The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Western Cape delegation is continuing their oversight visits in the province, with a stop at De Doorns farms set to be the highlight of their second day.
The delegation will visit the Farmworker of the Year Project and then, later later this afternoon, have a meeting with farmers and farmworkers.
The purpose of the farm visits is to check best practices at the farms and ensure that there is compliance with labour laws. The meeting with the farmers and the employees will afford the delegation an opportunity to get a first-hand report of the issues affecting the people and take these up at national level.
The delegation will visit the Farmworker of the Year Project and then, later later this afternoon, have a meeting with farmers and farmworkers.
The purpose of the farm visits is to check best practices at the farms and ensure that there is compliance with labour laws. The meeting with the farmers and the employees will afford the delegation an opportunity to get a first-hand report of the issues affecting the people and take these up at national level.
Before heading to De Doorns, the delegation will visit the De La Bat School for the Deaf and Thusong Centre in Worcester and the Disaster Management Centre, also in Worcester.
The delegation kicked off their oversight visits with four stops in Stellenbosch yesterday - at Klapmuts Primary School, Nondzame Primary School, Khayamandi Clinic and Stellenbosch Hospital.
Challenges identified at each of these four places were:
Khayamandi Clinic
- The clinic being wholly inadequate to service the area, with 7 500 to 8 000 patients being treated per month
- HIV and TB were the biggest diseases treated at the clinic
- Inability to trace chronic illness patients who disappear during the course of their treatment
- Space constraints at the clinic
- Cost implications preventing the clinic's operating hours (7am to 4pm) from being extended.
Stellenbosch Hospital (which services a population of 175 000):
- Increase in abortion cases among 14 to 24 year-olds, particularly after the Easter, June and December vacations and following events such as the matric dance
- Human Resource challenges in terms of attracting certain skills and retaining the hospital's own staff
- Infrastructure problems as the hospital needs urgent renovation and upgrading
- Absenteeism among staff members
Nondzame Primary School
- Tensions caused by a proposal to integrate the Xhosa-medium school with the neighbouring Pniel Primary School, which is an Afrikaans-medium school
- Lack of ablution facilities at the school
- Multi-grade classes (more than one grade in one-classroom)
- Learners having no access to sporting facilities, which they were meant to share with Pniel Primary School
- Dramatic decline in number of learners, which currently stood at 71.
Klapmuts Primary School
- Inadequate classrooms to accommodate the 1 305 learners
- Lack of other learning facilities such as a science lab and a technology room
- Alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy in the area, which affected the learners
- Lack of trauma counseling for learners
- High drop out rate was also a concern
- multi-grade classes (more than one grade in one-classroom).
Enquiries:
Elijah Moholola
Cell: 083 981 7770
Elijah Moholola
Cell: 083 981 7770
