I now come to the oversight visits by the Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities committee to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. In KwaZulu-Natal the committee undertook visits and engaged with the following organisations and government entities, namely Childline SA, DeafSA, the Association for the Physically Disabled, and the Disability Forum, and Justice and Women. The Pietermaritzburg mayor's chamber created a meeting with the mothers of disabled children in Mooi River in Pietermaritzburg. After engaging with the above-mentioned organisations, the following challenges that were highlighted included incidents of child abuse; poor implementation of laws and policies; a lack of training of policemen; ineffective co-ordination; and challenges in terms of funding and human resource constraints.
In terms of the visit to the Pietermaritzburg mayor's chamber where the committee was supposed to meet with the provincial and the National Youth Development Agencies advisory centre, we met, however, with the mayoral committee. The meeting was dominated throughout by the mayor's office, and the National Youth Development Agency officials provided no information on what was done in the city or province by the agency.
The recommendations yielded from the oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal were collated with that of the Eastern Cape. In the Eastern Cape the committee undertook visits to the Taylor Bequest Hospital, the Maluti Police Station, the Thuthuzela Care Centre and three special schools in Bizana, as well as engaging with the National Youth Development Agency and provincial board members of the Eastern Cape. In terms of engagement with the NYDA, the committee observed that there were no activities or programmes in the provinces visited that would suggest that the NYDA was fulfilling the aforementioned objectives.
Three special schools were visited by the committee in Bizana, namely the Nompumelelo, Vukanzenzele and Zamokuhle schools. Two of the schools were located at the same premises with a hostel for children with intellectual and physical disabilities, and the third school was for children who were blind or visually impaired.
Having engaged with all these, the committee made the following recommendations: the Department of Basic Education should be made aware of the issues noted in each province and what the relevance was in relation to its stated mandate and strategic objectives; the Department of Social Development needs to train more social workers, especially in the rural areas; there should be stringent monitoring and evaluation of social workers' caseloads; there should be improved case management; and investigations into allegations of abuse and death noted by service providers and community members.
In terms of the Department of Basic Education, the following were some of the concerns: the negative implications of the moratorium on educator posts in the Eastern Cape; the poor living conditions of learners with disabilities in hostels in terms of overcrowding; a lack of multidisciplinary professionals; a lack of basic infrastructure and basic services; a lack of teacher support; a lack of schools for children with profound disabilities; ineffective implementation of White Paper Six on inclusive education.
In terms of the Department of Health, we noted the following: high maternal death and infant mortality rates; and high numbers of teenage pregnancies which pointed to a need for improved sexual reproductive health care and family planning programmes. We also noted in terms of the Department of Police that there was a lack of vehicles for transporting victims of abuse and domestic violence. The attitude of the police also was noted as a concern. In terms of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the department should be made aware that there was a lack of collaboration with the Department of Basic Education.
In conclusion, having met with the relevant stakeholders and main organisations, the committee concluded that there was a need to share the report with the affected departments. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
There was no debate.