Hon Chairperson, our government has committed itself to the acceleration of gender mainstreaming in the Public Service, and it regards the issue of gender equality to be of the utmost importance in the development of our country.
This commitment has led to the development and implementation of a number of policies and programmes targeting women's empowerment and gender mainstreaming in the Public Service. Amongst these initiatives is the inclusion of gender equality in the Public Service as one of the strategic imperatives in government's programme of action, with a target set at achieving 50% women's representation at all levels of senior management.
Although we did not meet the set target by March this year, as planned, we have nevertheless made good strides that are worth noting. For instance, in 2002, the total number of women in the Public Service was 52% and by December 2008 that percentage had increased to 54,38%, which is slightly higher than the 52% population of women in this country.
The representation of women at senior management level also increased from 17% in 1999 to 34% in 2008. In this regard, South Africa exceeded the SADC minimum requirement of 30% in March 2006.
Evidently, much work still needs to be done. To address this challenge, government has introduced the Gender Equality Strategic Framework, which is specifically aimed at meeting the 50-50 target.
In addition to the Gender Equality Strategic Framework, government has also introduced the head of department's eight-principle action plan for promoting women's empowerment and gender equality within the Public Service workplace.
Furthermore, gender focal points have been established in seven out of nine provinces and in 30 out of 43 national departments. The primary function of the focal points is to ensure the successful implementation of gender policies according to the gender policy framework.
Government is committed to the advancement of gender equality in the Public Service and South Africa at large. It is for this reason that we have established the Ministry of Women, Children, Youth and People with Disabilities. One of the important tasks the new Ministry has been requested to undertake is to conduct a study to identify factors hindering government's progress in meeting equity targets with regard to women at senior management levels. We hope that the findings of the study will assist us to work even harder to meet the targets during the term of this government. I thank you.
UMBHEXESHI OYINTLOKO WEBHUNGA: Sekela-Mongameli, uza kuthini urhulumente ngokubhekiselele kumanqanaba karhulumente angahambisaniyo nendlela urhulumente afuna ukuba umasilingane ahambe ngayo?
USEKELA-MONGAMELI: Sihlalo, kaloku xa sisithi ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Deputy President, how is the government going to address the challenge of spheres of government that are against equity and the way the government wants it to be implemented?
Chairperson, when we say...]
... we are mainstreaming ...
... loo nto ithetha ukuba sisonke siza kuwuqwalasela lo mcimbi ngalo lonke ixesha. Ndiyazi ukuba kwiKhabhinethi, ibhodi ayisoze yamkelwe xa ingenalo inani eloneleyo loomama. Loo nto ithetha ukuba siza kukwazi ukuba lo mcimbi noko siwuchane kuba sisonke siza kusebenza ngendlela ethi ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... that means we will be attending to this matter all the time. I know that the Cabinet would never approve a board that does not have the required number of women. That means we will be able to handle the matter accurately because together we will be working in a manner that suggests that ...]
... we are mainstreaming.
Asifuni ukuba oomama babekelwe bucala. Sifuna ukuba kuyo yonke into eyenzekayo xa kupapashwe izithuba, kubantu abenze izicelo nekuza kuqhutywa udliwano-ndlebe nabo, amanani oomama noko aqwalaselwe. Ndiyabulela. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[We do not want women to be isolated. When vacancies are advertised, amongst the applicants who will be interviewed the number of women must also be considered. Thank you.]
Sihlalo, Sekela Mongameli, kukhona isilinganiso esabekwa sokuqashwa kwabantu abaphila nokukhubazeka okungamaphesenti amabili. IMinyango eminingi kahulumeni isakuthola ukunzima ukufika kulesi sibalo. Imiphi imizamo manje ethe ukuqinaqina ezokwenziwa ukuze iMimnyango kahulumeni ifike kulesi silinganiso samaphesenti amabili? (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Mr D D GAMEDE: Hon Chairperson and hon Deputy President, a 2% target was set for employing people living with disabilities. Most government departments find it difficult to reach this target. What other stronger initiatives are going to be implemented so that government departments can reach the target of 2%?]
USEKELA-MONGAMELI: Sihlalo, urhulumente wethu umisele eli Sebe loLawulo laBasetyhini, aBantwana, uLutsha naBantu abaKhubazekileyo ngenxa yokubaluleka kokuba abantu bakuthi, nabo bakhubazekileyo, bakwazi ukuba nabo badlale indima yabo.
Kusasa nje, ndigqithe kwii-ofisi zecandelo loonobhala zeShumi leMinyaka ye- Afrika elikhokelwa ngabantu bakuthi balapha eMzantsi Afrika, abagogekileyo ngokwamalungu omzimba. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Chairperson, our government created this Ministry for Women, Children, Youth and People with Disabilities so that our people, including those who are disabled, can realise the importance of playing their role.
This morning I passed by the offices of the Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities, which is led by South Africans who are physically disabled.]
Both the United Nations and the African Union recognise that we are leading, as a country, in ensuring that people living with disabilities are also integrated. We should not believe that they cannot make a contribution. That is why even in this government the Deputy Minister of Public Works ...
... ngumntu okweli candelo silikhankanyileyo. Ngenxa yegalelo lakhe, sithemba ukuba ... [is someone in this category that we have mentioned. We hope that because of her contribution ...]
... over and above the fact that we have a dedicated Ministry, we will be able to meet this target of 2%. Ndiyabulela. [Thank you.]]
Co-ordination of projects of Department of Rural Development and Land Reform with those of other departments
5. Mr D A Worth (DA) asked the Deputy President:
How will the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform co- ordinate its projects with other Departments such as Health, Public Works, and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to ensure (a) that rural development projects are successful and (b) food security? CO54E
Hon Chairperson, as articulated in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, a document translated from the electoral mandate of the governing party and approved in principle in the extended Cabinet meeting in May this year, the main aim of the rural development strategy is to transcend the rural and urban divide and improve the quality of life of rural households, enhancing the country's food security through a broader base of agricultural production and maximising the diverse economic potential of each area.
The White Paper on this important matter will be presented to the hon members early next year for discussion and enrichment. In broad terms, though, the Medium-Term Strategic Framework asserts that the building blocks for the rural development strategy should include implementing meaningful land reform linked to water rights and stimulating agricultural production through: one, strengthening institutional support and creating economies of scale as well as facilitating access to business services, agricultural inputs, markets and value chains; two, enabling access to fencing off agricultural areas, agricultural loans, high-quality agricultural extension services through marshalling public and private resources; three, revitalising rural towns because dynamic regions require vibrant centres or service nodes; four, exploring and supporting nonfarm economic activities, including tourism - domestic and international - light manufacturing and cultural initiatives; five, implementing a development programme for rural transport, the objective being to improve mobility and access; six, enhancing the role of agricultural co-operatives in the value chain, including agro-processing; and, seven, improving service delivery in education, health, housing, water, sanitation and energy, as well as enhancing skills development.
As the successful Eastern Cape rural development project and the pilot in Muyexe village in the Greater Giyani demonstrate, critical to a successful rural development strategy is a strong and dedicated co-ordinating body. The Eastern Cape rural development project succeeded in planting and harvesting maize on 6 000 hectares of land that was last cultivated 20 years ago. This was enabled by bringing together various stakeholders, including the private sector, under the auspices of Asgisa Eastern Cape.
The initiative formalises a number of business relationships of stakeholders ranging from communities to those who will be involved in off- take agreements such as large retail chains, value-addition activities or providing input, business, field and technical support.
In Greater Giyani the rural development department took the lead and mobilised communities and many government departments to intervene and bring hope to the rural people of Muyexe. For example, I am informed by the department that no less than three departments have already pledged various forms of assistance in their particular areas, the result of which will be an integrated rural development intervention.
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform will continue to take the lead in co-ordinating, facilitating and integrating rural development interventions. However, in the medium to long term, consideration will be given to establishing an overarching rural development agency.
Working together with the department, the agency will have responsibilities that include co-ordination, thus ensuring the participation in and support for the programme by all departments, provinces, municipalities, state- owned enterprises, NGOs, donors, financial institutions, and so on. This includes, among other things, the co-ordination of development planning and social facilitation, planning and resource mobilisation, monitoring and evaluation. The difference between previous rural development strategies and this one is that in this one the role of co-ordination is highlighted and will be the focal point. Infrastructure has been placed at the centre of sustainable rural development. And rural development, together with decent job creation, is now the central mandate of all government departments.
Lastly, lessons from previous rural development strategies have been incorporated. We are confident that working together with all social partners, and our communities in particular, we will indeed transform our rural areas into thriving and successful social and economic spaces. I thank you.
If you could now allow me to also deal with the question the hon member asked about the water boards, a question I undertook to deal with when I responded to this question. We are a country that is semidesert, so water is a very scarce commodity. As a government we are alive to this challenge, that our next crisis is going to emanate from this very problem.
We are preoccupied with ways of addressing this problem. We are looking at various options as to how we can solve this problem. One option may very well be that we pipe water from neighbouring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Otherwise, we are indeed going to run into difficulties. Many of our communities that are targeted for development under this new Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform will be faced with serious water challenges.
We are looking at water rights as well because in many of the areas where dams have been constructed we find that the surrounding villages and communities do not have access to that water. These are some of the bottlenecks that we are looking at. And, of course, the water boards in the urban areas do suffer like local municipalities do in general from poor billing systems. Most of the time, residents receive bills that are inconsistent because the billing system is very poor. So that is a problem that we are alive to, and I believe we will be able to find the solution to it. Thank you, Chairperson.
Chairperson, I'd like to thank the Deputy President for his comprehensive reply to my question. I'd also like to ask the Deputy President if I could please have a copy of that for our committee.
Deputy President, as you stated, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is a new department, and it has a budget of only some R500 million. Now, as I understand it, this department is there to initiate projects, and there will then be co-ownership of these projects through health, public works, co-operative governance, etc.
Have certain monies been earmarked or ring-fenced to assist the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform via the other departments, such as Public Works, that may have to come to assist, or is this going to be just part of their budgets? I'm worried that with the pressures on all the other departments they will not have sufficient funds or can't assist this new department. Thank you.
The approach, as I said, is that other services that come from other departments, such as in the areas of health and education and so on, are meant to assist this new department. In fact, in their pilot project in Muyexe, the department was really, at that point, in the embryonic stage and yet it was able to co-ordinate all other departments in order to inspire that community and to ensure that it rendered the necessary services.
Now, for starters, the resources allocated - set aside - are very, very limited, but this is a priority area and we are quite certain that they will be able to be given a substantial percentage of the national Budget because this is a very, very important area. We are mindful of the fact that the one area of growth in our economy at this point in time, which is construction, is going to come to an end after the Fifa World Cup, and we would want, at that point, to be sure that there is enough development taking place in rural areas to countervail the impact of construction in urban areas coming to a halt. Thank you.
Chairperson, thank you very much to the Deputy President. Chair, you will forgive me if I do not ask a question, or if my question is irrelevant. I can see that they are seated next to each other because maybe the question is relevant to the Minister of Higher Education and Training. It has to do with rural development.
Hon Deputy President, last week during provincial week, and understanding rural development as one of the key priority areas, we visited an area in Vaalharts in the Northern Cape. Having visited the research station, we came across very serious information that was quite disturbing. The senior researcher disclosed to us that one of the things that was going to affect our approach or governance programme of rural development negatively is the question of skills development. This is because, he said, in the country at the moment there were only 10 agricultural engineers and he said that he was left with about three or four years until he retired.
The question is: what deliberate effort is being made to ensure that there is a programme aimed at skills development in the area of rural development and, in particular, with regard to agricultural engineers, agricultural economists, and so forth? He was blunt: He said that the problem we were faced with was that all 10 were over the age of 50 and white; that very soon they would be retiring and that they didn't know what the country was going to do. That is why I apologised before, Chair.
Hon Tau, you are setting a bad example. Two minutes for supplementary questions. Please don't relate a story. You're all aware. You're an old member.
Thank you very much, hon member, for bringing this very important challenge to our attention. You couldn't have posed it at a more apposite time than you have done now, even though you are sliding it in as an additional question. It is very important because the Minister of Higher Education and Training here next to me is in charge of our human resource development strategy, and he took note of the comments you've made.
The poverty of skills in our country - very important skills - is a general challenge. I think, and the Minister has taken note of it, we will apply our minds as to how best to tap into those skills and ensure their input in the approach of reproducing similar skills. These retirees, I think, would be very important to mobilise and ensure that we get larger numbers to be trained by them. Retirement must not mean that you stop working. It must mean that you simply slow down. So, we hope that the Minister here, in implementing the human resource development strategy, will indeed be able to mobilise those skills. Thank you.
Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy President, given the fact that we have a skewed geographic-economic dispensation in South Africa in that the eastern part of South Africa is much more developed than the western part of our country, and in terms of the very serious drive from this government to engage in rural development, would you agree that a deep-sea harbour in or close to Port Nolloth in terms of export potential would address that issue?
Chairperson, well, that's a new question and I'm willing to take note of it so that I can tap into the collective brain in the various Ministries with regard to that issue. Port Nolloth would be ... [Interjections.] [Laughter.] No. [Interjections.] Port Nolloth and Saldanha would be in the same line. I don't know - we're taking note of that and we'll have to look at it. As part of rural development, an area such as the Richtersveld, which, I think, could be developed for both domestic and international tourism, would benefit from that kind of development, I suppose. So, we are taking note of it. Thank you.
Chairperson, I would just like to say to the Deputy President that most of these places are rural. We went to Giyani, but I never saw any solar heaters or solar panels there. Hopefully, that will be the intention with the development, especially in these remote areas, as well as introducing water-saving devices. In Giyani there is a dam, but it looks like the dam is going to be dry, in this very dry area, and water might have to be piped in eventually to the dam. I would just like to ask the Deputy President what his ideas are on that.
Chairperson, yes, I agree, hon Mr Worth, that an area such as Giyani should really be assisted with the generation of solar power. In fact, I am aware that there are initiatives, led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to establish factories for the manufacturing of solar panels in these rural areas, particularly in the Northern Cape because there is a lot of sunshine there.
I am also aware that part of the challenge facing us with the generation of electrical power is the fact that the use of private generators is kind of limited because their price. We've always prided ourselves on marketing the country as a country that supplies the cheapest electricity in the world. And, I think, if we are to succeed in addressing rural development, we have to look at other forms of generating electricity for it to remain affordable but that would also address our obligations with regard to carbon emissions. I am aware of work that is being explored in that regard.
The essence of our rural development strategy is really to close the gap, the divide, between urban and rural and that would see investment in bulk infrastructure in rural areas. That is the only way in which development can become sustainable and properly diversified.
A province such as the Northern Cape, which is vast and sparsely populated, unfortunately, has not been selected to host in 2010 and therefore has not benefited from investment in infrastructure development that other provinces have been able to benefit from. I think that province deserves special attention. Thank you. [Applause.]
Particulars regarding line functions and responsibilities of new Department of Economic Development
6. Mr T Harris (DA) asked the Deputy President:
Whether the line functions and responsibilities of the new Department of Economic Development have been identified and formalised; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are they, (b) how do they relate to the responsibilities of the Department of Trade and Industry in the (i) old and (ii) new Cabinet structures and (c) how do they relate to the planning and policy development responsibilities of the National Planning Commission in the Presidency?