I'm now going to make a ruling regarding the question of time raised by the hon Ellis. Hon members, hon Ellis earlier raised a point of order in which he objected to the practice of ANC speaking time being given to members of the executive when time has been saved.
Though there is a clear distinction between executive speaking time and party speaking time, which relates to the purpose of the debate, it is a long established practice that the ANC gives time that it saves to Ministers during the debates on the Budget Votes. However, it is also practice that such changes to the speakers' list are communicated to the other parties timeously.
What was said and not said in the Chief Whips' Forum is not relevant now. The Chair cannot be expected to act as an arbiter on a matter that was discussed in the forum. The allocation of speaking time is a matter that is attended to by the Whips of the various parties. I therefore want to appeal to Whips to sort this matter out as soon as possible. Please find a mutually acceptable position on this matter and ensure that it is communicated to all the role-players concerned. In the meantime, the practice will prevail and the Minister will have her five minutes plus one. [Applause.]
Thank you, Chair. Just in response, let me thank all the members who participated in the debate. In most areas, we are in full concurrence with the points and concerns they have raised. Because of time, we couldn't speak to some of the concerns that members have raised, but they will be available in a full text of the speech on the website. Some of the issues that the members have raised are issues that we are also concerned with.
Hon James, I agree with most of the things that you said. There is not even any point to argue. The few things that I don't agree with, I know are part of political posturing. [Laughter.] But on the other matters we agree with you.
I agree with you that, indeed, the resources that are in the system are adequate to enable us to do a better job than we are doing. That is why we are looking at efficiencies in the system. In the full text I spoke about, we are talking of an agency to help us procure books. Research we have conducted indicates that if we change the way provinces and the national sphere procure books, we will be able to provide a book per child. So, we are looking at that.
We are quite aware that, because of small schools which are very inefficient and expensive, we are spending more money. So, we need to consolidate our schools. I am in full agreement with you that we need to relook the budget and re-engineer it to ensure that we have efficiencies in the system in all sectors, from learning, teaching and support material to infrastructure, to schools. As I said, we have discovered that small schools are quite expensive and completely inefficient. We are also looking at that and are working very hard.
It is also confirmed by our experience regarding the way we procured workbooks, not only from tenderpreneurs but also from Business South Africa. The R750 million quote is a quote that would have come from guidance by the private sector. When we did the same thing the way they were going to do it and even better, we were able to do it for almost half that amount. So, it is not the tenderpreneurs; it was business. We are also making sure that indeed when we procure services ourselves, we do our research, we are thorough and therefore able to make the necessary savings. That is why I say, hon James, except for political posturing, we agree on most things. That is why we are working on them.
Even with regard to data, hon James, you are quite correct that we cannot make well-informed decisions with poor data. The delivery of workbooks revealed that indeed there are challenges with our data. That is why we are going to have a data quality audit this year, which will address the weaknesses in our schools' data. I agree with you that we can't plan with the poor data that we have. That is why we are working very hard to make sure that we clean up our data system and work with proper data.
You raised a point about us not knowing which teachers teach what. Again, because you are quite correct, we will put into operation a human resource management information system this year, which will give us information on teachers, their qualifications and subjects, so that we can see the gaps. So, we are in agreement and we are working on it. I say we are in agreement, because I think the ANC is doing a good job and we are beginning to see eye to eye.
You are quite correct in terms of the bold steps. Where we are currently in terms of our systems, we have a resource plan, a teacher development plan and curriculum reviews in place. All we need is to move to an upper level. In the announcement I referred to the establishment of a Planning and Delivery Oversight Unit. Again, it is in the full text. I'll just quickly run through what that unit is going to do. It will focus firmly on instruction so that members from Cope do not cry for and miss apartheid. We are going to focus on instruction, we are working on it - we are agreed. So don't miss apartheid - things are fine. [Applause.]
The structure will provide coherence and linkages that will bind all the strategies together. You are quite correct that all these initiatives need to be bound and weaved together in a value chain. That is why we are working on that value chain. It's just that I don't have time, but all the things that you are raising are being taken care of. In the next eight weeks we'll reply fully as to how we are taking these bold steps to take the process to another level. The fundamentals are in place. We just need to have an aligned value chain that moves us from policy in a coherent manner, that can be monitored regularly and evaluated up to classroom level. So, again, we are agreed on that.
Hon Dudley, when you speak about leadership, again, we agree with you that it is very important - and it is there in the full text.
On the Eastern Cape, we agree with you, hon Smiles. There is nothing to argue about. We are agreed and we are moving on that, except that I am told there is no court order. There was a settlement reached out of court. We are working with the complainants to respond to what you correctly said is completely unacceptable. It's a shame, it's unacceptable and that is why we are dealing with it decisively. I speak to the director-general almost on a weekly basis, to tell him that this is a scandal which is not acceptable and that it has to be sorted out. So I fully agree with you. In the speech, we are saying that every child is an asset, so no child should be left behind. The situation currently prevailing there is quite problematic. So we are in full agreement with you on that.
There was an issue about the teacher appraisal system. I quite agree that we can put all these development plans in place, but if there is no accountability, then there is a problem. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Madam Chair, on a point of order: Just before you conclude the debate, I didn't want to say this before the hon Minister spoke because I knew that she would do her best to conclude this debate on a positive note, but I want to say that I am concerned about the ruling that took place earlier. [Interjections.]
Will you please be quiet, hon members!
The hon Chief Whip of the ANC is present as well and I am sure that he was as concerned as I am. [Interjections.]
I am afraid you are out of order, hon member!
No, I am not out of order, Madam.
Yes, you are!
How can you decide that?
You should sort this thing out in the Chief Whips' Forum. That ruling has been made. Sort it out among the Whips. Will you please sit down, hon Ellis!
I am shocked by your ruling, Madam Chair!