2000 Equality Legislation: Impact on Children & People with Disabilities: overviews by Chief Directorate on Programmes, Office o

CHILDREN YOUTH AND PERSON WITH DISABILITIES JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE
01 September 2006
2000 EQUALITY LEGISLATION: IMPACT ON CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: OVERVIEWS BY CHIEF DIRECTORATE ON PROGRAMMES, OFFICE ON RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND STATUS OF DISABLED PERSONS IN PRESIDENCY

Chairperson: Ms W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC)

Documents handed out:
PowerPoint Presentation: The National GDC Programme of the Chief Directorate in the Presidency: Part1 & Part2
PowerPoint Presentation: The National Children’s Rights Programme, ORC Performance Status Report: April –November 2005
An Overview of the work of the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons
Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, No 4 of 2000
Office of the Status of the Disabled: Strategic Planning Workshop March 2006
Additional document: The National Youth Commission Strategic Plan 2007/8-2009/10
Office on the Status of Disabled Person: Part1 & Part2
Equality Laws

SUMMARY
The Chief Directorate of Programmes in the Presidency, Offices of the Rights of the Child and the Status of the Disabled Persons briefed the Committee on the impact of the equality legislation on their respective programmes and functions. Common dilemmas included the lack of coordination between their work and that of government departments. Municipalities were also not committed to establishing OCR and OSDP desks in the offices of the mayor.

The Committee expressed concerns regarding the widespread violence committed against children. It would schedule a meeting with the National Commissioner of Police commission to discuss ways to combat and understand this violent behaviour. Other questions were directed to monitoring of violence in the print media, monitoring of electronic methods of spreading pornography, the challenges facing South African child headed households, the high mortality rate or infants and the need for dedicated offices to advance the rights of children at the Office on the Rights of the Child. Access of public buildings and monitoring of disabled equity employment were required. The distinction between, and possible synergy with the various offices was discussed. It was agreed that a workshop would be scheduled between the Committee and the OSDP and OCR, during which measures would be developed to improve programmes and functions to enhance the lives of children and the disabled.

MINUTES
Presentation by the Chief Directorate of Programmes in the Presidency: The National Gender, Disabilities and Children’s Programme

Ms Mabel Rantla (Acting Chief Director of Programmes in the Presidency) briefed the committee on the work of the National Gender, Disabilities and Children’s (GDC) Programme, as well as its institutional re structuring. She explained that the national strategic objective of this programme was to transform public institutions and the processes of governance on the issues of the rights of children. This would be achieved through monitoring, evaluation, and lobbying. These objectives were aligned with the broader objectives of the Presidency. The GDC aimed to mainstream issues of gender, children’s rights and disabilities into the institutional and policy decisions of government. It would monitor, evaluate and advocate for children’s rights to be included in the development and implementation of coordinated policies. The work of this body was guided by the Constitution, Departmental policies and legislation. Its stakeholders included government, Parliament, civil society organizations and independent bodies. The key challenges included: poverty, different understandings of the concept of mainstreaming, inadequate capacity and competency in government to mainstream activities, slow progression towards the strengthening of municipal capabilities and the influence of donors on the work of the GDC.

The National Children’s Rights Programme: Briefing by Office on Rights of the Child

Ms Khomotso Kgothadi (Deputy Director: Office on the Rights of the Child (ORC)), focused on the unit’s five year plan for 2005-2009. She said that the ORC would streamline its work with national programmes such as Project Consolidate and the Integrated Development Programmes. It would develop a comprehensive framework for the protection and development of vulnerable children.

The achievements of the ORC were also outlined. Children’s rights indicators had been mainstreamed into the government wide indicator framework. It had partnered with Statistics South Africa to refine the Children’s Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Template. It had also finalized an evaluation report of its provincial structures.
 
An overview of the work of the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons

Mr Benny Palime (Director: Office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP)), reviewed the Office’s work in terms of its impact on the legislative process as well as the ways in which the equality legislation influenced it. The OSDP had worked with the Departments of Health and Social Development in formulating a disability definition. It continued to encourage departments to adopt programmes such as the Code of Good Practice, and Free Health Care (Department of Health) and the development of an assessment tool for disability grants (Department of Social Development).
 
OSDP was currently implementing the adopted definition of the term ‘disability’ approved by Cabinet. The OSDP would continue its review and evaluation of the 2% representation benchmark stipulated by the equity legislation. It had conducted research on the capacity of local government to implement disability related policies within their integrated development plans.

Discussion
The Chairperson commended the establishment of print media monitoring systems by the ORC. She asked what follow-up measures ORC had developed to act on and investigate incidences of violence against children reported in the print media. She added that the Committee would schedule a meeting with the National Commissioner of Police to discuss the work of the police on violence against children.

Mr A Madella (ANC) shared the Chairperson’s concerns on widespread violence against children and welcomed the planned meeting as an opportunity to clarify the work of the police. He also believed that the media monitoring system was an important measure in combating violence against children. He asked what steps ORC had taken to convert the monitoring into action

Ms Rantla responded that the media monitoring system would enable the ORC to intervene in cases of violence. The ORC would work with government departments and provinces to ensure that violent situations were efficiently resolved. The Committee would be kept abreast of this process.

Mr M Moss (ANC) said that structures should be set in place to ensure that the media monitoring system was part of, and coordinated with the actions of relevant departments and the police service to ensure that violence against children was properly dealt with

The Chairperson raised her concerns regarding the circulation of pornographic images of children via cell phones. She asked if similar measures were in place to monitor the electronic media

Ms Kgoadi replied that the issue of child pornography was a serious challenge. The electronic media was a complex medium to monitor. Systems were needed to block the access of pornography to children.

Ms Rantla added that the ORC had not yet developed systems to monitor the electronic media. She said that it would investigate this matter and would give a presentation on progress at its next Committee briefing.

The Chairperson said that disabled persons were not sufficiently included in the programmes related to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). She requested the OSDP to elaborate on the envisaged programmes to increase the economic participation of disabled persons.

Mr Palime responded that ASGISA related to issues of socio-economic rights as well as economic empowerment, and so OSDP had classified it as part of the mainstreaming process. This would ensure that programmes were focused on broader issues such as access to education and training as well as improved service delivery.

Mr Madella said that that dedicated officials were needed to act on incidences of violence at provincial and local structures of the ORC. He asked for more clarity regarding the strengthening of provincial structures of the ORC.

Ms Kgoadi answered that the provincial structures of the ORC were currently being restructured to strengthen its capacity to deal more effectively with incidences of violence against children. It was busy filling the recently created posts. Moreover, the offices of the Directors-general and Premiers were being lobbied to strengthen the departmental and provincial structures of the ORC. She agreed that the ORC needed dedicated officials to advance the rights of children.

Ms Rantla also agreed with Mr Madella, commenting that the Advisory Council had agreed that a deeper understanding of the causes of violence against children were needed to ensure that appropriate interventions were developed to tackle the causes of the violence. The council would use academic institutions to ensure that better understanding of the issues was developed.

Mr Madella commented that no reference was made in the presentation to the recent United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Report and its assessment of South Africa. This had highlighted that many children were still dying of HIV/Aids related diseases, and had no access to basic resources like housing and health care. He suggested that the initiatives of the ORC should focus on the changing household structures and should ensure that those government departments incorporate these initiatives into their programmes.

Ms Rantla replied that ORC had not yet formulated a formal response to the findings of the UNICEF report. She assured the Committee that it would be notified as soon as a formal response was drafted.

Mr Madella was concerned at the present high infant mortality rate, which had also been highlighted in the UNICEF Report. He would like to see increased cooperation between the ORC and the Department of Health to ensure the decline in levels of infant mortality.

Ms Rantla answered that the most effective way to tackle levels of infant mortality was through the ORC’s monitoring and evaluation process. Based on its observations, ORC could identify and inform government departments about problems, and make recommendations. Improvements could then be made in particular areas of concern.

Ms Kgoadi added that the levels of infant mortality and issues regarding education would be tackled as part of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr Madella commented that although current legislation required all government buildings to be made accessible to disabled persons, this had not happened. Some police stations were also not easily accessible to disabled persons.

Mr Palime responded that government departments had to engage regularly with the Department of Public Works to ensure that government buildings were made accessible. The OSDP would contact the National Youth Commission regarding its national youth service programme, as this programme incorporated the improvement of access to government buildings by disabled persons.

Mr Madella said that measures had to be developed to ensure that issues related to disabled persons were mainstreamed and their important realised. The disabled employment equity targets were not enforced in government departments. ORC and the Presidency must take action to ensure that disabled persons were properly represented. He suggested that the 2% target be reviewed and possibly increased. The OSDP should interact with the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) to ensure that disabled persons could harness opportunities for further training.

Mr Palime said that the OSD had designed a strategy to ensure that government departments complied with the targets set by the Employment Equity legislation. The OSDP had partnered with the Department of Public Services and Administration to ensure that the Job Access Programme also benefited disabled persons. The Human Resource Unit of the Presidency must set an example of representivity. The 2% was not a maximum so departments could move beyond this. The OSDP and Department of Public Services and Administration were currently reviewing and evaluating the 2% representation target.

Ms Rantla responded that the OSDP had created a database of professional people with disabilities. This document was distributed to all departments as well as within the Presidency and would be used to select candidates for vacant positions, including the current vacant post within the Chief Directorate.

Mr Madella said that public schools were not easily accessible to disabled children.

Mr L Nzimande (ANC) asked whether a strategy had been developed to ensure that disabled children were not sidelined by the education system. Special schools were not properly resourced so that they could function properly.

Ms Rantla replied that the OSDP would meet with the Department of Education to discuss the implications of a more inclusive education system that could cater in the needs of disabled children.

Mr Palime added that the OSDP had currently launched a pilot project to advance inclusive education. He said that government would prefer not to establish ‘special’ schools for the disabled, unless there was a specific need, since mainstreaming was a better option, but acknowledged that existing schools were poorly resourced. 

Mr Madella wanted clarity regarding the status of the National Children’s Rights Committee (NCRC) and its relationship with the ORC.

Ms Kgoadi answered that the NCRC was currently being revived as part of government’s responsibility to partner with civil society to improve service delivery. The ORC would partner with the NCRC to monitor the advancement of children’s rights in the work of both government and civil society. The two bodies would then jointly draft a report that would reflect a deeper assessment of the mainstreaming process.

Ms Rantla expressed agreement that the new strategy of joint monitoring between government and civil society would ensure that a more comprehensive assessment of the mainstreaming process could be developed.

Mr Nzimande said that he had expected the presenters to address the Committee on the strategies and progress made to achieve the millennium goals. He asked whether the presented strategic and operational plans were at the core of each office’s mandate.

Ms Rantla responded that the presenters had understood this meeting to be a broad overview of the activities of the offices of the Rights of the Child and People with Disabilities and the GDC programme. It would have been difficult to concentrate on particular issues in detail. This meeting would lay the foundation for the offices later to focus on specific problem areas. She explained that the presentation made by ORC had a special focus on the extent to which its performance goals had been met.

Mr Nzimande said that the recently held meeting with the National Security Agency had revealed that the disability grant was the most problematic to access. The OSDP should provide the Committee with proposed methods to make this grant more accessible to people with disabilities. The Treasury had revealed that there was a slow intake of disability grants, and he enquired how OSDP believed it could alleviate this.

This question was not specifically answered.

Mr Nzimande commented that the current vacancies at the OSDP could hamper the office’s ability to manage existing backlogs, and asked how this was being managed. 

Ms Rantla responded that the vacant positions of Deputy Director had been advertised by the OSDP and that the interview process would start shortly. The ORC did however have a full staff complement to ensure that its activities were efficiently managed.

Mr Nzimande requested information regarding the composition of the Advisory Council.

Ms Rantla responded that a number of civil society organizations were represented on the Advisory Council and were also key stakeholders in the Children’s Rights Programmes. Representatives of national government and the ORCs in the three spheres of government sat on the Council. These Councils were also mirrored at provincial and municipal level where ORC desks had been established.
 
Mr Nzimande said that opportunities for learnerships and internships for disabled persons had to be increased. He said that not many disabled persons we participating in initiatives such as Job Access and Extended Public Works Programmes and wondered how OSDP envisaged improving levels of participation.

This question was not answered specifically.

Mr Moss said provincial and municipal structures demonstrated a lack of commitment to make offices more representative. Moreover municipalities had failed to establish local OSDP units in the offices of mayors. He said that the Committee’s meeting with the disabled people from the Kgalagadi demonstrated the absence of these offices at a local and even provincial level. Mr Nzimande added that the process to streamline and realign the provincial structures of the ORC was too slow.

Ms Rantla assured the Committee that the lack of provincial portfolio committees on disabled persons, as well as the absence of the necessary structures within municipalities, would be investigated. The ORC had no clear database which departments of structures had established focal points. She would welcome assistance from the Committee to establish such a record. The  three spheres of government were guided by set guidelines of the national ORC, as contained in the ‘Children’s Rights Delivery Guide for Municipalities, The Guide for the Establishment of ORC in Government’ both nationally and provincially.

Mr Moss said that parliament had taken a decision to request the submission of quarterly reports, rather than the annual reports. The Committee would then be able to monitor more closely the progress and activities of departments. There was also a need for closer and better cooperation between officials of departments and the Committee. A date should be se aside to discuss how matters could be improved.

Mr Rantla agreed that the quarterly meetings with the Committee presented an opportunity for closer cooperation with Members. Areas for collaboration would also be identified.

Mr Moss wanted to know why some provinces still lacked OCR structures. He added that the former mayor of Cape Town had a targeted programme in place to take homeless children off the street, which should be used as a guide for other provinces and cities.

Ms Rantla replied that the Western Cape had appointed an ORC director.  This province’s plan for homeless children would be studied as a possible guide for all provinces on this matter.

The Chairperson requested clarity on the date of the planned OSDP workshop. She asked whether the operational plans of the department had changed.

Mr Palime replied that the OSDP would send forward the newly revised dates for the workshop to the Committee.  The presentation of the OSDP germinated from the strategic and operational plans of the office. However OSDP had followed the guidelines by the committee and had concentrated in its briefing on these plans.

The Chairperson asked whether an agreement been reached on the definition of the term “disability” and whether the existing definition hampered the application of a disability grant.

Linked to this, Mr Nzimande enquired what progress was made on South Africa’s involvement in the drafting of the International Convention on the disabled.

Mr Palime answered that the current definition had been approved by Cabinet, and thus was in operation. However, the Departments of Health and Social Development had also developed a definition of a person with a disability which was used in assessing the qualification for the qualification of a grant.

The broader definition approved by Cabinet had been submitted to the United Nations, and was clearly stated in the Preamble and Article one on the purpose of the Convention. The Committee could investigate the need for possible changes to the working definition of this term used in South Africa. Any proposals would be submitted to cabinet for consideration.

The Chairperson asked what the function of the Integrated Disability Committees was. She said that most officials were not familiar with issues of disability.

Mr Palime said that those officials represented on the committees occupied management level positions. As part of the committee, they had to confront issues such the advancement of children’s rights, HIV/Aids, youth and disabilities. The committees met quarterly to discuss progress made on specific functions. The OSD would merge these committees into national machinery that would include civil society and government institutions. This restructuring could alleviate the tension between these different sectors.
 
The Chairperson asked how the review process of the OSDP had progressed, and whether the Integrated committee had an impact on this review?

Mr Palime said that the OSDP would start with its review the following week, as its provincial structures preferred to be reviewed alongside other OSDP structures. Once the review process of departmental structures and civil society had been finalized, its national structure would be reviewed.

The Chairperson thanked the offices for their presentations Members had posed many important questions. They had the responsibility to ensure that the quality of life of all South Africans, including children and the disabled, were enhanced. The Committee would meet to establish a date for the workshop, and officials from provincial and municipal structures would be invited to participate.

The meeting was adjourned.