Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members and our guests, good morning. Before I tackle my speech, allow me to take this opportunity to thank the chairperson of the portfolio committee for raising our concerns as a portfolio committee in this meeting.
Secondly, on behalf of Cope, I would like to welcome the Deputy Minister, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, to her new department.
Siyathemba ukuba siza kusebenzisana kakuhle njengoko usibonisile ekomitini. [We hope that we are going to work hand-in-hand, as you have already shown us in the committee.]
With regard to administration, monitoring and evaluation, the question that I need to ask the Minister, through you, Chairperson, is whether the department has monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place to ensure that the department achieves its mandate. This will guide the department in its strategic objectives.
In terms of rural development, the department ... ichithe izigidi zeerandi kwi-National Consultative Conference kwaye ukuba loo nto injalo, ndicinga ukuba le mali ininzi kakhulu. Kodwa ke, ukuba iyichithe ukuze amakhosikazi afumane izakhono eziza kuwanceda ukwenza izinto ezifanele amakhosikazi neziza kuwaphilisa ngomso, ndicela uMphathiswa asixelele ukuba zeziphi ezi zakhono athe aphuma nazo la makhosikazi kule ngqungquthela.
Kwakhona, ndifuna ukubuyela kwimali engama-R894 yamawaka ethe yachithwa kwindawo yokuhlala nakwizithuthi. Ingaba la makhosikazi ebethathwa kwezo ndawo ebekuzo? Ndifumanisa ukuba le nkcitho ininzi kakhulu. Izigqibo ezathathwa kwingqungquthela zibandakanya ukusekwa kwe-technical task team. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[... has spent millions of rands on the National Consultative Conference and, if that is true, I think this amount of money is too much. But, if you spent it so that women could be trained and get skills that will help to develop them tomorrow, I request the Minister to tell us what kind of skills the women got from this summit.
Again, I want to go back to the money issue, where an amount of R894 000 had been spent on accommodation and transport. Were these women collected from their places? I find this expenditure to be more than enough. The decisions that were taken at the summit include an establishment of the Technical Task Team.]
What progress has been made by the Technical Task Team established after the summit to take forward the process into all nine provinces? Has a strategic plan for rural women's development been finalised and is it being implemented? How far is the process of setting up monitoring and evaluation systems for women's projects to address the challenges identified?
Cope also believes that there is a dire need for a barometer that will enable assessment of the department's achievements. The Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities should have monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for other government departments and the private sector.
In terms of people with disabilities, according to the General Household Survey of 2009, women are more likely to be disabled than men. The rate of disability also varies from race to race, and the majority of disabled people in the country are African women. Oku ke kuya khubekisa kuba kaloku intswela-ngq esho yande kakhulu kwaye ukungaphangeli akuphazamisi ubomi kuphela koko kuchaphazela nempilo. [This is quite offensive because unemployment is rife, and being unemployed does not only affect the emotional being, but the physical being, too.]
I also want to know what steps the department has taken to accelerate the achievements of a 2% target for the employment of people with disabilities. This was supposed to have been achieved by 2010.
Uyakusiphendula ke, Mphathiswa. [Minister, we will wait for your response.] [Interjections.]
People with disabilities ... Ndicela ukuba nithule nimamele. [ ... Will you please keep quiet and listen.]
People with disabilities are unable to fully realise their economic potential. They are forced to depend on the disability grant, while they are also being exploited. For example, at the Gugulethu-based Nontuthuzelo workshop, the people with disabilities who work there ...
... bafumana umvuzo owakha wamncinci kuba befumana inkamnkam. Bayakhala kuba abakwazi ukuvula amashishini abo okanye ukuqeshwa ukuze basebenzise izakhono abanazo ngenxa yokuba befumenana inkamnkam. Ingaba isebe - ndicela uthule bhuti, nihloniphe ke futhi. Aninantlonipho okokuqala - liyasebenzisana neSebe loPhuhliso lwezeNtlalo yoLuntu ukubonelela abantu abakhubazekileyo ukuphucula ubomi babo? (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... receive the lowest income ever just because they get a disability grant. They are not happy, because they cannot start their own small businesses or be employed so that they can use their skills, just because they get a social grant. Whether the department ... [Interjections.] ... Can you please keep quiet, sir, and show respect, too. You do not show respect to start with. I want to know whether this department is working co- operatively with the Department of Social Development, helping people with disabilities to improve their lives?]
People with disabilities do not have access to transport. Is the Minister aware that Dial-a-Ride has 27 vehicles in the Western Cape servicing 6 000 people? Is she monitoring the waiting list to see how many people are waiting to access this service? Is she also monitoring and evaluating the accessibility of these vehicles to people with disabilities?
The department has allocated R5,7 million to monitoring and evaluation. This is a huge adjustment from the R2,8 million of the past financial year. We would like to know how this programme will benefit people with disabilities - tangibly. As regards the Commission on Gender Equality, we would like to know the reasons for the delay in the appointment of gender commissioners. In February this year the report on the appointments was considered, but to this day there are no commissioners.
Regarding violence against women and children ... kwezi veki zigqithileyo sibone amalungelo amakhosikazi, abantwana kunye nabantu abakhubazekileyo enyhashwa. Umntwana onemimyaka esi-8 uye wandlwengulwa, wakhutshwa iliso. Esi sidlwengu sineminyaka eli-15, sasifuna ukumbulala. Esi sehlo sibi senzeke KwaZulu-Natal silandelwa sesinye isehlo esenzeka eSoweto apho umntwana oneminyaka eli-17 wathi wadlwengulwa. [Laphela ixesha.] Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... in past weeks we have witnessed the disregard of the rights of women, children and people with disabilities. An 8-year-old child was raped, and her eye was gouged out. The 15-year-old rapist wanted to kill her. This terrible incident happened in KwaZulu-Natal. There was another one which happened in Soweto, where a 17-year-old was raped. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]