Office of the Status of Disabled Persons; National Youth Commission: Budget briefings

Meeting report

IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND DISABLED PERSONS JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE
10 March 2006
Office of the Status of Disabled Persons, and Youth Commission: BUDGET BRIEFINGS

Documents handed out:
Operational Plan: April 2006- March 2007- Office of the Status of Disabled Persons.
Operational Plan: April 2006-March 2007 - The National Youth Commission
[please email [email protected] for documents]

Chairperson: Ms S Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC)

SUMMARY
The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons and the National Youth Commission presented their Operational Plans and Budgets, and explained how these aligned with the objectives in the President’s State of the Nation Address. Both bodies expressed their commitment to strengthen their impact on public policy as well as improving the co-ordination between their national, local and provincial structures.

The Office in the Presidency reported that the management of the Presidency would meet on 24 March 2006 to consider the unit branch budgets. Donor funds were not included in the projections, as these funds would be utilised for specific contracted programmes. A strategic planning session would take place on 13, 14 and 15 March to finalise the plans of the Office.

The Committee raised concerns regarding the Office’s disproportionate spending on awareness campaigns in November and December, as well as the National Youth Commission’s lack of financial commitments to the National Youth Service Plan. The NYC regretted this as this plan had been announced in the past two years’ State of the Nation Address as one of the key programmes of government. This could however still be rectified. The Commission had raised its concerns regarding the lack of funding for the National Youth Service with the Minister of Finance at a breakfast held after the presentation of the national budget. The Minister had conceded that there was still an opportunity for government to commit itself to youth service programmes.

Minute

Office on the Status of Disabled Persons briefing
Mr B Palime, Director, presented the Operational Plan and R3.6 million budget for the next financial year (2006-2007). The management of the Presidency would meet on 24 March 2006 to consider the unit branch budgets. Donor funds were not included in the projections, as these funds would be utilised for specific contracted programmes. The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) allowed the Office to carry over unspent funds to the next month. The budget reflected a 50% increase in spending for November and December compared to spending patterns during the rest of the year. This was due to the awareness campaigns run around the International Day of Disabled Persons.

The Operational Plan was based on the strategic objectives of the Presidency. Most of its activities for the next year would focus on the need to co-ordinate, monitor, evaluate and communicate government policies and programmes. The Office would focus on programmatic interventions rather than specific activities. A strategic planning session would take place on 13, 14 and 15 March to finalise the plans of the Office.

Most activities would focus on disability-related policies and programmes in the state’s wide monitoring and evaluation system. Specific interventions related to skills development and economic empowerment would to be funded by the Danish Government.

Discussion
Mr Moss (ANC) raised concerns about the large increase in spending on activities in December and November, while the whole year was spent on the planning of these events. He asked whether the Office regarded he money allocated sufficient to finance their activities. Mr Madela shared these concerns.

Mr Palime conceded that the operational plan would be very demanding on the small staff. The Office’s awareness campaigns and activities were not as broad as those run by the social development clusterd The work of the Office only relates to the strategic vision of the Presidency.

The Chairperson asked why the Office had a tendering system in place. Mr Palime answered that the awareness campaigns of December and November requires the use of stadiums, sound equipment and catering, which required not merely adhering to the ‘three quote process’, but also invitations to tender.

Mr Madela asked for more clarity of the impact of the work of the Office on both local and provincial level. Mr Palime said that the provincial units of the Office met four times a year. Help desks would also be established in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. Increased linkages with local government and its local economic plans, had emerged as an important challenge.

Mr Madela raised concerns regarding the lack of accessibility for people with disabilities to important services such as housing and social grants. What progress had been made to ensure accessibility? The Chairperson raised similar concerns. Mr Palime responded that this challenge requires constant liaison with different departments. Specific intergovernmental discussions would take place to ensure that the necessary arrangements were made. The issue of social grants were being discussed through the social clustering process and the National Security Agency. The Office would advise the Agency on the methodology determining eligibility for assistance.

The Chairperson asked whether any disability training programmes were in place to ensure that new ward councillors are able to deal effectively with disabled persons in their communities. Mr Palime answered that a training manual had been drafted and that councillors would receive the necessary training.

The Chairperson wanted further clarification on how the Operational Plan related to the objectives of the State of the Nation Address. Mr Palime answered that the Office would work to ensure that issues relating to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Strategy impacted positively on people with disabilities. The Office would increase its interactions with the social cluster to ensure that their issues were prioritised and reflected in national policy initiatives.

National Youth Commission briefing
The National Youth Commission's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mboyi, as well as the Chairperson, Mr Mbalula, presented the Operational Plan and Budget for this financial year.

The Commission stressed the lack of financial commitment by government to the National Youth Service Plan. Decisive financial commitments had to be made to deal with issues of skills development, youth entrepreneurship, as well as HIV/AIDS.

The work of the Commission would focus on the following four key performance areas: Research and policy work; lobbying and advocacy; building both external and internal capacity; and improved co-ordination. The Commission would develop a legislative monitoring strategy to ensure that all spheres of government incorporated an approach to youth development reflected in all laws, policy and programme work. Monitoring mechanisms would also be developed to ensure compliance to all treaties and conventions that dealt with issues of youth development. Assistance would be given to all spheres of government to ensure that the National Youth Development Policy Framework was understood and applied. This would take the form of presentations to strategic forums, and national and provincial roadshows.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked for clarification on the relationship between the National Youth Service Plan and the 2006-2007 budget.

Mr Mboyi answered that the current budget had not made provision for implementation of the National Youth Service Plan. This was a cause of concern as this plan had been announced in the past two years’ State of the Nation Address as one of the key programmes of government. This could however still be rectified.

Mr Mbalula, NYC Chairperson, added that countries like America, Nigeria and Zimbabwe had instituted national youth service programmes that were financially\y independent from government departments. This is what the national youth Commission aspired to. Currently the national youth service programmes would depend on "piggy backing" on existing government budgets. This tended to reduce the programmes as it was initially conceptualised as a skills development programme. Critical areas included building a spirit of patriotism among South African youth and their desire to participate in national development. This should not be dependant upon various government budgets. The National Youth Service programmes could assist in overcoming challenges and debates regarding free education. A one-year national service after matriculation would serve as an incentive for furthering education (such as free education for a year). The youth would thus "pay through participation".

Mr Madela (ANC) agreed that the National Youth Service programmes needed the necessary financial support. The Commission had to continue to lobby National Treasury and the Presidency to secure that support. The present youth programme excluded the marginalised youth, and especially those who had left school early and who found themselves on the streets without any employment or financial support. They were turning to crime. The National Youth Service programme could be a valuable ‘way out’ for these youth. He did not know to what extent the Plan would accommodate the special needs of disabled youth.
Mr Mbalula agreed that certain issues around particular sectors of the youth should be clearly addressed. In terms of the policy and the practical programmes that had been carried out in the past, the Commission had made an effort to ensure that the needs of all youth were addressed. The Commission, in future, would ensure more clarity on this matter.

Mr Moss (ANC) also added his support to the National Youth Service Plan. What approach was the Youth Commission following to ensure a financial commitment? Did the Commission need the assistance of the Committee who supported the Plan in principle? He expressed his excitement at announcements made by the Minister of Defence to ensure a year-long national service for the youth.

The Commission had raised its concerns regarding the lack of funding for the National Youth Service with the Minister of Finance at a breakfast held after the presentation of the national budget. The Minister had conceded that there was still an opportunity for government to commit itself to youth service programmes.

The Commission would also focus on specific programmes related to the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). Through consistent consultation with government clusters, the Commission would ensure that necessary legislation and funds be put in place. These included the development of co-operatives referred to in the State of the Nation Address. He reiterated that the assistance of the Committee on improving participation of young people was important. The Committee should directly engage leaders in government to ensure sufficient funding.

The Chairperson referred to the President’s State of the Nation Address in which he spoke about the enrolment of 10 000 youth to the National Youth Service, and added her concerns regarding current funding. She asked for more clarity on the creation of 100 Youth Advisory Centres.

Mr Mboyi said the actions of the Commission were governed by how and why it was established. As its current budget was only the size of the Umsobomvu Youth Fund’s communications budget, the Commission would rely on partnerships to ensure the implementation of its plans. The Commission welcomed any opportunity to engage the Finance Minister on its fund allocation.

The Youth Advisory Centres should provide quality information to the youth regarding all aspects of their development. The Commission had relied on the toll-free Youth Line, as well as booklets for schools and universities. A presentation had also been delivered as part of ASGISA to ensure the extension of information dissemination. The 100 Youth Advisory Centres would be constructed in areas that were yet to be identified. This issue formed part of ongoing negations between the Commission and the social cluster of government.

Mr Moss (ANC) asked for more clarity on what was being done at a local government level to ensure the development of the youth. Mr Mboyi relied that the Commission had been running a national local government programme for the last five years. Two national conferences on local government had been held. The intention was to ensure that local government conceptualised and absorbed youth issues when dealing with service delivery. The Commission had finalised a national research programme, which had found a lack of local policy direction regarding youth development. Guidelines were produced to assist local government. A conference was planned to review the institutionalisation of local youth development.

Plans focused on mobilisation of the youth to actively participate in the processes of local governance. The Commission sought to draw young people into local youth units as well as local youth councils in various municipalities. The model envisaged a local youth unit in the Mayor’s Office for implementation of youth development programmes in every municipality. The success of local youth development depended upon a local representative youth council. A conference to be held in May, would ensure that the new local governments and officials understood its work to date, and what still needed to be done for young people in local governments. An investigation would be conducted to check youth development work at municipal level over the past two to three years.

The NYC Director of Policy and Research of the Commission explained the methodology of the research. An audit of local government structures concerning youth development would be conducted, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Telephonic interviews will be conducted with those responsible for programme development in municipalities. In more qualitative research, interviews would be conducted with staff in higher level positions, to determine the level of understanding regarding the role of municipalities in youth development.

Mr Moss (ANC) said that the National Youth Service had emerged as key to all the programmes and activities. Various departments had made submissions to the Committee regarding their planned activities. Considering the roll over of funds, departments could be directly challenged on their contributions to youth development. Strategies should be developed to assist departments in implementing these programmes. He stressed the Committee’s commitment to ensure that programmes and plans were implemented.

Mr Madela (ANC) questioned the management of the restructuring process. He asked for more clarity on the integration of all provincial Youth Commissions into the national one. Would a merger with the Umsobomvu Youth Fund result in the ‘paralysis’ of the operational and strategic vision of the National Youth Commission. What were the timeframes of the merger?

Mr Madela hoped the Commission had developed some guidelines to assist municipalities in putting youth councils together. The City of Cape Town had had a Youth Council for many years before 1994, and this council still had dedicated funding, an office and staff. Was the national Commission aware of this? Was the current operation of this Youth Council in line with what the Commission envisioned?

Mr Mbalula responded that the process of integrating all Youth Commissions into one organisation was key to improving co-ordination between the local, provincial and national youth committees. The merger with the Umsobomvu Youth Fund had proven to be challenging. Discussions with the appropriate parties were underway. He stressed however that the costly operation of youth institutions had had an important impact on the work of the bodies. This should also be addressed. A National Youth Development Framework had been developed which governed the work of the all youth Councils and Commissions. The process of merging institutions related to the important task of co-ordination between the different structures of Commissions, as well as reducing the operational costs of these institutions. This process would be completed by the 2006.

The Chairperson asked whether the Commission was satisfied with the work of its provincial counterparts. Did the Commission follow a similar process as the Office of the Status of the Disabled regarding these counterparts?

The NYC Director of Policy and Research said that there was indeed co-ordination between national, provincial and local levels. Forums such as the Chief Executive Officers’ Forum and the Chairpersons’ Forum met bi-monthly to discuss strategic matters. The Policy and Programme Communicators’ Forums ensured that information about the Commission reached local levels.

The meeting was adjourned.