Mpumalanga Legislature, Mpumalanga
12 September 2006
Question 1:
Does the Premier feel that it is unacceptable for municipalities to have to
write off money owed to them by provincial government departments as 'bad
debt'?
Answer:
The Premier is not in favour of writing off debts since they are Revenue Assets
of the Municipality and this practice undermines the capacity of Municipalities
to drive their development agendas. The critical issue is that strong credit
control policies and debt collection mechanisms are put in place to reduce the
incidence of irrecoverable debts by municipalities in the province. The Exco
resolution requires all departments to pay these debts, except in instances
where there is insufficient information to comply with the Public Finance
Management Act (PFMA) in doing so. In these instances affected Departments have
requested such information from municipalities.
Question 2:
Subsequent to the launch of Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South
Africa (AsgiSA), the government through the office of the Deputy President,
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has launched the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills
Acquisition (JIPSA). How will our province benefit from such an initiative?
Answers:
Through the Office of the Premier a funding proposal for development of scarce
skills has been developed with the national Department of Labour. It has been
submitted to the Department of Labour and we are awaiting final approval for
the amount of R20 million to R100 million.
The project ("Vula Matfuba") has the following objectives:
* To provide learning and employment opportunities for the unemployed,
underemployed, people with disabilities, youth, unemployed graduates and women
(as per NSDS II and MPGDS).
* To bridge the gap between labour supply and demand for both scarce and
critical skills across the growth sectors in the province.
* The project will focus on five programmes which comprise training in the
areas of agriculture, artisan skills, engineering, tourism and Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP). The training will be provided through learnerships,
skills programs, bursaries, internships and experiential training.
The plan is to align the unemployed graduates to available opportunities
provided by National Student Funding (NSF) projects, bursaries for further
study or retraining, Internships and experiential learning, leanerships and
skills programs. In terms of data provided by the Mpumalanga Department of
Education in 2004, we have 1 197 unemployed graduates. This includes graduates
with certificates, diplomas and degrees. It must be indicated that this
information is two years old and may have changed.
Question 3:
Mpumalanga province has been awaiting the launch of the National Institute for
Higher Education by the Provincial Government after it was agreed that it
cannot launch a fully fledged university, has the National Institute for Higher
Education been launched as per the government plan?
Answer:
The National Institute for Higher Education has not been launched as yet. It is
going to be launched on 21 October 2006. Minister Naledi Pandor and I will
attend the launch.
The national Minister had to finalise the process of appointing Board
members, hence the delay. The board has now been appointed and the launch will
take place on 21 October.
The consultative process started as far back as 2002 when the Ministry of
Education consulted stakeholders through a working group, under the
chairmanship of Mr James Maseko. In 2003 a follow-up round of consultations
took place under the leadership of Prof NV Magi.
In 2004 a consultative meeting was held with South African Student's
Congress (SASCO), Congress of South Africa Students (COSAS), South African
Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), National Union of Educators (NUE),
Professional Educators Union (PEU), Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysunie (SAOU) and
Association of School Governing Bodies (ASGB). Their inputs were forwarded to
the Minister of Education.
Question 4:
Do we have activities organised by our Provincial government to commemorate the
20th Anniversary of Samora Machel?
Answer:
Yes, a number of activities have been organized, including:
* A media launch on 29 September coinciding with the programme launch and the
birth date of the late President Samora Machel. This will take place at the
Monument site.
* The Mbuzini Community Library will be officially opened by the national
Minister and the MEC on 6 October 2006. This is the legacy project.
* A new information website has been developed and has been operational and
updated since 31 August 2006. The address is: http://www.samoramachel.info.
* An exhibition of books received by Madiba on African leaders and history will
begin at the library at Mbuzini on the 6 October 2006.
* A sculpture of the late President will be unveiled during the
commemorations.
* A commemorative booklet and an article in the Roots Africa publication will
pay tribute to the tragedy and give some history on the event and those who
were involved.
* There would also be radio and television interviews on the history of the
events and the commemoration events planned.
* There will be a wreath laying ceremony as part of the commemorative event on
19 October 2006. During this time the Mozambicans will be running a programme
in their country and have indicated that events will culminate with the
commemorations on 19 October 2006 in South Africa.
* The media and publicity strategy includes print and electronic media with
media releases and articles in the print media and adverts and interviews on
both Radio and television. Some of this has already begun and will reach a
climax from 8 to 19 October 2006.
* While the Mayor, the municipality and the Traditional Council represented by
the Chief were consulted on the project before it commenced, the perception is
that this information did not adequately reach the ordinary person in the
community.
* Work had commenced on the site and there was uncertainty as to whether local
residents will be used as a source of labour for the project.
* The Ward Councillor a member of the CDW and the Chief or his representative
it as permanent members of the Project Steering Committee as well as the Site
Committee.
* A community liaison person (CLO) has been appointed since the commencement of
the project.
* Needs of the contractor with regards to labour and that of the communities
are reconciled via these structures and individuals.
* Local sub-contractors have been employed to do brick work, paving, fencing
and water connections.
* In excess of 140 local people have been employed by the contractor and
sub-contractors since the mass earth works (usually done by machines)
commenced.
* It is also expected that the events management companies will also be using
both skilled and unskilled labour resources from the community as the
preparations for the commemorations and opening of the Library unfolds.
* A community meeting was held at the offices of the Traditional Council for
the community. The MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, the Mayor of the
Nkomazi Municipality as well as the Chief all addressed the community members.
After deliberations, questions and clarities were given. The community
expressed their appreciation for the project and gave it a full "go ahead".
Question 5:
In a 2010 consultative workshop held in Malelane recently, Danny Jordan, the
CEO of South African 2010 Local Organising Committee was quoted having said
that Mpumalanga is way ahead in its preparations for 2010, How far is our
province in the preparation for hosting the 2010 world cup games?
During the 2010 workshop held at Malelane, representatives of provincial
government, district municipalities, organised labour and stakeholders from
business sectors brainstormed and consulted over a number of projects related
to ensuring that 2010 is a success. The main objective of this workshop was to
begin the process of gathering information in the relevant sectors in order for
the province to conceptualise a Provincial 2010 Master Plan.
Sectors covered in the Master Plan include economic investment and tourism;
infrastructure; stadium and related facilities; health /disaster
management/Emergency Medical Services (EMS); safety and security; sports
architecture; funding and legacy projects.
The provincial master plan has served before both the political task team
and the Executive Council. The plan is ready for implementation and will be
distributed to all sectors in order for them to begin developing the respective
implementation/roll out plans.
Whilst other provinces are busy developing their plans, Mpumalanga's plan
was ratified by the Executive Council during a sitting on 6 September. In
addition I can report that the construction of the stadium is underway and is
ahead of schedule.
In the Tourism Sector Plan there are a number of measures in place to expand
the provision of accommodation in the province. In order to ascertain the
precise nature of the challenges in respect of accommodation in the province,
it is necessary to gather the pertinent facts. To that end, the MTPA and the
Department of Economic Development and Planning are at present compiling a
database of available accommodation in the province. In addition, the relevant
institutions are also identifying temporary accommodation to address short-term
demand. They also intend increasing the number of graded accommodation
establishments to ensure they meet the accommodation criteria. Finally, the
Department of Economic Development and Planning has already interacted with a
number of hotel groups in order to encourage them to build new hotels and other
forms of accommodation in targeted areas in the province.
There are a number of infrastructure related projects that have been
identified, spanning across various sectors. Some of the key projects worth
mentioning are the upgrading of important public transport routes; the
development of public transport (including the airport); lay-byes and shelters;
the Mataffin Precinct access system; pedestrian walkways and High Occupancy
Vehicle traffic lanes. There are also a number of infrastructure related
projects in the Health and Disaster Management Sector. These include the
upgrading of various strategically placed hospitals and clinics; purchasing of
additional emergency vehicles (ambulances) and medical equipment and upgrading
10 EMS stations.
As far as the legacy projects are concerned, we'll focus on the following key
projects:
* Economic Investment, the construction of an International Convention
Centre.
* Infrastructure and Technical Development, A world-class international
multi-purpose stadium, rail and road improvements, and multi modal interchanges
in 12 towns in the province.
Question 6:
In response to questions for oral reply in the sitting of the house on the 1
December 2005, the Hon Premier made a commitment that the government will make
sure that rural poverty-stricken communities are assisted with all manner of
means in order to increase their capacity to rely on their land for
self-subsistence as part of the strategy of reducing poverty by 2014 in the
province.
Answer:
Rural poverty stricken communities were assisted to increase their capacity to
rely on their land for self-subsistence as part of a strategy of reducing
poverty by 2014 in the following manner:
Masibuyele Emasimini
In the financial year 2005/06 government introduced a pilot project called
Masibuyele Emasimini to assist poor households and small-scale farmers with
tractors, seeds, fertilisers to help them till the land in order to banish
hunger and starvation in rural areas. This project has succeeded in increasing
food production for the food insecure communities of our province. The project
has registered success in providing fibre and nutrition for the vulnerable, a
total of 6 731 people have directly benefited from this project, the majority
of them being women (±75%).
The project is being continued in the 2006/07 financial year in three pilot
areas namely:
Ehlanzeni-Matibidi
Nkangala-Bareki
Gert Sibande-Daggakraal.
An allocation of R21 million has been made for this important project for
the 2006/07 financial year, of which R15 million has already been spent.
Through the conditional grant, the capacity for self-subsistence of farmers has
been enhanced. Farmers have benefited through 63 projects that stimulate
agricultural productivity by increasing investment in rural infrastructure that
will make farming more productive. In the Financial year 2005/06 a total of R26
million was provided for establishing on farm infrastructure such as irrigation
systems, pack houses and storage facilities. For the 2006/07 year an allocation
of R28 million was made to further increase public investment in rural
infrastructure that unlocks development potential for the poor.
LandCare has increased the capacity of farmers by addressing soil
degradation and reclaiming degraded land back into productive farming. This
project has created over 2 000 job opportunities for rural communities since it
follows EPWP principles. An amount of R8 million was spent on 17 projects
throughout the Province in the 2005/06 financial year.
Agricultural starter packs were provided to poor households who were
recipients of emergency food parcels. The packs included garden tools, seeds
and fertilisers to establish food gardens to produce for own consumption.
Agricultural starter packs were distributed to a total of 2300 people, mainly
women. An amount of R4,1 million was spent in 2005/06 financial year for this
purpose.
Research, training and advisory services have been provided to increase the
capacity of farmers for self-subsistence. This programme has reached thousands
of farmers throughout the province. Government spent R180 million to roll out
these essential services in 2005/06 and has budgeted R182,6 million for
2006/07.
Where it is possible to directly count beneficiaries, more than 12 000
people have been recorded to benefit from these programmes. This figure is
substantially higher when the impact of LandCare, the comprehensive
agricultural support programme and the provision of research, advisory and
support services is included. Unfortunately, specific figures on the number of
beneficiaries are not available for these programmes.
The Masibuyele Emasimini Programme was able to assist our small-farmers to
harvest more than ever before. This has resulted in a demand for roll-out to
many other small scale-farmers who were not part of the programme before. In
fact, it has aroused interest from our youth and other farmers.
Our farmers are now putting up their own plans being assisted by government
to take forward the programme on their own, bearing in mind that government is
assisting them to be self-sufficient.
We believe that the systems and mechanisms that have been put in place by
government for the programme to be fruitful, are now beginning to yield
exciting results even though is still at a pilot stage. We are therefore
confident that the programme will be sustainable because the farmers are being
assisted by our extension officers and researchers who guide and advise
them.
The provision of agricultural infrastructure through CASP will further make
the programme more sustainable for our farmers to farm productively. The
programme is comprehensive in that it provides agricultural implements and
inputs. These measures suggest that the programme will certainly be
sustainable.
* Ehlanzeni-4 301
* Gert Sibande-1 623
* Nkangala-807
Question 7:
During the state of the province address in February 2006, the Hon Premier
alluded to the fact that "The province is concerned about the 3,2% drop in
Mpumalanga Grade 12 Matric results and recognises that drastic steps need to be
taken", what programmes are already put into operation to address the drop in
matric results in the province?
Answer:
The Department of Education is currently implementing a comprehensive matric
improvement programme to improve the performance of learners in school. One of
the major focus areas is improving Grade 12 learner performance. The strategy
for improving matric results focuses on:
* First, implementing a high growth development path that includes a range
of interventions such as the restructuring of consistently under performing
schools, redeployment of underperforming teachers and managers, especially in
instances where schools have achieved a 20% pass rate and below. The quest for
improving performance will also focus on the restructuring of combined schools
and withdrawal of subsidies to underperforming independent schools.
* Second, improving the quality of curriculum delivery and professional
development with specific focus on classroom support to all schools presenting
a Grade 12 class, and 157 under-performing schools.
* Third, improving institutional support and development by enhancing
governance and delivery capacity of under-performing schools. Institutional
support and development includes the implementation of the following
programmes:
* School development and improvement planning
* Mentoring and coaching of school principals
* Professional training of teachers
We can assure parents that we have designed and implemented good programmes
aimed at improving the performance of learners at the end of this year. While
we are very confident that the results will improve, much depend on the
learners themselves and other factors beyond our control such as the difficulty
of exam papers as determined by Umalusi and norms for marks standardisation.
The province has set aside an amount of R2,5 million in the form of bursaries
to assist qualifying learners to enrol at tertiary institutions in 2007.
Question 8:
During the Constituency period we have experienced abject poverty particularly
in the farming areas in the province, among these we have seen the
following:
* Non-availability of clean drinking water for farm tenants
This problem exists on many farms. Since farms are private property,
approval to drill boreholes should be obtained from the relevant farm owner.
Approval has already been granted by some farm owners in the municipal areas of
Mkhondo, Albert Luthuli, Lekwa, Nkomazi and Delmas. Jojo tank water was also
provided to farm workers at Cairn in the Mbombela area.
8.1 Non-availability of electricity for farm workers
Eskom has a farm electrification programme in place, with R1 million set
aside to install connections from the farmer's house to the Labourer's
quarters. To date 17 applications have been received and are being processed by
Eskom. The challenge of implementing this programme is that few farmers are
making applications on behalf of their worker. It is therefore necessary to
expand the education of farmers on this issue. This will result in a budget
increase for this program.
8.2 Farm tenants seem to be worse on provisioning of houses
The Department of Local Government and Housing has now received guidelines
for the provision of housing to farm workers. The department is going to
deliver 195 farm worker housing subsidies in the 2006/07 financial year in the
following areas, namely Emakhazeni (33), Steve Tshwete (32), Nkomazi (65),
Msukaligwa (33) and Albert Luthuli (32).
We will collaborate with Land Affairs in order to prioritise the 12 000
registered labour tenants who have been assisted to acquire by the Department
of Land Affairs.
8.3 What is it that could be done by the Hon Premier to address these
pressing needs of our farm dwellers?
Prioritise this target group and through the Director-General's office we
will request departments to report back on services delivered on a quarterly
basis. A task team on service delivery on farms is in place. It is tasked with
monitoring departmental initiatives. Municipalities have been invited to make
inputs into the Task Team. It is co-ordinated by Local Government and
Housing.
Service delivery on farms is a very complex matter. It's a matter that all
the three spheres of government are working to address. In seeking to achieve
service delivery on farms we are guided by the Millennium Development Goals and
the 2006 manifesto of the Africa National Congress. By 2010 all communities
will have access to clean water and decent sanitation. By 2012 all houses will
have access to electricity.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
12 September 2006
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government (http://www.mpumalanga.gov.za)
