Commission for Gender Equality 1st quarter 2013/14 performance report: briefing

Meeting report

Introduction
The Chairperson welcomed the Committee members, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) delegates and all present at the meeting. She stated that CGE would be briefing the Committee on the 1st quarterly report.  She said the Committee had visited the CGE and was overall very impressed by the progress the Commission had made with regards to its turnaround strategy, how the CGE was operating as well as the environment in which it operated. 

Apologies
The Committee secretary acknowledged apologies from the following Committee members: Ms M Tlake (ANC), Ms H Lamoela (DA), Ms C Diemu (COPE), Ms L van de Merwe (IFP), Ms S Paulse (ID) and Ms I Ditshetelo (UCDP).

Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) 1st quarter 2013/14 performance report: CGE briefing
Mr Mfanozelwe Shozi, CGE Chairperson said the CGE appreciated the visit from the Committee and he apologised for the six Commissioners that were not able to attend the meeting due to another commitment in Johannesburg.  He said the briefing would be within the framework of the first quarter and would speak to the mandate of the CGE, and the first quarter, which entailed finalising and preparing reports for the previous financial year and preparing financial statements and plans for the forthcoming year. The Commissioners had held various meetings with various stakeholders to engage them with the activities of the CGE, which included interventions with regard to underage marriages, training in municipalities, policy dialogues and the preparation of the Annual Performance Plan (APP) that were paramount to the mandate of the CGE.
 
Outline
Ms Keketso Maema, CGE Chief Executive Officer, said that the presentation was outlined to deal with activities that took place in the first quarter of this financial year and would deal with the research department programmes, the legal department and the attached annual performance plan (APP) presented to the Committee previously, but would show the progress made by the CGE.  The first quarter coincided with regularity audit undertaken by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) and the annual financial statements and the draft annual report were finalised and submitted to AGSA and National Treasury. The CGE put processes in place during this quarter so that the planned activities and work of the CGE progressed.

Research projects
Ms Maema outlined the research projects that would be focussed on for the current financial year:

Gender Focal Person research project – evaluating performance and effectiveness of these positions.  It was started based on the outcomes of the employment equity hearings that took place the previous year.  Ten departments were identified that would be participating on this project and the scope included both national and provincial departments. A desktop review was done and the results would be used to develop a tool / instrument for this project and would be finalised in the second quarter.

Gender barometer – normal annual work based online instrument to gage gender mainstreaming. This was the third phase of the tool and a number of teething matters were identified and the tool had been revised accordingly.  The Department of Science and Technology and five provincial departments of community safety had been selected and the CGE was in the process of training the selected departments on the tool.

Monitoring and evaluation of the work of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Council after previously focusing on the implementation of the 365 National Action Plan (NAV), which would be now reviewed and rearticulated by the GBV Council.  The research team compiled background information on the Council, as well as looked into the scheduled activities and annual plan the Council would be dealing with for the financial year.  The team had also requested permission to attend meetings and proceedings of the Council and had since attended one meeting.

Policy briefs and Dialogues – the CGE had previously indicated that the research reports were not fully utilised by the departments that were evaluated and monitored.  The Commission then developed policy briefs, abbreviated versions of research reports done in the last financial year. These reports were the education report, The Victims Charter and the Gender Barometer. The policy brief highlighted the findings and recommendations in a four to six page document to enable policy makers to work through the documents more easily. The CGE would then have dialogues and meetings in the upcoming quarter with policy makers to make sure that the findings of the reports were disseminated and that the Commission was part of the decision making processes to attain gender equality.

Legal department
The CGE’s legal department had quite a number of processes to deal with.  The department looked into complaints and submissions into legislative framework. She provided statistics for the reporting period April to June 2013 that provided a breakdown of the complaints, which totalled 245 new files (an increase from previous quarters) opened during this period – see table.  The legal department monitored 16 courts nationally, which included maintenance, family, domestic violence and equality courts.  The department held 24 legal clinics for the period under review – see table for breakdown of areas, and three cases under litigation.  These cases included one domestic and two divorce cases.  She explained that often a domestic violence complaint would lead to divorce proceedings and the CGE had vested interests in the settlements reached.

Ms Maema stated that monitoring international instruments would be done by the legal department. The three departments had formed three working groups to monitor and craft reports on international instruments, because although the legal department monitored the instruments, there was also research work to be done.  The instruments included the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS). The working groups had finalised draft reports and the period under review was used to engage and follow through with departments that had not responded to the questionnaires submitted in last quarter of the last financial year.  South Africa would be reporting on the instruments in 2015.

Public education and information department
The public education and information department of CGE ran a series of targeted interventions.  For the past quarter the focus was on gender-based violence and schools where officers engaged an average of five schools per province focusing on bullying and teenage pregnancy.

A position paper on the decriminalisation of sex work was developed and launched on 16 May 2013.  The CGE received quite a number of complaints and the legislative frameworks had not been working. Educational programmes with Provincial Houses of Traditional Leaders and the religious sector were held to discuss formalising working relations. She highlighted engaging with the Shembe in KZN, and the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that were signed by the Western Cape and Northern Cape, but were still in draft form in the other provinces.

Collaboration
The CGE and National Democratic Institute – South Africa agreed to conduct an assessment of women’s political participation and representation.  A research proposal was developed and in this quarter political parties were sent letters that requested a meeting to share the purpose of the study.  The parties approached were ANC, COPE, UDM and IFP.  The DA had not responded to the CGE’s letter and the IFP initially indicated interest, but had subsequently withdrawn its participation.  One focus group meeting took place in the Western Cape and another would be held in the next quarter.

The CGE had an agreement with SABC3 where it broadcast, free of charge, a promotion during the 16 days of activism against abuse.  Further meetings were held with the purpose of programmes to infuse gender and gender equality and to sign collaboration agreements to outline working relations.

The CGE collaborated with the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) and embarked on an educational radio programme to ensure longevity in educating audiences in far-flung areas of the country.  A number of meetings were held with NCRF and a MOU was developed and would be signed in the next quarter.

Provincial highlights
Ms Maema summarised the provincial highlights as follows:

Initiation schools – provinces where deaths were rife were Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.  The Commission intervened by engaging in meetings with concerned stakeholders as a measure to ensure that this practice was safer.

Forced/underage marriages – it became known that a 57-year-old man was cohabiting with a 15-year-old.  The office undertook a search and seizure and the alleged perpetrator was arrested and later received bail.

Gender Mainstreaming workshops – through the employment equity hearings more and more municipalities came forward to enquire about compliance with employment equity and training was done for Mbombela Municipality on gender mainstreaming

Collaboration with Chapter 9 institutions – all provinces engaged in meetings with chapter 9 institutions and respective APPs were shared to discuss outreach programmes of mutual interest

Reporting template
Ms Maema referred to the Quarter 1 Reporting template included in the presentation (see table).  It was a step by step outline that included the APP that was launched to the Committee and Parliament as well as the status and progress of several projects.

Financial management
Mr Moshabi Putu, CGE Chief Financial Officer outlined the financial management activities of the Commission for the financial period 1 April to 30 June 2013.  The presentation highlighted the budget and allocations from National Treasury, analysis of figures, financial status analysis, future activities that would give a prognostic view, and discussion of asset replacement.  Mr Putu stated that CGE was accountable to this Committee and to Parliament and had a duty to be transparent.  He gave an overview of the budget previously presented:

● The three main programmes: overall allocation of R63.1 million allocated by National Treasury

● Commissioner: Governance and support – R10.7 million or 17%

● Corporate support – R20.2 million or 32%

● Main Service / Core programme – R32.2 million or 51%

Nature and structure of the GCE budget:

● Compensation of Employees – 71%

● Professional services – 5%

● Travel and accommodation, event management and media – 11%

● Reports production and printing – 3%

● Telecommunications and courier services – 4%

The above made up 94% of total spending.  Thus only 6% (+/- R4.3 million) was relatively variable.

Income and revenue for the reporting period:
● Transfers from National Government for the period to 31 December 2012 was R15.8 million (25% of annual allocation)

● Interest income for the period recorded – R154 198

● Total income for 3 month period – R15.9 million

Quarter 1 spending
● Commissioners: Governance and Support – under expenditure – R595 888

● Corporate Support Services – over expenditure – R759 270

● Service Delivery programme – under expenditure – R1 824 800

● Total under expenditure – R 1 661 418

Slides 11-14 gave detailed analysis of spending and reasons for under/over expenditure.

Projection – following the filling of vacant positions, spending reshape to be within budget since the CGE budget was personnel sensitive (See also attached slide on status of vacancies and progress on recruitment)

Financial position
● Net assets – R13 742 245 (Sound solvency)

● Cash ratio – 198% (Healthy liquidity)

● Current ratio – 274% (Healthy liquidity)

●R5.3 million still owed to CGE



Non-current assets and capital expenditure
● Over 90% of CGE assets technologically and economically obsolete

● Funding had been granted by National Treasury by permission to retain surplus funds generated from previous financial years – R8.5 million

● Regularity audit by Auditor-General South Africa – field audit in the last week of June

● Action plans relating to past audit issues had been implemented in terms of the schedules and commitments.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked the CGE for the presentation and requested Ms Maema to explain and unpack abbreviations and acronyms in future. The Chairperson referred to the oversight visit by the Committee and asked about the activities discussed but not reflected in the budget.  She also asked that the policy briefings be explained and what the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) entailed.

Ms Maema said that she would include an index next time to explain abbreviations.

Ms Thoko Mpumlwana, CGE Deputy Chairperson, said that, although the CGE planned for activities, emergencies arose, especially around GBV; gender issues and costs had been incurred and there had been a struggle for CGE on how to budget for these emergencies and the CFO tried hard to keep the Commission in line.

Ms Maema said that often, after CGE had monitored a department and compiled a research report, it had no way in participating with policy makers in departments and discussing the concerns, findings and recommendations.  Research reports were often 200 page documents and the policy brief highlighted the research approach, methods employed, data collection and the key findings and policy implications or recommendations. The policy brief also created a means of dialogue with departments and policy makers.

She addressed the question about the MoUs and said that CGE contacted the Shembe leadership in KZN and talked about gender issues such as underage marriages and the church involvement in these matters.  The church stated that it did not condone such practices and often had discussion with its congregation about these issues.  CGE then requested representatives to be present and take part in such discussions and the agreement by the church would be included in the MoU. Other examples could be an agreement to refer cases to CGE that could be included in the MoU, or the agreement to not tamper with the CGE mandate.  The issues across provinces were quite diverse and through dialogue the agreements and disagreements that would be included in the MoU might vary.

Mr Shozi said MoUs contained a section for disagreements, objectives, corroboration, referrals issues, and promotion and protection of working relationships.

Ms G Tseke (ANC) thanked the CGE for the presentation and asked the following questions:

● Could Mr Putu explain in detail about the R5.3 million owed to CGE as well as the receivables contingent upon litigation as illustrated on slide 19?

● With reference to Ms Maema’s presentation and the research project on the GBV Council, the Committee was interested in the findings of how the Council would work.  She asked if CGE had developed a tool to monitor the GBV Council.

● The assessment of women’s political participation and representation seemed like a research project and she asked why it was under the public education and information (PEI) section of the presentation.

● Could the CGE assist with a case in her constituency regarding a woman who was shot by her husband in 2003?  The case had been postponed numerous times over the years.

Mr Putu replied that the R5.3 million was due and payable in June. The R195 805 was receivables contingent upon litigation after writing off an amount the Commission was doubtful would be received.

Ms Maema said that the findings on the processes of the GBV Council would be shared with the Committee.

Mr Thabo Rapoo, CGE Director of Policy and Research said that CGE was still gaining background understanding and gathering information on the GBV Council, which was still very new and had not yet developed a tool.

Ms Mpumlwana stated that the Committee needed to be made aware of the fact that there was not adequate funding for the GBV Council at this point and that funding would have to come from outside backers.

Ms Maema replied to the issue of the assessment of women political participation and PEI, and said that it was a partnership that was initiated and led by PEI, but the research department still had a role to play.

She said that CGE could assist and monitor the case.  If it contacted the prosecutor and made it known that CGE was interested and would be following the progress of the case, there might be some faster progress.  She said that it would get the details of the particular case later.

Ms P Peterson-Maduna (ANC) asked if the CGE made submissions on any provincial laws or local government bylaws and, if so, which legislation, municipalities and provinces.  She also asked whether CGE had followed up with the IFP as to why it had lost interest in participating in the assessment of women’s political participation and representation.

Ms Maema replied that CGE did undertake submissions in provinces, but it did have a capacity problem with only one parliamentary officer.  In the past CGE had engaged with Mpumalanga provincial legislature, but CGE had not been making any submissions for this past quarter.

Mr Shozi stated that the IFP had expressed initial interest in the assessment, but later stated that it would not be participating because they were busy with elections.

Ms E More (DA) asked the following questions:

● She referred to the budget and slide 15 and asked the CFO to explain if this meant that there would not be significant over or under expenditure next month.

● On slide 19 she referred to the outstanding R5.3 million – she asked what month was outstanding and the reasons CGE was not paid for that month.

● With reference to Ms Maema’s presentation on the Gender Focal Person research project she asked how the departments were prioritised to participate, and why critical departments, such as the Department of Health, were not included. 

● With reference to slide 12 on the incidence reporting statistics she asked whether the tools to assess the incidents were adequate because the numbers seemed very low when compared to the reporting in the media especially the botched initiations and gender based violence.  She asked that Ms Maema explain how the CGE experienced these incidents, whether through follow-up after media coverage or through contact made, etc.

● Why was the legal department and not the research department monitoring the international tools?

Mr Phutu replied that the over expenditure would be compensated for by under expenditure in the future period.  Over expenditure occurred when spending happened earlier than anticipated.

The R5.3 million was subsequently received in the second quarter and Mr Phutu speculated that the glitch could have been due to the chief financial officer change during that month because payment had always been regular prior to the change.

Ms Maema replied that, with regard to specific departments, the work done under international instruments was huge and one could obtain vast amounts of information.  CGE utilised the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) and obtained a global picture when using these tools.  CGE had contacted the Department of Health to obtain information on gender issues, and the three reports would be able to give a global picture of what was happening around gender equality.

Mr Rapoo outlined the criteria for department selection for the Gender Focal Person research project:

● Limited resources – CGE had limited resources and could only choose a limited number of departments per year.

● Ongoing work – CGE chose certain departments with the intention to choose others in future.

● Some departments had been covered in other projects – the Department of Heath was covered last year in the Victims Charter and CGE did not want to choose the same department for different projects every year.

● Some departments did not have Gender Focal personnel so the CGE had no one to deal with.

● Some department did not give the necessary co-operation and were subsequently left out.

Ms Maema explained that CGE did sometimes ask the research department to zoom in and take a snapshot if something rife came up, but planning was key and if something came up now and the research department was not able to take a snapshot of what was happening it would be included in the planning for the next cycle.

Ms Maema replied that the 245 cases were just the new cases received for the quarter and not the cases that were still ongoing.  In future she would also include the ongoing cases that the Commission was dealing with.

She further explained that the international tools and the surrounding issues would need to be legally identified, but the research department monitored and the CGE clubbed people together so they could work as a team.  The legal department would lead the team but the working group would also include researchers.

Ms Mpumlwana said that CGE worked cross-sectionally so that those that did research also worked with those who did education and that before a legal clinic was done, the people could be educated on their rights first.

Ms M Nxumalo (ANC) asked Ms Maema about the classifications of incidents on slide 12 - almost half of the cases were classified as ‘others’ and she asked that the classification be explained.

She asked the CFO to clarify the reprioritising of activities on the APP.

Ms Maema replied that the cases classified as ‘others’ were mostly cases that were either resolved instantly without having to open a case or through referral but were also recorded because it was time and resources spent by the CGE, and warranted follow-up in some cases.

Mr Putu said that the reprioritisation could be read from the quarter 1 reporting template on the implementation of the APP.  This specifically spoke to the corrective actions assigned to some actions that might affect the budget if that activity moved into the next quarter.  With regard to reporting to the Committee, these corrective actions’ targets were meant to be met in a short space of time (within the next quarter) so the gap would be closed relatively fast and there would be no material implications for reporting at this level.

The Chairperson asked that the CGE state what the responses of other political parties were to the letters requesting participation in the assessment of women’s political participation and representation.  She also wanted to know about the focus groups that were held in the Western Cape.

Mr Shozi stated that the CGE had sent letters to the DA and had not received any feedback and he hoped, since the DA researcher and DA Members were present, that they would respond.

Ms Maema replied that letters were sent to the ANC, COPE, UDM, IFP and the DA. The letters requested a meeting to outline the proposal.  There were responses from all the parties except the DA, and the CGE had already met with the ANC, COPE and the UDM, and the focus groups would continue with those parties that had agreed.

Ms J de Klerk, CGE Public Education and Information Director, said that the letters were needed because it was important to get permission before a study was done, and the rest of the focus groups would be rolled out this quarter.

The Chairperson asked the CFO to explain the issue of non-compliance as pointed out by the Auditor-General regarding irregular spending and to explain ‘professional fees’.  She also wanted a status of the position paper on the decriminalisation of sex workers, as well as the extent of consultation on developing the paper and the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act – what were the recommendations?



[The Commission replied that] there were concrete things CGE did according to the action plans following audit findings.  The irregularities were found to be from the procurement side of the activities.  The Commission had since cancelled all non-compliant contracts and developed the following control systems:

● Checklists for officials to evaluate transaction compliance

● Registers to monitor and record transactions

● Training of administrative and finance staff around supply chain processes

● An operational Evaluation Committee was formed

● An Adjudication Committee was formed to evaluate when procuring via open tender

● Training according to Public Finance Management Act (PMFA) (No. 1 of 1999) regulations

CGE received many complaints from sex workers citing abuse from police, clients and working in an unhealthy environment.  There was currently a petition from over 1 000 sex workers to have these allegations investigated. The issues of human rights, human dignity, privacy and safety and security, access to healthcare from the Commission’s point of view warranted lobbying stakeholders.  The paper was submitted to Parliament and had been referred to the Committee. The CGE realised that South Africa was a secular state and there were moral issues, but the Commission was interested in the Constitution as it related to sex workers.

Mr Putu explained that professional fees were made up by the audit fees by the Auditor-General, litigation fees either in the interest of complainants, legal principles or the corporate section of CGE.

Ms Maema stated that CGE did some research and also looked outside of South Africa at international responses in preparing the paper.

Ms Tseke said that there could be some confusion as some called the Council the National Council for Gender and the CGE referred to it as the GBV Council.  She further stated that nationally the Department of Sports and Recreation and the Department of Arts and Culture were two entities while the Gender Focal Person research project included six national departments.

Ms Maema stated that the naming of the Council would be looked at.

Ms Peterson-Maduna asked if the CGE knew if the Shembe religion was not involved in ‘ukuthwalwa’ as some of its members’ wives seemed to be very young?

The CGE replied that it suspected that the Shembe church might be involved in ‘ukuthwalwa’ and contacted the church and in the meeting the church distanced itself from the practice.  The CGE issued a joint statement with the church on that regard.

Mr Shozi pointed out that the CGE had met only with one faction of the church, and it needed to make contact with the other factions.  He also mentioned that it was reported that a 15 year old girl ran away from an arranged marriage in KZN recently and there was another practice where women were chosen by men while sitting on a bench, and there were other cultural issues that needed to considered, but the Commission planned educational activities regarding the rights of women and other gender issues.

The Chairperson asked if the Commission could highlight those departments that did not have a Gender Focal Person.

Mr Rapoo said that the CGE would compile a list on all the departments that did not have a Gender Focal Person.  He stated that the Department of Basic Education did not have a Gender Focal Person because the directorate was abolished when the Departments of Basic and Higher Education and Training split.

Ms Tseke asked, with reference to the policy briefs and consultation with policy makers regarding the key findings and recommendations, if CGE also consulted the Ministries involved and the Portfolio Committee, because consulting junior officials was not adequate.

Ms Maema stated that the Commission targeted Heads of Departments (HoDs) and Directors-General for the policy briefs, and it often requested a specific audience.  She said that CGE requested to be invited to the different HoD meeting so that it would be given an opportunity to present while a department had its meeting.

Ms More asked when the concept paper on gender-based in higher education would be ready and, with regard to the research into women participation and representation (Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)) research, what the desired outcome was – long-term or 50/50 for the 2014 election statistics?

Ms Maema said that the concept paper on higher education was done and a copy could be sent to Ms More. CGE already had MoUs with institutions of higher learning and had a meeting with Minister Blade Nzimande on the matter to seek funding; a proposal was done and all that was needed was the funding to roll out the project.

Mr Shozi stated that the country had rectified the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocols on gender and development and one of the principles was 50/50 and that was the starting point, but over and above checking numbers, substantive equality and women involvement in political parties were important factors.  CGE was being guided by the SADC protocols as well as the protocols and the rights of women in Africa and whether 50/50 would work. 

Ms Mpumlwana said that, with regard to the IEC, there was no legislation as yet that talked about 50% and all CGE could do was to ask the IEC to plead with political parties because the Electoral Act required ensuring that there were women on the list.  Political parties knew there was no quota and could bring 100% men and there was nothing the IEC legally could do to stop them.  That would be the engagement that CGE would have with the IEC - to persuade political parties to be sensitive to the SADC protocols.

The Chairperson referred to the oversight visit and stated there were a lot of service delivery complaints. She asked whether CGE considered forming partnerships with local clinics or social development departments to speed up the processes.

The Chairperson thanked the Committee and the CGE and adjourned the meeting.