Chairperson, in 2009 the Department of Transport, in collaboration with the National Department of Basic Education, developed a draft learner transport policy. This document is currently being discussed internally in the two departments and will soon be released for public comment. The two departments are working together to finalise the policy by the end of 2010.
I may just mention for the benefit of the hon member that there is unevenness in provinces in relation to learner transport. Some provinces have the responsibility of learner transport entrusted to the department of basic education and other provinces have it entrusted to the department of transport. There is a strong view from the Department of Transport that this should be passed over to the Department of Transport nationally and provincially, and this is being debated amongst the provinces. We have made some progress in terms of the discussion. We do hope, as indicated, that we will be able to release a document soon for public comment once the Cabinet has approved it. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
With regard to the Deputy Minister's answer, can the Deputy Minister inform us which provinces are leading the way in terms of learner transport? And in those provinces, does the responsibility lie with the department of transport or with the department of education?
This is not really a follow-up question.
Is it a different question?
Chairperson, with your permission and just to assist the hon member, I don't think it is a question of which provinces are leading. If you look at the geography of the Western Cape and Gauteng, it differs significantly from that of the Northern Cape, Limpopo or the Eastern Cape, where they are principally rural with large distances that learners have to travel. In Gauteng, for example, you can move from one part of the province to the other within two to three hours, but you cannot say the same about the Eastern Cape or the Northern Cape. So, each province has its own, new answers.
Therefore, in developing a policy, one has to pay particular attention to the context of the different provinces. Therefore, there wouldn't be a leading line. One could certainly say that as a result of urbanisation and disproportionate development of provinces attributable to apartheid policies of the past, some provinces are better favoured and better positioned to provide access to learners as compared to other provinces.
Our task, then, is to correct these deficiencies in order to ensure that we provide easy access for all our learners, irrespective of where they reside in whichever province. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Chairperson, in terms of the question, I just want to ask the hon Deputy Minister to make a pronouncement regarding the quality of the vehicles that are being used. There have been cases of horrific accidents involving schoolchildren. In many instances, these involve bakkies and in some instances unroadworthy vehicles. What is the department's position on that? Thank you.
Chairperson, we share the same sentiments in that regard and we certainly don't want our learners to be conveyed in vehicles that are unroadworthy or that are not safe. Therefore, we have to work closely with the Department of Transport, traffic departments, local authorities, etc, to ensure that our children are not prejudiced or at risk in any way whatsoever.
The conversation that is taking place between the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Transport speaks specifically to this particular area. The Department of Basic Education, for example, cannot prescribe standards with regard to the conveyance of passengers within a vehicle. You require the Department of Transport to do that. That is why this collaboration becomes critical, so that when we develop the policy, we have the ability, in collaboration, to implement it.
The hon member from the Western Cape raised the issue of transport being the responsibility of the province. But transport and education are both concurrent responsibilities. So, in terms of our dispensation and our approach as the Department of Basic Education - and as government, for that matter we work closely and in collaboration with provinces to work in the best national interest of the constituents that we represent. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Through you, Chair, to the hon Deputy Minister, you quite rightly said education is a concurrent function. In terms of my own province, I am not aware of any transport being provided to school pupils - certainly to no great extent. So, this is obviously the choice of that provincial authority to not do that. Are you going to encourage our province to provide this transport in your policy? Thank you.
Hon member, there are norms and standards with regard to transport. We don't expect learners to walk for more than 10 km. All in all the standard is that if the distance is greater than 5 km, then transport has to be provided. It might be somewhat unequal. It depends again on the context. In Gauteng 5 km is a long distance, whereas in Limpopo it is regarded as a short distance. So, that's relative. But norms and standards are certainly applicable.
What we are trying to do is to ensure that we have uniform standards that apply across the country. At the centre of what we do are the interests of the child. I think this should be the primary and principle consideration. But we wouldn't want provinces to feel that because they have a particular responsibility, they are then going to inconvenience learners and create unnecessary burdens. So, these norms and standards do apply. They are being looked at again in terms of the review of the policy to see how, again collaboratively, we can do better in order to ensure that we provide easy and better access for our learners. Thank you very much.
Plans to ensure learners can make up lost time occurring as a result of service providers not being paid
36. Ms M W Makgate (ANC) asked the Minister of Basic Education:
What plans her department has put in place to ensure that learners can make up for the lost time which occurred as a result of any service provider not being paid? CO244E
Deputy Chairperson, the response to Question 36 is very short. They might think I'm getting all the questions because I originally come from this House, but that's not the case.
Learners in public schools are taught by teachers who are employed by a provincial department of education. Service providers are not used by government to provide daily lessons to learners. To date, there are no reports that teachers have not been in the classroom or that they have lost time for learners.
However, provincial departments of education - in fact, this occurs quite frequently - may use service providers for Saturday classes, winter classes or spring classes. I've given the example of how we are going to utilise the period of the World Cup, and here service providers will indeed be used. Therefore, it is important that when provincial departments engage these service providers, they should ensure that they are remunerated appropriately and in good time. Therefore we agree, in fact, that they should be held accountable when they engage service providers.
However, the norm with regard to teachers is that they are appointed by the department. They would have to do their job. It's not the service provider that comes to school, but the teacher who was appointed by the department of education. Thank you very much.
Deputy Chairperson, this is not a follow-up question but a concern because my question was very specific. I mentioned the name of the school where children did not attend school for seven weeks and the fact that there was a problem between the department of education and the department of transport as to who was supposed to pay the service provider. My question was very specific. It is just unfortunate that they decided to leave some of the issues off the Question Paper. I thank you.
Deputy Chairperson, I do know that we have a very committed chair in the select committee. What I will personally do is to take up the matter, discuss it with the hon member and ensure that we are able to raise this with the province. This will enable us to sort out the problem in the best interest of the school and the learners. Thank you very much.
Reviewing of quintile ranking system for schools, tabling of review in Parliament and consideration of other funding systems and impact thereof on budget
38. Mr J J Gunda (ID) asked the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) Whether her department is reviewing or has reviewed the quintile ranking system for schools; if not, when will it be done; if so, when will it be completed;
(2) whether the review will be tabled in Parliament; if not, why not; if so, when;
(3) whether her department is considering any other funding systems in schools; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) what effect will this have on the budget? CO248E
Deputy Chairperson, the current state of quintiles is as follows. Quintiles are still used to determine whether the schools may charge school fees or not. They are also used to differentiate the amount of funding allocated to schools in a pro-poor manner. The following are the 2010 national quintile amounts: R855 per learner in quintile 1; R784 per learner in quintile 2; R641 per learner in quintile 3; R428 per learner in quintile 4; and R147 per learner in quintile 5.
For the benefit of the hon members of the House, quintiles are basically ranked on a scale of poverty. What is happening - in fact, this is the reason the hon member has asked this question; and thanks, Mr Gunda, for doing so - is that there has been a dramatic change in the learner population of those schools. Whilst schools might have infrastructure that could appropriately rank it as a quintile 4 or 5 school, the learner population is so poor that indeed it should not be so. This is a concern that we share with the MECs for education.
The entire quintile system is being reviewed. As I speak to you right now, quintiles 1, 2 and 3 have been reduced or contracted into one quintile. This was not in terms of law, but was in terms of a policy decision that was taken by the Ministry as well as the MECs for education. We are looking at quintiles 4 and 5. In fact, we have a law that allows an MEC for education to change a quintile. For example, if it is quintile 5, the MEC for education may change it to quintile 4 or to quintile 3.
We can also celebrate the fact that not very long ago - some three years ago - schools in some provinces were receiving something like R250 to R350 per learner. Now the norm is not less than R700. In fact, it's above R800 per learner, which means funding has improved.
So, quintiles 1, 2 and 3 have, as I've indicated, been contracted. They are all beneficiaries of the nutrition scheme. They all receive better and more appropriate funding. They also have the benefits of weighted advantage in terms of educators and administrators of services in those schools. The review process has not been completed. The moment it is completed, it will be presented to parliamentary committees for consideration, debate and discussion so that they can make recommendations to the department before we finalise it.
We could also say to you that as a result of this dramatic change in terms of learner population in schools, funding - which is going to be pro-poor, obviously - would be reviewed as well. So, there are two processes. One is the review of the quintile system, and the second is the pro-poor funding that has to take place to deal with the consequences of, amongst other things, migration. We spoke about migration. Here's another example of how migration changes the nature of a system in terms of funding and otherwise. So, thank you very much for raising this question. I do hope the response is of some assistance to you. Thank you.
Deputy Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, I have just one follow-up question on this very same system you are referring to. The question is: How will the department then assist a quintile school? As you have just mentioned, the population has changed, and the school is assisting our children right now; but it is a previously advantaged school. Right now it has more than 65% of our children, and some of the parents cannot afford the amount of money that is required. The school has to now write off more than 13% from their normal budget, and it seems like this is affecting our children now.
Chairperson, the response could be looked at in three different ways. One is that no learner is obliged to pay fees when his or her parents cannot afford them. That is an exemption. Whether you are in a quintile 1 school or quintile 5 school, it doesn't matter. However, our quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools across the country are no- fee schools. Today we can say that 60% of our learners in all our schools are in no-fee schools. So, that is a huge stride. We can say, for example, that 7,5 million of our learners receive nutrition every day at school. That is a wonderful achievement.
However, coming to the issue that you raised here, the kind of legislative change that is being envisaged has already been discussed at a particular level in the Council of Education Ministers meeting. Where a school has a certain threshold of exemption - say 50% or 60% - the funding model of that particular school has to change. There also has to be compensation for the exemptions that have been provided for that particular school so that the school is not at a disadvantage. That matter has been discussed. There were issues with regard to where the threshold should be. The heads of department are reflecting on the matter, and it will come back to the Council of Education Ministers meeting.
What I want to assure you is that this is not something that is occurring in the minds of people; it is already there. Discussion documents have been prepared and there have been discussions amongst political principals. So, we do hope that sooner rather than later this matter will be resolved in the best interests, especially, of the poorest of the poor. Thank you.
Action taken to address housing backlogs, use of conventional and alternative methods of building houses and provinces currently encountering biggest housing backlog problem
40. Mr H B Groenewald (DA) asked the Minister of Human Settlements:
(1) Whether the government is taking any action to address the housing backlog; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether the government intends to continue using conventional methods of building houses; if not, (a) what is the position in this regard and (b) what alternative methods will be used; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) which provinces are currently encountering the biggest housing backlog problem? CO250E
Deputy Chairperson, at present the housing backlog is 2,1 million. The major challenge in terms of housing is the issue of the availability of well-allocated land to build houses.
We have the Housing Development Agency, whose task is primarily to acquire land and to ensure that land and properties that are not utilised are acquired from state-owned enterprises so that we can refurbish them for the purpose of building houses.
We've also agreed to have a multipronged approach in terms of the building of houses. Firstly, there is the issue of medium density so as to ensure that the housing rental stock is in place. The billion rand we got from government now is to help the market to lend money to the lower end of the market - the people who cannot access housing subsidies because they are too rich, but too poor to get access to a bond. So, the billion rand is going to assist them in doing so.
Regarding the issue of instituting the upgrading of informal settlements, we are also going to ensure that this happens. We assist people through the community-driven approach, which is where people build their homes through the People's Housing Process, PHP.
Human settlement is now a priority for Cabinet. We had a Presidential Co- ordinating Council meeting on 18 May, where only human settlement was on the agenda. This is going to be followed up in July, as well as during the Housing Indaba on 4 October, UN Habitat Day.
On the second part of the question, we already have provinces that are piloting innovative ways of building houses. Gauteng, the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape have pilot projects with regard to different forms of building houses - the technology thereof. We also have a conference that is coming up on innovative technology with regard to houses.
On the third part of the question regarding provinces, we have Gauteng with a backlog of 350 000 units, KwaZulu-Natal with 360 000 units, and the Western Cape with 300 000 units, as well as the Eastern Cape with 280 000 units. I thank you.
Hon Deputy Chair, arising from the hon Deputy Minister's reply, I would like to ask a question about housing in the North West province, especially in Meriting, where 1 500 houses have been built and not one of those houses is complete. Is the Deputy Minister aware of this?
In the Vryburg district also, only two houses in two years have been built in a project there. I want to know if the Deputy Minister is aware of this and what she is going to do about it.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, we are aware of the challenges in the North West, particularly those areas that the member is talking about. We are in the process of engaging with the MEC. The matter is before the Department of Human Settlements and the technical team, the head of department in the province and the Director- General of Human Settlements. We are dealing with the matter because we want to address those issues.
We understand the challenges regarding the issue of the developer who was assigned to build those houses. Some of the houses are now in a dire state and being demolished. But we have seized the issue, and we are dealing with it to resolve the challenges in both areas that the member talked about.
Action taken to ensure eradication of alien and invasive vegetation and carrying out of programme in Tintwa area of Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal
39. Mr R A Lees (DA) asked the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
(1) Whether any action has been taken to ensure that alien and invasive vegetation like wattle, which is the target of the Working for Water programme, is fully eradicated in a target area/portion of land before the project is closed and handed over to the landowner; if not, why not; if so, what action;
(2) whether the landowners in the Tintwa area of the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, near Ladysmith, are allowing the programme to be carried out on their land; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO249E
Deputy Chairperson, I think I want to put the blame on the devil now. The devil must be chased away. [Laughter.] You always have to go back to my question.
Let me thank the hon Lees for the question, and thank you for being kind to me, especially for the fact that you had to go back to the question.
Yes, the Working for Water programme ensures that where an agreement is entered into with a particular landowner, setting out the specific target for clearing on his or her property, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is approached to issue a directive on the affected property when a target is reached, which the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries monitors in terms of the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act. It should be noted that the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries pursues legal recourse in instances where issued directives have not been adhered to.
The Working for Water programme is negotiating for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to delegate the authority of issuing directives to the Working for Water programme to allow for a more streamlined management arrangement. It is also envisaged that such delegations must be addressed in the promulgation of proposed regulations linked to the management of invasive species under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act.
In the meantime, the Working for Water programme has also adopted a new approach where the landowner is required to contribute some of the operating costs such as transport and equipment for clearing the work from the outset to ensure that the risk of undertaking the work is equitably shared, as well as to ensure ownership of the work by the landowners.
Yes, landowners in the Tintwa area have previously allowed the Working for Water programme to work on their land. Although the area was handed over to landowners with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, there was clearly inadequate monitoring of the maintenance of the land in a cleared state. The Working for Water programme has committed to work with the landowners and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to rectify the situation. Thank you.
Madam Chair, thank you to the Minister for the answer. I am encouraged that there is more work to be done in this particular area. But in general the Minister is saying there is a change of approach to give landowners "ownership" of the process by making a financial contribution. That, I think, is probably a very good approach in a general sense, but there will be many landowners who simply don't have the means to make a financial contribution. Is the Minister contemplating any way of getting the job done even if the landowners are simply unable to make a financial contribution? Thank you.
Chair, this is a tricky one because if you set a law, the law should apply to everybody. I don't know which people would qualify because they are not emerging farmers. If they were emerging farmers, then we would be able to put them in the scheme and then they would be able to access capital for all of these things under that scheme.
I must confess that we never thought through this particular matter. If you lay down a national law that creates norms and standards, it should be applied equally to everybody, unless you want to accommodate a special category of people. In this instance, we never thought that particular issue through.
Steps taken to improve waste water treatment systems that are not complying with international standards, plans to prevent inflow of raw sewage into rivers, and plans to ensure sufficient drinking water for South Africans
41. Mr H B Groenewald (DA) asked the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
(1) Whether the government has taken or is taking any steps to improve the waste water treatment systems that are not complying with international standards; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether there is any plan to prevent the inflow of raw sewage into our rivers; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether any plan is in place to ensure sufficient drinking water for South Africans; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO251E
Let me thank Mr Groenewald for the question, and you, Deputy Chair, for giving me the opportunity to respond. I want to, in my response, preface my comments by saying that our intervention must be understood in the context of our constitutional mandate that we are a regulator.
In this context, the kind of support that we give to local government must also be understood as mainly support that would ensure that norms and standards are adhered to and also that if there is any technical expertise needed, we would be able to make ourselves available and identify where such technical support is needed.
To respond to the question directly, I can confirm that my department introduced stringent criteria for the management of waste water systems, which include treatment standards and asset management. In the current Green Drop assessment cycle, assessors are conducting consultative audits to inform the rectification requirements and process control adaptations required for waste water process optimisation.
My response to the second part of the question is that I can confirm that the department's regulatory initiatives are being intensified, with a stronger focus on the following areas: the reduction of waste water-related risks, with the objective of improving effluent quality - this speaks to the quality of all effluent that comes from our waste water treatment works, whether it will be going to the rivers or to the sea or not going anywhere; the monitoring of compliance and appropriate engagement as per the enforcement protocol; and the improvement of a skills base through the initiation of coaching programmes for technical staff at underperforming waste water treatment facilities.
You will appreciate that some of the problems that we have are the consequence of a lack of skills, especially in the smaller municipalities that are actually the owners of these assets. Waste water management improvement will be facilitated by means of an incentive-based regulation known as the Green Drop Certification programme. The Green Drop is really an incentive. We are trying to provide incentives and encourage municipalities to take action in dealing with waste water management.
In terms of the provision of sufficient drinking water, planning and funding of this function is the responsibility of the municipality. We are just concerned about the fact that many municipalities do not plan properly, and some of them do not allocate sufficient funds to this function. It is also not only this capital investment that is needed, but proper asset management that would speak to the maintenance of the systems themselves, the institutional arrangements and, most importantly, properly qualified staff and skills.
Part of this function should be regarded as an economic service. Indeed, sufficient funds should be generated from our own income as well as from appropriations of the equitable share allocation to fund such services. So, it is indeed an economic service because if the infrastructure is not well maintained, this would impact on the activities of the municipalities, especially not only on water supply but also on the effluent that would be released from the waste water treatment works. So, it is very important that we take it as such because, at the end of the day, if all of these things are not well attended to, they will impact on the areas where we live through pollution and all other problems that come with this. Thank you, Chair.
Deputy Chairperson, I just want to know from the Minister what the department is going to do to assist municipalities regarding the problems we have with the sewerage in our towns. Is there a plan, and what is she going to do to see to it that we can have skilled people appointed in these areas? Thank you.
Deputy Chairperson, I started by saying that our intervention must be understood in the context of our mandate. Our mandate is to regulate. The Constitution gives the ownership of all water supply and water works infrastructure to municipalities. As we will all appreciate, the functions that are created there are followed by funding. So, funding that goes with this function will go to municipalities because these are assets of municipalities. That is the first thing we must appreciate. What this means, then, is that we, as a department, do not have funding that would specifically target the issues that you are talking about. That funding is located within municipalities. That is the first thing.
Secondly, the Constitution itself does not make the municipalities directly accountable to the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. This applies in the same way to the Department of Energy. For all basic services, local municipalities are accountable to the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. This is the second thing that creates a problem, which then creates two problems.
Firstly, resources are directed to local government, and I have no say in this regard. The best thing I can do is to develop a programme that is going to allow me to regulate and then expose the problems that exist within those systems. The Green Drop Certification programme is actually about that. But we don't fold our arms because we are also part of this government. We see this as a collective responsibility. If there is a need for us to help with technical support, we do that. If there is a need for us to contribute some funding, we look at our contingency fund, and we do that. So, the kind of plan that you are looking for may be located in the turnaround strategy of local government, the development of which we have been a part of and have been very involved with.
I hope that some of the aspects of the turnaround strategy may lead to the amendment of the Constitution and the amendment of legislation. There will be some alignment of all of these functions so that we can work together in a way that will make a positive impact on the problems we have. The only plan we have - I am long-winded in response to a very straightforward question - is located in the Green Drop Certification programme, which is more about our regulatory function. This, then, should be taken in the context of the regulatory function.
We have already started to implement the plan. Is it helping? I would say, yes, it is beginning to help. This is because it has exposed what the problem is at that level and the extent of the problem. Are we doing anything about that? The answer is also yes. We are doing something. We are busy approaching people. I can't disclose that at this point. This would include the Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration because even if we are the regulator, we can't fold our arms. So, there are efforts under way. But again, in terms of the plan itself, it would be difficult for us to have an operations and maintenance plan because that doesn't fall within our function. Thank you very much. Sorry, Deputy Chair, my reply took long.
No, it's fine.
Deputy Chair, we had a debate the other day and we know that water boards supply water in bulk to municipalities and that municipalities are supposed to then ensure safe and clean drinking water and also purify the sewage. In view of the fact that municipalities owe over R1 billion - and I take it that this is certainly to the water boards - the Water Boards then can't function and provide for infrastructure. A lot of the poorer municipalities can't even pay to maintain their equipment. How does the Minister envisage obtaining this money from the municipalities under those circumstances? Thank you.
Deputy Chair, this is a very complex situation, especially for those municipalities whose revenue base is low. They would have to access that from the equitable share or the municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, funding. That in itself has its own challenges, hon member.
I want to go back to Kuruman. I am going to Kuruman, Deputy Chair, if you could allow me to be anecdotal a bit here. There was a visit by the Deputy President and, when he came back, he instructed me to go and intervene in the situation, which I did, just like all of us do. When I got there, a water master plan was presented to me. When I wanted to know the cost that would have to be incurred in realising the objectives of the master plan, I learnt that the cost of the master plan was over R1 billion. It was definitely over R1 billion, or R1,2 billion, to turn the water situation around - somebody from Kuruman seems to be whispering. Then I asked them what their total budget was. They said that it was R25 million. Then I asked them what that was for. They said that was a MIG budget and that everything together was R25 million.
Then I asked them why this was the case. Then they said they had inherited 30 villages from the redemarcation that recently took place. Hon Faber knows about this. They inherited about 30 villages, and that responsibility was not followed by funding from the province that handed over to them. That is the first thing.
I asked them why they didn't write and explain because there is room for them to access money from the MIG, even if it doesn't constitute part of the allocation. Then they said they couldn't because the authorities at the MIG were creating a problem for them because they said the census didn't have the statistics that they were giving them and that it was only the census that could verify those statistics. So, they were at that point when I left them.
Clearly, if you are talking small municipalities, this is the problem. It is a systemic problem that we need to address. This is one of the challenges that we are dealing with under the turnaround strategy. But I do appreciate the point you raised.
But in the funding that we are trying to access, we are aiming to look at what we will refer to as hotspots. Most of the hotspots are actually the smaller municipalities. Sorry, Deputy Chair.
No, that is fine. I was just tempted to stop you for a few minutes to allow the hon member to be taken outside, because he is feeling cold.
May I draw the attention of the House to Questions 42, 43, 44 and 47? NCOP Rule 246(4) provides that each Minister only takes a maximum of six questions. Where more than six questions have been received, the excess questions are converted to Questions for Written Reply so that these questions do not have to stand over until the next round of questions in the cluster for social services. Written correspondence was sent to hon De Villiers, hon Gunda and hon Feldman, and their questions were all published on the Internal Question Paper dated 28 May 2010.
Significant job creation resulting from implementation of Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme and achievements under this programme in each province
46. Mr Z Mlenzana (COPE) asked the Minister of Social Development:
Whether any significant job creation had resulted from the implementation of the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what has been achieved under this programme in each province for the period from 30 May 2009 up to 15 May 2010? CO257E
Deputy Chairperson, the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme is not a direct job-creating programme. It is a value-based youth development programme that aims to skill and to also develop young people in order for them to be patriotic to their country, South Africa, and also to prepare them to become cadres for social change here in this country.
For the period between 30 May 2009 and 15 May 2010, the programme called the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme has recruited, as I indicated in this august House during the Budget Vote, some 2 099 pioneers who have so far been trained. The number of those already trained and skilled, who have gone through the programme certification and are currently about to receive their certificates, stands at 1 784.
The Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme is being pioneered together with the Department of Higher Education and Training because these certificates are issued by universities - the University of the Free State in particular - which ensure that the training is of a good quality.
These Masupatsela youth are already involved in activities that are quite developmental in nature, ranging from household profiling, which we do under the antipoverty strategy, to the registration of early child development sites and involvement in Operation Hlasela. Those who come from the Free State province will understand the importance of this programme. They are also engaged in the Social Relief of Distress rogramme as part of ensuring that they gain practical experience working within our communities.
They have also participated in several programmes within the department, which led to some of them being employed permanently as we speak. The programme has also created some 115 jobs nationally for unemployed graduates who have been employed and trained as mentors of a pioneer on a contract of about three years.
In response to this question, I have decided to table a very clear report through a database - it is quite long - that indicates our achievements, where these young people are placed, the opportunities they have been exposed to and so on and so forth. It will be attached to the response, and that will be circulated. Thank you, hon Deputy Chair.
Below is a database of achievements per province: