Hon Chairperson, the next question is from hon member M G Boroto, about whether or not public hospitals have functioning generators. Hon member, every single public hospital must by law have a generator that functions, because you never know when there will be a power shortage. So, we can assure you that every hospital does have a generator. The question is whether or not there might be negligence, as a result of the fact that at the particular time it's needed it's not functioning. Therefore, they are checked periodically.
The last general assessment, to assess whether or not there were problems, was done in 1996. The second assessment, to check the readiness, whether there are any problems, whether the generators are old, whether or not they will be able to function if there is an emergency, is being done now. Therefore, I don't have the results now, as that assessment is currently under way. I am answering this question at a time when I don't have the results of the assessment.
With regard to the issue of Rob Ferreira Hospital, that was because there was an accident. The generator there just exploded, but we were able to replace it immediately. We will keep on replacing generators in other hospitals if there is a need, or if this assessment shows us that there are hospitals which need replacements. Thank you.
Details relating to grant funding of infrastructure backlog for provision of water to district municipalities
33. Mr D D Gamede (ANC) asked the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
(1) Whether, with regard to the giving of grants by her department for the provision of water to district municipalities, like in the uThungulu municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, this approach is sustainable; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether this project offers value for money since most municipalities such as (a) Nkandla, (b) Ntambanana, (c) Mthonjaneni, (d) Umlazi and (e) Mbonambi do not have access to water; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether her department has any alternative plans in place to ensure that communities in these rural areas have access to water; if not, why not; if so, what (a) plans and (b) are the further relevant details? CO213E
Madam Deputy Chairperson and hon members, I just want to give an apology for Minister Molewa who is actually busy tabling her budget speech for the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs in the NA. The reply goes as follows.
With regard to grant funding on the infrastructure backlog, this is managed by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and paid directly to the uThungulu District Municipality by National Treasury. The infrastructure backlog is being systematically eradicated using the funding received, concentrating on the areas of greatest need first. The current funding is adequate to meet government's target of universal access. Therefore, National Treasury has been approached by the KwaZulu- Natal provincial government, supported by the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, to increase the funding to eradicate the backlog completely by 2014.
Regarding the second part of the question, the water and sanitation programme offers value for money, since the municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, allocation to uThungulu District Municipality is reducing the backlog for water and sanitation. The department has a dedicated regional bulk infrastructure grant, RBIG, in place to ensure the sustainable bulk provision of water.
The uThungulu District Municipality has been allocated R250 million over a five-year period for the provision of bulk water for the Mthonjaneni, uMlalazi, Nkandla and Ntambanana Local Municipalities. The uThungulu District Municipality will be considered for receiving further allocations to service the Mbonambi Local Municipality under the regional bulk infrastructure grant programme in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial years, should the funding become available. With regard to part (a) of the second part of the question, Nkandla will benefit directly from the seven regional water supply schemes funded under the MIG programme to the value of R21 million over the next three years, and from a dedicated regional bulk scheme being sourced from the Tugela- Mhlathuze transfer pipeline with a contribution of R30 million by the department.
Six water supply schemes funded under the MIG programme, to the value of R8 million, will be built in Ntambanana in the next three years. Mthonjaneni will have a further two water supply schemes funded under the MIG programme, to the value of R5 million, in three years' time. Umlazi will benefit directly from seven water supply schemes funded under the MIG programme, to the value of R12 million over the next three years.
These three municipalities, that is Ntambanana, Mthonjaneni and uMlalazi, will benefit from the Greater Mthonjaneni regional bulk scheme which is currently being built in phases and funded by the department, and being supplied with water from the Goedertrouw Dam. Mbonambi will have 10 additional water schemes funded under the MIG programme, to the value of R30 million. Future regional bulk water supply from uMhlathuze city bulk lines will render sustainability of supply to this area.
On the third part of the question, service delivery plans are covered under the RBIG for long-term sustainability. However, rudimentary schemes are in place to ensure water supply at a Reconstruction and Development Programme level. In instances where there is no access to water, a dedicated water tanking programme is run by the uThungulu District Municipality to serve those in need. Future initiatives by the uThungulu District Municipality include a dedicated rainwater harvesting programme.
The department has contributed 140 rainwater harvesting tanks, spring protection projects and boreholes for the Mbongolwane project in uMlalazi for food security, as part of the resource-poor farmer assistance programme.
The pilot phase of the rural development project in Nkandla is supported by the provision of irrigation water tanks and an irrigation connection and pipeline from the Tugela-Mhlathuze transfer pipeline, valued at R250 000.
The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs indicated to me that I should report to the NCOP that she's working very hard with the Department of National Treasury to make sure that these projects are realised, because they will then help to make it possible that, through water provision, we will be able to address the challenges of poverty and make it possible for people in rural areas to have a better quality of life.
Thank you, hon Minister. In the light of the Minister's responding on behalf of the Minister responsible for Water and Environmental Affairs, I take it that the Minister will not be in a position to take follow-up questions. But, if you wish to take those questions, would you indicate this so that I can then allow or disallow them. You are not forced to take follow-up questions if you are not in a position to do so.
I think I will be a bit disadvantaged because they might need additional technical information or figures and I might not be able to give those indicators. If the House will allow it, I could take the questions and get the Minister to respond to them as written replies. Thank you.
May we then agree, hon members, that all those follow-up questions that members have will be written questions and therefore be responded to in written form? Agreed? [Interjections.] Okay.
In the light of that, let me just announce that the Ministers of Arts and Culture, Social Development and Human Settlements will not be with us. Therefore, those questions will not be responded to. Later on the Minister of Sport and Recreation will then join us.
Deputy President's statement in NCOP on 22 March 2011 relating to opening and establishing of more teacher training colleges 38. Mr T B Beyleveldt (DA) asked the Minister of Higher Education and Training:
With regard to the Deputy President's statement in the National Council of Provinces on 22 March 2011, that the solution to our problems in basic education lies in opening and establishing more teacher training colleges, (a) when will these colleges be built, (b) where will they be built, (c) what will the budget implications of these projects be and (d) when will the costs of these projects be factored into the budget? CO218E
Chairperson, I would like to thank hon member Beyleveldt for his question. The Deputy President's reference to the possibility of opening teacher training colleges was in response to several imperatives that need to be addressed and understood in order to improve education quality in South Africa, including the following: ensuring that the country is able to produce sufficient new teachers for all sectors of the education system; ensuring that the kinds of teachers that are produced are able to work effectively in the diverse context that characterises South African schools; and ensuring that prospective and practising teachers are more easily able to get access to teacher education institutions.
Chair, another important consideration arises out of the lack of opportunities for postschool education and training, especially in the rural areas. I will come back to this consideration later.
Our department has been working with all stakeholders, including the Department of Basic Education; all teacher unions; the SA Council for Educators; the Education, Training and Development Practices Seta; the Education Labour Relations Council, and the Higher Education South Africa Education Deans' Forum to find solutions to these problems, including considering opening new higher education institutions or colleges to educate and develop teachers.
We are pleased to say much groundwork has been done. Specifically, as the Deputy Minister of Basic Education said earlier, an Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa, 2011-25, has been jointly developed and is currently being implemented by the Minister of Higher Education and Training and the Minister of Basic Education. In line with the planning framework, the Department of Higher Education and Training is working to deal decisively with the issues that have motivated the call to open colleges of education. There are other details, Chairperson. We will send you the text, so I won't read all of it.
In line with the framework, the department is working in a logical step- wise fashion to develop the institutional capacity to ensure that the country is able to produce sufficient quality teachers for our schools by, amongst other things, ensuring the full utilisation of the campuses that currently offer teacher education programmes.
In this regard, R594 million has been allocated in 2011-12 and 2012-13 in the form of infrastructure and efficiency grants to enable the physical capacity for increased teacher education enrolments. Secondly, capacity will be extended by expanding the delivery of teacher education programmes to additional campus sites, which will be identified on the basis of an analysis of geographical region quantified need.
In other words, Chairperson, what we are envisaging is not the reopening of the old apartheid-type colleges of education. It is to increase teacher education campuses that are linked to universities in areas where there is a need. Teacher education will therefore remain a priority in the new funding cycle for infrastructure and efficiency support.
We also intend doing this by opening new institutions where it is identified that the capacity, once strengthened and extended, will still not be able to meet national and provincial needs. We also do intend, by the way, to have additional teacher education sites in the planned universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. They will need this, and I am pleased, Chairperson, particularly for you in the Chair there, that task teams have been set up to investigate the form, function and location of these institutions. The timelines for strengthening and expanding the teacher education system as described in the planning framework take us from the present to 2025. Funding currently in the system will be utilised to its maximum potential, but we are unable to provide details for this time period, as new funding will be sought through successive Bills to Treasury, something that we will be able to indicate in each financial, or Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, cycle.
The last point that I would like to briefly discuss is that, over and above this, the Department of Higher Education and Training is of the view, and it is a matter that I have raised here before in the NCOP, that the call for the reopening of teacher colleges in communities is informed by a lack of access and a lack of postschool institutions. In line with this thinking, therefore, the department is of the view that a more comprehensive strategy for access to postschool institutions needs to be sought.
This would ensure that we do not only focus on teacher education but also open different types of institutions, which should include teacher training campuses, and other types of colleges like agricultural colleges, nursing colleges, campuses for colleges for further education and training, FET, and adult basic education and training centres, as well as skills development centres. This is because sometimes the call is as a result of the fact that in the past kids in the rural areas who wanted to train postmatric or postschool would go to a teacher training college, yet the country needs more than just that. It needs a variety of institutions in the postschool education and training sector.
In closing, this approach, which was also, incidentally, endorsed by the national general council of the ruling party, is being investigated and the department will make recommendations as soon as they are available. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Chairperson, even though I think the response from the Minister is detailed and clear in regard to the confusion about some of the recommendations that are going to be made, as someone from Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape I fear that you have spoken very broadly.
Is it possible that in this fourth democratic Parliament, in view of the outcome of all the necessary investigations, the recommendation will be that we can make it possible for Mpumalanga to have that university? I am asking this because when a response was given by the Deputy President, a specific timeframe was not there, and I am stating now that we still don't have a clear timeframe for whether it is going to be possible that in this fourth democratic Parliament we are going to have a fully fledged structure, either in Mpumalanga or Northern Cape, so that it is said, "Because you were historically disadvantaged, you will get that university." This is because it has serious implications in those two provinces particularly.
Chairperson, I would like to assure the hon member that by the end of the term of this government we will have made a start in establishing universities in those two provinces. During the second half of the year I am expecting a report with timeframes that we have set from the task teams because, at the very least, by 2012 I would like to be saying that we are starting, and that we should even establish university councils and begin to appoint the management of those institutions. As to the exact form in which we are going to start, that is what I am expecting.
However, I want 2012 to begin to actually signal something that we are starting with these institutions, because government is very committed to opening these universities. By the way, it is not just for the sake of those two provinces; we need them because we are running short of space in our university system as things stand now.
Chairperson, the Minister has already explained about the capacity of the universities, but my follow-up question is in connection with the capacity of lecturers when these learners or students come forward to be trained as teachers. Do we have enough lecturers and the capacity in that situation to accommodate those students coming forward? Thank you.
Hon member, I would concede that we actually do have a challenge, and not just in regard to lecturers at universities to train teachers. We have a challenge in regard to the academic profession in this country. Our academics are ageing; their average age now is over 50. Our young people are not taking up teaching. They don't stay for postgraduate studies and take up the teaching profession.
We have been asked by Cabinet, and this is something that we are developing together with the Minister of Science and Technology, to come up with a strategy - which we hope we will be able to announce a few months down the line - regarding what we intend doing to revitalise the academic profession in general, including with regard to lecturers who are going to be training, amongst others, future teachers. In particular it is very clear to us that we have to increase the amount of money and the bursaries that we offer to students to provide an incentive for them to become academics and to stay for Masters and PhD programmes.
Chairperson, one of the challenges we have today is that many of our students, of course, come from poor backgrounds - increasingly so - and they go to university with the idea of getting their first degree and leaving if they can find a job. There is not the luxury of staying for honours, Masters or a PhD, but we are looking at ways and means in this regard.
The last thing that I want to mention, which we will now have to take into account as a department, is the retirement age of academics. We think that the retirement age of academics in South Africa is out of step with international practice. You can still get a very good, sharp professor at 75 or 80 years of age, and that is an international norm, by the way. So, those are some of the things. We are looking at some of the things, and even if those people are not teaching full time, we can also use retired academics to mentor Masters and PhD students. Thank you very much.
Chair and Minister, thank you. I don't think that I got the answers from you that I was seeking, but you elaborated, so I am not going to put my follow-up question. However, hopefully, to the benefit of the whole country and as soon as we can, we will put timeframes on the table. My question is: When do you envisage our getting really fixed timeframes? There are many strategies, but we lack plans.
Chairperson, I hope the hon member has taken the trouble to look at our teacher education and development framework, because it might help him. We have a framework now for teacher education and development from 2011-2025.
There are monies that are already allocated for next year. For instance, you will find that while I did not read it in the detailed question, we actually do want to increase the money, as I have said. I talked about this. For instance, R594 million has been allocated in 2011-12 and 2012-13. It is also a fact that we have actually increased the Funza Lushaka bursaries. Unfortunately, I don't have that amount here and maybe that is what I should have included, but if the hon member wants me to, I can do that when we bring back this answer. The bursaries are aimed at assisting students from poor backgrounds with full bursaries, especially those that we want to target to train as mathematics and science teachers.
Obviously, I will also be elaborating on some of these things in the Budget Vote next month, which will specifically refer to some of the other figures that relate to this particular question. It is just that I was focusing more on the manner in which the question was posed. Thank you.
Thank you very much, hon Minister. There is an opportunity for a last follow-up question but there is no indication that there is such a question. Therefore, I take the opportunity to thank the Minister for having responded to the questions. We will get to the next question.
Estimated number of nurses required to ensure public hospitals and clinics fill existing nursing vacancies, and plans to recruit, train and retain more nurses
43. Ms N D Ntwanambi (ANC) asked the Minister of Health:
(1) Whether his department has been informed of the estimated number of nurses required to ensure that public hospitals and clinics fill existing nursing vacancies to be able to provide adequate health services; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the total number of nurses required in each province;
(2) whether his department has any plans in place to (a) recruit, (b) train and (c) retain more nurses; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO227E
Chairperson, the question from the hon Ntwanambi is about the estimated number of nurses required to ensure that public hospitals and clinics fill existing nursing vacancies to provide adequate health care.
Hon member, this is the million dollar question! And it is a very important question for our country. However, before coming to figures, let me make a general statement that you are aware of, and maybe that statement will answer part (2) of your question, that is whether there are any plans in place. Unfortunately I need to start with that one.
The situation in nursing in regard to training, ethos, numbers and everything that we used to know is actually disturbing. We thought that instead of just sitting in the office and solving it, we should call a massive nursing summit. You might remember that I called it a Codesa of nursing. I deliberately used that term to remind South Africans that when things were bad in this country we convened a Codesa to give birth to a new country. So, we wanted to give birth to a new nursing profession in this country.
There are people who believe that things got worse in nursing because of the practices of the ruling party after the 1994 elections. The profession of nursing started getting damaged in 1986. I know because I was a doctor in a rural hospital and I stood against some of the plans, but we had no power. That is when the problems started. In the past a person would pass matric, get into the nearest hospital and start training as a nurse, and at the end of that month he or she would start earning a salary.
I must declare here that as a youngster who used to wear only shorts, "kortbroeke", my first pair of long trousers was bought by my cousin who had just started training as a nurse. I can't forget them, those first long trousers that I wore in the world, because they were part of bringing an end to poverty.
That method was abandoned and they started saying that nurses had to train at a university. Whenever I say this, people believe that I am undermining nursing and I don't want them to train at university level. We want them to go there, but that is not the primary platform for training. We believe that nursing is a bedside experience, where you go in and on the very first day you start acquiring skills. And nurses who were trained by that method are still in demand, not only in South Africa but all over the world.
So, since 1986 things have got mixed up and the result is that there are many nursing platforms. Some go directly to university, others go to a few colleges that are left in the hospitals, and others go to nursing colleges away from hospitals. That also complicated the occupation-specific dispensation, OSD, because one cannot even classify them.
So, the aim of that summit was to deal with those issues and I am very happy that we made a lot of progress. Members might have heard about some of the announcements regarding the resolutions. They were to increase the number and the quality, and to go back to what nursing was before 1986.
The situation became so bad that one of the nursing unions even took the North West government to court because there was an argument about defining what a nursing student was. They wanted a judge to give a definition of a nursing student. I said this was a policy issue. Why was there an argument as to whether a nursing student was a student or a worker? It was because some gave them bursaries and others gave them stipends, and it depended on the province in which one was. So, the whole issue of nursing training even depended on the corner of the country in which you found yourself. That is why we had the summit, and I must report that the summit solved most of these problems. We need to start from the beginning.
Having said that, let me start mentioning numbers. Because of what I have just described, the vacancies differ from province to province. It will take time to mention numbers and I will give only the vacancies. Unfortunately, the worst situation is in the Eastern Cape - according to many health indicators, as you will know - and it will always be the Eastern Cape. They have only filled 39,9% of the vacancies, and that means the fill rate by September 2010 was only 39,8%. The Free State is better. They have filled 88,6% - not bad at all. In Gauteng they have filled 85% - not bad at all. KwaZulu-Natal has filled 70,8%.
Another province that was very low and had filled only 48,2% was Limpopo, but MEC Magadzi, who came in just recently, picked up the problem and by February this year, after she had picked it up, immediately increased the number of nurses by 3 795. So, she is solving the problem, immediately after having discovered that there was such a problem.
Another province that has a problem is Mpumalanga. It has filled only 41,3%. By the way, we also hire nurses in the national department. They do not work in the hospitals, but in the national department itself, and we have filled 73,7%. In the North West they have filled 88,4%. In the Northern Cape they have filled 70,7% and in the Western Cape they have filled 71,4%. The problems were in those three provinces and one of them is being solved. I will give attention to the other two.
Having spoken about the nursing summit, let me say we also had an audit, which has been finalised. We have got all the nursing colleges, their infrastructure, the equipment, and the number of tutors, and it is complete. So, we know which ones need to be renovated and what equipment they need in terms of infrastructure.
Chairperson, my first follow-up question - and it arises from the Minister's response - is whether he will pay me the million dollars. He said it was a million dollar question - can I get at least a million? In fact, just R1 million will do, not even US $1 million dollars. [Laughter.] I really mean it because that is what he said.
I want to know this from the hon Minister. You know there is a serious concern in the country about the increase in all these fly-by-night institutions, so-called training colleges. Some of the people go there because they want to put food on the table. Now, what I want to know, Minister, is whether you and your department will make a statement on the bogus institutions. Are there any control measures in this regard, or will you put some in place? Also, will you make sure that those people who have been trained in those bogus institutions don't end up in the public hospitals?
Chairperson, the hon member might be aware that the issue of fly-by-nights is not only in nursing. It is generally across the country, in secretarial courses and teacher training colleges, for example, where members of the community who are gullible only discover this after qualifying. There are even bogus universities, who say that they are universities from some overseas country and they are in a particular city.
The problem is, when you put in a regulatory authority, like the SA Nursing Council, whose job it is to accredit quality in these colleges, they might not know a fly-by-night institution because they deal only with those that are registered. It is similar in education. If a teacher training college is a bogus one, the department might not know until they accidentally come across somebody who qualified there.
This issue was also discussed at the summit. Yes, the SA Nursing Council was told to be vigilant, but they will only be vigilant about those who register. We would like members of the communities to help us to be vigilant about those who don't register. That is because, when you eventually complete your course, we will not give you a job and you will be punished for your ignorance. You might have studied there for three years, and it will be a very painful thing. The resolution was that we needed to deal with it.
The other issue that was complained about was the mushrooming of private training colleges. There might not be anything wrong with that, but when you start seeing a mushrooming of private facilities and also the fly-by- nights, it means that there is a shortage somewhere in the state. People then see what they call a market or a gap. So we believe from this audit of nursing colleges that if we solve the problem from the state's side, as we are going to do, some of these things will be whittled away, because no member of the community will be forced to go elsewhere.
Lastly, if nursing starts a platform of training at university, how many youngsters will get the money to go to university? So, they are exposed to these fly-by-nights because they don't have money. That is why we wanted to solve this problem from the state's side, and we think that once it is solved the fly-by-nights will start being whittled away. The need to train privately might not go away, but it will not increase at the rate at which it is increasing now. Thank you.
Civil claims relating to alleged negligence by doctors and/or nurses in 2008-09 and 2009-10 financial years, and mechanisms in place to limit negligence in public health institutions
44. Ms N D Ntwanambi (ANC) asked the Minister of Health:
(1) (a) What is the total amount that was paid by his department with regard to civil claims relating to alleged negligence by (i) doctors and/or (ii) nurses in the (aa) 2008-09 and (bb) 2009- 10 financial years, (b) how many claims are currently before the courts and (c) what is the total amount claimed;
(2) whether any mechanisms are in place to limit negligence in public health institutions; if not, why not; if so, what mechanisms? CO228E
Chairperson, Question 44 is also from the hon member Ms N D Ntwanambi, and is about the issue of civil claims relating to alleged negligence by doctors and/or nurses in the two financial years.
The problem is that when people litigate against government, the Minister is always cited, but as a second respondent, because the action for which there is litigation against us takes place in hospitals in the provinces, where the provinces are in charge. So, whatever information we get - the budgeting, payments and all else - is in regard to the provincial level and not the national level. For that reason, I can only answer provincially, in other words, province by province. Unfortunately, at the time of answering this question, for the financial years 2008-10 we have information up to April only and not for the whole of the financial years. For 2008-09, the amount budgeted for this in the Eastern Cape was R5,8 million. I'm sorry, there no money was budgeted for this litigation, but they paid a total of R5,6 million. For that reason, the following year they then budgeted R10 million for that. In the Free State, for 2008-09 the amount budgeted was R348 000, and the litigation they paid for that year was R237 000. The following year they budgeted R1,1 million, and the amount paid for litigation was R822 000. In Gauteng, in 2008-09 the amount of money budgeted for litigation was R7,8 million. Sorry, this was the amount of money spent on litigation, not budgeted. They did not have a specific budget for that but there was litigation against them, and they paid R7,8 million. For the following year, 2009-10, by April they had already spent R255 000. In Mpumalanga in 2008-09 the amount budgeted was R2,4 million, and the amount of money paid for litigation was R666 000. The following year, in 2009-10, the amount budgeted was R8,1 million and a sum of R3,5 million was paid for litigation. In the Northern Cape they did not have any budget, but they paid R251 000 for 2008-09, and R3 million for 2009-10.
The highest amount of money budgeted and paid for litigation for the same period was in the Western Cape, where in 2008-09 an amount of R14 million was budgeted for litigation, and the amount spent was R4 million. That might be because of the number of institutions and specialists there; I don't know. But, in 2009-10 the amount budgeted was R14 million, and the amount of money paid for litigation was R6 million. Thank you. Staff shortages and low medicinal stock at a Port Elizabeth pharmaceutical depot, action taken to verify the situation and details regarding plans to ensure situation is addressed
45. Ms N D Ntwanambi (ANC) asked the Minister of Health:
(1) Whether his department has been informed of the staff shortages and low medicinal stock at the Port Elizabeth pharmaceutical depot (details furnished) which contributed to the lack of medication in hospitals, like the Humansdorp Hospital; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether his department has taken any action to verify the situation upon receiving the said information; if not, why not; if so, (a) what was the situation of the pharmaceutical depot and (b) what are the further relevant details;
(3) whether he or his department has held any discussions with the provincial department of health to ensure that the situation is addressed; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO229E
Thank you, Chairperson. This question is also from hon N D Ntwanambi. It's about the shortage of staff and low medical stock at Port Elizabeth Pharmaceutical Depot, for which details were furnished, and whether the department is taking any steps.
According to the Eastern Cape provincial department of health, under which the control of the depot falls, it is aware of the staff shortage at this particular pharmaceutical depot. The stock level has at all times been between 77% and 80% to all facilities.
Due to low staff levels the prepacked unit at the Port Elizabeth, PE, depot has not been able to function optimally, and at the depot stock-out has been experienced with certain products due to a multiplicity of reasons, including discontinuity of supplies, a lack of planning, support, poor supply capacity, and sometimes even global shortages of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The department has verified the situation, and it has been verified that the Port Elizabeth depot currently has a 35% staff vacancy rate based on its existing staff.
A work study report recommended extending the staff from 72 people to 116. This is currently awaiting final approval. In the meantime, while they are awaiting final approval to increase their staff from 72 to 116, contract workers and interns have been employed to amend the staff shortages in the facility, so that there are no problems.
At the national Department of Health we have now established a biweekly reporting mechanism specifically for antiretroviral, ARV, and tuberculosis, TB, medicines at provincial depots in order to monitor stock levels.
You are aware that we are doing this because it was a problem not only in PE, but also in the Free State, as there was a big drug stock-out there in 2008. We are specifically monitoring ARVs and TB. If you experience a drug stock-out for these two diseases specifically, you don't only experience that but you also experience massive resistance to the drugs when they eventually become available. This includes multidrug-resistant TB. For this, we are doing monitoring at the national level and not at the provincial level.
We have also proposed the establishment of a central procurement authority. The global fund has already given the national department R40 million to establish this. You are aware that in using the central procurement method there are no longer ARV stock-outs. We have even decreased the tender from R8,8 billion to R4,2 billion. This is the price which the government is now paying because of this method.
Finally, we have taken a decision in the Minister and MEC, Minmec, meetings that all TB drugs, ARVs, drugs that deal with pregnancy and childbirth, and vaccines will be dealt with through this central procurement method so that we can monitor them. This includes the PE depot. Thank you.
Thanks Chairperson, I just want to indicate that the Minister has actually answered the new question that I raised when I was in the Eastern Cape before I got to the North West.
In actual fact the follow-up question that you asked earlier on is this question that has been put to the Minister. So, you were thanking the Minister, and not putting a follow-up question. Thank you very much then. That being the case, hon Minister, thank you very much. We appreciate your availability.
Department taking back sport infrastructure functions and development of sporting codes in rural areas
34. Mr D D Gamede (ANC) asked the Minister of Sport and Recreation:
(1) Whether his department intends to take back sport infrastructure functions since it has been found that most municipalities do not prioritise these functions despite funds being allocated to them; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether any sporting codes are directed to rural areas for development, including traditional or otherwise, such as stick fighting, umlabalaba, nqabeshu, boxing or weightlifting; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? CO214E
I therefore take the opportunity, hon members, to welcome the Minister of Sport and Recreation. We have noted his earlier apology and we will go straight to his question, which will be the last question for this session.
I would like to indicate, hon Minister, that hon Gamede is unavailable. He is not in the House today and, in terms of the Rules, answering the question is up to you. You can use your discretion as to whether you will respond to the question in his absence, or whether you would prefer not to respond to the question now and answer or respond to it later, either in writing or verbally. It is up to you. If you feel comfortable responding, you are welcome to do so.
Chairperson, thank you for accepting my apology. I was busy launching a school sports project in Khayelitsha. As you know, this Ministry of Sport and Recreation is inundated with activities! [Laughter.]
I don't know. I think I would prefer to answer the question in his presence so that if there is any follow-up question I can actually attend to it. But I don't have a problem either way.
Chairperson, although hon Gamede is not here, may I ask a follow-up question? [Laughter.]
No, no! You will not be allowed to do that. The only snag that we are faced with now is that the next session of this cluster will only be some time in August or September. What we can propose to the hon Minister is that his response be tabled and then, if the hon member Gamede wants to, he can pose written follow-up questions which can then be responded to in writing. That should not be a problem.
Chairperson, the first part of the question was whether this "department intends to take back sports infrastructure functions since it has been found that most municipalities do not prioritise these functions despite funds being allocated to them; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details".
The second part asked: "whether any sporting codes are directed to rural areas for development, including traditional or otherwise, such as stick fighting, umlabalaba [Zulu chess], nqabeshu, boxing or weightlifting; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?"
Our reply with reference to the question of whether the department intends to take back sport infrastructure functions from municipalities is that the department does not intend to take the sport infrastructure functions from the municipalities. And why not is in terms of Schedule 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996.
Part A lists provincial recreation and amenities and Part B - local government matters - lists local sports amenities, municipal parks and recreational facilities as functional areas of exclusive provincial competence. In terms of section 156, a municipality has the executive authority and the right to administer the local government matters listed in Part B of Schedule 5.
The department, recognising the challenges with the provision of sport and recreational facilities, has sought intervention and remedial action as follows.
A smaller municipality is funded through the municipal infrastructure grant, MIG. The department, together with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, has prepared a proposal for the ring- fencing of funds for sport and recreation within the municipality's municipal infrastructure grant. Secondly, the proposal was presented to Treasury in order for the proposed funding policy reforms to be incorporated into the Division of Revenue Bill for 2011. National Treasury indicated, however, that the proposed changes to the allocation formula could not be incorporated into the Division of Revenue Bill for the 2011-12 financial year. National Treasury indicated that at the point of the submission of the proposal, the draft Bill had already been submitted to Cabinet, and it was thus not possible to make any substantive policy changes such as introducing ring-fencing into the municipal infrastructure grant. These changes will be incorporated in the 2012-13 financial year.
However, the Division of Revenue Bill framework prescribes sport and recreation facilities as one of the measurable outputs against which municipalities must report.
In addition, Sports and Recreation South Africa, SRSA, and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs have identified and met with the municipalities in all provinces without sport and recreation projects since the inception of municipal infrastructure grants, with the exception of the Eastern Cape. Plans are under way to have a session with the municipalities in the Eastern Cape. The plans for these municipalities are being reviewed to include sport and recreation facilities.
In regard to the big municipalities that are funded through the urban settlements development grant, the department, together with the Department of Human Settlements, is firstly working on a model to ensure more equitable provision of sport and recreation facilities in the urbanised areas. The possibility of ring-fencing funds for sport and recreation facilities will also be considered.
Secondly, Sport and Recreation South Africa, SRSA, does encourage national federations to develop their structures in the rural areas. This is done through the support given in the transfer of funds for the development and revival of clubs. Federations submit projects to be funded through transferred funds, specifically club development or revival. SRSA monitors the projects by getting reports and physically monitoring them to ensure that the money is used for its intended purposes.
Within the Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme, the legacy programme also deals with club development. The focus is on establishing clubs' provision of capacity-building programmes, namely training of administrators, coaches and technical officials, as well as employment of area co-ordinators.
The development of clubs takes place in conjunction with provincial federations. The focus is on the most rural areas. Indigenous games are co- ordinated as part of the Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme which is implemented in all provinces in mostly rural areas. Games include stick fighting, intonga, umlabalaba, dibeke and jukskei. Provinces hold indigenous game festivals with the mass participation hubs. This feeds into provincial indigenous games festivals on an annual basis. SRSA organises a national indigenous games festival. In 2008, women teams of each code participated in an international indigenous games festival in Busan, Korea. Some provinces have fully structured indigenous games councils. Thank you.
Thank you, hon Minister. I recognise the rugby fanatic, hon Faber.
Chair, I will not support the Sharks in this sitting today; I will proceed directly to the question!
On behalf of the sport committee, I'd like to welcome the Minister to the House.
In connection with the specific rural areas and sport infrastructure function, where there is specifically a shortage of sport infrastructure in the deep rural areas, how are we going to address the backlog of sport facilities for these children? School sport is actually where our young athletes are moulded, so how are we going to attend to the backlog? As I see it, municipalities are not going to perform this function.
Chair, like we said, part of the work, among others, that we are doing at the moment is conducting an audit so that we are able at the same time, using the collective approach with regard to the MIG, private resources and what is within our means, to basically roll out the programme in the rural areas where the facilities are most needed.
At the moment, R171 million, as part of the 2010 Legacy Project, has been allocated to fund a programme for the rolling out of artificial pitches in the rural areas. You will note that part of my criticism of this roll-out comes from when I launched a programme here in the Western Cape where part of the money was utilised in a manner that did not fulfil the objective of addressing the gaps with regard to the rural areas. I went to open a pitch but when I arrived there I discovered that the pitch was not needed by the people of that area because it was a pitch on top of another pitch. [Interjections.]
Yes. So, I criticised that and I have made it very clear that I am not going to allow such things to happen. I mean, on that day and for reasons best known to the co-ordinators of the project, an injustice was actually done to the people who needed that particular pitch. That is because, when I arrived there, there was actually a good pitch, netball and basketball courts, greens and all of that, but there was also this big artificial pitch that they were opening in the area. I think these are some of the things that we must actually address. We are going to attend to these head- on. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairperson. Hon Minister, I would just like to thank you for your response regarding the issue of the MIG, because it has been a burning issue. We have been struggling to enforce it, but I am happy that there is now at least a timeframe for when the policy will be here.
Regarding the second question, the government launched an indigenous games project a few years ago. As South Africans we want to deal with the issue of transformation. So, I would like to know to what extent we have taken this to the schools, including the former model C schools, for them to participate in these indigenous games.
Chair, I think there has not been any thinking with regard to that. As you will know, these games were actually launched on a massive scale, but it has not been a concern for everybody in the country. Mobilising communities and making the games compulsory for every province and every area in a co-ordinated manner is part and parcel of our plans to ensure that young people - even those at former model C schools - are actually able to participate in the indigenous games.
Part of the challenge that we have had in this country is that model C schools, from a private point of view and because parents pay for sport and sport personnel in those particular schools, make a determination as to what sport they will play and what sport they won't play. So, it is in no- fee schools in the townships that you will find indigenous games and all of that actually being played.
These are some of the things that I think are worth considering in regard to our plans to ensure that this is expanded to the national level.
Thank you, Chair. I think my first question has been almost covered by the question from hon Makgate, but I do want to know, hon Minister, as you dish out MIGs, whether there is a follow-up to those. The problem is there, because this would be where it is supposed to go, but it doesn't do what it is supposed to do, particularly at the local government level.
My other question is whether your department communicates with provinces. As you have rightly said, it is at the school level now, but at the provincial level you will find that whatever facilities and whatever plans there are, they go to the already well-resourced facilities. Let me cite an example. Green Point - or Cape Town as it is known now - and Newlands, which is partly private, are well-to-do stadia. Yet there is a lot to be done in the townships, and not a single word from your provincial department or from anywhere else. This happens not only in Cape Town but anywhere in the country, but I am citing where I live, where you don't see any change or movement to try to better the lives of those people.
Yes, Chair, in this regard I also want to say that this is really part of what we are looking at, in working with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as well as the Department of Human Settlements.
As you will know, government has taken a decision with regard to the MIG, namely that it will be a shared responsibility between Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements. We have had meetings with both Ministries to ensure that, within a particular timeframe, decisions are taken regarding the concerns that you have actually addressed over time, as enshrined in the Polokwane resolutions of the ruling party.
Thank you, Chair. I would like to thank the Minister and his department for the generous sponsorship that they have given, via Mangaung municipality in the Free State, to the best soccer team in South Africa, Bloemfontein Celtic, and also to the best rugby team, the Cheetahs. Thank you very much. It certainly does a lot. Thank you.
Thank you very much. [Laughter.]
Excuse me ...
No, no, no! You are out of order, chief.
I just wanted to say that Kaizer Chiefs ...
The time allocated for questions is over. Any other follow-up question, hon members, will be responded to next time. So don't write it off. Don't rub it off. Just keep that follow-up question; it will be responded to next time.
Nevertheless, allow me the opportunity, hon members, to thank the hon Minister for his presence and for answering the questions and, of course, in particular for having been so brave as to continue doing so even in the absence of the main person who asked the question. Thank you very much, Minister, for your capacity and ability to do that.
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.