

“certain teachers have been on long leave, some for up to 10 years, awaiting permission for medical boarding.

the department refuses even though medical experts have recommended this,” emphasised Ms caluza.
the national professional teachers’ organisation of south africa’s (naptosa’s) representative raised the issue of poor performance of mathematics and science teachers in KZn while the provincial department boasted about being a mathematics province.

furthermore, according to naptosa’s representative, the rural-based schools relied predominantly on foreign teachers from mainly Zimbabwe and ghana to teach these subjects.
Ms gina emphasised the importance of innovative plans to improve the performance of the schools.

she said the turnaround of poor performance to better performance and to excellence eventually can take place only by means of innovative plans.

“challenges cannot miraculously evaporate, they need an innovative plan in place,” said Ms gina.

Members of the committees told teachers that the results are a disgrace.

“educators are at fault for losing control over the school.
You have to take back your school.” they told teachers to take pride Members of the committees also heard the allegations that teachers were leaving almost a week before school closes, returning a week after schools have opened and some leaving before the end of the school day.

Members of the committee travelled long distances to reach schools that are in remote areas to see for themselves the infrastructural, environmental and other conditions that caused the decline of matric results in KZn.
some of the schools achieved a 16.7% pass rate (12 passes) in the 2015 nsc examinations.

when asked about the reasons for the decline by members of the committees, some of the principals attributed the decline to challenges that include the refusal of the teachers to co-operate when it came to morning, saturday or holiday classes.
the committees recommended, among other things, that the principals should be provided with targeted management training workshops and support for teachers and subject advisers should be intensified.

they said strategies should be urgently implemented to support schools to address disciplinary challenges.

furthermore, accountability must be enforced at every level.
the committees further resolved that communication between the provincial department and its districts should be improved, curriculum streams offered at some schools must be reviewed and the roll-out of the rural incentive scheme requires urgent attention to ensure that competent teachers were motivated to take up posts in remote areas.

Both chairpersons said that parliament will be monitoring the implementation of the 2016 school plans.
parlIaMent of the repuBlIc of south afrIca 13 SPECIAl FOCuS oversIght vIsIt to e cape and KZn schools Committed to improve quality of education InSession writer Mava lukani spoke to the chairperson of the select committee on education and recreation, Ms lungelwa Zwane, about the committee’s recent oversight visit to the eastern cape and KwaZulu-natal to assess school readiness for the 2016 school year and to establish reasons for the poor performance of these provinces in the 2015 matric exams.
your committee selected the eastern cape and kwaZulu-Natal (kZN) provinces to assess the readiness of schools for 2016 and also to pay an oversight visit to schools that performed poorly in 2015. can you explain your reasons for selecting only these two provinces?
while the select committee has a responsibility to conduct oversight over the department of Basic education in all the provinces, the focus this time around shifted to the eastern cape and KwaZulu-natal simply based on their poor performance in matric results in 2015. the eastern cape was the lowest performer while KwaZulu-natal was the second lowest performing province in the 2015 national senior certificate results.
education is a concurrent competency between national and provincial levels of government.

from your observations during your visit, have both departments of basic education adequately played their support roles?

there are signs that both national and provincial are playing their support roles adequately.

remember that the national department is a policy making one and the provinces are implementers, using their district offices.
It has been reported that national officials have traversed the provinces to ensure that policies are implemented properly by the provinces.

In KZn the Minister, together with the national officials, went there to assess the feasibility of the turnaround strategy.

after some revision, the Minister gave the turnaround strategy a thumbs-up.

now we are waiting for the implementation of the strategy, and as parliament, we will oversee its implementation.
In our recent engagement with the department of Basic education, we got assurances that with regard to post-provisioning norms, the department has intervened and resolved most of the cases in the eastern cape.

in both provinces, part of the blame for the poor 2015 matric results was apportioned to labour unions.

although the unions rejected that, you appealed to them as powerful stakeholders to use their power for the achievement of a better education for the children.
as a committee, do you engage labour unions separately?

In all our oversight visits, we always reserve a slot in the programme to engage labour unions as they are an invaluable stakeholder in the education sector.

we are always clear on what we want them to do.

for instance, we spell out to them the non-negotiables, which are: to be in class on time, fully prepared and teaching.
we always urge them, as we did during our recent oversight visit, that they must put the interests of the learners first and their meetings during teaching time are a big no.

we suggested that they should hold their meetings after school.

lack of cooperation from parents with the schools was raised as one of the problems that are at the core of poor performance of schools.

after your visit to the schools, did you get the assurance of cooperation from the parents?
the parent component is represented by legally elected school governing Bodies (sgBs).

however, at times schools convene parents meetings.

In some schools, it was reported that parents are not supportive as they do not attend these meetings.

we are of the view that schools are in communities, so communities own schools, therefore they should take part in school activities.

when parents are involved, this will enable them to know the progress (and the challenges) of their children.
thus, parents should own schools and protect schools from any form of vandalism.

as we value the parental component in our education, we advised that sgBs could use various strategies like campaigning and collaborating with traditional leaders and various other stakeholders with interest in education to intervene in issues affecting the education of their children.
14 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA oversIght vIsIt to e cape and KZn schools SPECIAl FOCuS committees to assign themselves to a district of education in kZN.

What is your comment on that?

the issue of a parliamentary delegation adopting a district each or pairing themselves as members of national assembly and national council of provinces is an issue that Members of parliament welcome.
the attitude is premised on the fact that we are all committed to improving the quality of education in all provinces, including KwaZulu-natal.

given an opportunity Members of parliament will be more than willing to put their shoulders behind the wheel.

the suggestion of the Mec is welcomed.

the delegation would have to look into the issue and take a resolution that is actionable, taking into consideration that the select committee members represent provinces.
you advised circuit managers and principals of remote schools to build teacher cottages at schools to ensure that teachers who live far away can stay closer to the schools to curb late-coming of teachers.

do you want to take that suggestion further, given that late-coming was one of the problems mentioned leading to the poor 2015 matric results in kZN and eastern cape?

Most of the schools we visited were very poor schools that would not be able to build these cottages that are so needed.
partnership agreements with the private sector would come in handy in this regard.

as public representatives we are in a position to network and lobby for financial assistance from organisations that have interests in the improvement of the quality of education.
It’s only through public/private partnerships that this dream of 1515 CHAIRPERSOn OF SElECT COMMITTEE On EDuCATIOn AnD RECREATIOn: Ms lungelwa Zwane Some of the principals of schools that produced poor matric results in 2015 highlighted a number of challenges, including what they perceive as incorrect quintile ratings for their schools.

they said that other schools in the same area have different quintile ratings.

What steps is your committee going to take to assist with this matter?
this is an issue that was raised by some principals and we agree with them that this is incorrect and it needs to be fixed because quintile rankings should be in line with the socio-economic status of the school and its community.

the select committee, in its subsequent engagement with the department of Basic education, will make regular follow-ups to ensure that schools are classified under the correct quintiles.
Part of the kZN department of Basic education’s strategy to improve school performance in 2016 is that senior managers in the provincial department of Basic education, including the Mec, and members of the Portfolio committee of the kZN legislature have been assigned responsibility for education districts.
the Mec also asked the members of the Portfolio and the Select PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA SPECIAl FOCuS oversIght vIsIt to e cape and KZn schools teacher’s cottages can be realised and this would render teachers much more effective because these cottages will curb late coming and early departure.

cottages will also create a possibility of extra classes as both learners and teachers will be on-site.

you encouraged the SgBs to understand their role.


do you think SgBs do not understand their role and its importance?

certain schools in the two provinces produced disastrous matric results.

are there consequences for poor matric results?

visit to schools which occurred after the matric results, and asked you to visit the schools more regularly.

how do you respond to that?


the department of Basic education undertook to come up with a strategy to deal with school managers and heads of departments whose performance has been dismal over the years.

the select committee will follow-up on all consequent management issues.

as members of the select committee we are responsible for nine other departments in terms of how the select committees are structured in the national council of provinces.
to that extent, it is not always easy to focus on only one department.

I think sgBs have a reasonable understanding of their role and responsibilities as they get training from the department of Basic education on school governance.

the main issue here is the implementation of responsibilities through informed decision-making that is illustrative of their understanding of the amount of power they have within the limits of legislation that govern their operations.
the select committee and the portfolio committee were very firm in saying that those managers who perpetually underperform cannot be allowed to constantly compromise the future of our children.

therefore, we are of the view that consequences should be enforced going forward.
Some senior officials in both provinces complained about your however, the provincial portfolio committees will make follow-up visits and when we meet we can get briefings on progress made on the resolutions for turning the situation around.

also, there are programmed oversight visit weeks in the programme of parliament and we can only do site visits during that time.

however, when time permits, we will always make ourselves available.
16 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA telecoMMunIcatIons and postal servIces COMMITTEE nEwS Committee considers regulation of OTT services CHAIRPERSOn OF PORTFOlIO COMMITTEE On TElECOMMunICATIOnS AnD POSTAl SERVICES: Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi At a meeting to discuss the desirability of regulating south africa’s over- the-top (ott) service providers, members of the portfolio committee on telecommunications and postal services heard that if you own an electronic device in south africa, your chances of being hacked are very high.
only china and russia have higher rates, writes Justice Molafo.

telecommunications and It policy, said it was important to consider the balance of rights between Mnos, ott service providers and consumers when developing regulations in the sector.
this dire warning came from prof alison gillwald, executive director of research Ict africa, during a meeting between the portfolio committee on telecommunications and postal services, the department of telecommunications and postal services (dtps), various stakeholders, mobile network operators (Mnos), ott service providers such as facebook, skype, whatsapp, Microsoft, and google, the Independent communications authority of south africa (Icasa) and the Internet service providers’ association (Ispa).
should have the right to be forgotten by online search engines,” she said.

prof gillwald argued that any legislation of ott service would have to guard against stifling innovation.

she linked the question of regulation to the cost of communication.

she said it was important to understand that most ott service providers were based internationally, which could limit the enforceability of regulations.
she also cautioned that Mnos do not lose much revenue to ott services because they sell data bundles at high prices.

ott services, such as whatsapp and facebook, have become part of everyday life and are used by millions of south africans every day.

Mtn and vodacom want these services regulated, they say, so that the services contribute to the country’s revenue base in the form of tax.
they also say that ott service providers use existing network infrastructure without contributing to the cost of its development and maintenance.

the chairperson of the portfolio committee, Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi, said it was unfair that harmful information, such as information about rape victims, is available online indefinitely.

“It cannot be right that one gets raped today, the matter gets reported in the media, but continues to be accessible online long after the incident.
victims of such crimes Most of the organisations represented in the meeting said that regulating ott services would be difficult because there is no universal description of what constituted these services.

Mr andile ngcaba, chairperson of wi-fi forum sa, said regulation could kill innovation coming from rural areas because any innovators would have to keep in mind international corporations.
In her presentation dtps director, Ms tsholofelo Mooketsi, supported the argument made by Ms Kubayi, saying the committee needed to discuss possible regulation of ott services.

“ott service regulation was one of the key issues the department was looking at as it finalised the national integrated Ict white paper,” said Ms Mooketsi.

Mr alf wiltz, dtps chief director for Icasa’s chief executive officer, Mr pakamile pongwana, said that innovation must be allowed to flourish.
“the major bottleneck is the holding back of the electromagnetic spectrum which needs to be unbundled to promote access to communication,” he said.

he was supported by Mr willington ngwepe, Icasa’s chief operating officer, who emphasised that the key drivers of ott services are increased availability of broadband networks, the adoption of smartphones and tablets, and their affordability.
the south african communication forum argued that if regulations were to be effected they should be made in a way that encourages constructive competition and innovation.

committee member Ms Marian shinn said the common denominator between the different stakeholders was spectrum allocation.

“after listening to all presentations and discussions, it seems unlikely that regulation will happen any time soon,” she said.
Ms Kubayi explained in the beginning of the meeting that the discussions on ott services were necessary to provide the committee with understanding on the matter.

she said the committee would compile a report based on the discussions.
17 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMMITTEE nEwS hIgher educatIon and traInIng Student registration in the spotlight The department of higher education and training appeared before the portfolio committee on higher education and training to present its report on the status of registration and enrolments in the 2016 academic year, writes Abel Mputing.
this comes in the wake of the volatile #feesMustfall protest late last year, which left the higher education sector in a state of uncertainity about the 2016 registration process.
the department’s presentation covered a wide range of factors from the status of the 2016 registration climate, the effect of presidential and ministerial interventions to manage the rollover of the 2015 #feesMustfall campaign, the national student financial aid scheme (nsfas) funding processes for financially needy students, to the cancellation of historic debt.
the Minister of higher education and training, dr Blade nzimande, conceded that the registration period at many universities was clouded by the #feesMustfall campaign, but it has gone more smoothly than expected despite some sporadic incidents.

“enrolment is the strategic imperative of the department.

It is in fact now part of the department’s strategic plans.

18 central to that is the central application process that assisted in acquiring places for students before the registration period began.
this service is also accessible to learners who have not applied but who are eligible.

the apply now campaign has turned out to be the most successful initiative and it is now our busiest platform,” he said.

the current registration tally varies between the actual head count and the projected enrolment targets, said the deputy director of university education, dr dianne parker.

“the department negotiates enrolment targets with universities in cycles.
the Ministerial statement on student enrolment planning 2014/15 to 2019/20 for universities indicates targets for the system and individual institutions.

this is a six-year enrolment planning view, with a mid-term review, to encourage better integrated planning at universities.

the mid-term review will PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA hIgher educatIon and traInIng COMMITTEE nEwS FInAnCIAl AID: finding long-term funding solutions at higher education institutions is a priority.
outsourcing of university services – not really having something to do with the academic enterprise.” universities.

this is what the committee has always recommended, said the chairperson.

the current financial stability has helped to enhance the rollout of a student-centred model, which has disbursed r227m that assisted more than 48 700 students.

the Minister praised the nsfas intervention in this regard.

“If there is one major achievement of the anc-led government, it is its establishment of nsfas.
It opened doors to many graduates.

and that is something that must not be taken lightly.

the fact that we cannot cover everyone financially must not rubbish this achievement.” Most of all, the president listened to the concerns raised by students and will prioritise r4.582bn of state funding to the nsfas.

the president’s undertakings are part of the presidential task team recommendations and they played a critical role in alleviating registration concerns, said the ceo of nsfas, Mr Msulwa daca.
Ms phosa said the portfolio committee commended the presidential intervention, but nsfas must devise other ways to increase its student funding.

“this intervention has increased the pool of funds that nsfas will have to allocate to universities for poor students to access higher education.

there won’t be any exclusions based on financial need.
nsfas will have to make sure that they increase the pool of funds through fundraising and loan recoveries.” of significance to the normalisation of the 2016 registration process was the mass communication strategy adopted by the department which improved its reach of students in various higher education sectors and stakeholders such as skills education and training authorities and financial officers of a new process of developing a new funding model that seeks to cater for students that do not meet the nsfas criteria, but also do not afford university fees is currently under way.
this initiative is led by the nsfas Board.

But the lasting solution to the fees dilemma in higher education hinges on the outcomes of the presidential task team.

“president Jacob Zuma has established a commission to investigate the feasibility of making higher education and training fees free in south africa.

the commission has been given eight months to do its investigative work.

It has a further two months to provide its report to the president with recommendations.
thereafter, the president will make his announcement on the decisions of government with respect to the issue of fees at universities and tvet colleges,” said dr parker.

to safeguard the current agreements, the department and the universities must determine the cost drivers of higher education and how they can be mitigated, said Ms phosa.
“as the portfolio committee, we have tasked the department working together with universities south africa (an organisation representing south african universities) to investigate the cost drivers for higher education.

there are lots of reasons that inform fee increment, like salaries, higher education inflation, and so on.

the department is thinking about developing a national framework that will regulate fee increment.
we hope this will be in consultation with universities south africa and the council on higher education.” 19 take place from March to May 2016. some of the targets may be adjusted in line with the current conditions of financial and infrastructure realities.

the chairperson of the portfolio committee on higher education and training, Ms Yvonne phosa, said: “the committee is satisfied with the work done by the department pertaining to the status of registration.
we acknowledge that there will always be challenges here and there, but we commend the department for a job well done and encourage them to work even harder to take the work of the department to greater heights.

the gains are bigger than the losses.” the Minister has put a lot of effort in to ensuring that 2016 becomes a year of fewer protests and we have all seen that, said Ms phosa.
“there were incidents at institutions, the majority of which were about doing away with PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA GEnERAl nEwS natIonal treasurY BrIefIng ‘Let’s find the right way to boost our economic growth’ After the Minister of finance, Mr pravin gordhan, delivered his Budget speech in february the standing and select committees on appropriations and standing and select committees on finance held a joint meeting to receive a briefing from the national treasury.
one of the themes of the briefing on the state of south africa’s growth and fiscal outlook was “tough choices in difficult times,” writes Abel Mputing.

the chairperson of the standing committee on finance, Mr Yunus carrim, said: “I welcome the theme of this year’s Budget speech.

It has gone a long way to building confidence.

we now need to build on our strengths and address our weaknesses.
let’s rally around it and find a way of carving a right narrative that will boost our growth outlook.” Minister of finance, Mr pravin gordhan, said the area of economic growth is not a simple mathematical matter.

In his analysis, south africa is faced with exceptionally difficult global and domestic economic conditions, which need strong fiscal consolidation.
to achieve that, the treasury has put together a growth package that aims to be a catalyst for economic investment, on the one hand, and on the other tighten government expenditure.

“what will act as a catalyst to trigger growth?

that is a question we are faced with.

and we need something more sustainable, one which is to manage down the critical areas on expenditure, which include both the compensation budget and interest on debt.
which grows faster than inflation, the Minister pronounced new measures that are aimed at curbing the public sector wage bill which currently stands at r516bn.

“the spending on compensation of employees is projected to grow by 7.4% over the medium-term as a result of the 2015 wage settlement.

provinces have also agreed to control the number of employees appointed in non- frontline services.
and there is now a review and rationalisation of provincial public entities as a means of curtailing the salary bill,” Mr gordhan said.

when asked by a member of one of the cluster committees, Mr ahmed shaik emam, about how the curtailment of public administration appointments will affect the ongoing concern with the high vacancy rate.

the minister replied: “what is essential is that these public entities must begin to reprioritise their employment needs.
and if they can operate without filling other vacancies, even senior vacancies, they must do so and we will consider making allowances for critical vacancies in another financial year.” “to manage the compensation budget part of these growth reforms is to 20 relook at fiscal adjustments and governance structures of state entities whose low returns on equity contribute adversely to our country’s fiscal outlook, said the Minister.
“state-owned companies need to generate sufficient returns to contribute strategically to development without draining national resources.

the combined return on equity of state- owned companies has been declining over the past five years, reaching 2.9% in 2014/15.

Most of the decline is the result of large losses in the central energy fund, and south african airways (saa).” Many members were interested in knowing what the treasury intends to do with saa.
the Minister assured them that state-owned companies’ reforms are afoot to quell concerns.

“a series of reforms are under way, intended to strengthen the ability of public sector institutions to support the PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA natIonal treasurY BrIefIng GEnERAl nEwS SPEnDInG PlAn: the Minister of finance, Mr pravin gordhan, delivers his Budget speech in parliament.

national development plan outcomes.


an inter-ministerial committee chaired by the deputy president is overseeing the implementation of these reforms.

Broadly, this will involve their stabilisation, coordination and collaboration, rationalisation and consolidation and a new governance framework.

these are the identified factors that affect the well- being of these entities.

they need to be fixed so that they can stand on their own feet,” he said.
Mr david Maynier, a member of one of the committees, said there is scepticism about whether government will implement these interventions because previous recommendations from commissions were never implemented.

the Minister assured him that the recommendations that will emanate from this committee will be implemented.

“for instance, the short-term goal of our intervention in saa is that it must have a new board and management team, but also have a clear financial plan.
the current estimate is that it needs r3bn for operational purposes to survive.

saa needs to reduce the overall costs of its operations,” he said.

economic growth does not rely solely on the economic fundamentals, but also on political stability.

Brazil’s recent down-grade to junk status is a case in point, said Mr floyd shivambu, who is also a member of one of the cluster committees.
the Minister agreed, but said that to address that, political parties must elevate national interest above party interests.

“we concede that as a country we have our own weaknesses, but also there are good things.
we need to cultivate a different narrative that will, collectively, put our country’s interests first.” Mr carrim said as much as he welcomes the Minister’s resolve to make the private sector one of the major cornerstones for growth and economic development, organised labour also needs to be consulted to ensure that it is on board.

“It is good that you are edging towards business, but also more needs to be done about gaining the consensus of organised labour on all your economic commitments.
we would like to see that happening very soon,” urged Mr carrim.

the chairperson of the select committee on finance, Mr charel de Beer, said there is a need to enhance intergovernmental relations to see what expenditure can be cut, especially in provinces.
“we need to review whether we are doing our jobs correctly and more effectively as parliamentarians [and] whether we do make follow-ups to see what progress has been made on the laws we pass that seek to bring about an effective and efficient intergovernmental framework that will foster growth.
or whether we conduct oversight over expenditure and the effective management of the public purse.” 21 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA SPECIAl FOCuS replIes to the presIdent Political parties’ responses to State of the Nation Address After president Jacob Zuma delivered his state of the nation address, all the political parties represented in parliament were given an opportunity to reply.

Sakhile Mokoena summarised their responses to the president from the debate.
leader of inkatha freedom Party (ifP) Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi: I must commend the president for his address on thursday was frank.

It acknowledged the grim circumstances in our country.

he did not shy away from the fact that despite the hopes expressed in the national development plan that we could achieve a 5% economic growth rate by 2019, that will not happen.

this forces us to face the fact that there is no prospect of turning our economy around in the foreseeable future.
for that 5% growth rate was our only hope for creating the level of employment south africa needs.

regardless of the myriad challenges put forward to justify the difficulties our economy faces, the closing line of the president’s address was honest, “we 2022 parlIaMent of the repuBlIc of south afrIca cannot change the global economic conditions, but we can do a lot to change the local conditions”.
the Ifp welcomes the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee dedicated to enhancing investment, and we welcome greater cooperation with the private sector in the hope of placing our country on a growth path.
Mr Mmusi Maimane, leader of the democratic alliance (da) in Parliament: we know that unemployment, poverty and inequality are a result of a deeply unfair history replIes to the presIdent SPECIAl FOCuS A PARlIAMEnT FOR THE PEOPlE: Before addressing parliament in the state of the nation address, president Jacob Zuma and his wife, Ms Bongi ngema Zuma, welcome (from far left) Ms segametsi Moseki, Ms Maseokwane Meruti and Ms patience lunika (seated).

of exclusion and oppression, but your job is to fix it.
not overnight, nobody is expecting miracles.

we just want our country to move in the right direction.

Instead of redressing the structural inequalities of apartheid, you built yourself a big house on the backs of poor south africans.
Instead of breaking down the barriers that keep young, black people excluded from the economy, you introduced Bee (black economic empowerment) codes that keep empowering the connected few and instead of dismantling Bantu education, you have allowed the education of the african child to deteriorate.

every single poor child still stuck in our failing education system will never escape the poverty trap in their lifetime.
If the da wins elections we will cut the size of the cabinet into half, saving r4.7bn, privatise failing state-owned enterprises beginning with saa [south african airways] and eskom.
we will improve Bee so that it rewards companies that invest in their workers and create jobs, instead of simply re-empowering the same connected individuals Mr Maliyakhe Shelembe of the National freedom Party (NfP): apart from a slight mention of the economic crisis we are faced with, very little was said to give the people a true state of our nation.

the nfp would have liked to see some enthusiasm for a national Minimum wage in the state of the nation address.
sadly, for millions of south africans who are poor and barely making a living, the president offered no warm comfort, just another vague undertaking once more without any tangible details.

a national Minimum wage will go a long way to address workers’ basic needs, and to reduce poverty and inequality.

Yet president Zuma chose to make cautious remarks about the implication of such a national Minimum wage, selling out workers once again to placate business groups and rating agencies.
united democratic Movement (udM) leader Mr Bantu holomisa: perhaps in resolving the current economic crisis, we need to borrow from our past.

codesa [convention for a democratic south africa] delivered political liberation with more still to be done on the economic front so that we can have parlIaMent of the repuBlIc of south afrIca 2123 SPECIAl FOCuS replIes to the presIdent replIes to the presIdent SPECIAl FOCuS a binding consensus on the macro- economic policy of the country.
the udM suggests that an all-inclusive national summit be convened to develop and adopt a framework to guide all role players towards a national economic transformation Indaba whose resolutions will result in progressive amendments to the current legislative regime.

the proposed economic Indaba must emerge with a comprehensive blueprint of a road to be traversed by the country in dealing with such matters as land, education and skills development and Black economic empowerment.
the leader of the economic freedom fighters (eff), Mr Julius Malema: our people are hungry for land.

land hunger is a reality.

our people are misled into celebrating the so-called middle class and the black executives who are nothing but credit-worthy and indebted blacks who do not own and do not control anything.

twenty-two years after the so-called democracy, less than 10% of the land has been redistributed.
we want to reveal the obvious fact that if it takes 22 years to redistribute 10% of the land, it will take the anc 100 years to redistribute at least 50% of the land.

sebokeng, hammanskraal, soshanguve, umlazi, KwaMashu, Mdantsane and many areas are still forced to share a small piece of land when they are alive.

even in death, they are still forced to share graves, where more than two people are buried in one grave.
More than money, it is politically correct for south africa to have one capital city to affirm its own identity as a post-colonial political territory, not unworkable capital cities that waste the resources of our people.

Reverend kenneth Meshoe of the african christian democratic Party (acdP): we welcome the news of the president’s recent discussions with some of the leading ceos [chief executive officers] of our business community to find solutions to the slow economic growth.
In his speech, the president raised the need to empower sMMes [small, medium and micro enterprises] to accelerate their growth.

while the acdp agrees, we want to know how government plans to do this, particularly when township entrepreneurs are losing their businesses to foreign traders, many of whom are known to be heavily subsidised, thereby giving them an unfair advantage over the locals.
we must not forget that we are in a country where the black majority – more than 80% of the population – is congested and squeezed into less than 20% of the land because the rest of the land is owned and controlled by those who colonially took it from the african majority through committing a black genocide.

I want to encourage all south africans to become agents of peace, and distance themselves from those who incite trouble and racial hatred.

they only seek to keep south africans divided and angry.
we must choose rather to become nation-builders – those are able to defuse volatile situations and bring life and hope.

the majority of our people in townships live in a state of indignity and congestion.

they live like pigs when they are alive and even when they are dead.

the majority in ethekwini, freedom front Plus (ff+) leader dr Pieter Mulder: racism is a very serious issue that must be condemned unconditionally.
racism from the side of the white people or black people carries the germ that could destroy south africa and all human relations.

the worsening relations in south africa and the current economic crisis are very serious.

If south africa is given “junk status”, it will cost billions more than the nene crisis.

Is it not the time that political leaders from all groups, but also business leaders in south africa come together in a government of national unity to get south africa through this crisis?
remember, when the sa ship sinks as a result of racism or an economic implosion, we will all sink together.

tourism Minister and african National congress (aNc) MP Mr derek hannekom: we do have challenges; there is no escaping that.

commodity prices have fallen dramatically, as Minister rob davies highlighted earlier in this debate, and we are experiencing one of the worst droughts our country has ever experienced.

not surprisingly, our economic growth is just not where it should be.

we all know that.
we all know that.

But we are sometimes guilty of seeing just the negative.

our economic policies have stood up to the harshest of tests.

our economy has proved to be very resilient.

growth is far too low, but it remains positive.

two of our Brics [Brazil, russia, India, china and south africa] partner countries, both very big economies, are in recession.

growth is not where it should be to address the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.
we need to respond in the right way to reduce our debt and to get our economy on a higher growth path.

that is precisely what our anc-led government is doing.

In the midst of these challenges we continue improving our roads and port infrastructure.

we 24 parlIaMent of the repuBlIc of south afrIca SPECIAl FOCuS replIes to the presIdent replIes to the presIdent SPECIAl FOCuS continue building houses for our people and constructing dams.

we are building hospitals and schools.

that is the good news.


But we do need to identify opportunities to get out of this sluggish growth rate and get onto a healthy growth path.

congress of the People (cope) leader Mr Mosiuoa lekota: our country finds itself deep in a constitutional and economic crises.

the constitutional crisis arises from the fact that the office of the president of our country is occupied by someone who broke his oath of office almost two years ago.
our executive authority has been coerced and led into supporting the occupant of the office of the president – to support him in his refusal to comply with section 182, subsection 1(c) of the constitution, which is to implement the remedial action of the public protector.

that is with regard to the executive.


however, the legislature of this house, contrary to the anticipation of the authors of our constitution, has been divided into two parts or factions – one faction consisting of two or three parties collaborating with the presiding officers and another smaller faction strenuously trying to hold the executive to account.

now this issue of holding the executive to account is an original power of the legislature.
It is in the constitution that once we are in the legislature and not in the cabinet, our duty is to hold the executive to account.

once the executive has been identified, all of us Members of the legislature, members of the ruling party and the opposition, are expected to compose the legislature.

all of us collectively are expected to hold the executive to account, not to protect it.
african People’s convention (aPc) leader Mr themba godi: the apc is concerned about the persistent high unemployment levels, poverty and inequality affecting the majority of our people.

while we appreciate the unfavourable international economic environment, the apc believes that in this situation, taking into account the historical context, the state must enhance its role in the economy.

twenty-two years later, private capital has failed this democracy.
the state must have the courage and determination to lead.

the grinding poverty of our people is a crisis that requires bold state action.

freedom must have material meaning to the lives of our people.

we must never get used to the poverty and hardships of our people.
councillor Mpho Nawa from the South african local government association (Salga): we must rally behind municipalities as the key shapers and implementers of our programme of action, and realise that if we build sustainable local economies, as one government, then surely our growth trajectory can indeed be turned around.
too many south africans still live on the periphery of our main centres of opportunity, spend the majority of their salaries on transport to access decent work, and are generally marginalised in the mainstream economy.

Integration is therefore not substantively physical, but is about providing all essential services to the areas where our people live so that relatively similar living conditions prevail, whether you are in sandton or gugulethu.
Mr lulama Ntshayisa of the african independent congress: the economic situation in the country is in danger; the political state of affairs is at risk.

south africans are expecting proper service delivery and a report on the achievements made by this government.

Mr president, you did not talk much about a clear plan to fight corruption.

I was very shocked when I heard about the Mayor of Beaufort west who was just fined r10 000, having been involved in corrupt tender activities.
this corruption is eating a lot into taxpayers’ money.

You should have reported very clearly on your plan to fight corruption.

we have been having a lot of commissions here, costing a lot for the taxpayer.

their recommendations are not considered and sometimes reports are not even released.

what a waste of money!

Mr andries tlouamma of agang Sa: please let us finalise the issue of the national Minimum wage because it will also help our poor communities to lift themselves up from their state of misery.
we also want to say this issue of the “willing-buyer, willing seller” is not working at all.

I am emphasising that we need to have time frames to change the status quo where our people still have no land.

we all need to protect this democracy irrespective of the political parties that we come from.
Mr luthando Mbinda, leader of the Pan africanist congress of azania: In order to deal with the issue of the economy in this country, we have been saying that we need to address the land question, and we are saying as long as you don’t repeal section 25 of the constitution, our people will remain landless; they will remain in poverty, unemployed and so forth.
parlIaMent of the repuBlIc of south afrIca 25 GEnERAl nEwS food securItY worKshop All South Africans must have access to nutritious food – Chair Food security and food safety are shared responsibilities with complex interconnectivities between regulatory departments and food agencies, the joint workshop of portfolio committees on agriculture, forestry and fisheries; health; social development and the select committees on land and Mineral resources were told, writes Abel Mputing.
In her opening remarks, the chairperson of the portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Ms rosina semenya, said the aim of this two-part workshop was to determine the status and socio- economic aspects of food security and food safety in the country and to understand the technical aspects, the legislative and regulatory framework governing them and the roles of different government departments involved in these endeavours.
“we have organised this workshop to interact with relevant and critical stakeholders to gain insight on food security and food safety matters in this country and what frameworks we have in place to ensure that there is an availability of safe and nutritious food in the country.

“whatever we do there is a need for proper legislation and the protection of consumers and their right to nutritious food.
to achieve that, we need to ensure the policies that have been endorsed by government to make sure there is availability and sustainability of food security at national and household level, are being implemented to the letter.” pretoria, prof sheryl hendriks, located food security within south africa’s human rights ambit.
“the rights to health care, food, water and social security are enshrined in section 27, which obliges the south african state to take reasonable legislative and other steps, within the context of its available resources, to progressively give content to each of these rights.” she cited the national development plan (ndp) to illustrate the inter- connected economic, social, environmental and political system’s failures of food security.
“the ndp identifies food security and malnutrition as both a consequence of poverty and inequality as well as causes of poverty and inequality.” this is not to say nothing has been done by government to avert these failures, she said.

a testimony to that is the transversal policy framework on specific food security policy elements aimed at maximising food security.
“the problem is the competing policy goals of food security that don’t complement each other and that lie in different government portfolios and agencies,” she said.

under the age of five.

Its outcomes facilitator on health, Mr thulani Masilela, gave a global perspective on this matter.

according to him, there are more than six million children under the age of five who died globally in 2013, and 45% of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition (world health organisation, 2013).
“Boys and girls under three have the highest prevalence of stunting (26.9% and 25.9% respectively).

there is a lack of an integrated and coordinated response from different government departments to this challenge.

and there is no sufficient attention to dietary diversity.

the reason for that is that south africa has placed emphasis on food production, not on nutrition or consumption of nutritious food,” he said.
“nutrition programmes have not been fully effective in reducing malnutrition because they focus primarily on providing food to the needy and do not effectively address the underlying causes of malnutrition.

compared to the five comparison countries, south africa does not yet have a single or coherent strategy, policy or regulatory system to realise the right to food as set out in the constitution to facilitate and ensure food security for all citizens.
as a result, well over 14.1 million south africans are still predisposed to hunger and malnutrition.

this has been recently worsened by the current drought,” he said.
the director of the Institute for food, nutrition and wellbeing, university of the department of planning, Motoring and evaluation presented its evaluation of nutrition interventions for children In his presentation, the deputy director of Integrated development in the 26 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA food securItY worshop GEnERAl nEwS department of social development, Mr peter netshipale, said in his department there are plans afoot to promulgate interventions that will break the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
In spite of that, members of various committees criticised the lack of a coordinated national plan and economic modelling to harness all the existing policies, programmes and approaches to food security.

they also criticised the lack of economic modelling in the wake of drought to minimise the cost and maximise access to nutritious food for all households.
It was agreed that all the officials of the cluster departments that made presentations must meet and devise a response to Mps’ concerns and explain what they intend to do to have a more coordinated approach in dealing with food security and present their recommendations the following day.

the second day of the workshop focused on food safety.
according to prof lise Korsten, of the department of Microbiology and plant pathology, university of pretoria, food safety remains the orphan child, but the centres of excellence are aimed at turning that around.
“the national research fund and the department of science and technology funded centres of excellence to promote collaborative and interdisciplinary research among institutions, and they are training the next generation of south africans to have the skills and knowledge that will make the country a leading knowledge-based economy,” she said.
the progress report on the Inter- departmental food safety coordination committee and the establishment of a food control agency in south africa shows a need, at cabinet level, to strengthen food safety controls oversight in south africa.

FOOD SECuRITY: growing your own food is a way of ensuring a regular food supply – something that many south african women do every day.
27 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA GEnERAl nEwS electIon results atlas IEC hands over atlas of election results of elections is not a simple task that can Management be done with common sense only.

It is a complicated and heavy task that demands some sophistication in its management.
that was what the deputy speaker of the national assembly, Mr lechesa tsenoli, recently told the recipients of the publication of the atlas of results for the 2014 national and provincial elections at parliament, writes Mava lukani.

“the southern african development community noted a heavy element in election campaign management.

hence it provides training on a regular basis to Members of parliament in the region.
I also realised that when I was an observer in the last national elections in tanzania,” Mr tsenoli said.

Mr tsenoli was making the welcoming remarks to the recipients of the publication of the atlas of results for the 2014 national and provincial elections and the stakeholders of the Independent electoral commission (Iec).
among the recipients 28 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA electIon results atlas GEnERAl nEwS ATlAS OF RESulTS: the deputy speaker of the national assembly, Mr lechesa tsenoli, receives the atlas of results for the 2014 general election from the deputy chief executive officer of the Iec electoral operations, Mr sy Mamabolo.
explaining the significance of the atlas of results to the recipients, the deputy chief executive officer of the Iec electoral operations, Mr sy Mamabolo, said the atlas of results for the 2014 national and provincial elections represents a special milestone in marking 20 years of constitutional democracy in south africa.
“as a constitutional institution, the Iec is proud to have played an important and contributory role in building and strengthening constitutional democracy since the 1999 national and provincial elections,” said Mr Mamabolo.

the Iec has managed seven general elections since its inception, all of which have been declared by domestic and international observers to be credible, free and fair, he said.
describing the publication of the atlas of results for the national and provincial elections since 2014, Mr Mamabolo said it was the organisation’s flagship and assists in profiling its work to both international and local stakeholders.

he said the principal objective of the atlas of results is to illustrate the geographic basis of election results for the entire republic.
he said the publication allows the interested parties to better understand the performance of the political parties that contest the elections.

“the 2014 atlas of results also illustrates the geographic basis of voter registration across elections since the 1999 elections, thus demonstrating the evolution of south africa’s national common voters’ roll, which remains a critical ingredient to credible free and fair elections,” Mr Mamabolo explained.
receiving the atlas of results, Mr ramaphosa said: “this atlas impresses because it is compiled in a manner that informs critical political planning as we approach the 2016 local government elections.” he commended the Iec and its partners for producing a valuable resource that reinforces the integrity of political organisation of south africa.

“elections that are regular, free, fair and vibrant are integral to our identity as a new nation,” Mr ramaphosa said.
elections in south africa are about creating an inclusive south africa on the basis of equal participation, Mr ramaphosa said.

“they are about creating a united, non- racial, non-sexist and prosperous society underpinned by a progressive democratic constitution,” he said.

the atlas of results is an instrument to reinforce public confidence in the political process, Mr ramaphosa explained.

“It allows voters and those seeking election to make informed political decisions.
we must use this atlas to excite and mobilise voters.

we must use it to reinforce the right of all parties and candidates to campaign freely in all constituencies,” said Mr ramaphosa.

Mr ramaphosa used the handing over of the atlas of results as a platform to call on all those who want to make a decisive break with the past to register to vote.

“we call on all those who reject racism, sexism and all forms of discrimination to register to vote.
we call on those who want better streets, better public transport, better municipal services and better community infrastructure to register.” the presiding officers of parliament, the Ministers of home affairs and cooperative governance and traditional affairs, chairpersons of the select committees on social services; education and recreation and the leaders of political parties received copies of the atlas of results.
29 was the deputy president of the republic of south africa, Mr cyril ramaphosa, who came to receive the atlas of results on behalf of the south african government; the Ministers of home affairs, Mr Malusi gigaba, and of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Mr david van rooyen.

Mr tsenoli said it was a fitting move to select parliament for handing over of the atlas of results for the 2014 elections to the recipients.
he said parliament is a bright symbol of the south african version of democracy.

PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA GEnERAl nEwS seMInar on polIce KIllIngs Major drive to curb police killings The seminar on risk factors for policing brought to the fore an array of research findings, first-hand experiences and day-to day-operational issues that need to be considered in mitigating the killing of police in the country, writes Abel Mputing.
stating the objectives of the seminar, the chairperson of the portfolio committee on police, Mr francois Beukman, said: “It is important that we dedicate our efforts to solving the police killings.

this seminar will afford us an opportunity to see if the south african police service (saps) has made progress on this matter or not.
or what other measures can be taken on board to leverage the research made available by various experts in this field to come up with a comprehensive approach that will bring about a sustainable solution to this matter.” the deputy Minister of police, Ms Makhotso sotyu, said: “we welcome this seminar because it forms part of the saps’ endeavour to mitigate the spike in police killings.

we have had various seminars all aimed at coming up with interventions that can help us arrest this vicious tide.
“for instance, in 2011 we had a summit on police killings and we thank the committee for this initiative.

Most of all, it will dispel the notion that there is no systematic and coordinated way of dealing with this matter from both the government and our legislature.

this seminar will hopefully contribute to a more efficient way of dealing with this matter.
we would request the committee to exercise its oversight power to ensure that this ferocious act, which has now reached its boiling point, is arrested.

“In less than 12 months we have lost 88 police officers through murder.

this is a catastrophic situation that is unprecedented.

we must therefore ensure that each and every summit brings us closer to a more lasting solution and its recommendations must be taken seriously.
as such, we regard this deliberation as very important because we are committed to the safety and well-being of our police force.

to that effect, we are prepared to implement the farlam commission’s recommendations that seek to professionalise the police service,” he said.

prof elrena van der spuy of the centre of criminology in the faculty of law, university of cape town (uct), said that establishing risk factors for policing is an under-researched area.
one research finding points to the fact that occupational factors put the lives of police officers at risk.

she said the 150 senior police officers they spoke to in the western cape attributed the increase in police killings to, among other things, corruption within the police service.

“the Impact of corruption and the treacherous relations that some police officers have with criminal gangs contribute to many 30 police killings.
this points to the fact that although there are external factors, there are also internal factors that contribute to police killings.

In that, this finding brings a new perspective that is inward-looking, rather than attribute police killings as solely an external factor.” so dire is the situation that it is lowering the morale of the police, said prof van der spuy.
fifty percent of her research respondents know colleagues who have been killed over the past five years and said that things are deteriorating.

according to her findings, when an officer is killed their fellow officers report feelings of sadness.

others claim to be furious and devastated, traumatised and disheartened while others spoke about hate and lust for revenge.
Independent researcher Mr david Bruce said: “there is a need to widen the PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA seMInar on polIce KIllIngs GEnERAl nEwS uRGEnT PROBlEM: reducing the number of police killed in the line of duty is a challenge that must be dealt with as swiftly as possible.
management and analysis of data on police killings to enhance the detection of the nature of these incidents.” the Minimum force Institute representative, Mr don gold, attributed police killings to a lack of professionalism on the part of the police.

“about 3% of an officer’s time is spent physically forcing people to comply and 97% is spent talking to people.

police officers talk to people for a living.

there is minimal or no time spent on training.


training should start with how police should speak to people because many violent clashes are caused by officers’ unprofessional approach.” new proactive management interventions are now in place to ensure that there is an informed deployment of operationally ready members, said police Brigadier craig Mitchell.

“we are now thinking of having intelligence-driven deployment and awareness of risk factors.
furthermore, there is now an ongoing monitoring of operational readiness by commanders and a development of standard operating procedures meant to respond to scenes and complaints.” deputy Minister of police Ms sotyu pleaded with the committee to use its oversight function to enact legislation that will curtail police killings.

some committee members proposed that police killings are classified as a crime against the state.
“we need to consider if there is an authority to legislatively deem police killings as a crime against the state.

we need to take into account constitutional issues first before we even get to consider it,” said one committee member, Mr leonard ramatlakane.

the acting commissioner of police, Mr Kgomotso phahlane, said: “we need to progress beyond this point.
this issue needs to be addressed by policy makers to ensure that it is dealt with as swiftly as possible.” the chairperson of the committee cautioned that such an undertaking must take into consideration various precepts of the law and the constitution.

“this proposal is a policy matter that must be discussed within relevant forums.
some legal scholars are of the view that you cannot make a special case for a certain occupation.” the chairperson concluded: “this is a complex issue that is made even more complex by our changing environment, which is becoming more violent.

“hence, there is a need to bring all stakeholders, as we did today, to embrace all their divergent insights and inputs to ensure that all propositions are considered and there is fruitful engagement on this matter.
More importantly we, as a committee, need to play our legislative role in considering all legislative proposals that can help to deal with this matter.” 31 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMMITTEE nEwS scIence and technologY lOCAl SuCCESS: the chairperson of the portfolio commitee on science and technology, dr Bevan goqwana, talks to an employee at the nkowankowa agro- processing plant.

business.
business.

the committee is convinced that innovation is one of the pillars that can change south africa’s reliance on mining.

dr goqwana said: “It is one of the department’s responsibilities to implement similar projects across the length and breadth of this country.
they now have the knowledge of what challenges should be mitigated against to ensure success of those projects.” another project that impressed the committee was the nkowankowa demonstration centre, an agro-processing plant in the township of nkowankowa on the outskirts of tzaneen.

the plant works with local farmers to produce dried mango for local and international markets.

the project was opened in 2011 by the department of science and technology with an initial injection of r14m in funding.
the aim of the project was to target rural communities by creating employment and promoting economic benefits through entrepreneur support.

while the project has had some challenges, including the suspension of the project’s manager, the current manager is enthusiastic about the project’s prospects.

“what government did for us is huge because we never thought we will be business owners in our own right.

we are here to make sure that we progress, no matter the challenges.
It is upon us as farmers, workers and government to ensure the success of this project,” said interim manager Mr whiskey Kgabo.

the committee called for more people to approach government departments and use programmes such as this one to better their lives.
“It’s even more pressing now following the announcement by the president that government is moving with speed to revitalise agriculture and the agro-processing value chain as part of the nine point plan to boost economic growth and create much-needed jobs,” said dr goqwana.

The sweet smell of success in Giyani The life story of one gilbert sithole represents what can be achieved through harnessing indigenous knowledge and exploiting it economically, writes Malatswa Molepo.
Mr sithole’s life story represents the solution to the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment facing many people in south africa.

the hihanyile essential oil project is a prime example of what can be done by harnessing traditional knowledge and using it to manufacture products for the market and ensuring economic activity for the poor.

at the start of the hihanyile essential oil project, Mr sithole had no prospects, with a matric certificate but no funds to continue his studies.
through the proceeds from hihanyile, however, Mr sithole is now a qualified boilermaker and is part-owner of the project.

he can now participate actively within the economy, something that once seemed like a far- fetched dream.

hihanyile, based near giyani in limpopo, produces mosquito repellent products using an indigenous plant called lippia Javanica.

“we as the portfolio committee are very impressed by what is happening here.
the people here have found a formula that does not separate science, innovation and economic activity.

we have long continued to suffer because we separated science, indigenous knowledge and economic activity, but I am happy that the people of this area are proving to us that the three are mutually beneficial,” said dr Bevan goqwana, the chairperson of the portfolio committee on science and technology.
the committee visited the project as part of its oversight programme over the department of science and technology.

the hihanyile project, which loosely translated means “we have survived”, was initiated by the department of science and technology together with the council for scientific and Industrial research (csIr) as part of its technology for sustainable livelihoods programme.

the land used for the project was initially given as a gift to hosi Mabunda on the occasion of his marriage.
when the need arose for land to start the project, hosi Mabunda volunteered the land to his people.

“It is impressive that the chief is immersed in the challenges of his people and he is actively doing something for the advancement of his people,” said dr goqwana.
dr goqwana urged the 34 workers and owners of the project to aim high and grow their project into a viable 32 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA oBItuarY tribute to Godfrey Edward Cleinwerck 9 January 1945 – 2 february 2016 It is naturally difficult to accept the death of the south african men and women whose fingers and footprints are on the creation of the national treasures in national key points such as the parliament of the republic of south africa.
But death is an inescapable and a very difficult end of a human life.

recently, the parliament of the republic of south africa heard of the passing of one of its remarkable officials, Mr godfrey edward cleinwerck, who had the honour of announcing the first entry into the national assembly of the democratically elected speaker in april 1994 .
a month later, in May 1994, he had the further honour of announcing once again the entry of the speaker into the national assembly for the first state of the nation address delivered by south africa's first democratically elected president, the late Mr nelson Mandela.

Mr cleinwerck worked in many places before he was employed by the then tricameral parliament in May 1984 as an administrative official.

In september 1984 he was appointed as the serjeant-at-arms of the house of representatives.
according to his colleagues, he did his work with a spirit of passion and patriotism.

he was subsequently appointed as the first serjeant-at-arms of the democratic national assembly in 1994.

Mr cleinwerck served for many years on the parliamentary security Management committee.
he represented the national assembly table division on the events planning committee, which also plans the state of the nation address, women’s parliament, Youth parliament, Joint sittings of parliament for visiting heads of state and other special joint sittings of parliament.
Mr cleinwerck participated in the launch of the new people’s Mace in 2004 and the new parliamentary emblem in 2007. he was passionate about his work and was always prepared to travel abroad to find the best ways of carrying out his work.
he attended the commonwealth serjeants-at-arms conferences in london in 1994, 2004 and 2009. he was a founder member of the commonwealth serjeants-at-arms association (africa region) in 2000 and was elected chairperson for the period between 2005 and 2007. he was affectionately know as the chief “bouncer” of the national assembly.
he was called into action 20 times to escort Members of parliament from the precinct after they were ordered to withdraw from the chamber for disregarding the authority of the chair.

he retired as the serjeant-at-arms of the national assembly in 2011 when he reached the age of 65 and it became compulsory for him to retire, according to parliament’s human resources policies at the time.
Members of the national assembly held Mr cleinwerck in high esteem and expressed great respect and affection in their farewell speeches to him in november 2010 before his retirement.

Mr cleinwerck sadly passed away on 2 february 2016. he leaves behind his wife linda, son wayne, daughter natasha, granddaughter alexcia rose and son-in-law clyde.

parliament extends its sincere sympathies to Mr cleinwerck’s family and friends and wishes them strength during this sad time.
33 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA REGulARS puBlIc educatIon offIce State of the Nation Address and the Budget – two highlights that launch the parliamentary year the president of the republic of south africa delivered the state of the nation address on 11 february 2016. this year the president’s address to the nation was driven by the theme “parliament: following up on our commitments to the people”.
to foster an integrated approach to improve government planning, decision making and service delivery.

the state of the nation address thus focuses on government’s programme of action for the year ahead and on building a more effective and efficient government.

What is the State of the Nation address?

the state of the nation address is a Joint sitting of the two houses of parliament, the national assembly and the national council of provinces.
the sitting is called by the president as set out in section 42(5) of the constitution and Joint rule 7(1) of the Joint rules of parliament.

What does the President speak about during the State of the Nation address?

the president reports on the achievements and challenges experienced by our country over the past year.

as the head of state, the state of the nation address provides an important platform for the president to identify government priorities and deliverables for the year ahead.
the priorities usually focus on the primary services and needs of the nation that government is responsible for.
In order to improve the coordination of work between departments, government has established the following ministerial clusters: • the economic sector, employment, infrastructure development cluster; • the governance and administration cluster; • the social protection, community and human development cluster; • the international cooperation, trade and security cluster; and • the justice, crime prevention and security cluster.
the grouping together of government departments in clusters is intended the president also considers south africa’s domestic affairs as well as the country’s continental and international relations.

this is relevant because south africa is part of the global community of countries that rely on each other for co-operation and for maintaining peace.
the debate on the State of the Nation address In the week following the state of the nation address, Members of parliament are given an opportunity to debate the president’s speech.

political parties can interrogate, comment and raise questions on matters addressed in the president’s speech.

Issues of concern are raised and different perspectives and opinions are put forward to influence government’s priorities and plans.
after the debate on the state of the nation address, a further sitting is called to enable the president to reply to questions or concerns raised by Mps.

the Budget Speech towards the end of february and after the state of the nation address, the Minister of finance delivers the Budget speech in a sitting of the national assembly.

the Budget is an enabling tool for government to make funds available to respond to the needs and priorities of the nation.
the Budget involves estimating, projecting and allocating money against the priorities determined during the state of the nation address and government programmes and policies.

the Budget must promote spending that is accountable, transparent and responsive to government’s plans and moreover, responsive to the needs of the people of south africa.

Before government can spend money on its priorities, it has to consider how much revenue it is able to raise.
government also has to honour debt it has accu- mulated over the years and has to pay interest on this debt.

Money must also be set aside for unforeseeable events such as natural disasters.

the Budget speech takes all these factors and obligations into account in order to have a respon- sible and responsive Budget.

the role of parliament is to make sure that the Budget it approves is financially sound, matches the needs of the population with available resources and is implemented as it should be.
the State of the Nation address, the Budget and you * If you are a teacher, you may be interested in the priorities set by government for basic and higher education and the percentage of the budget allocated for educational needs.

* If you are unemployed, you may be interested how government intends to prioritise job creation, and support entrepreneurs and small business.
* If you are a student, you may be focused on government’s immediate and long-term plans to make education more accessible to all students.

* If you are a pensioner or if you have a disability, you may be concerned with how much money has been set aside for social grants.

* If you are a worker, you will be checking if your taxes are going to be increased or decreased.
34 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA REGulARS puBlIc educatIon offIce puBlIc educatIon offIce REGulARS INkulumo ngeSimo seZwe kanye neSabiwomali uMongameli weriphabhulikhi yaseningizimu afrika wethula inkulumo ngesimo seZwe mhla ziyi-11 kunhlolanja wezi-2016.

Inkulumo kaMongameli yalonyaka ngesimo sezwe ibingaphansi kwesiqubulo esithi “ephalamende: silandelela kwesizibophezele ngakho kubantu”.

iyini iNkulumo kaMongameli ngeSimo seZwe?


Inkulumo kaMongameli ngesimo seZwe ukuhlala ngokuhlanganyela kwazo zombili izindlu zephalamende, indlu yesishayamthetho sikaZwelonke kanye noMkhandlu kaZwelonke wezifundazwe.

umhlangano ubizwa nguMongameli njengoba kubekiwe esigabeni 42(5) soMthethosisekelo.

ukhuluma ngani uMongameli uma ethula iNkulumo ngeSimo seZwe?

uMongameli ubika ngempumelelo kanye nezinselelo izwe lakithi elibhekene nazo onyakeni owedlule.
njengenhloko yombuso, inkulumo ngesimo seZwe ihlinzeka uMongameli ngesithangami esibalulekile sokuthi ahlonze okuseqhulwini kuhulumeni kanye nokumele kwenziwe ngonyaka ophezulu.

okubekwe eqhulwini kuvamise ukuthi kugxile ezintweni ezisemqoka kanye nezidingo zesizwe lezo eziwumthwalo kahulumeni.
ukuze kuthuthukiswe ukusebenzisana emisebenzini phakathi kweminyango, uhulumeni usungule lezi zinhlaka ezilandelayo: • uhlaka lwemboni yezomnotho, ezemisebenzi, nokuthuthukiswa kwengqalasizinda; • uhlaka lokubusa kanye nokuphatha; • uhlaka lokuvikela umphakathi, nokuthuthukisa umphakathi nabantu; • uhlaka lokusebenzisana emazweni angaphandle, ezohwebo nokokubambisa; kanye • nohlaka lobulungiswa, ukuvikela ubugebengu kanye nezokuphepha.
ukuhlelwa ngamaqoqo kweminyango kahulumeni ibe yizinhlaka ezahlukene kuhlose ukusebenzisa indlela edidiyelayo ukuze kuthuthukiswe izinhlelo zikahulumeni, ukuthatha izinqumo kanye nokuhanjiswa kwezidingo kubantu.

ngalokho, inkulumo kaMongameli ngesimo seZwe iqxile kokusezinhlelweni okuzokwenziwa nguhulumeni onyakeni ophezulu kanye nasekwakheni uhulumeni osebenzayo ngendlela eyiyo.

uMongameli uphinde abheke nezindaba zasekhaya eningizimu afrika kanye neziphathelene nezwekazi kanye namazwe ehlukene.
lokhu kufanele kwenziwe ngoba iningizimu afrika iyingxenye yomphakathi womhlaba jikelele wamazwe athembele kwamanye kokunye ukusebenzisana kanye nokugcina ukuthula.

inkulumo-mpikiswano ngeNkulumo kaMongameli ngeSimo seZwe esontweni elilandela ukwethulwa kwenkulumo ngesimo seZwe, amalungu ephalamende anikezwa ithuba lokubamba izinkulumo-mpikiswano ngenkulumo kaMongameli.

amaqembu ezombusazwe angabuzisisa, aphawule aphinde abuze nemibuzo mayelana nezindaba akhulume ngazo uMongameli enkulumweni yakhe.
Izindaba eziyizinkinga ziyaphawulwa bese kuvela izindlela ezithile ezehlukene kuphinde kuphakanyiswe nemibono ukuze ibe nemithelela kulokhu uhulumeni akubeke eqhulwini nokusezinhlelweni zakhe.

emva kwezinkulumo-mpikiswano ngenkulumo kaMongameli ngesimo seZwe, kuphinde kubizwe omunye uhlangano ukuze uMongameli ezokwazi ukuphendula imibuzo noma okuyizinkinga okuvezwe amalungu ephalamende.
iNkulumo kamOngameli ngeSimo seZwe kanye neSabiwomali uma sekuzophela inyanga kanhlolanja emva kokwethulwa kwenkulumo ngesimo seZwe, ungqongqoshe wezeziMali wethula inkulumo mayelana nesabiwomali emhlanganweni obanjelwa endlini yesishayamthetho sikaZwelonke.

Isabiwomali yilona thuluzi elelekelela uhulumeni ekwenzeni imali ekhona ikwazi ukubhekana nezidingo kanye nokubekwe eqhulwini esizweni.
Isabiwomali sibandakanya izilinganiso, ukuhlela nokwabiwa kwezimali zokubekwe eqhulwini okusuke kuvezwe ngenkathi kwethulwa inkulumo ngesimo seZwe.

Isabiwomali kumele sikhuthaze ukusetshenziswa kwemali okuphendulayo, okusobala nokuvumelana nezinhlelo zikahulumeni okunye okubaluleke kakhulu ukuthi sivumelane nezidingo zabantu baseningizimu afrika.

ngaphambi kokuthi uhulumeni asebenzise imali kulokhu okubekwe eqhulwini, kumele aqale abheke ukuthi yimalini engenile.
uhulumeni kumele aphinde avume isikweletu asenzile eminyakeni eyedlule bese ekhokha inzalo yaleso sikweletu.

Kumele kubekwe eceleni imali yokuqapha izimo ezifana nezinhlekelele zendalo ezenzeka zingaziwa.

Inkulumo ngesabiwomali ibheka zonke lezi zinto kanye nezibophezelo ukuze bezoba nes- abiwomali esiphendulayo nesivumela- nayo.
Indima yephalamende ukuqinisekisa ukuthi isabiwomali esivunywayo siqinile futhi siphelele ngokwezimali, siyaham- bisana nezidingo zomphakathi ngezinsiza ezikhona futhi sisetshenziswa ngendlela efanele.

iNkulumo kaMongameli ngeSimo seZwe, iSabiwomali kanye nawe * uma unguthisa, ungase ube netshisekelo kulokho okubekwe nguhulumeni eqhulwini mayelana nezemfundo eyisisekelo kanye nemfundo ephakeme kanye nephesenti lesabiwomali esabelwe izidingo zezemfundo.
* uma ungasebenzi, ungase ufise ukwazi ukuthi uhulumeni uzimisele ngokukubeka kanjani eqhulwini ukusungulwa kwemisebenzi kanye nokweseka osomabhizinisi abasafufusa kanye namabhizinisi amancane.
35 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OUR SOUTH AFRICA – THE SUN The sun heals the divisions of the past, improves the quality of life of all South Africans, frees the potential of each person and builds a united and democratic South Africa, taking its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
OUR PEOPLE – THE PROTEA LEAVES Our people, building on the foundation of a democratic and open society, freely elect representatives, acting as a voice of the people and providing a national forum for public consideration of issues.

OUR PARLIAMENT – THE DRUM The drum calls the people’s Parliament, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, to consider national and provincial issues, ensuring government by the people under the Constitution.
OUR CONSTITUTION – THE BOOK Our Constitution lays the foundation for a democratic and open society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.

It is the supreme law of our country, and ensures government by the people.

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