NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 1499
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 03/06/2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14/2011)
Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
1) (a) Who are the persons who currently serve on the board of the
National Education and Development Unit (NEEDU) and (b) what is the
value of the compensation received by each such person for serving
on this board;
2) how is the position of a certain person (name furnished) as the
chairperson of NEEDU justified while the person is also serving
as the chairperson of the board of a private publishing company
(name furnished);
3) whether she intends taking any steps in this regard; if not, why
not; if so, what steps? NW1666E
Reply
1) (a) Currently, the National Education and Development Unit (NEEDU)
operates under the leadership of the Minister, is (at this point) part
of the Department of Basic Education and, therefore, does not have a
board. The NEEDU team is led by a Chief Executive Officer, who reports
to the Minister. It is envisaged that the Minister will appoint
members of the board when NEEDU becomes an independent entity, that
is, when it operates outside the Department of Basic Education. A Bill
is being prepared to establish NEEDU as independent unit. The draft
Bills spells out how members of the board and its Chairperson will be
appointed.
(b) NEEDU does not have a board whose members are being compensated by
the Department of Basic Education.
2) NEEDU is currently headed by a CEO, Prof John Volmink, who has been
appointed by the Minister on a two-year contract which ends on 30th
June 2012. His brief is to set up NEEDU. This involves establishing
the interim staffing structure, liaising with the affected
directorates within the Department of Basic Education and finalising
the legal framework. He is currently the chairperson of Juta (Pty) Ltd
but does not hold any shares in the company. All senior managers,
including Professor Volmink are required to declare their financial
interests to the Minister. Professor Volmink has complied with this
requirement.
3) The Minister of Basic Education is not planning to take any action as
she is not aware of any wrongdoing. The Minister has no knowledge of
any person receiving compensation from the Department of Basic
Education as a âchairperson of NEEDUâ.