Speaker, on the progress with regard to Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, we can report that the section 100(1)(b) intervention in the Eastern Cape education department has resulted in reasonably good progress in addressing a number of key prioritised issues as presented in the 2011-12 financial year. There is a greater sense of appreciation of the root causes of the problems through increased compliance with all systems, policies and practices.
However, we also believe that further work needs to be done to ensure that the gains that are being made are carried through. It is clear that the Eastern Cape education department is well on the way to stabilisation and normalisation. Because of time constraints, we can't share some of the good news. However, I can say, for instance, that I had a meeting with the Auditor-General, who told me that, had it not been for the accumulation of problems from the past, the Eastern Cape, this year, would have received an unqualified audit report. But, because it still had many problems from the past, it received a qualified report. It has moved from getting a disclaimer to getting a qualified report, which I thought shows progress because, in the past, the Auditor-General had said to them that there was nothing he could do as he could not even audit their books. However, this time they were audited and he gave them a qualified report.
Speaker, we want to say that the intervention in the Limpopo department of education has led to quite a number of breakthroughs. The austerity measures that have been developed and implemented continue to deal with the accumulated deficit of the past years. The systems and operations to ensure that the department meets its obligation to deliver on the established minimum standards for the provisioning of quality education systems are being established. Speaker, it should be emphasised that the inability of the Limpopo department of education to fund key strategic educational priorities was a symptom of a failing system and, therefore, the department's administration requires systemic improvements.
The last question asks as to when we are quit going both provinces. We can say that, to create certainty in the system, a clear and objective framework to exit is being developed for both Limpopo and the Eastern Cape. For Limpopo, under the leadership of Treasury, we should be announcing when we will be leaving the province but we are working furiously to ensure that we put systems in place to sustain the intervention. The same applies to the Eastern Cape. We are in discussion with the province. We are finalising our exit programme with them and we do hope that in good time, again through the committee, we will be announcing the exact date as to when we will be leaving the Eastern Cape. What we are thinking of is to downgrade rather than leaving immediately, but we are quite confident that the province is still stabilising and is on a positive, upward trend. Thank you, Speaker. NK N GINA: Somlomo, Ngqongqoshe impendulo iyajabulisa ukuthi ukhona umehluko owenzekayo kodwa engithanda ukukubuza uNgqongqoshe njengamanje ukuthi: Kukho konke lokungenelela enikwenzile kulezi zifundazwe zombili, siyabona ukuthi ikhona inqubekelaphambili kodwa ingqikithi yakhona impela ukuthi nibonile ukuthi kwaba yini umsuka. Ngifisa ukwazi ukuthi kusukela manje ukuya phambili kuloku okwenzekile siyayithola yini into engaba yisifundo ukuze sisheshe sibone uma kukhona okushaya amanzi nawe usheshe ungenelele? Kuko konke lokhu okwenzekile sithi yini engaba yisifundo nakwezinye izifundazwe ukuze singaziboni futhi siphinda sehlelwa yilezi zinkinga ezibhekene nalezi zifundazwe zombili. Ngiyabonga. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Ms N GINA: Chairperson, Minister, your response is encouraging with regard to the progress that we can see, but what I would like to ask, Minister, right now is: Out of all the interventions that you have made in the two provinces, we can see that there is progress but the main thing is that you have found the cause. I would like to know if there are any lessons that were learnt from what happened so that in going forward, we can make a quick reference to it in order to see if there is something wrong and then intervene. We would like to know what lessons the other provinces can learn from all that has happened so that we don't find ourselves facing the same problems that are faced by the two provinces. Thank you.]]