Programme Director
MEC’s present
Heads of Departments
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to the Social Transformation Cluster Media Briefing. We have called you here today so that we may use this opportunity to communicate with the public and to interface with the media on progress made by the province in the areas of the Provincial Programme of Action which have been assigned to this cluster. Accordingly, during the period under review the cluster mainly focused on the following issues:
a) Improved Health Profile of the province
b) Integrated Sustainable Human Settlements
c) Justice and Crime Prevention
d) Nation Building and Social Cohesion
e) Learner Attainment
The Social Transformation Cluster wishes to report that the following progress has been made in the implementation of the above issues:
1. Health issues
1.1 Over the past five years Health spent 3.7 Billion on improving and maintenance of health care facilities in the Province.
1.2 As part of building capacity in the health care sector, we have increased the number of Cuban student doctors from 10 to 100 students per annum. Currently, we have 137 students in Cuba from the Eastern Cape. An additional 100 is leaving next week.
1.3 We have improved healthcare facilities across the province
a) The Eastern Cape Provincial Government has concluded the Provincialisation of Primary Health Care.
b) CEO’s have been appointed to all hospital complexes, and vacant CEO Posts in other Health institutions are being filled.
c) The Number of facilities competent to provide Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) increased from 85 in 2009 to 780 in 2012. This number of beneficiaries increased from 102 186 in 2009 to 188 544 in 2012.
d) Implementation of the NHI pilot programme in the OR Tambo District is progressing well. The following interventions have been made; Equipment has been bought, rapid response team is in OR Tambo to deal with the following; Infrastructure, Pharmaceutical, Procurement; Finance; Human Resources. Furthermore, the following interventions are in progress; eradication of mud clinics, deployment of additional doctors and nurses.
e) Procured modern equipment in various hospitals to improve the quality health care in big hospitals such as Nelson Mandela Academic, Frere and Livingstone, these include Computerized Tomography Machine (C.T. Scan), Fluoroscopy machines, Mammography machine, Panogram machine.
1.4 With respect to the Infrastructure Flagships Programme:
a) A total of 222 clinics is currently undergoing major face lifting
b) Dilapidated hospitals in the rural OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo have been replaced with new buildings.
c) New Community Health Centres are also being built.
d) Building of Livingstone Hospital: Accident and Emergency Unit & Oncology.
e) Completion of laundry, kitchen, student accommodation and mortuary in Cecilia Makiwane Hospital has been done.
f) Frontier Hospital renovations are underway.
2. Education issues
2.1 The recruitment and filling of key executive management positions, including that of the Superintendent General and Chief Financial Officer, has brought stability and improved overall performance in the functioning of the Education Department. With the assistance of key deployments from the provincial treasury and the office of the premier, and from the national Department of Basic Education, targeted intervention in key areas like finance, supply chain management, human resource development and the establishment of a document management centre have borne fruit; the department has, for the first time since its establishment, received an improved audit opinion, in the form of a qualified audit opinion.
2.2 The R8.2 Billion Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative (ASIDI) has, to date, completed 38 schools, at a total cost of R1.28 billion; these are being handed over at a rate of “one school a week” to their ever grateful communities. The programme is targeting to build a further 101 schools next year 2014.
2.3 The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), a crucial element in the province’s poverty alleviation programme, provides daily meals for 95% of all learners in the province, it cuts across all grades (grade R – Grade 12) to provide cooked meals for all the 1.75 million learners who attend the 5 337 “no-fee-schools” in the province. This programme provides jobs for over 12000 women in the local communities who would otherwise have been unemployed.
2.4 The transfer of the management of the Scholar Transport Programme in July 2012 to the Department of Transport has greatly improved the quality of service rendered to the learners. This is not withstanding the greater need that still manifests itself in our schools and the sizable number of learners who qualify for servicing but are still outside because of severe budgetary constraints.
2.5 The implementation of the Learner Attainment Improvement Strategy (LAIS) yielded an improvement in the matric results to more than 61% in 2012. In 2014 the Department has mainstreamed LAIS from the beginning of the year, again ably partnered by the Prayer Team Foundation’s Ilima Final Examinations Revision Camps in latter part of the year.
2.6 As at 30 October 2013, 99.8% of textbooks have been confirmed to have been delivered to schools throughout the province. This is a huge milestone for the department and affirms the success of all the management systems that have been put in place across the department.
2.7 55 796 educator posts have been declared for 2014; and as at 21 October 2013, of the 3 379 temporary educators in the system, 1 489 have already been converted to permanent status, whilst 1 890 still continue on a temporal basis.
2.8 Government-funded Early Childhood Development Centres have now reached 1 324, creating more than 3, 900 job opportunities.
3. Human Settlements issues
3.1 Since 1994, up to 332 876 housing units, with R11, 81 billion spent; 57 760 Title Deeds transferred to people, and 944 ha of well-located land acquired.
3.2 The department through the informal settlements Upgrading Programme has reduced the housing backlog in the province from 750 854 in 2001 to 606 616 in 2011.
3.3 This month, we have opened Ntsingizi Multi-Purpose Community Center, School library (donated by Everite) in Zintonga village, Port St Johns, school shoes and computers in Reads dale and handed over houses.
3.4 Other Informal Settlements Upgrading Projects in the province include Barkley East, Ngangelizwe, Motherwell, Zanemvula, Chetty, Thornhill, Camdeboo, Mayfield, Siyanda and Elliotdale which has built thousands of new homes for shack dwellers in the province.
3.5 According to Census 2011 report, 7.7% of people in EC live in informal settlements, (vs. South Africa: 13, 6% which is a reduction from 11, 5% in 2007). The report states further and say, since 1994 there has been an increase of 97.1% in household with piped water inside dwellings since 2001.
4. Social Development & Special Programmes
4.1 The Eastern Cape government led by the Department of Social Development has approved the anti-poverty strategy in addressing child poverty and underdevelopment in the Eastern Cape. We have 2,6 million beneficiaries of social security grants, made up of 72% for child support grants, 19% for old age, as well as 9% for disability. The total investment in this regard per annum is R18.8 billion.
4.2 Child poverty and under development is one of critical challenges facing the country and the province in particular Eastern Cape accounts for more than 2, 7 million children in the country after Gauteng with 3,4 million and Kwazulu-Natal with 4,1 million. 53% of the Province’s children live in rural areas and 7% (217 000) live in informal settlements.
4.3 As an immediate intervention in the fight against poverty and unemployment, the department through its agency, South African Social Security Agency, provides social assistance in a form of grant which comes as an important source of income to meet children’s basic needs.
4.4 Currently, the Provincial picture shows that 1, 8 million children are benefitting from child support grant, 18 237 from care dependency grant, and 118 470 from foster care grant.
4.5 Department of Social Development and Special Programmes as custodian of children has intensified the back to school campaign through provision of material support in the form of school uniform, food parcels and sanitary towels to the orphaned and vulnerable children. This year alone the department is targeting to assist more than 20 000 children.
4.6 The subsidy for early childhood development centres has been increased from R12 to R15, and the subsidised days for early childhood development centres has been increased from 165 to 220. Indeed a lot of social partners have made a big impact in the manner in which the department has delivered on its mandate.
5. Safety & Liaison
This report reflects the crime statistics as from April 2003 to March 2013. This is a Crime Research and Statistics sourced from South African Police Services.
5.1 24 Community Safety Forums were supported to ensure functional Community Police Forums.
5.2 The Murder has decreased by-0.5% in this current financial year, were at 3,360 in 2003 and now at 3,344 in 2013/2014, and attempted murders has decreased from 3,364 in 2003 to 1,768 in 2013, and have dropped with a margin of -47.4%.
5.3 The total sexual offences were at 8,238 in 2003, and have increased by 16.1% in 2013 rise to 9,567 in 2013/2014.
5.4 The Common robbery has decreased from 9,673 in 2003 to 4, 600 in 2013, meaning it has dropped by -52.4%
5.5 The Common Assault has decreased from 27,277 in 2003 to 14,273 in 2013, dropped by -47.7%
5.6 Burglary at non residential premises has increased from 7,182 in 2003 to 7, 539 in 2013, increased by 5%.
5.7 Burglary at residential premises have decreased by -23.6%, dropped from 33,881 in 2003 to 25,902 in 2013.
5.8 Theft of motor vehicles have decreased from 5,596 to 3,693 in 2013, dropped with a margin of -32.8%
5.9 Stock theft has decreased from 11,798 in 2003 to 7,163 in 2013, dropped by 39.3%.
5.10 Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition has dropped from 2,231 in 2003 to 1,538 in 2013.
5.11 There is a high decrease of people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from 4,008 in 2003 to 7,610 in 2013, which is a high risk area which has an impact in serious car accidents in the Province.
5.12 Car hijacking is also another high risk area which has increased in 2003 from 402 to 695 in 2013.
5.13 Robbery and Cash in transit have dropped slightly from 19 in 2003 to 16 in 2013.
5.14 There is a great decrease in bank robbery from 16 incidents in 2003 to 1 in 2013, dropped by a great margin on -93.8%.
6. Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts & Culture
The period under review has witnessed the following key highlights to the department and the Province at large:-
6.1 The Successful hosting of SATMA in the Province.
6.2 The successful hosting of AFCON in P.E in January to February 2013 as part of the Sport Tourism aimed at promoting the Province as a destination of choice for tourists through Sport Tourism Projects
6.3 The continuation of the campaigns aimed at Social cohesion through hosting National Days and the preservation of heritage.
6.4 The department has continued to implement programmes aimed at ensuring that we create a society that is fully integrated across racial and ethnic lines through the commemoration of national days, preservation of the heritage and rolling out social infrastructure to our communities.
6.5 The department has succesfully hosted the South African Traditional Music Achievement Awards, National Arts Festival and other Provincial Flagship festivals.
6.6 Our successes in developing the arts sector plans have paved a way in ensuring that there is a well- defined plan towards the growth of this sector.
6.7 In collaboration with Department of Arts and Culture work is being done for the preservation and development of O.R Tambo heritage in Nkantolo.
6.8 The white paper on languages has been developed.
6.9 Through the Audio Visual Centre and a partnership with Umhlobo-Wenene, were able to launch a successful gospel talent search and have ensured that this remains the flagship for the development of gospel Music in the Province.
6.10 The Mt Ayliff and Mt Frere Libraries were completed in 2012/13 financial year.
6.11 Seventy (70) Libraries have been provided with ICT infrastructure in 2012/2013 financial year.
6.12 New libraries are being built at Lady Frere, Kareedouw, Tsolo, Sterkspruit and Ngqeleni in the current financial year.
6.13 The first Phase of the renovations of Bayworld Museum have been completed
Quick facts
a) 110 the number of student doctors to be sent to Cuba
b) From 2009, a total of 1260 nurses, doctors and other health professionals have been assisted with bursaries.
c) 30, 4X2 vans procured for circumcision teams
d) 10 Gen-Xpert machines for institutions
e) 10408 employees hired by health inclusive of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals
f) Increased the number of patients receiving ARV’s
g) Education Facilities – Number of public libraries built across by DSRAC across the Province
h) Improved access to fresh produce 2275, Linking social grants to sustainable livelihoods Evaluate impact made in 11 poorest municipalities
i) Issues around crime statistics.
j) Update on housing opportunities, backlogs, shody houses, bucket system & FLISP.
Enquiries:
Mxolisi Spondo, Senior Manager: PR & Media Liaison
Cell: 071 671 6663
E-mail: mxolisi.spondo@otp.ecprov.gov.za
