TUESDAY, 18 APRIL 2000 __

          PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
                                ____

The Council met at 10:04.

The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.

                             NEW MEMBER

                           (Announcement)

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP announced that Rev M Chabaku, representing the Free State province, had made and subscribed the oath before her on 13 April 2000.

                          NOTICES OF MOTION

Mnr J L THERON: Mev die Voorsitter, by die volgende sitting van die Raad sal ek voorstel:

Dat die Raad die Minister van Buitelandse Sake versoek om -

(1) ‘n verklaring uit te reik om Suid-Afrikaners in Zimbabwe gerus te stel;

(2) planne aan te kondig om aan te toon dat Suid-Afrikaners huis toe gebring sal word indien die anargiesituasie in Zimbabwe eskaleer; en

(3) aan te toon watter stappe die Regering doen om die situasie in Zimbabwe, wat uurliks versleg, te beredder. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr J L THERON: Madam Chairperson, at the next sitting of the Council I shall move:

That the Council requests the Minister of Foreign Affairs to -

(1) issue a statement to reassure South Africans in Zimbabwe;

(2) announce plans to indicate that South Africans will be brought home if the anarchic situation in Zimbabwe escalates; and

(3) indicate what steps the Government is taking to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe, which is deteriorating by the hour.]

Mnr A E VAN NIEKERK: Mev die Voorsitter, ek gee kennis dat ek by die volgende sitting van die Raad sal voorstel:

Dat die Raad -

(1) die President van Suid-Afrika inlig oor die ophoping van restitusie- eise wat nie afgehandel word nie en die gepaardgaande onsekerheid wat daardeur geskep word;

(2) daarvan kennis neem dat die Nuwe NP dit as onbillik beskou teenoor die eisers en die huidige privaateienaars van die grond; (3) daarvan kennis neem dat die onafgehandelde eise ‘n ekonomiese demper plaas op die landbou, wat uitbreiding en werkskepping aan bande lê; en

(4) erken dat die onvervulde verwagtinge wat ten opsigte van grondherverdeling geskep is, frustrasie in die hand werk en die gevaar skep dat dit ook soos in Zimbabwe handuit kan ruk en die reg op privaateiendom kan aantas. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Madam Chairperson, I give notice that at the next sitting of the Council I shall move:

That the Council -

(1) informs the President of South Africa about the mass of restitution claims that are not being finalised and the accompanying uncertainty this is creating;

(2) notes that the New NP regards this as unfair towards the claimants and the current private landowners;

(3) notes that the unfinalised claims are putting an economic damper on agriculture, which is restricting development and job creation; and

(4) admits that the unfulfilled expectations which have been created in respect of land restitution are promoting frustration and creating the danger of getting out of control, just as in Zimbabwe, and could affect the right to private property.]

Mrs J N VILAKAZI: Chairperson, I wish to give notice that at the next sitting of the Council I shall move:

That the Council -

(1) expresses grave concern at the high number of South Africans who work to live and to support their families and who lose their lives unnecessarily through merciless taxi-related killings;

(2) notes that -

   (a)  the ambush of a taxi in Kranskop last week left all occupants
       dead;
   (b)  the sporadic eruptions are manifested in various areas almost in
       all provinces; and


   (c)  the recent taxi war in the Western Cape between taxi operators
       and the Golden Arrow Bus Service is not an exception; and

(3) requests the Minister of Transport to institute extra control measures to prevent the escalation of violence in the taxi industry.

Mr P A MATTHEE: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that at the next sitting of the Council I will move:

That the Council -

(1) notes -

   (a)  the admission by the Minister for Safety and Security that the
       SA Police Service is experiencing shortages at provincial and
       national level of trained personnel, equipment, vehicles and
       other logistical support, which hamper them in their task to
       prevent and combat crime in all nine provinces in South Africa;


   (b)  that the total number of the shortages in trained personnel
       spread across all provinces is 7 000;


   (c)  that the total number of the shortages in vehicles spread across
       all provinces is 7 860;


   (d)  that the total amount of the budget needed to address the
       shortages of personnel, vehicles, computer networks and general
       equipment is R928 million;


   (e)  that the Government only intends to increase the number of
       personnel in the SAPS over the next four to five years by
       increasing the number of personnel by 7 000, most of whom will
       be entry-level personnel, and that the shortages in vehicles and
       other equipment will only be addressed over the next three to
       four years; and


   (f)  that in the light of the present totally unacceptable high
       levels of crime in our country, the said situation and the
       Government's intentions only to address the said shortages over
       periods of three to five and three to four years are not
       acceptable to this Council; and

(2) resolves that the safety and security of all our citizens, and therefore the fight against crime, should be regarded as the Government’s most fundamental duty and highest priority and that the Government should make the R928 million required to address the said shortages available to the SAPS immediately.

       CONGRATULATIONS TO WESTERN CAPE GOVERNMENT AND PREMIER

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mnr C ACKERMANN: Mev die Voorsitter, ek stel voor:

Dat die Raad -

(1) die premier en die regering van die Wes-Kaap gelukwens met die Goue Pyl en Goue Ster-toekennings wat hulle ontvang het; (2) kennis neem dat die Goue Pyl-toekenning aan die premier, mnr Morkel, deur ‘n paneel van 42 ekonome, beleggingsanaliste en sakeleiers gedoen is, omdat sy provinsie se prestasies die meeste toegeneem het;

(3) verder kennis neem dat bogenoemde paneel die Wes-Kaap aangewys het as die provinsie wat die meeste gedoen het om probleme met werkloosheid op te los;

(4) die premier van Gauteng daarmee gelukwens dat hy die tweede beste gevaar het; en

(5) daarvan kennis neem dat die Wes-Kaap hierdie prestasie vir die tweede agtereenvolgende jaar kon behaal. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr C ACKERMANN: Madam Chair, I move:

That the Council -

(1) congratulates the Premier and the government of the Western Cape on the Golden Arrow and Golden Star awards which they received; (2) notes that the Golden Arrow award to the Premier, Mr Morkel, was made by a panel of 42 economists, investment analysts and business leaders because his province’s achievements showed the greatest increase;

(3) also notes that the aforementioned panel named the Western Cape as the province which has done the most to solve problems of unemployment;

(4) congratulates the Premier of Gauteng for coming second; and

(5) notes that the Western Cape province was able to attain this achievement for the second consecutive year.]

[Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Is there any objection to the motion? [Interjections.] There is an objection. The motion therefore cannot be proceeded with. It will therefore become a notice of motion.

                 ROAD SAFETY OVER THE EASTER WEEKEND
                         (Draft Resolution)

Chief M L MOKOENA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that the Easter holiday is upon us once again;

(2) further notes that past Easter holidays have taken a terrible toll on many families who lost loved ones through road accidents;

(3) urges all South Africans intending to travel over this period to exercise the utmost care when they are on the roads; and

(4) calls on the Minister of Transport and on the department to ensure that there are enough traffic officials available over this period.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

        CONGRATULATIONS TO GOLFERS VIJAY SINGH AND ERNIE ELS
                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr N M RAJU: Chairperson, I wish to move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) congratulates two great non-American golfers, Vijay Singh of Fiji and Ernie Els of South Africa, on coming first and second in the prestigious US Masters Golf Tournament which was held at the famous Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia, USA;

(2) acknowledges that to beat the world’s best golfers and especially the much-vaunted Americans in their own backyard is no mean achievement; and

(3) notes with gratification that the victor in this great tournament was a golfer of colour from the seemingly unknown island of Fiji, which is a source of great inspiration to all disadvantaged golfers all over the world.

What a victory! Not only for Vijay Singh but a great triumph for the sport itself - golf is indeed the ultimate winner. We celebrate!

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

DRAFT DISCUSSION DOCUMENT TOWARDS A WHITE PAPER ON TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONS

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr M A SULLIMAN: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that the institution of traditional leadership was never accorded pride of place in the systems of apartheid governance;

(2) also notes the recent launching of a draft discussion document towards a White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Institutions;

(3) is of the opinion that the discussion document will give us an opportunity to map out a vision which will harmonise the indigenous institutions of traditional leadership with our evolving system of democratic governance, and accord it the priority it deserves; and

(4) wishes to congratulate the Minister for Provincial and Local Government on the launching of this discussion document.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

              CONGRATULATIONS TO NATIONAL CRICKET TEAM

                         (Draft Resolution)

Me E C GOUWS: Mev die Voorsitter, ek stel voor sonder kennisgewing:

Dat die Raad -

(1) die nasionale krieketspan onder die kapteinskap van Shaun Pollock hartlik gelukwens met die skitterende oorwinning oor die wêreldkampioen Australië; en

(2) erken dat die oorwinning veral merkwaardig en soet is in die lig van die emosionele druk wat op die span geplaas is as gevolg van die voorafgaande ongelukkige gebeure. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

[Ms E C Gouws: Madam Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) congratulates the national cricket team under the captaincy of Shaun Pollock on the excellent victory over the world champions, Australia; and

(2) recognises that the victory is particularly remarkable and sweet in the light of the emotional pressure that was brought to bear upon the team as a result of the preceding unfortunate events.]

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

                 FALL IN JOHANNESBURG STOCK EXCHANGE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Dr E A CONROY: Voorsitter, ek stel sonder kennisgewing voor:

Dat die Raad -

(1) kennis neem van die geweldige verliese wat gister op die Johannesburgse Effektebeurs gely is ná die dramatiese val in die pryse van veral inligtingstegnologie-aandele en in reaksie op soortgelyke gebeure in veral die VSA;

(2) ‘n dringende versoek tot kalmte rig aan diegene wat verliese as gevolg daarvan gely het; en

(3) sy vertroue herbevestig in die inherente groeikrag, basiese gesondheid en herstelvermoë van die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie, wat hom in staat stel om terugslae van hierdie aard te verwerk en te oorkom. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

[Dr E A CONROY: Mr Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes the huge losses suffered on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange yesterday following the dramatic drop in the prices of information technology shares in particular, and in response to similar happenings, especially in the USA;

(2) addresses an urgent appeal for calm to those who suffered losses as a result of this; and

(3) reaffirms its confidence in the inherent vitality, basic soundness and power of recovery of the South African economy, which enables it to process and overcome setbacks of this nature.]

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution. ELECTION OF SCHOOL GOVERNING BODIES

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr P D N MALOYI: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that one of the nine priorities identified by the Minister of Education, Comrade Kader Asmal, is to enable schools to become centres of community life;

(2) notes that the election for school governing bodies will take place during the course of this year;

(3) believes that democratically elected school governing bodies are an essential part of our campaign to make schools the centres of community life; and

(4) therefore calls on communities to participate in the election of school governing bodies so that they can provide leadership and direction in the development of our schools.

Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Chairperson, I move as an amendment:

That, in paragraph (1), the words the Minister of Education, Comrade Kader Asmal'' be substituted bythe honourable Minister of Education, Dr Kader Asmal’’.

[Laughter.]

Amendment agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

Motion, as amended, agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution, namely:

(1) notes that one of the nine priorities identified by the honourable Minister of Education, Dr Kadar Asmal, is to enable schools to become centres of community life;

(2) notes that the election for school governing bodies will take place during the course of this year;

(3) believes that democratically elected school governing bodies are an essential part of our campaign to make schools the centres of community life; and

(4) therefore calls on communities to participate in the election of school governing bodies so that they can provide leadership and direction in the development of our schools.

                  OPERATION OF INSIDER TRADING ACT

                         (Draft Resolution)

Ms Q D MAHLANGU: Chairperson, I wish to move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  the Insider Trading Act, which was passed by the Council in
       1998, came into effect on 1 May 1999;


   (b)  from then until 28 March 2000, 83 investigations have been
       registered;


   (c)  44 of these cases have been investigated and closed;


   (d)  in six of the cases the individuals whose transactions were
       investigated, settled out of court with the Directorate for the
       repayment of the profit made (or the loss avoided) and for the
       payment of a penalty of twice that amount; and


   (e)  these funds have been used to cover the costs of the
       investigations, and the balance is in the process of being
       distributed to persons who may have been prejudiced; and

(2) commends the Financial Services Board on its good work.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

       HAULING OF PERLEMOEN IN BETTY'S BAY AND KLEINMOND AREA
                         (Draft Resolution)

Rev P MOATSHE: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  the hauling of perlemoen in the Betty's Bay and Kleinmond area
       is illegal; and


   (b)  perlemoen is a valuable commercial resource which could become
       extinct; and

(2) therefore -

   (a)  resolves that national and provincial government continue to
       protect its natural and marine resources; and


   (b)  calls on all provincial and local authorities to host an urgent
       meeting of all affected stakeholders to peacefully resolve the
       controversial hauling of perlemoen. Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

APPOINTMENT OF BONGANI KHUMALO TO HEAD THE GOVERNMENT’S HIV/AIDS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

                         (Draft Resolution)

Ms C S BOTHA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that the Democratic Party supports the secondment of Mr Bongani Khumalo, former deputy CEO for Human Resource Management at Eskom, to head the Government’s HIV/Aids and rural development strategies;

(2) further notes that these important issues have been embroiled in, and hampered by, controversy and nondelivery, whilst the lack of progress with both issues has had a multiplying effect, daily exacerbating the impact of both;

(3) acknowledges that with this move, the President’s office has appointed a person as administrator and manager with a proven track record in the field of practical delivery; and

(4) commends the recognition of merit which this appointment indicates.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Is there any objection to the motion?

Mr M A SULLIMAN: We object to the motion, Chair.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! There is an objection. The motion will therefore become notice of a motion.

   AMENDMENT OF RESOLUTION ADOPTING REPORT ON OPEN DEMOCRACY BILL

                         (Draft Resolution)

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I move the draft resolution printed in my name on the Order Paper, as follows: That, subject to the concurrence of the National Assembly, the resolution of the Council of 27 January 2000 adopting the Report of the Ad hoc Joint Committee on Open Democracy Bill on the Open Democracy Bill [B 67 - 98] (Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports, p 15) be amended as follows:

That -

(1) the Report be adopted, except that -

   (a)  with reference to paragraph 7 of the Report, the Department of
       Justice and Constitutional Development report back to Parliament
       (rather than to ``the Committee'') on the feasibility of
       establishing an enforcement mechanism like the Information
       Commissioner; and


   (b)  with reference to paragraph 9 of the Report, the Council notes
       that the task of redrafting the chapter on whistle blower
       protection, which was omitted from the bill presented to the
       Houses by the ad hoc joint committee, has been assigned by the
       National Assembly to the National Assembly Portfolio Committee
       on Justice and Constitutional Development, the Committee to
       present the redrafted chapter as a separate bill; and

(2) the Ad hoc Joint Committee on Open Democracy Bill is accordingly dissolved.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

                   PRECEDENCE TO ORDER OF THE DAY

                         (Draft Resolution)

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I would like to move without notice that item no 3 on the Order Paper, that is, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Bill, be given precedence and that it be dealt with immediately after the first item. The reason is that Minister Kader Asmal is going to introduce item no 3, and I have made this particular request for his convenience.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution. APPROPRIATION BILL

                         (Review of Policy)

Vote No 8: Education:

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Chairperson, hon members and delegates, this is my first report to the NCOP on my stewardship of the Department of Education.

On the Order Paper it is written that this is a review of my policy. I will, of course, be looking at the relationship between the central department and the provinces. The details of the policy will be found in our annual report published a few weeks ago.

However, I wish to begin by acknowledging with great pleasure the appointment of the Chairperson, Ms Naledi Pandor, to the high honour of Chancellorship of the Cape Technikon. I would also like to acknowledge the passion and dedication she has brought to the role of chairperson of the Tertiary Education Fund of SA, which administers the national student financial aid scheme.

It has been the custom for this debate to focus on the condition of the provincial education systems, even though Vote 8 is the budgetary appropriation for the national Education department. In fact, almost all of it represents transfer payments to the higher education system, which is an exclusive competence of the national level of government. However, I invite members of the House to raise higher education issues when the appropriate occasion arises.

When I introduced the education debate in the National Assembly on 14 March 2000, I remarked that Vote 8 contains no funds to support provincial education systems, other than conditional grants to assist provincial education departments to carry forward innovative work in capacity-building and quality improvement. In fact, the massive appropriations for provincial education - up to R43 billion - are made by provincial legislatures out of the funds voted to them in the block grants to provinces.

I noted the disjunction between the political responsibility of the Minister of Education for the state of education throughout the country, and the fact that the Minister does not control, or even influence, provincial allocations of resources for education. I then observed that I am closing this gap, not with a constitutional amendment, but with a vigorous interpretation of the constitutional doctrine of co-operative government, which seemed to have raised some alarm after my speech in the National Assembly.

It is an unquestionable fact of our national life that the Minister of Education carries the political burden of responsibility for the welfare of the entire national system of education. It is an indisputable consequence of our constitutional arrangements that the Minister of Education controls no provincial education budgets and disposes of no executive power with respect to provincial education. In brief, I have no lawful authority to order any provincial officer to do anything whatsoever.

The President and his Cabinet carry executive responsibility for every matter of national interest. The provincial governments are required to execute national legislation, policy and frameworks that advance the national interest. The national Government is obliged to assist each provincial government.

Therefore, to apply a vigorous interpretation of co-operative government means that I undertake: firstly, to assist my provincial colleagues in whatever way my department and I can devise; secondly, to monitor the performance of provincial education departments in fulfilling their constitutional duties, carrying out national policy and achieving agreed performance targets; thirdly, to call my provincial colleagues to account; and fourthly, to exert every ounce of political authority I possess in order to extend educational opportunity to all our people and to improve the quality of learning throughout our system.

The Council of Education Ministers - in keeping with the lofty role of education, we do not have MECs when they meet together -with an almost entirely new cast of members, has had the cobwebs shaken out of it, and is now functioning as an invaluable, lively, interactive forum for political debate, mutual support, mutual correction and executive decision-making.

MECs for education and I have made numerous highly visible visits to schools to monitor performance on the first day of term, to expose cases of notorious abuse and neglect, and to praise and encourage educators and learners who are succeeding even under conditions of serious adversity.

We are collectively determined to ensure that the management and staff of every school, college and learning centre in the country are held to the highest standards of professional delivery. The organised teaching profession and the South African Council for Educators are indispensable allies in these endeavours. A Bill to provide for the establishment of the council and to formalise its work will come before Parliament during the current session, and will be introduced first in the NCOP.

My provincial colleagues are collaborating in an important monitoring exercise. With their help, in November last year, I delivered my first report to the President on provincial education and, at the President’s invitation, I made a presentation on this matter to the premiers. I hope hon members and delegates will have seen the executive summary in my department’s 1999 annual report.

This month I delivered my second report on provincial education to the President, and yesterday I placed a copy of this voluminous report on the performance of provinces in the parliamentary library. This is a comprehensive document covering no less than seven themes, which are: the timely opening of schools in January this year; the implementation of Curriculum 2005 in Grades 3 and 7 this year; preparations for the year 2000 senior certificate examinations and their publication on a single date throughout South Africa; progress with the procurement of learning support materials for the 2001 school year; planning for the implementation of the national Tirisano programmes; provincial budget processes and the implementation of national funding policy; the implementation of provincial responsibilities under the SA Schools Act of 1996; and, finally, the early filling of senior posts, and the conduct of disciplinary proceedings.

So, having laid a solid foundation with the first two reports, I intend that subsequent reports should focus on fewer themes and be much more sharply evaluative of performance in the provinces. Mere facts, however voluminous, do not tell the story we need to hear, and of course, the real story of education, apart from higher education, happens in the provinces.

I have tried to convey to hon members that there is a serious engagement under way to help build the sinews of an effective provincial system of education. This effort is collaborative. It is driven by the political leadership and it depends on co-operative work between the professionals of the national and provincial departments of education. It is also supplemented, I may say, by the professional resources of a large number of academic and nongovernmental organisations and agencies whose work is financed both on budget and by the continued welcome support of our international and local funding partners. I should say that without the assistance of these agencies and NGOs, much of our work would not be carried out.

Since July last year, when I published my Call to Action, I have insisted that we cannot do everything at once. It is essential to prioritise and, within priorities, to set targets. My main priorities have been translated into an action programme for the period January 2000 to December 2004 under the watchword Tirisano - working together. This phrase perfectly captures both the spirit of co-operative government and the need for the mobilisation of all the creative forces in society in support of our education project. Deputy President Jacob Zuma launched our Tirisano implementation plan - which is available, again, in the library - in January this year, and the details were published in our 1999 annual report. Each province has since then drawn up a plan for Tirisano that reflects its particular needs and style of operation.

Provincial action on education priorities is being undertaken within a budgetary context, but is still exceptionally difficult. The total outlay on provincial education from the national equitable share has reached R43 billion in this financial year, close to 40% of total provincial budgets. However, on perusing the actual allocation by the provinces, only R42 billion was actually allocated to education. So R1 billion out of the equitable share made by the national exchequer was transferred to other uses.

Provincial budget management has been a major project of the national and provincial departments of education, in collaboration with their counterparts in Finance. The painful process of correcting the extremely high, largely unbudgeted increases in education spending in 1996-97 is still an important factor in the budget process of most provinces. The dramatic increase in the baseline of education expenditure in that year was not sustainable because, in fact, there was a 24% increase for education in that year. Consequently, there has been a real annual decline in total education expenditure from 1996-97 to 1999-2000, although I should say that the total allocation for education still constitutes 21% of the national Budget.

Personnel costs represent by far the largest proportion of education spending, and the cost of educators, as distinct from public servants, is by far the largest factor in personnel spending. Thanks to the agreements reached in June 1998, between the Minister of Education and the three national teachers’ unions, the management of the educator cost has been brought under strict control.

The key factors in this process have been a nationally agreed system of norms to guide the allocation of teachers to schools and a sophisticated process of rationalisation and redeployment that has been undertaken through collaboration between the national and provincial departments and the teachers’ unions.

In most provinces, particularly in the largest, poorest and most rural provinces, personnel spending continues to crowd out nonpersonnel spending to an unacceptable degree. These provinces inherited inefficient school systems with very high failure rates and large numbers of repeaters, major backlogs of school buildings and services; especially, I regret to say, water and sanitation; but also electricity and telephones, and inadequate teaching and learning resources, lack of libraries and equipment. This is our enormous legacy. Provincial education departments whose governments were placed under section-100 conditions by the Minister of Finance have had to accept close central control by provincial treasuries and to contribute towards the elimination of provincial overdrafts.

Under such conditions, it must again be acknowledged that the education budgets of the poorest and most rural provinces are not yet educationally credible. The phrase was introduced by the 1998 MTEF Education Sector Review Team. What it means is that, even under optimal management conditions, the budgeted allocations to most provincial education departments are wholly inadequate to provide for the essential education services for which they are responsible.

I want to make two comments on this situation. Firstly, the efforts to improve the quality of education spending must continue. This is essential to ensure that waste and inefficiency are reduced and funds are directed properly to where the needs are greatest. This involves capacity building and improving management systems in provincial departments through the professional partnership, including technical support, between the national and provincial education departments on the one hand, and the Education and Finance departments on the other. A large part of the conditional grant of R272 million this year will continue to support this joint work, or the building up of capacity together with the invaluable support of external agencies.

Secondly, I am all too aware that our Constitution places an unmistakable duty upon the state and upon this Government to protect and fulfil the right of everyone to basic education, including adult basic education. The language of the Constitution is unambiguous. This right is not qualified by considerations of progressive availability of resources or other reasonable impediments.

I am attempting to address this matter on a number of fronts. Firstly, the Department of Education is engaged in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Financial and Fiscal Commission to explore what changes could be effected to the weightings of variables in the revenue-sharing formula. The objective is to achieve a more equitable division of revenue for the poorest provinces with the most serious inherited needs.

Secondly, my department has produced a persuasive video that was shown to the Cabinet a few months ago, together with a presentation on the appalling state of school buildings and services in the poorest rural areas of our country. As a result, my department has Cabinet authority to establish, as a matter of urgency, a technical capacity for physical planning.

This will enable the department to work more effectively with the appropriate state departments, parastatal agencies and the provinces to improve our national data base and geographic information system on school facilities, to draw up a national plan and priority programme for school buildings and services, and to establish relevant and cost-effective norms and standards.

Thirdly, White Papers on Early Childhood Development and on Special Needs Education are at an advanced stage of preparation. These long-awaited policy documents - too long awaited, I must say - will be presented for Cabinet consideration within the next few weeks.

Fourthly, the National Literacy Agency is finishing the design stage. When established, this vital new national institution will spearhead the national campaign for literacy and numeracy. The campaign will be the major vehicle for delivering access to the first stage of basic education for millions of illiterate South Africans whose fundamental right to learning has, up to now, been denied them.

Literacy and numeracy are the first steps towards a complete basic education as envisaged by our Constitution. The Adult General Education and Training Bill has been published for comment and will be considered this year by Parliament. I should also add that in the past month I have published a Bill to provide for quality assurance in general and further education and training, including the establishment of a quality assurance council, as well as Bills to provide amendments to various other pieces of education legislation, including the Higher Education Act.

I want to refer to changes that are occurring in the provision of teacher education. Over the past six years the future of teacher colleges, which are still under provincial control, has been subjected to a protracted process of investigation and planning. In 1994 we inherited approximately 150 institutions providing teacher education to about 200 000 students, of whom about 80 000 were enrolled in colleges of education.

Many teacher colleges have been established by homeland and so-called independent states without consideration, of course, of need or quality. Many more were no more than vocational high schools by another name. The per student cost in these teacher colleges well exceeded the per student cost in universities. This situation was impossible. In 1996 the Council of Education Ministers decided to embark on a programme of rationalisation as a precursor to the incorporation of the remaining viable colleges into higher education.

By this year the number of teacher colleges had been reduced to 50 with 20 000 students, out of a total of 82 public institutions offering teacher education to 115 000 students. Of these, about 20 000 are enrolled in preservice programmes and 95 000 in in-service programmes.

Once the provincial rationalisation process is completed, 25 earmarked contact colleges of education will have about 15 000 students, and two distance education colleges will enrol another 5 000, measured as full-time equivalents.

In the course of the planning process it became clear that no public college of education can survive as an independent institution within the higher education sector. Therefore all surviving colleges will be incorporated into universities and technikons respectively. I have already announced the first wave of incorporations of colleges of education into universities and technikons. I intend to announce the second wave of incorporations as soon as agreements with the parties are complete.

In the last quarter of the year we will have a national conference on teacher education. The Department of Education will present a vision for teacher education in the radically changed circumstances in which we find ourselves. I intend that this conference be the launch pad for a major revision in popular attitudes towards teaching as a profession, an occasion that will introduce the country to a new and compelling vision for teacher education and teacher development.

In the Tirisano programme we have nominated HIV/Aids as our number one priority. We are acutely aware of our responsibility to ensure that our sector does everything in its capacity to contribute to the reduction of HIV infections through timely and appropriate education. We have already delivered nearly 1,2 million booklets to schools in South Africa in pursuit of this.

We have three projects. The first is to improve awareness, information and advocacy. The second is to ensure that life skills and HIV/Aids education are integrated into the curriculum at all levels of the system. The third is to develop planning models for understanding the impact of HIV/Aids on the education and training system.

We are working very closely with the Departments of Health, Welfare and Finance to ensure that the Government’s special allocation for an integrated HIV/Aids strategy is effectively used. A large proportion of this year’s allocation of R75 million will be channelled into support for the education campaign in and out of schools.

The integrated strategy against HIV/Aids is so important for the future of our nation that this Council might consider conducting a special debate on the topic, particularly on its impact on young people and on teachers. I hope that the Chairperson and the Whips will agree to this.

Let me end by saying that there is now a new climate of opinion about education. There is now national mobilisation in support of education at every level, and I want, very much, for the Council to be part of that national mobilisation. I thank you very much. Siyabonga. [Applause.]

Mr D M KGWARE: Madam Chairperson, hon Minister of Education, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the challenges brought about by the communications and technological revolution place a responsibility on all developing countries to transform their education systems and to align themselves so that they can respond to the challenges of the new century.

It is a fact that most modern nations with successful economies have invested heavily in the education and training of their people. It is no coincidence, therefore, that these are also the nations that are setting the pace with the latest communications and technological innovations.

Unfortunately, that was not the case in South Africa prior to our first democratic election. Education under the apartheid regime was not geared towards the development of the full human potential of South Africans. On the contrary, the vast majority of educational resources were used to develop the human potential of a small privileged minority while the education of the majority of our people was designed to condemn them to employment as low-paid manual labourers and also to retain the levels of poverty.

This unequal distribution of educational resources resulted in, firstly, the average amount spent on white people being 147% higher than the amount spent on African pupils, white students receiving almost twice as many university degrees as African students in 1993 and white students being awarded 73% of technikon diplomas against the 14% of African students in 1993.

The tragic end result of this inequity is reflected in the 1996 census report, which was released in 1998. More than four million South Africans over the age of 20 are illiterate. Just more than 3,5 million people have had some primary school education, and slightly more than 1,7 million have completed their primary school education. Fewer than 3,5 million people have acquired senior certificates and close to 1,3 million have acquired higher education. Such was the legacy which had to be addressed by our new Government when it assumed power in 1994.

I want to make use of this opportunity to congratulate the Minister of Education and his department on the visionary Tirisano implementation programme which was drawn up to address the legacy of apartheid education. Their plan encapsulates the nine priorities identified by the Minister which constitute the basic building blocks for the development of a fully functioning education and training system that will drive us into the 21st century. It is an innovative plan through which we hope to overcome the obstacles of massive inequality, lack of access to facilities, low morale of teachers and failure in governance or management of our schools and the other educational institutions as well as the poor quality of learning in much of the system.

Much of the groundwork for the successful implementation of this plan has already been done. So far, eight of the nine provinces have indicated that they have drafted their education plan using the Tirisano implementation plan released by the hon the Minister of Education.

Provincial education departments have made assessments of their human resources to determine whether they have sufficient capacity to implement the work that has to be accomplished in pursuit of the implementation of Tirisano. Four of the provinces have already indicated that they have sufficient human resources within their existing personnel composition to proceed with the implementation plan.

It is absolutely essential that all provinces have the necessary human resource capacity to implement Tirisano. Two of the programmes which form part of the Tirisano implementation plan relate to the reduction of illiteracy and the creation of a vibrant further education and training system which would equip youth and others to meet the social and economic needs of the new century.

The eradication of illiteracy is very important, because of the direct link between illiteracy and poverty. This came out in a report by the Human Sciences Research Council which indicated that households with poorly educated heads of household had a far higher incidence of poverty than those with better educated heads of household. The eradication of illiteracy is therefore an important weapon in our fight to stem the tide of poverty.

In the same vein, we must also ensure that our institutions of higher learning produce South Africans who not only have relevant skills and knowledge which will enable us to keep pace with technology and innovation, but actually set the pace with their new and innovative ideas.

All of us who are interested in the wellbeing of our education system have a responsibility to assist with the successful implementation of this Bill. [Applause.]

Ms T M JOEMAT-PETTERSSON (Northern Cape): Madam Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, although the Minister does not directly control or influence the provincial education budgets, he has indeed cajoled us, through his Tirisano campaign, to share his vision and mission for the total transformation of education in the Northern Cape.

Our province has aligned its own strategic objectives with Tirisano priorities and programmes, and our strategic objectives, infused in financial planning, are captured in all delivery plans and budgets. We have been called to action to accelerate change and to speed up delivery. The Northern Cape province is indeed ready to respond to this call. Furthermore, we are committed to meeting the challenge to achieve total literacy by the year 2000. To some, this may seem an inflated target, but we believe it to be possible.

We are committed to clamping down on dysfunctional schools and undisciplined teachers and learners in our province. I would furthermore like to appeal to all our schools and SGBs to use whatever means are at their disposal to improve the discipline in their schools and to deal with learners who persist in compromising their own futures.

Discipline must be understood in a wider societal context which includes the classroom, the school and the community. A holistic view on discipline involves a shared vision and mission according to which goals are set by teachers, parents and learners. Let me join the Minisiter in saluting those educators, parents and learners who, under trying, difficult circumstances, continue to do their best. We share in the vision of an African renaissance, and we shall make our contributions, albeit in a small and incremental fashion.

The introduction of the Nama, Khoi and San languages into the Northern Cape education curriculum will continue, and our curriculum unit has set aside funds for this purpose. Similarly, we will fund a conscious and deliberate programme to improve and expand the teaching of African and indigenous languages in all schools in our province, including the former Model C schools.

We have targeted rural and farm schools for preferential delivery. We will consciously divert more resources to rural schools to develop capacity and quality amongst educators and school governing bodies. To effect equity and redress, approximately 350 educators have been redeployed this year in our province.

The provisioning of nonteaching staff at schools has also been equalised so that the inequalities that existed in this area are being phased out. Whereas expenditure on salaries represented 92% of our budget in the 1999- 2000 financial year, we now intend spending 86% of our budget on salaries. This will go a long way in accelerating service delivery in schools.

The implementation of the norms and standards for funding of public schools will revolutionise school governance by delegating powers to public schools. This will improve quality in public schools and establish disciplined and purposeful school environments. About 290 school governing bodies will be awarded various functions which include infrastructure maintenance, purchasing of learner-support material and paying for services which will allow them greater autonomy. This instrument is aimed at, amongst other objectives, favouring the needs of the poorest of the poor schools in our province. The schools in the poorest quintile are farm rural schools and previously disadvantaged schools.

We have started a drive to provide schools with computers and Internet access. Even the remotest schools can become part of the global village and broaden the horizons of the learners. The establishment of an e-network for schools will allow for greater co-operation and sharing amongst schools.

With regard to our school management teams, since 1994 we have experienced a high attrition rate mainly due to the VSPs, which resulted in many experienced educators and principals exiting the system. We have initiated a drive to re-establish school management teams. Induction of principals is taking place at all regional levels.

The procurement of learner-support material has been effective. I am proud to report that all our learner-support material for outcomes-based education had been delivered on time this year.

In conclusion, education can and must help to curb the spreading of HIV/Aids. In conjunction with the Department of Health, we have programmes in place to train educators in every school with a special focus on life- skills education. Let us all devote our time and resources to educating our people about this deadly disease. [Applause.]

Mr N M RAJU: Madam Chair, hon Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal, special delegates from the provinces, hon permanent delegates of the NCOP, recently the hon the Minister of Education was the unenvied recipient of a dunce cap for the perceived inadequacies and shortcomings of education in South African schools. However, the DP does not gloat over any embarrassment that the hon the Minister may have suffered. On the contrary, we felt that it was unfair and totally inappropriate that the one Minister in the Cabinet of President Thabo Mbeki who evinces such an industrial mien and who is the very epitome of commitment and application should have been awarded a dunce cap by the unschooled group of scholars.

However, to put things into perspective, one can understand the frustrations experienced by the schoolchildren. The education landscape in the country is indeed a bleak and sombre one, interrupted only by ant-hill mounds of undisciplined teachers and intransigent scholars and craters of shortages of resources such as textbooks, libraries and laboratories, even recreational facilities. I feel as Matthew Arnold did when he wrote Dover Beach

… the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain …

No, the poet was not describing the South Africa of today, but he could well have been.

Let me hasten to say that the DP acknowledges the merits of the hon the Minister’s five-year implementation plan that has just been released.

We are impressed with the Minister’s priorities in establishing school effectiveness and educator professionalism. Only a school system that functions effectively and efficiently could restore public confidence in the system. There must be a return to quality and standards, aspects which have disintegrated considerably in recent years. The hon the Minister would do well to pause and reflect on the damage being done to our schools and the whole culture of wholesome learning and teaching by certain elements within the pool of educators and the school populace. From every village in the furthest corner of our beloved country, mothers and fathers are crying out for unfettered access to decent education for their children.

Great sacrifices are being made by poor parents to ensure that their children will not have to tread the same terrain as them, impoverished and humiliated as they were by the accoutrements of poverty. The doors must open to an open-opportunity society, unhindered by the veritable bouncers that slam the doors of learning with utter disdain. The practitioners of such a culture of disdain, disrespect and dishonesty are none other than those educators who show an unprofessional attitude and conduct towards their professional mandate.

The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union must boldly but shamefacedly come to the front of the country’s classroom and apologise for its role in overestimating its own importance and underestimating the intelligence of the public. It must acknowledge, publicly, that within its inner bosom, there are some misguided educators who are not only undisciplined but show scant regard for professional ethics.

The DP therefore welcomes the development of the SA Council for Educators as a professional body for educators, to ensure teaching standards and ethics. The DP hopes that poor matric results have reached their nadir. We are optimistic that a serious attempt to rein in the miscreants in the teaching profession will go a long way towards raising the pass rate of not only matriculants, but all other grades as well.

The conduct of educators must evince a more disciplined commitment to their professional duties, and learners, too, must pay more serious attention to their classwork. Only when such a tone is set in our schools, can we really produce more acceptable percentages in the pass rate of matriculants and other grades.

Another arena of concern for the DP is the question of governance and management of our schools. The idea of invoking the South African Schools Act and establishing school governing bodies is yet another welcome feature of the Minister’s five-year implementation plan. Unfortunately, the functioning of these bodies, at present, leaves much to be desired. The absence of clear rules of conduct and of clarity on the eligibility of who should serve on the SGBs, tenure of service, reflection of school population demographics, etc, has had adverse consequences in educator appointments, promotions, granting of tuckshop permits and the like.

There is increasing evidence of principals colluding with chairpersons of SGBs in the appointment and promotion of educators. Age-old considerations of suitability, professional qualifications, seniority, etc, have been thrown to the wind. We request that the Minister consider giving serious attention to the subject of SGBs and establish the appropriate criteria for their smooth functioning.

I conclude with the hopeful words of Percy Bysshe Shelley in Ode to the West Wind:

O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

[Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I am glad to note that members are seeking to impress the Minister with their reading interests. [Laughter.]

Mr L SUKA: Madam Chair, hon Minister and hon members, may I be bold and open with this House today by making an assertion that all honest and keen observers of the performance of both national and provincial spheres of government in South Africa will not fail to notice the tremendous vision, collaboration and positive progress made from 1994 to date.

Notwithstanding the twin apartheid legacy of mass poverty and underdevelopment on the one hand, and a dysfunctional state machinery characterised by corruption, inefficiency, gross maladministration and poor financial management on the other hand, the Eastern Cape is perhaps the best illustration of these positive changes taking place in the new democratic South Africa.

We are the first to admit that the road we have travelled so far has been rough and tough. We are also aware that many more challenges and hardships lie ahead, but the resilience of our people, born of more than three centuries of struggle and their determination to forge ahead, buttressed our vision. Financial discipline and focused programmes will see us through.

Once more, this policy budget we present today is further testimony of our commitment to advancing the socioeconomic transformation agenda that was overwhelmingly endorsed in the 1999 elections by the people of South Africa and, in particular, the people of the Eastern Cape.

Regarding the 2000-01 budget, I must say that we commend the Minister for having changed the situation in that province. The Department of Education has emerged from a testing period as far as its finances are concerned. Insufficient budgetary resources have resulted in less than adequate allocation for education in schools. The effects of this situation have been manifest to all stakeholders in education. However, I want to proclaim to this House today that we have turned the corner and can now look forward to less desperate times ahead.

In this financial year the Department of Education will have a significant amount of funds available for nonpersonnel expenditure for the first time in three years. The size of the nonpersonnel budget is important, because it provides funding for essential teaching and learning materials and for the running costs of schools and other educational institutions.

Our allocation for nonpersonnel expenditure has improved dramatically to the tune of R653,3 million. During each of the previous two years the available nonpersonnel budget sank to between R200 million and R250 million owing to the suspension of funds for debt repayment. In 2000-01 the department will be able to devote its entire nonpersonnel budget to service delivery, resulting in increased availability of funds for schools.

The education department of the Eastern Cape has achieved control over expenditure, turning around overexpenditure of R991,2 million in 1997-98 to projected expenditure within the budget for the 1999-2000 financial year.

The success we have achieved in budget management, of course, comes at a cost to service delivery in this sector, if we remember last year. I do, however, believe that if we are able to address the remaining problems with regard to expenditure control, we will be able to provide for a rising flow in service in the years to come.

Significant progress has also been made in the payment of debt, which has been the principal factor in reducing the nonpersonnel budget of the department for the past two years.

At the end of 1997-98 the department reached a peak of R1,1 billion which had been reduced to R518 million by the start of the 1999-2000 financial year. Despite the additional burden imposed by rank and notch promotions during 1999-2000, a further sum of R223 million was directed to debt repayment. The department will therefore face an outstanding debt of R295 million, which brings the end of debt repayment within sight because of the improved budget which we have received.

We must also say that, despite the improvement in the budget, we are still faced with a few challenges in our province which I would like to mention. The first one is the question of infrastructure in schools. The situation is very serious in respect of this area. Many schools have virtually no classrooms due to the backlogs of the past as well as the devastating tornados in the rural areas. Members may recall the Transkei tornados. Huge sums of money are needed to address this backlog.

According to the audit review, the last time that a school was built or infrastructure was delivered in that area of Transkei was in 1982. Only one school was built since then. We have achieved remarkable improvement in that regard after the election of the democratic Government led by the ANC in 1994. In other words, those schools need to be rebuilt because some of them were built with mud.

With regard to the financial situation, although there was a substantial increment in our budget to which I have alluded, which is an attempt by the provincial treasurer to address some of the operational needs of the Department of Education, the base of needs is increasing annually. Areas that have to be looked at seriously, especially in our province, and which are always reported on in the press, include nonpayment of electricity by schools, especially those schools that are disadvantaged, and transport for rural children. More than a million children have to walk long distances to school. As members will understand, our province has a rural nature. As a result one will find pupils walking a single journey of more than three kilometres to school. We would like a lot of assistance in respect of this issue.

Another area is the roads. This is a cry in the province. For instance, 45 000 km of our province’s road network is gravel road and only 7 000 km is tarred road. When there are rains, schools in our province become inaccessible, especially in the Transkei. I do not know what happened to the budgets of the previous governments. When we bring these issues on board, it seems as if the ANC Government is ineffective, and yet we forget the legacy that we have inherited from the past. [Interjections.]

We need to increase the base for critical subjects by appointing, if possible, more science teachers, that is to say mathematics, biology and accounting educators, so as to shift and advance the outcomes-based education in that direction.

I will not allude to the question of textbooks because we still have a few schools which have not yet received textbooks. I remember that in our REC meeting, very recently, there was a cry that textbooks had not yet arrived at particular schools.

I also want to say that teachers’ morale has risen dramatically and I understand that Sadtu is having a three-day NGC to advance transformation in education. So the statement that was made by the DP member here, and the many questions raised, are invalid. I will not take that lying down. It is a pity that he referred to Sadtu, because across the country some teachers are ill-disciplined, not Sadtu teachers per se.

With regard to the management of schools, the province is instilling strict disciplinary measures in all schools that seem to be wayward.

Although there are schools in which discipline has broken down, there are very few of them. In this province especially, we have adopted a no- nonsense approach. When schools opened very recently some of our members did see the hon member Majodina visiting one of the schools. That is our line of action. During our constituency week we will be physically visiting those schools that are not doing us a favour.

On the question of Tirisano, it is very clear. I will not repeat or mince my words. The issue for us is to follow Tirisano to the letter. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mrs J NDIMANDE (Northern Province): Chairperson and the House, thank you very much for affording me this opportunity to share with members the Northern Province’s perspective on identified aspects pertaining to education. The Northern Province department of education has a guideline amount of R5 992 037 000 allocated within eight programmes. This amount is ringfenced for education financial management from the national Department of Education.

The unringfenced guideline amount of the 2000-2001 budget for the provincial department of education represents a percentage growth rate of 1,13% from the unringfenced 1999-2000 budget. It is worth mentioning that our budget consumes 43,86% of the total provincial budget. It is through this budget that our department hopes to fast-track the development of human resources in this province. The salvation of our province from the abyss of ignorance, poverty and lawlessness depends largely on the intervention strategies which the Department of Education will put in place.

Regarding school management, the success of any institution depends on the effectiveness of its management structure. It is precisely for that reason that our provincial department of education takes school management development very seriously. Of the 4 500 schools in the province, 474 schools are led by acting principals. There are 875 vacant deputy principalship posts and 2 489 vacant head of department posts.

We have already advertised all the 474 principal posts and we hope to fill them by 30 June 2000. Our next priority is that of the heads of department, if the curricular imperatives of our schools are to be realised. To this end, we are planning to fill the head of department posts in a staggered fashion, so as to operate within the limitations of our budget. The next category of posts to be filled will be that of deputy principals.

We are also engaged in the training of our principals in the fields of whole school development, financial management and labour relations. We are convinced that this kind of training will improve the management capacity of our principals and thereby enhance the performance of our schools. Show me a good school, and I will show you a good principal.

In terms of the availability of textbooks, the provision of adequate learning support material remains one of the worrisome issues within the department of education, not only in the Northern Province, but countrywide. While we remain steadfastly committed to providing each and every learner with all basic learning tools such as textbooks, stationery and classroom accommodation, budgetary constraints remain the most critical factor.

In the 1999-2000 financial year we were able to prioritise the supply of textbooks for Grades 1, 2, 3, 7, and 12. For Grades 1, 2 and 12 this was mostly in the form of top-ups, whereas for Grades 3 and 7 we purchased a full complement of OBE learning materials.

Only R54 million has been budgeted for textbooks in the 2000-01 financial year.

It must also be noted that next year we will be phasing in Grade 4 and 8. We hope that the national department will be able to bail us out in this respect. We are, however, putting systems in place to increase the textbook recovery rate at the end of each academic year. Our department throws its entire weight behind the Cosas-initiated campaign dubbed ``Operation Mazibuye’’.

Effective school governing bodies and parental involvement in school affairs is undoubtedly a precondition for effective teaching and learning. Experience has shown that effective school governance, coupled with active parental participation in school matters, brings about stability in schools and also enhances the general performance of our schools. To this end, our provincial department of education has set aside some funds for the elections and for the capacity-building programme for school governing bodies, or SGBs. The participation of NGOs and private donors in the area of capacity-building for SGBs is also helping a great deal in addressing our budgetary constraints. We remain grateful for this kind of financial assistance.

Regarding Tirisano, the department’s budget is geared towards the realisation of the five Tirisano programmes. We are, however, unable to implement all the programmes owing to budgetary constraints. We have already developed business plans around the Tirisano programmes so that we can access the policy reserve funds or discretionary funds to implement the same. Our core structures and programmes have been infused into the school effectiveness programme to ensure that our schools become effective sites of educational change.

We hope to complete the rationalisation and redeployment process, appoint principals in all 474 of our schools that are still run by acting principals, and establish the second democratic governing bodies in all schools by the end of June 2000. We have already sent work programmes for all subjects to our schools. Members will appreciate that our province has, since 1998, made trial examinations a permanent feature of the department.

These work programmes will go a long way towards ensuring that all our Grade 12 teachers have completed three quarters of the various syllabi by June 2000, when our Grade 12 learners will be sitting for the trial examinations. Our Grade 12 learners are also engaged in Saturday classes in the programme called Learner Performance Improvement Strategy. We will also subject all of them in winter to enrichment classes. All of these intervention strategies are meant to enhance the performance of our schools and improve matric results, in particular.

Regarding rural school development when the new democracy dawned in 1994 the whole country had a classroom backlog of 60 000. The Northern Province alone accounted for 35 000 of this national backlog. Up to today we have been able to build 16 000 classrooms. This means that we still have a backlog of 19 000 classrooms. In this financial year we have allocated R21 million towards the construction of 188 classrooms in 47 identified schools. The majority of these schools are in the rural areas where our children are receiving their tuition under trees.

For us to be able to address the infrastructure provisioning backlog in this province, we will need R6,5 billion in order to have adequate classrooms, administrative blocks, libraries, laboratories, school halls and playgrounds. At this budgetary rate of R21 million per annum, we will need in excess of 150 years to address this backlog. We therefore once more appeal to the national Government to bail us out so that our children can develop on the same level as children from the other provinces. We obviously cannot wait 150 years for backlogs to be eradicated.

The Northern Province department of education places much emphasis on the retraining of teachers. In addition to other programmes conducted at our rationalised colleges of education, we have established an instant component called the Centre for Continuous Professional Development. Curriculum advisers are stationed at those centres at which educators are retrained in the field of OBE maths, science, technology, English, and management sciences such as business economics, economics and accounting. Funds permitting, we would also like to see these centres operating at their maximum potential to include all disciplines offered in our schools. In conclusion, the horrors created by the past inequitable distribution of resources still haunt us to this day. For the Northern Province, this legacy finds conspicuous expression in the provision of education. We remain hopeful that the imminent visit by the Portfolio Committee on Education will go a long way in exposing the harsh realities of the situation in our schools. The sooner we address these backlogs, the better for the future of our children, the province and the country as a whole. [Applause.]

Mrs G N M PANDOR: Mr Chairperson, the commitment of the Government to education investment is further confirmed by this year’s allocation to education at all levels. I think the Minister would agree that Government’s commitment to educational progress remains unwavering, as he indicated in his introductory comments.

Participants in the debate on this Vote have added provincial detail to the various initiatives outlined by the Minister, and have pointed to the significant range of challenges that continue to face South Africa. In my view the Minister, his department and Ministry have to be congratulated for returning sanity to education. It seems that, at last, we may have a dedicated teaching force staffing our schools and offering quality education to our learners. We may have learners who, for the first time in many decades, seem keen to take on the responsibility for learning.

Congratulations are also due to the Minister for his resolve to demystify Curriculum 2005. Clearly, curriculum change is vitally necessary, but its success depends on teachers knowing how to effectively implement it. The learning areas and objectives of Curriculum 2005 make a great deal of sense, but there is a need to ensure adequate teacher development programmes in all these learning areas so that teachers can cope. Beyond this training for the new curriculum, departments of education, both at the provincial and at the national levels, also have to begin to closely examine the possibility of including the wide range of subjects that remain closed to the majority of South African learners.

Music, art, drama and foreign languages are subjects that have been denied to black children. This means that, for many of them, there is little chance of their contributing to the African renaissance. These children can only converse with other South African children. They cannot speak to children in Angola, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Côte d’Ivoire. Such a situation cannot go unchanged, particularly given the important role that South Africa is going to play in Africa.

An added and major area of challenge is one that, surprisingly, enjoys very little discussion in the NCOP and, it seems, in provincial legislatures. This is the higher education sector. The silence is probably due to this area being an exclusive national competence, but given the fact of institutions being in provinces and the vital role that they contribute to our development, there is much that provinces could say about universities, technikons and colleges.

The Minister’s recent actions in this sector are welcome initiatives. It seems we will begin to see active implementation of critical aspects of the Higher Education Act of 1997. The Minister’s recent engagement with senior managers in this sector is also to be applauded.

The role that various vice chancellors have played in the decline of tertiary institutions is most worrisome, as is the negative role of councils that do not exercise the statutory teeth they have to ensure efficiency and responsiveness in the sector.

At times, when one reads the submissions from some institutions, one gets the feeling that they do not appreciate the critical importance of ensuring that we have a thriving and accountable higher education sector, a sector that will offer quality programmes and quality graduates to South Africa. One often reads the whining tone of some of these submissions, a tone that implies that it is self-evident, for example, that historically disadvantaged institutions, or HDIs, are deserving. This is a tone and belief that I think has to be vigorously challenged.

Having said that, however, it must be acknowledged that HDIs did make a significant contribution to black access to higher education in the tough days under apartheid. The agenda before them and ourselves today is to convert that contribution into a new and worthwhile form of delivery to South Africa. This is necessary because, unfortunately, a negative spirit and ethos entered several of our HDIs in the early days of our democracy. It is an ethos that suggests that change and transformation are not challenges, but are characteristics one is endowed with if one is disadvantaged. I think we need to get rid of this attitude.

The Minister has correctly sought to challenge this ``I am evidently deserving’’ attitude which is displayed by some of these HDIs. This is to be applauded. However, it must be stressed that we do need to look seriously at how we develop and reconstruct HDIs so that they do make an increasingly positive contribution to our human resource needs. I am firmly of the view that programme-based higher education planning will help us to erase the belief that higher education is an urban-based activity and that rural-based institutions cannot succeed in the sector. I trust that the reports of the various task teams that have been created and established by the Minister will set higher education on a new development path, and will offer some of our HDIs the opportunity to play a meaningful role in research and teaching at the post-secondary level of education.

Finally, I would like to turn to the worrying instances of sexual harassment in our schools. This is a subject we have not raised up to this point, and I have noted with concern that there is, in fact, a significant incidence of sexual harassment of girls in our schools.

I must also indicate that I have a feeling that at times we do not react fast enough, nor do we seem to have disciplinary measures that ensure that teachers who harass pupils will be dealt with speedily and effectively, and that school principals who utilise their positions to harass female teachers will be dealt with speedily and effectively. I think it is a fact that children go to school in order to take advantage of an opportunity to advance themselves and to fully enhance their potential. They do not go there in order to be harassed by adults who are in loco parentis to them.

I believe that we need to ask the Minister, in his discussions with the MECs at provincial level, to urge action in this area, because the reports of all these instances are unwelcome reports and they evidence actions by teachers which should not exist in our schools.

I would like to thank the committee for having allowed me to participate in this debate, and I am truly excited at the new developments in education that we see emerging in South Africa today. [Applause.]

Mev J WITBOOI: Mnr die Voorsitter, agb Minister en agb lede, die onderwys, die voetstuk waarop die vooruitgang van enige nasie gebou word, kom vandag in hierdie Huis aan die beurt. Die onderwysbegroting is met 2% verminder, en as ons begin somme maak, mag ons tot die gevolgtrekking kom dat tot 11 000 onderwysers dalk uit hulle posisies sal moet padgee. My somme mag verkeerd wees; ek was nie ‘n wiskundige op skool nie. Dit is 11 000 onderwysers wat dalk broodnodig is om ‘n nasie te help bou.

Die onderwysbegroting is dié begroting van elke land, want dit is die begroting wat die daarstelling van geleenthede moet bied om ‘n rooskleurige toekoms op alle vlakke te bewerkstellig. Die Minister het ‘n wonderlike plan, naamlik Tirisano, en ons almal is oortuig dat as sy begroting sou toelaat wat hy in die vooruitsig gestel het om ongeletterdheid by volwassenes en jongmense binne vyf jaar uit te wis, die lewenstandaarde van miljoene mense kan verbeter, en die Nuwe NP steun hom heelhartig hierin. Ek staan vandag hier voor die agb Minister om hom te vra hoe ons Suid- Afrika op ‘n wenpad wil plaas as die Regering besig is om die pre-primêre skole dood te wurg. Sielkundiges beweer dat wat ‘n mens in sy eerste ses lewensjare leer, nooit vergeet word nie. As dit so is, en ek is ook nie ‘n sielkundige nie, vra ek my die vraag af of die pre-primêre fase nie juis die grondslag moet bied sodat ons in die hoëronderwysfase die wiskundiges en ekonome van hierdie land kan oplewer nie.

As ons ons verbind tot die leuse, ``‘n Gelyke kans vir alle leerders,’’ moet ons juis begin waar dit saak maak, naamlik onderwys in die pre-primêre fase in Suid-Afrika. Baie jare van vandag af moet die leerders wat nou in daardie fase sit as belastingbetalers tot die staatskas bydra. Hulle moet dit kan bekostig om aan ‘n goeie mediese fonds te behoort. Hulle moet trotse Suid-Afrikaners wees wat deel uitmaak van een van die ekonomiese reuse in die wêreld. Gaan ons hulle dit misgun deur toe te laat dat hulle sonder onderwysers sit as van die poste vakant geword het?

Die Nuwe NP kan hom ook nie versoen met die gedagte dat slegs R2 per dag tot ‘n maksimum van R10 per klas aan pre-primêre skole toegedeel word nie. Die Raad op Hoër Onderwys het skokkende feite rakende kwynende studentegetalle aan hoëronderwysinstellings bekend gemaak. Dit is kommerwekkend dat vooruitskattings van getalle by die hoëronderwysinstellings nie gerealiseer het nie en dat daar volgens die verslae aan die Gekose Komitee oor Onderwys voorgelê ‘n beduidende afname in getalle is by hoëronderwysinstellings in voorheen benadeelde streke.

Daar is vele vrae op hierdie gebied wat beantwoord moet word. Dit is vrae soos: wat het van ons land se studente geword? Watter finansiële impak gaan hierdie tendens, sou dit voortduur, op hierdie instellings hê? Gegrond op die feit dat een van die Minister se nege prioriteite is dat die opvoedkundige instellings die sentrum van die gemeenskap moet wees, wil ons glo dat die Minister onverwyld aan hierdie negatiewe aspek aandag sal gee.

Die onderwys is nie gespaar van korrupsie nie. Baie gevalle doen hulle voor waar voornemende toetreders tot die arbeidsmark asook ander leerders vals sertifikate te koop kan kry, soms by mense wat hulself opvoeders noem.

Die Nuwe NP voel dat praktyke van dié aard nie tuishoort in ``Onderwys Suid- Afrika’’ nie. Die Nuwe NP waardeer die feit dat die agb Minister van Onderwys en die Departement Gesondheid hulle aan die inwerkingstelling van Vigs-programme sal toewy.

Kennis oor die nagevolge van hierdie monster-epidemie is die minste wat ons aan ons leerders kan oordra, en hoe vroeër met sodanige programme begin word, hoe beter vir ons land se ekonomie op die lang termyn.

Ek sluit af deur te sê, net die beste is goed genoeg vir ons kinders. Mag hierdie Begroting die vermoë hê om die beste vir hulle te gee. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Mrs J WITBOOI: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, education, the foundation upon which the prosperity of any nation is built, will be discussed in this House today. The education budget has been decreased by 2%, and once we start making calculations, we may come to the conclusion that up to 11 000 teachers may have to vacate their posts. My calculations may be incorrect; as a student I did not excel at maths. That means 11 000 teachers who may be essential in helping to build a nation.

The education budget is the most important budget of every country, because it is the budget that must make opportunities available to ensure a bright future at all levels. The Minister has a wonderful plan, namely Tirisano, and we are all convinced that if his budget were to allow what he has envisaged, namely to eradicate illiteracy among adults and young people within five years, this could improve the standard of living of millions of people, and the New NP supports him wholeheartedly in this.

Today I stand here before the hon the Minister to ask him how we can place South Africa on the road to victory, if the Government is killing pre- primary schools. Psychologists allege that what one learns in the first six years of one’s life, one never forgets. If that is so, and I am also not a psychologist, I ask myself whether the pre-primary phase should not in fact form the foundation, so that in the higher education phase we can produce the mathematicians and economists of this country.

If we commit ourselves to the slogan ``an equal chance for all learners,’’ we should really start where it matters, namely education in the pre- primary phase in South Africa. Many years from now the learners who are now in that phase will have to contribute to the treasury as taxpayers. They must be able to afford to belong to good medical schemes. They must be proud South Africans who form part of one of the economic giants of the world. Are we going to begrudge them that by allowing them to be left without teachers if some of the posts become vacant?

The New NP can also not reconcile itself with the idea that only R2 per day up to a maximum of R10 per class is allocated to pre-primary schools.

The Council on Higher Education has made public shocking facts with regard to declining student numbers at higher education institutions. It is alarming that projected numbers at higher education institutions have not become a reality and according to the reports which have been submitted to the Select Committee on Education, there is a significant decrease in numbers at higher education institutions in previously disadvantaged areas.

In this domain there are many questions which must be answered. Questions such as: what has become of the students of our country? What financial implications will this tendency have for these institutions, if it were to continue? Given the fact that one of the Minister’s nine priorities is that educational institutions must be the centre of the community, we want to believe that the Minister will pay attention to this negative aspect without delay.

Education is not free of corruption. There are many instances where potential entrants to the labour market, as well as other learners, can buy forged certificates, sometimes from people who call themselves educators.

The New NP is of the opinion that such practices do not belong in ``Education South Africa’’. The New NP appreciates the fact that the hon the Minister of Education and the Department of Health will dedicate themselves to the implementation of Aids-programmes.

Knowledge about the impact of this monster epidemic is the least we can convey to our learners, and the earlier we start with such programmes, the better it will be for the economy of our country in the long term.

I want to end by saying that only the best is good enough for our children. May this Budget have the capacity to give them the best. [Applause.]]

Mr P G QOKWENI: Chairperson, hon Minister, MECs, delegates and members, I remember the time when I first met the hon the Minister. I told him that I did not envy him the job that he was going to do. His response was that I must have been a schoolmaster. Later, in the course of time, I again met the hon the Minister and told him that I now envied him because I could see the strides he was making.

This debate should provide a critique on the extent the resources allocated are matching the policy priorities and advice on whether we have created incentives for efficiency and equity in education service delivery. This should be seen in the spirit of the hon the Minister’s Tirisano project to salvage parts of our education system from their dysfunctionality, to redress the inequalities, rekindle the educator morale, confront failure of governance and management, and address the poor quality of learning in the light of his nine priorities.

This review, further, is informed by the keen support given his renewed vigour by the various MECs, amongst them that of the Eastern Cape, with a 12-point plan. I recall there are also other MECs from other provinces who had plans of their own. However, the success of these plans will depend largely on an adequate supply of skilled school managers and educators. It is a fact that rural and township schools in many instances were found unready to implement the new school funding norms, as they did not know how to manage an institution. Some did not even have a bank account at all. This is an indication of the imbalances we still have to redress.

We probably have to go beyond consultation and plans on the educator appraisal system to implement a rigorous performance management system at all levels with constructive reviews given at intervals, backed by personal development programmes as part of the performance contract.

This further indicates the need to go beyond the formulae we use at present for funding the provinces in order to cater for the needs occasioned by the disparities in the historical development of these provinces. Thanks to the hon the Minister’s endeavours to commit Government to bringing about redemption in this regard. There is a need, therefore, for the conditional grants to include amounts to support capacity-building and eliminate classroom backlogs.

The report of the last provincial study tour in the Eastern Cape placed the funding requirement at about R600 million per annum over five years to address classroom backlogs only, and R92 million to rebuild and renovate the rural schools damaged by natural disasters. The problem of children who travel from the banks of the Xolobe for three hours on a one-way journey to the banks of the Nqancule, crossing a number of rivers like the Mbulu and Mbulukhweza, through Luthuli and Nconcolorha of Tsomo, indicates the state of permanent disaster in which the province of the Eastern Cape finds itself.

Ms P C P MAJODINA: Thetha mkhaya. [Tell them, homeboy.]

Mr P G QOKWENI: It creates a disaster, not only when there are floods, it adds to the state of perpetual disaster.

Higher education institutions have had to increase access and participation in line with the policies of the Government and in keeping with the call for massification. This happens in the face of declining contributions by Government, placing especially the historically disadvantaged institutions in situations of greater disadvantage. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr E SEGALO (Free State): Mr Chairperson, the state of education in our province is no different from that of the rest of the country. We continue to be confronted with more or less the same challenges that are found in all parts of our country, particularly where education is concerned.

These challenges sometimes appear to be insurmountable, but with the will and determination of our people, they are equally being handled and managed. We cannot fold our arms and sing songs of despair. That will not get our country anywhere. We have to turn the system around with the few resources at our disposal in order to ensure that all our people are on board, that we deal urgently and purposefully with education transformation, and that we redress the past imbalances and use education as a mechanism to build a society free of fear and anger, a society that shares the same value system and believes in the notion of equality, nonracialism and integration.

The Free State education department has been engaged in a series of consultations and interactions with various stakeholders. This has been largely aimed at, firstly, ensuring that public quality education and training is assured; secondly, that we take along all relevant stakeholders in education; and, lastly, that we mobilise all sectors of communities in the reconstruction of our education system.

From January 2000, when the schools reopened, the department has been engaged in a process of visiting our 12 districts, the purpose being to engage with our officials at operational level and to chart a way forward collectively. Subsequent to that, all schools that had a pass rate of less than 40% in the Grade 12 examinations were called to account for their performance. These schools were divided into two categories. The first category was made up of all those schools which had achieved a pass rate of between zero and 20%. The second group comprised those which had achieved a pass rate above 20% but less than 40%. Consultations focused on addressing shortcomings and weaknesses of the past, and provision of required management support and assistance by the department.

The process is going to be carried through until the end of the academic year. However, matric results cannot be viewed as the only barometer for educational excellence. We believe that these results are but a manifestation of the 12 years of schooling from Grade R to Grade 12. The focus is therefore on all the grades, in particular Grade 9, where continued common examinations are going to be introduced. Secondary schools have school development plans with clear targets and benchmarks. School management teams, along with the entire staff complement, are responsible for its implementation.

Disciplinary measures are being taken against both educators and officials who are not productive and who thus contribute towards the collapse of the system.

More than 90% of our schools have been allocated learning support material and textbooks. Delays have been caused by printers, in particular, of textbooks. The PTSAs have been duly replaced by school governing bodies in terms of the South African Schools Act. Most schools have these democratically recognised structures. However, they are not fully functional, especially in historically disadvantaged areas. In some instances, they are manipulated by school management teams. Some of them were not elected properly and were thus appointments by school management teams.

With regard to historically advantaged schools, there are some who still linger in the traditions of the past by failing to implement and align themselves with the new educational changes. They do not follow the South African Schools Act, but rather use the old apartheid government structures, such as parent associations-structures which inhibit participation of both learners and educators. The department has declared such undemocratic structures illegitimate and illegal.

Elections for new school governing bodies will be conducted in May for all the schools. Training is being provided for school management developers and other officials who will serve as electoral officers. The participation of communities in matters of education has greatly improved. A programme has been developed with the provincial legislature, through the standing committee on education, for members of the legislature to adopt schools and to assist in monitoring and lending support. Local government is also getting involved through the adoption of schools by councillors. Business and the private sector have been positively mobilised through provincial initiatives such as the Free State’s education awards. This sector contributed greatly towards the enhancement of quality public education by giving various sponsorships. This has made the partnership between Government and the private sector a reality.

Mobilisation of communities continues to be the hallmark of our programme of educational transformation and reconstruction. It is at the centre of this programme because, clearly, without visible participation of communities we will fail to achieve our noble intentions. The nine priorities of Tirisano are being attended to by the department and other role-players. Tirisano is being implemented side by side with the culture of learning and the teaching campaign.

Particular attention is given to infrastructural deficiencies that exist, with a view to addressing them. Our budget for the next three years is geared towards eliminating backlogs in our system, reducing the number of platooning schools, and ensuring that every classroom has an educator.

An HIV/Aids programme focusing on life-skills education and the workplace was recently launched. Training and development of the school as a whole institution continues to receive attention. More emphasis is placed on making our schools work, which is characterised by ensuring that learners learn, educators teach and managers manage. We are paying special attention to adult basic education and training, and we are in the process of developing clear targets in order to break the back of illiteracy.

The budget for this sector has been increased twofold. The state of education has improved dramatically in the province, and, with the necessary sustained support, reflects positive developments. There are certain schools that still practise subtle racism and discrimination, for instance, through their admission policies. However, integration is moving at a normal pace in the majority of our schools, especially at Model C schools.

Every learner has the right to register at an institution of his or her choice, provided he or she meets the necessary requirements as per the precepts of the South African Schools Act. The Human Rights Commission will be running a workshop for master trainers on antiracism and on developing good practices.

We intend to develop it further in the province in an attempt to combat racism. A provincial programme called Tswelopele has been running for more than three years. Its scope of work is around rural schools development. It is intended to provide required support to farm schools. Focus is given to both material and human resource development. To date, it has mobilised resources from the private sector for the building of classrooms, the organising of sports activities and learner and teacher support materials, focusing on reading and writing skills. The programme was the winner for two years of the Premier’s Award.

In the Free State - this is very important - the majority of our schools are farm schools. Discussions are continuing with individual farm owners and the Free State Agricultural Union to enter into contracts for schools on private land. Thus far our statistics reveal that we have 1 601 public schools on private property. Of this number, we have signed 357 contracts, and we are following up on 1 121 agreements. We have 123 farm owners who are not willing to enter into any agreement with the department. Once more we want to extend our gratitude to the Free State Agricultural Union for their support. The situation is being managed. However, it might get out of control if the majority of farm owners refuse to enter into agreements that would ensure that farm-school-going children enjoy their constitutional right to free and compulsory education.

Retraining of educators is a very critical component of our work. With these huge challenges confronting us, it is important to note that we have no option but to retrain and reorientate our educators because they constitute the bedrock of our success. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr J O TLHAGALE: Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister of Education, special delegates from the provinces and the honourable House, the Education Department’s mission is to provide quality education which is accessible, cost-effective and affordable to all relevant stakeholders.

For the current financial year, the department is focusing on delivery in accordance with the principles of Tirisano and on the nine priority plans outlined by the Minister of Education in his five-year plan for the 21st century. In an attempt to provide educational services in the North West province, its education budget has been increased from R3,27 billion in 1999-2000 to R3,51 billion for the 2000-2001 financial year. The province’s equitable share of the national Department of Education’s budget is 8%.

The performance of Grade 12 students has not been impressive in the past few years and has continued to decline every year. The pass rate dropped from 69,6% in 1996 to 52,1% in 1999. Whatever the reasons are for this decline, political parties in the province are not blameless in this state of affairs, because very often they have mobilised learners and educators for their own party-political ends. In other instances, educators have left their schools unattended in order to participate in marches organised by nonprofessional organisations. However, we have noted with appreciation the stringent steps that have been taken by the Government to apply the principle of no work no pay.

This principle will, to a large measure, curb disorder and loitering. The UCDP is in full support of this principle. HIV/Aids has been declared by the Department of Education as a first priority, and the provincial government has allocated some R1 793 million towards awareness-training and other support programmes.

This epidemic has assumed serious proportions in many urban and rural areas. Many youngsters are dying from this epidemic, whilst others who have contracted the disease choose to commit suicide in frustration. [Time expired.]

Mrs J N VILAKAZI: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister of Education and hon members, the task of transforming our formerly divided system of education has never been an easy task. The previous and the present Ministers of Education have both performed well in bringing the various racially divided systems of education together. In fact, this country has never had a system of education before. Various pieces of legislation aimed at transforming the education system have been passed. We in KwaZulu-Natal have supported some of these pieces of legislation - sometimes with some reservations, because, in transforming the old system, we have always believed that every cloud has a silver lining.

However, the IFP feels that there is a gap between legislation formulation and implementation. There are reasons for this. Firstly, provinces must implement national mandates, but the lack of capacity has militated against the provinces implementing national mandates. Secondly, another factor which negates the implementation capacity of provinces is funding. Thirdly, 90% of provincial budgets is taken up by personnel expenditure and, as a result, very meagre funds are available for capital projects, like giving security in the learning-teaching environment.

Fourthly, we have heard about teachers being killed on education premises, either by schoolchildren or by teachers killing other teachers, public members coming to school premises and murdering teachers or children, or schools being vandalised and a lot more disheartening events happening in these structures. With adequate funds and sound policies, this could be prevented. Fifthly, failure to transform education to indigenous languages is a thorn in the flesh to our children, who are faced with two foreign languages to master, especially in the schools which were formerly for whites only.

Our children need their languages. They are still faced with a barrier in learning, which needs to be broken as fast as possible. Sixthly, there is a lack of discipline in schools, under the guise of observing human rights. Children sometimes abuse this privilege and the culture of learning becomes affected. A laissez-faire attitude, or do-as-you-please, has never done anybody any good.

Imfundo yanamuhla ngabe yinhle kabi ukuba zikhona izinsiza zokufunda nokufundisa. Kukhona izikole, ikakhulu emakhaya, ezihlupheka ngendlela engakhulumeki. Izikole zasemakhaya azinazo izincwadi zokufunda. Abazali abaningi abasebenzi futhi ayikho imisebenzi.

Izingane zihamba amabanga amade ziya esikoleni mhlawumbe ingane ingakaze ikuthi mbibi ukudla. Ukudla ebezikade zikuthola akusekho. Akukho noma nje i- soup kitchen, noma isinkwa nobisi. Azikwazi izingane ukufunda zilambile. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[The present education would have been better if there was no shortage of study aids and teaching aids. There are schools, especially in the rural areas, that are experiencing terrible hardship. There are no books in the rural schools. Many parents are unemployed and there are no jobs in the rural areas.

Children walk long distances to get to their schools. Sometimes they do this without food in their stomachs. The food supply that has been assisting children at schools has been stopped. Now they do not even get soup, chicken, milk or bread. Children cannot learn while they are hungry.]

One cannot learn on an empty stomach. One cannot absorb anything.

Izinsiza-kufunda azikho, kodwa konke lokhu nokunye kukhomba khona ukungabikho kwemali eyanele eyabelwa ezemfundo. Kusadingeka ucwaningo olunzulu lapha ezikoleni. (Translation of Zulu paragraph follows.)

[There are no study aids at schools. This shows that the school budget was not sufficient. Serious research on the subject of schools needs to be undertaken.]

We need some research to be done into our education process to identify needs - what they need in this sphere so that appropriate solutions can be found. Then we will be able to resolve our problems.

Enye into eke yaba nenkinga ngukususwa kothisha ezikoleni beyiswa ngapha nangapha, i-redeployment. Okunye futhi okusikhathazayo manje yisifo seNgculazi. Ezinye izingane zishiywe ngabazali kwathi ezinye zafa ngumashayabhuqe. Ezinye ziguliswa ngukungatholi ukudla okunomsoco kanti ezinye kube ludlame emakhaya, nokunye nokunye. Sebeshilo abakhulumile lapha ukuthi kunodlame. Olunye udlame lusuka ngobaba nomama noma lusuke emphakathini noma mhlawumbe kube yilolu locansi.

Abanye abantwana bafunda kahle baphumelele kahle bese behlushwa ngukuthi abanayo imali yokuqhubeka. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[The redeployment of teachers has intensified problems at schools. Another problem that bothers us is the issue of Aids. Some children are orphans because of Aids, while others have died of it. There are children who are ill because they do not eat healthy food. Others are victimised by violence in their families and many other things. Some speakers have said that there is violence in some families. Parents at home can cause violence. The community also causes violence. It can be sexually-related violence.

Some children do well at school. They pass with flying colours. However, the snag is that they do not have money to enable them to study at tertiary institutions.]

They are successful but have no means to attend tertiary education institutions.

I would like to say to the hon the Minister that lending assistance to children who have done well at school and have passed well in their final matric examinations would be highly appreciated by parents, and would also be an incentive to children themselves. It would ultimately motivate other children to work hard so as to qualify for these incentives. [Applause.]

Mr A J WILLIAMS (Western Cape): Chair, I would like to congratulate the Minister and echo what some members said, that indeed the hon the Minister is bringing sanity back to education. In this regard I would like to congratulate the hon the Minister on his announcements earlier this year about the retrenchment of teachers as well as Curriculum 2005.

Daar is egter een aangeleentheid waaroor ek met die Minister verskil, en dit is die toelatingsouderdom van leerders in skole. Ek is van mening dat hierdie stap hoofsaaklik gedoen is om begrotingsredes, om binne die begroting te bly en beslis nie om opvoedkundige redes nie.

Ek wil ‘n beroep op die agb Minister doen om ernstig aandag te skenk aan hierdie saak en die hersiening daarvan te oorweeg ter wille van die baie begaafde leerders in ons land - begaafde leerders van Khayelitsha tot in Bishopscourt, en van Beaufort Wes tot in ons plakkerskampe - om hulle die geleentheid te gee om betyds met skoolbywoning te begin. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[However, there is one matter on which I differ with the hon the Minister, and that is the learners’ age of entrance to schools. I am of the opinion that this step was mainly taken for budgetary reasons, in order to keep within the budget, and definitely not for educational reasons.

I want to appeal to the hon the Minister to pay earnest attention to this matter and to consider a review thereof for the sake of the many talented learners in our country - talented learners from Khayelitsha to Bishopscourt, and from Beaufort West to our squatter camps - to grant them the opportunity to start attending school in good time.]

The Western Cape stays committed to delivering quality education to all the learners in our province. The Western Cape education department has therefore identified six critical success factors that we have to get right in order to deliver quality education. These six factors, which were endorsed, not only by the provincial cabinet, but also by the national Minister of Education, constitute our implementation framework for Tirisano.

These success factors, which also provide the guidelines for our budget, are the following: Firstly, to establish good time management or time-on- task across our system and particularly in all our schools. This means ensuring that all our pupils get approximately 200 full days of teaching and learning time each year. This is generally below the norm in countries characterised by excellent educational performance, but well above what many of our schools are currently achieving.

Our second objective is to introduce benchmarking to ensure quality throughout our education system. This is necessary to define our current situation, identify the obstacles to quality and measure progress towards overcoming these obstacles. Our third priority is to focus on core areas of the curriculum, namely of the sciences, including maths, science and information and communication technologies, languages, lifeskills with particular emphasis on HIV/Aids, and the full development of the further education and training band.

Our fourth priority is to work towards our schools becoming safe environments for learning and teaching. Fifthly, we want to focus on appropriate infrastructural development and, sixthly, we wish to establish effective school-based management, bringing more authority and accountability for performance to the place where effective learning and teaching have to take place. Because we are committed to transforming the educational opportunities of the poor, we strive to achieve these basic conditions in all our schools.

To help these factors, it is important that school governance must be of a very high standard. The South African Schools Act empowers governing bodies to perform certain functions and gives them a wide range of responsibilities. Sometimes there is conflict between governance and management. The former, that is governance, is a function of the governing body. The latter, that is management, is the responsibility of the principal and his or her management team. This conflict is not unexpected as a new system evolves. It may even be healthy as we struggle to demarcate the separate functions of governance and management. The principal is a key figure as he or she forms part of both functions as a member of the governing body and as a professional leader of the school.

The route that the country has chosen to take by way of the South African Schools Act is one of democratic governance which has placed responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the legally constituted governing body. The effect that this has had is that it removes certain nonstatutory bodies from decision-making within the school. It would seem inappropriate at this particular point, when governing bodies are about to complete their first ever three-year term of office, to consider giving any other structures a say within the governance of a school. What we need to consider, as we approach the election of new governing bodies nationwide within the next few months, is to build the capacity of these statutory structures.

We need to take concrete steps to enhance the capacity of governing bodies to perform the functions allocated to them by the South African Schools Act with confidence. We also need an advocacy campaign to raise the level of awareness of school governance amongst parents, learners and the wider community so that they can become aware of the importance of the transformation process, and to assist them in understanding the democratisation of the education system.

The governing body of a school is made up of parents, who must be in the majority, educators, nonteaching staff and, in the case of secondary or high schools, learners. It is high time that there was only one name for all these schools: secondary schools, high schools, primary schools ….

Ons kry laerskole en primêre skole, en hoërskole en sekondêre skole, en dit moet reggestel word regdeur ons land ter wille van uniformiteit. [We have junnior schools and primary schools, and high schools and secondary schools, and this should be rectified throughout the country for the sake of uniformity.]

Therefore these governing bodies are widely representative of the school community. The broader community needs to be educated about the role and functions of governing bodies and needs to understand that the law places certain responsibilities within the competence of the governing bodies. Examples have come to the fore of other structures attempting to influence or even manipulate the decisions of governing bodies. What needs to be understood is that the governing bodies cannot and should not be manipulated. They should rather be empowered to take decisions that are clearly within their terms of reference.

At the same time as educating the broader community as to the rights and powers of governing bodies, we need to stress to governing bodies the importance of the decisions they take. The system of co-operative governance requires all parties to understand where responsibilities are allocated.

I want to conclude by saying that the best contribution we can make to effective school governance is as follows. We have to inform parents of the importance of electing suitable persons to governing bodies and, of training the newly elected members effectively to fulfil their tasks. By doing so, we can assist in establishing a stable climate within which effective teaching and learning can take place.

Mr B J MKHALIPHI: Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, at any given time, the effectiveness of an education system is not judged only on its theoretical programmes, but also on how it accommodates and elevates the status of the vulnerable and the disadvantaged. It must do so in such a way that it is innovative enough to ensure a correlation between the expectations of industry and society and the output of the educational institutions.

The objectives of adult basic education and training or outcomes-education programmes could be meaningless to our people unless these programmes can, for example, enhance the productivity of the emerging sugar cane farmer in the Nkomazi region and, indeed, unless we can prove to the retrenched welder from Breyten that the closure of the Ermelo mines does not necessarily entail the end of his productive life. It is also incumbent on us to demonstrate to our communities that the RDP is not only about development of urban areas, but has rural development as its priority.

The department of education in Mpumalanga hopes to reach the ideal situation by the year 2008, when every learner will enjoy attending a properly built school with infrastructure, equipment and relevant staff. With the advent of the newly demarcated municipal and district council, this noble idea could be realised sooner than the year 2008. Before 1994, the absence of communication and common strategy between education, industry and civil society led to the anomaly in the training of educators and the erratic curricula. The democratic Government has taken several initiatives to remedy this legacy.

Since our province of Mpumalanga has no university, the university/technikon education task team has reached an agreement with some universities and technikons to roll out more satellite programmes of their faculties to the province. All the existing teacher-training colleges have agreed that this year will be the final year for all teacher training. By 2001, these colleges, together with the two agricultural colleges, will be transformed into institutions of further education and training.

If I were to speak about my province, I would need at least a whole day. But since I have only been given a few minutes, I will only highlight a few issues.

I found that we have almost the same number of learners in our public and private school systems as the Western Cape. While it is never a good idea to compare a rural province to an urban province because of the unique challenges faced by the disparate circumstances, I nonetheless thought it important, at least at a superficial level, to draw a comparison.

The statistics show that in 1999 we had about 930 000 learners in our schools, while the Western Cape had about 963 000 for the same period. Our learner-teacher ratio was 35:1, while the Western Cape had a 31:5 ratio. The money allocated to our province was about R14 million and to Western Cape it was about R15 million. About 91% of this money in our province was spent on personnel costs.

If we look at the final comparison, that of matric enrolment versus matric results, we see a huge disparity between these two provinces. Of the 38 236 learners who wrote matric, 19 766, which is about 51%, failed in Mpumalanga. While in the Western Cape, of the 37 199 matriculants who wrote matric, 7 896, that is 21%, failed. We achieved only a 48% pass rate, which is unsatisfactory when one looks at the R2 billion we invested in our matriculants.

It is remarkable, however, to note that all stakeholders agreed that the last examination in Mpumalanga was well managed. To make such a crude comparison and then find a province either lacking or not lacking in expertise is not to reduce the problem to its simplest form. Clearly, the two provinces have some crucial things in common, and they are the teacher- learner ratios and money allocations. They have also had disparate outcomes. But I think that we in Mpumalanga can learn that we have to manage our school system better, even given the unique challenges facing our very rural province.

We, just like every other province, have promised our parents and learners the best schooling in the world through transformative legislation and our very progressive Constitution. Now, all our energies should be focused on delivering on those promises. Our President’s message on service delivery was very clear. With that in mind, I believe that one of the first things that we should do is acknowledge that we must produce better matric results.

As a province we have to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate the role all three spheres of government can play in service delivery. We have to engage in large-scale collaborative efforts to improve our schools, not only in quantity, but in quality, both physically and academically. At the end of the day, I would like to say to the hon the Minister, intergovernmental collaboration will be the key to our success.

We cannot hope to produce good matric results if we do not create a disciplined learning environment. We must ensure that our schools have four walls, and a roof that does not leak or cave in on our children. Here, the local government, school governing bodies, parents and the communities at large can play a vital role. Local governments or district councils and the provincial legislatures need to meet to ensure that schools in their municipal areas, and the province as a whole, are fit for occupation by schoolchildren who spend half their lives on school premises. Rural provinces, such as mine, find that this basic need is very often not met.

During our recent visit to the Eastern Cape we noticed a very dedicated principal and teacher who, together with his pupils, swam across a river every day to get to his school. Situations like these, while they illustrate dedication and commitment from those involved, are unacceptable and inexcusable. No South African learner or teacher should have to put up with such primitive conditions.

We in Mpumalanga, while not having to go to the extreme of swimming across a river to get to our schools, nonetheless find that learners have to travel countless kilometres through rugged terrain to get to school. They have to get up early, and they arrive at school hungry. They then have to begin their school day. We believe it is within our power to prevent this kind of situation from continuing, and we want to urge all sectors in our province to get together to pool our collective resources to improve the infrastructure in and around our schools.

We need to look at our teachers. In the past week or two we learnt of a teacher who sold false report cards to students. This is not the kind of teacher or learner we want in our schools. This conduct is particularly reprehensible from teachers as they are placed in a position of trust. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mrs C NKUNA: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister of Education, hon members, regarding the need for capacity-building in rural areas, rural people have long been the worst educated, least organised, and therefore least able to demand assistance through formal or informal structures. Yet their ability to take charge of local government and to contribute to decision-making is critical to the effectiveness of rural local government.

It is the state’s obligation to create access to resources through capacity- building support. We need to address the problems facing our rural children who are thirsty for education and have no way to meet this need. There is a need for state assistance to increase the capacity of district and rural councils, and for those structures to employ people skilled in facilitation and mediation to promote organisational skills in rural areas. It is very disturbing and humiliating that owing to the lack of capacity- building and infrastructure in rural areas, some learners have to swim across a river to access their fundamental rights of a basic education for all. Most rural schools are poorly resourced with equipment, books, and access to infrastructures which provide electricity and running water. Learners usually walk long distances to schools. By the time they arrive at school they are tired, in body and mind. They walk long distances to schools in which the classroom situation is not conducive to learning. The teacher-pupil ratio cannot be accepted. Hence, drop-out and repetition rates are high, and a large number of children do not attend school at all.

Given the prevailing poverty, it is hardly surprising to find most schools in a wreck, under a tree or shady place and, consequently, offering education of inferior quality. Education in such places can only take place when the climatic conditions are suitable for it to occur. On the other hand, farm schools are built by farmers and subsidised by the Government, but only cater for the learners of farmworkers.

The lack of resources and infrastructure in some areas is owing to the lack of adherence to the principles of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations. Our Constitution provides that all spheres of government and all organs of state must exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the geographical, functional or institutional integrity of the government in another sphere, and that they must co-operate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by fostering good relations.

It is important that the state finance basic education fairly in rural areas and achieve equity in urban areas. Access to schooling must be improved to meet the constitutional obligation to provide basic education for all. There is a need to understand, where possible, and address the barriers that prevent some learners from going to school owing to distance and lack of transport, which I referred to earlier on, and hunger. How can one expect a hungry learner to solve x in mathematics? How can one expect a hungry learner to balance an equation in a mathematics class? Regarding disability, how can we expect learners with a disability to be accommodated in institutions that are unfriendly to them? Finally, allow me to touch on the safety of educators and learners in our schools. My colleagues have already referred to this issue. There were two major conferences on the safety of educators and learners. Four resolutions were arrived at: One, securing our schools as pockets of safety - in such a situation we will not have a drunk educator, nor are we going to have a learner who is armed; two, counselling teams to help those within the school who are affected by crime or who are perpetrators or victims of crime; three, environmental design - proper fencing and lighting has to be installed at schools, as has been done in some parts of the Western Cape. The fourth resolution is community participation. Those living close to schools should become guardians of schools. Thus, to achieve equity it may be necessary to pursue policies that treat different groups of people in different ways. [Applause.]

Ms L JACOBUS: Chairperson, the focus of my input will be on the matter that was touched on by almost all the speakers, namely the scourge of HIV/Aids in our institutions of learning.

``Our children are our future.’’ This is a quotation that countless world leaders, academics and community leaders bandy about. What does this mean? This is the question I want to pose to this House.

My own response to this question would be that our children need to be nurtured, protected, fed and groomed to take their place in society as responsible future leaders, educators and parents. It is unfortunate that we cannot protect our children from the HIV/Aids pandemic sweeping through our country at an alarming rate. HIV/Aids is real and it affects all facets of our lives. It is indiscriminate and knows no boundaries, and leaves everyone vulnerable, especially our children.

We find countless numbers of young people, especially those at schools and tertiary institutions, being infected with HIV on a daily basis. A number of surveys show that young South Africans are at great risk of contracting the disease.

Recently, a random survey at the University of Durban-Westville showed that 50% of those tested were HIV-positive. Let us say that the average age of these learners was 20. By the time they reach the age of 30, their immune systems will have weakened substantially. Opportunistic diseases will have manifested themselves and death will be an almost certainty in five years from then.

What does this say about the future of our professional skills base 15 to 20 years from now? The picture gets even more horrifying if one looks at the number of teenage pregnancies in schools throughout the country. This means that we not only have very sexually active young individuals, but we also have very young individuals having unprotected sex; and we all know the implications of having unprotected sex.

Some of these young people will not even reach our tertiary institutions because they will have died of Aids. A document titled: Acknowledgements for the 1998 Human Development Report highlights that women as young as 13 years of age are attending antenatal clinics and have been found to be HIV- positive. This same report also indicates that women in the 15- to 25-year- old age group show the largest increase in the HIV prevalence between 1994, when it was 8,9%, and 1996, when it was 17,5%. This was four years ago.

HIV/Aids in schools brings with it unique challenges and we as the ANC have never shied away from a challenge. We have to approach the problem systematically, and already our President has set the example by arming himself with knowledge about the disease. He has spared no personal effort to ensure that, as a leader of this Government, he gathers as much information about HIV/Aids as possible.

To this end, he has constituted a national co-ordinating body, the South African National Aids Council, that will advise Government and bring together all the research already done on HIV/Aids as part of our universal effort to find a cure for this dreaded disease.

It will be very irresponsible of us as parents and educators, if, because of our very conservative upbringing, we do not educate our children about HIV/Aids and its implications. Their mothers, fathers, other relatives and even their peer group are dying of this disease every day. Without the knowledge of what the disease is about and how to prevent exposure to it, they are doomed to repeat the fatal mistakes of their family and friends.

I am raising all of this so that the hon the Minister and MECs present here should rise to this challenge and prioritise HIV/Aids education programmes, and accompanying these programmes should be the necessary human, financial and other resources. I am happy to hear that R75 million has been set aside for these programmes and campaigns in schools and other educational institutions.

The National Department of Education, represented by Minister Asmal on the Sanac, has presented to the council a document called ``Guidelines for Educators on HIV/Aids’’, as part of the Tirisano campaign which many previous speakers have alluded to. This document focuses, amongst others, on the facts about HIV/Aids, the prevention of HIV, sexuality education in schools and building an enabling environment and a culture of nondiscrimination towards teachers and learners with HIV/Aids.

Allow me to take this opportunity to thank the hon the Minister and his department for taking this initiative into our institutions of learning. The Gauteng Institute for Curriculum Development, under the auspices of the Gauteng department of education, has developed an integrated approach on HIV/Aids education in an effort to reduce the spread of the disease in South Africa. This is an integrated learning programme on life skills with particular emphasis on sex and sexuality.

One hopes that these kinds of initiatives are duplicated throughout the rest of the country, and that it will assist in engendering a culture of responsible sexual behaviour amongst our young learners. I also want to commend all those other provinces who have introduced similar programmes into their curricula.

Provincial Aids councils, to be headed by our premiers, are in the process of being established. The hon the Minister must ensure that the departments of education play a key role in these councils. If we want to curb the spread of HIV amongst our youth and young learners, we need to, at a local level, define a more active role for our school governing bodies and bodies that govern the running of tertiary institutions.

In conclusion, our future is under attack by a very vicious enemy. HIV/Aids impacts negatively on the economy of our country and our skills base, and threatens the very existence of humankind. There is no better place to educate and generate awareness than in our homes, schools, technikons and universities and to spread the message of safer sex and responsible sexual behaviour to our youth, in whom we should be investing for our future. [Applause.]

Mr Z S KOLWENI: Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, provincial governments make their own decisions about allocations by the department.

On average, the provincial allocations to education take up 41,5% of provincial budgets for the year 2000-2001, compared to an average of 40% last year. Education in the North West consumes about 38,8% of the provincial budget. This allocation demonstrates the importance accorded to the education and training of the South African youth.

If we are to fully exploit the abundant raw material with which our land is blessed, furthermore, if we are to participate fully as citizens of the world, we need skills that are comparable with the best in the world. There is an old Ndebele saying that large pumpkins grow in the fields of those who have no pots in which to cook them. [Interjections.] We must ensure that we have the pots in which to cook that which nature bestowed on us. Our allocation of the budget must demonstrate our commitment to the development of human resources in general, and to the education and training of learners specifically.

The split between personnel and nonpersonnel expenditure remains unacceptably high at 91,4% and 8,6%. It goes without saying that the education budget remains an essentially maintenance-directed budget. We are proud to declare that, for the second year running, the department has managed to balance its books.

Given the above imperatives, this budget will be geared towards the implementation of policy and enhancing service delivery in the context of Batho Pele. To this end the department is sufficiently stabilised and well positioned to support schools. The department has, over the past two years, registered commendable progress with regard to addressing the problem of transport. A good number of our professional support staff are now able to render the necessary support to schools. We remain confident that this development will translate into tangible benefits for our learners.

This year, the budget will focus on the following areas of policy and delivery in accordance with Tirisano, which means ``working together’’, that is, working together to build a South African education and training system for the 21st century. We have developed a five-year plan to implement our call to action, as set out last July. This plan organises the hon the Minister’s nine priorities into five action programmes: Firstly, HIV/Aids; secondly, school effectiveness and teacher professionalism; thirdly, literacy; fourthly, further education and training, and higher education in the case of the national department and fifthly, organisational effectiveness of the provincial department and the national department.

Our declared priorities for the financial year 2000-01 take their mandate and direction from the progressive political leadership of this country, which has identified education and training as a top priority for meeting the broader development and transformation challenges confronting our country. As a province and, in particular, as a department of education, we must accelerate the implementation of programmes and policies in a manner that will impact directly on the lives of ordinary people.

In the coming years we will focus on improving access to affordable, quality education and training for the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of our communities. Our education system will be judged by our ability to prepare our people for a full and active citizenship and nationhood, to accommodate and accelerate our diversity and rich heritage, to develop and support innovation in the learning and teaching process to utilise technology and to enhance teaching and learning.

In conclusion, the communities must take ownership of schools. We must systematically reduce and ultimately eliminate the conditions of physical degradation of our schools. Vandalism continues to erode our efforts to provide decent and adequate infrastructure. Thus, funds which could be utilised to develop actual education have to be redirected towards endless repairs and renovations. The professional quality of our teachers must be constantly improved and upgraded. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Chairperson, I welcome the contributions of the provinces, all of which provided provincial-specific perspectives to the challenges identified in my own overview. Can I therefore say at the beginning that education touches all of us in a way that very few areas of life impinge on our consciousness.

Regrettably, the greatest success of apartheid was not only Bantu education, but in fact the way in which education was treated as an ideological weapon of subjugation and the encouragement of inferiority.

I have learnt a great deal in nine months. I have been an educationist all my life. I have been writing about education and apartheid all my life. However, until I saw the reality of the effects of apartheid education, I did not realise the enormous success of apartheid.

Let me begin with the first respondent, Comrade Kgware, who talked about the inequalities in education. I say this because I have now identified six or seven points or principles from this debate. It was a very rich debate. I do not want to compare this to the National Assembly, but it has been a very rich debate. I am open to discussing individual items with hon members. I have taken detailed notes on each participant’s comments. In the 20 minutes that I have, I cannot answer every one of those points raised, but I will interact with hon members regarding points raised here.

We begin with the question of inequalities. Mr Kgware mentioned pervasive inequalities. In 1994, we found enormous inequalities existing between province and province. Teacher deployment was necessitated to bring equity into the system, with the agreement of the unions and of nearly all the provinces, except one, where legal action was taken. This will now be completed.

However, deployment still continues. About 40 000 teachers retire, die or do something else every year. There will be a permanent process of redeployment, except that now it will not be on the closed list, it will be on the open list. We want to attract younger teachers with a commitment to teaching.

The inequality is still there. We have reduced the inequality between province and province by 60%, using budgetary means. However, within a province, there are enormous inequalities, and the norms and standards for funding were used - in some provinces this was done unwillingly - to actually transfer resources to the schools deprived of infrastructure or teaching materials so that we bring better equality within it.

Of course, it is very important to note that the inequality was buttressed and increased by the enormity of the floods and the tornadoes that hit us. In nearly five or six provinces, there were floods or tornadoes that have, in fact, worsened the position. The terrible trouble is, as we found with the tornado in Cape Town, that it is the poorest of the poor who suffer from the effect of floods and tornadoes, not middle-class people or people like us, and the inequality follows as a result of this.

So the first point to remember is that the challenge of inequality is still something we must meet, and we must do so in the same way that we have addressed inequality in other areas.

The second point is that we have to be self-critical. This is particularly related to Mr Raju’s comment. He was a student of mine many years ago. [Laughter.] It is one of the perversities of history that I have to address myself to a former student of mine. [Laughter.] Therefore I will not adopt a pedagogic tone here. I think to be self-critical of the changes occurring within a province is not to subvert your party’s position, or to destroy the gains that we have made, because it is not only doom and gloom.

There are enormous changes that have taken place in the last five years, and with Tirisano, it has permeated nearly every area of life in South Africa. In the Gauteng province, where I must have addressed at least 8 000 people at three different meetings, there is an infusion of enthusiasm and involvement.

However, we must remember this infusion of involvement does not touch every part of our society, because we should remember that the inequalities resulted because of historical investment. Therefore one finds that some of the state schools in South Africa are the best schools in the world, not because there is greater genius in the architecture or the development, but because the necessary investment took place in those schools. Those schools must now be brought into the loop, as I will try to show.

So, to be self-critical, whether it is in fact to look at the review of outcomes-based education, is a matter of strength for us, because we are giving absolute priority to education. To be self-critical means that we have to now review the technical colleges, because the technical colleges provide that intermediate education which nobody has mentioned here.

There are more than 150 technical colleges, largely run on an underresourced basis. Their assumptions are out of date with our needs today. Their demographic representation does not reflect our democratic needs, and therefore we are spending R120 million, with the assistance of business trusts, in looking at the whole structure of technical colleges.

I will reduce them to larger technical colleges, about 50 to 60 in the whole country, integrate them and bring them in line with the needs of the technological revolution and the globalised world. So there are very exciting things happening which we should be aware of as public representatives. Self-criticism is vital and self-criticism, in fact, involves a real look at what is happening on the ground. The third point I want to make is that the composition of our schools is changing not only in the urban areas, but in some of the rural areas. The reaction from the previous groups, whether they be Indian, coloured or white, is often a negative one when the composition of schools is changing. This is a remarkable challenge that we face. However, we have a more open, accessible school system.

We are overcoming the real violence of the Group Areas Act, where one went to school in the same area, one went to the hospital in the same area, one went to clinics in the same area. Often one got jobs in the same area. These were all racially demarcated. Now we are formally integrating our schools. But do we know what is happening in the schools where the composition has changed? That is why I asked Prof Wilmot James, the Dean of Humanities at the University of Cape Town, to look at the value system in our schools and, particularly, at sensitivity about language and language teaching and how mother-tongue instruction can be used to exclude people who are entitled to attend those schools.

In the same way, the Council of Ministers will look at the catchment area for schools because often the catchment area is used to exclude people from the facilities that are found in schools. The change in nature of our schools is something to celebrate for us. It really gives rise to real challenges that we face and, I think, public representatives should be aware of the need for active involvement to educate our own people - I do not mean people of one’s own race and one’s own culture and language, but people one represents - about the need for the diversity of culture, the diversity of language and the diversity of religion. That is why I am looking at the whole question of religion in schools, because religion plays such an important part in the ethical, moral development of our people. However, it must never be used to exclude people, to make young people feel like outsiders in the school. Again, I say, these are the kind of things we are doing to establish norms and standards.

Now, of course, I come to the fourth point, and that is the question of resources and the provisioning of schools. We must be quite clear about this. The central Government cannot provide more money for the school- building programmes, because that is the function of the province. We can look for more money. The central Government cannot provide more food for children, because children should never go to school on empty stomachs. The school-feeding scheme provides food. If it is not working in the province, then it is a fault and the fault must be identified. Somehow between corruption and incompetence the food is not being supplied. There is this provision.

However, we must also recognise that money is not the total answer to everything - for performance and improvement. How does one explain the matriculation examination results in the northern district of the Northern Province that are much worse than that of the southern school districts of the Northern Province? How does one explain that at one school in Soweto there was an improvement of 29% in the matric results and at another school a deterioration of 14%, and they are one kilometre away from each other? They have the same kinds of facilities, same kinds of deprivation, but one school had an enormous increase in performance.

So I do not think we must use money as a kind of God from the top - a deus ex machina - to answer every problem. I ask hon members, therefore, to look at two things: one is the commitment of all of us. If there is going to be a mobilisation in education, there is a challenge for public representatives also. This is a commitment for all of us, not to use these debates to express doom and gloom, to whinge or to be like Oliver Twist, by saying Please sir, can we have some more.'' [Laughter.] That is very important, thePlease sir, can we have some more’’ approach.

As our President said when he spoke in Thohoyandou on 8 January, there are enormous demands on the fiscus. It is not only the macroeconomic policy that is responsible, although the macroeconomic policy is very important in order to protect our economy. There are enormous demands on the fiscus. For example, there are still ten million people without any water, and 30% of our schools are without water. Therefore, I shall work with Minister Kasrils to ensure that we have a proper programme of co-ordination.

It is 50% of our schools which do not have proper sanitation and, of course, half of our population does not have any sanitation, so there are enormous demands on the fiscus. Schoolchildren have to have roads to walk to school. In the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape many of the roads have been washed away, or they are not there. Now, how do we then reconcile these enormously conflicting demands? We cannot pit Minister against Minister. That is not the way we can work.

We have to reconcile the conflicting demands by political means, by ensuring that we get value for money and by ensuring that we remove any tincture of racialism or ethnic mobilisation, when we take unpopular and difficult decisions, as we have to take unpopular and difficult decisions. Of course, what is very important is capacity building, because capacity building requires provinces to build up capacity, and we are going to spend R247 million on this in the provinces. We also have to build up capacity in the national department. We must be one of the few national departments in the world that did not have a physical planner for schools.

This is a direct result of apartheid because the national Department of Education under apartheid had effectively no function other than a policing function. Now, I have to end because the Chairperson is looking at his watch, but I will use ten minutes of my time. I must say, therefore, that the debates also involve a whole range of issues, for example the budget.

It is not true, Mrs Witbooi, that the budget has been cut by 2%. In fact, the budget has kept pace with inflation. What has happened is that the provincial allocations, decided by the provincial MEC for Finance, may have been cut. In the Western Cape it has been cut by 0,05% - I think it is - and that is the decision of the province. In the Eastern Cape it has gone up by 4% in real terms. So, it is not true, as has been said by the representative from the UDM, that it is a disaster zone.

There are very interesting demands taking place there, because I have met the Premier and the MEC in the Eastern Cape and they have made a firm decision to deal with education as the absolute priority, but the backlogs are really enormous. So these are the kinds of issues that we will return to, and I hope that Mr Raju and his party will be part of that extraordinary effort that is being made, rather than stand outside and quote antiquated romantic poets, because I can quote you a more up-to-date one like Bertolt Brecht. [Laughter.]

Bertolt Brecht says: ``When the difficulty of the mountains is over, the real battle for the plains begins.’’ We have overcome the difficulty of the mountains by our resistance against this crime against humanity. The real battle has started and the battle is now being engaged. I would prefer, like the New NP, the UDM, the ACDP and the others, that we should be part of that large-scale battle for the plains that is taking place. I mean that very seriously, because we should not say that we must return to quality and standards. It is not correct that there were ever quality and standards in my time in an all-Indian school. It is not true that there were quality and standards in coloured and African education.

We now want to bring the principle of equity to raise the standards, and it is very important that the presidential initiative report that came out in 1999 is our initiative to look at what is wrong with the schools. The report says, quite clearly, that we must not emphasise only what was wrong in the black schools, what was wrong in the coloured and Indian schools. We must also look at what was happening prior to 1994 in white schools.

I have learned a great deal, as Minister, as to what has been happening in the former Model C schools in the past eight or nine years. There is a formality and a formalism; there is an approach to teaching which is totally outdated.

That is why the former Model C schools have embraced outcomes-based education. They see it as the most participatory, the most forward-looking and the most child- or student-centred form of education, and they have the resources and the training. We must move away from that old-fashioned magisterial, pedagogic way of teaching that is associated with them.

Secondly, the value system in many of the former Model C schools is worthy of investigation as to whether there is real integration taking place and drawing on the culture, the language, and the traditions of all our people rather than the imposing of one particular value system, which is what Model C schools have been used to doing.

I say to Mr Raju that one can be curious and learn a great deal and I hope his party will be part of that great extraordinary learning process, rather than do as they did with the famous schools legislation - take it to the Constitutional Court on rather casuistic legalistic grounds. So I appeal to him, therefore, and say: Let us look at what is the quality. Let us look at what the standards are. Let us look - and I end on this, although I will engage with all the members who made points - at the role of examinations in our school system. Now nobody has said:My political reputation depends on whether examination results improve in December this year.’’ I do not care a hoot about my political reputation. To the hon Raju I say: This is not a beauty contest. [Laughter.] Dunce caps are not in education.

I will engage in the assessment by those NGOs, because it was largely an inaccurate assessment. But I do say: Let us look at the matriculation system. We have a highly competitive education system which emphasises the matriculation examination. But the matriculation examination is not the be- all and end-all of assessing performance and quality in education. It accounts for about 15% of the students who go to higher education. For the other 85% the matriculation examination has little meaning. That is why we are developing further education and training, moving towards technical high schools, as I hope I will share with hon members when the legislation has been proposed.

The matriculation examination is used as the real index of improvement. There has only been the common matriculation examination in South Africa for the past three or four years now. All the results we were talking about before 1996 must be looked at in the context of apartheid. I remember when I came back in 1990 that in the House of Delegates a member of this House, whose name I will not mention, said that the results for Indians were too low and the distinctions attained by Indians were too few and they must be increased by 10%. Hey presto, they were increased by 10% so that the fraud of apartheid was also reflected in the fraudulent results that came out.

Now we can say with unimpeachable integrity that our matriculation examinations are being conducted on a fair and open basis, but we are going to improve them and we are going to set common papers for some subjects because the provinces have asked for that. But we must get away from the examination result being the be-all of everything because, what it tests is memory work. Memory work - and hon members know this, as middle-class parents - is done on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings through special coaching. The memory work is reflected in the universities and technikons. Whether one is studying to be an engineer or a doctor, one studies by memory work.

Other countries have moved away from this. Other countries, such as Ireland, where I lived for 30 years, moved to outcomes-based education and they found this extraordinary flowering of young people’s talents, the removal of psychological problems and the removal of pimples. You know, 18- year-olds get pimples because of examination neurosis. I mean that seriously. We must move away from that highly competitive situation in which everything is governed by the matriculation examination to a situation of lifelong learning, to enhancing the capacity of young people. We can do it. What we want is greater creativity, a little bit more experimentation. Oddly enough, this is taking place as Comrade Jacobus has shown in her province.

Can I end therefore by emphasising my firm commitment to public education. Education is a public good. We have not looked at universities and technikons. We are going to reformulate and reform the higher education system by the end of this year because we must. There is a pathology that is taking place. I have not referred to, for example, the need to change our disciplinary rules. We will come to this House with legislation in respect of educators. It will be changed, because at present it is virtually impossible to take disciplinary action against teachers. We will speed it up. We will allow for suspension without pay and we will have open but quick disciplinary proceedings.

Therefore, I say this in the context that there are enormous changes taking place. I want members to be part of that, for the simple reason that if we want education for all, if we want white and black, all of us, to reflect our real capacity, which has never been drawn out before, in terms of equality, nonsexism, the extraordinary Constitution we have which enshrines those values - and the most important value is contained in section 1 of the Constitution, the right to dignity for all our people - then the educational system must, by bringing in the services and providing everything that we need, enhance and develop the right to dignity for all our people [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! May I ask the indulgence of hon members. Can we spend just ten minutes to deal with Order No 3 where the hon Minister is also involved, with the understanding that the hon the Minister and the single speaker we have on this debate will not take us beyond 10 minutes.

      INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY OF SOUTH AFRICA BILL

            (Consideration of Bill and of Report thereon)

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Chairperson, thank you for this indulgence. I act on behalf of the Minister of Communications, who is a lucky person - she is overseas at present.

I shall be very brief. I take this opportunity to introduce the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Bill in this House. This is a Bill to provide for the establishment of the Independent Communications Authority, as it provides for the dissolution of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the South African Telecommunications Authority, which were part of the settlement of 1994. This Bill transfers powers, functions and obligations of the former two authorities, and in that vein amends and repeals the provisions of the IBA Act, the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act of 1999.

I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Minister, to congratulate the many industry experts, the staff and councillors of the regulatory bodies for the businesslike manner they have displayed in contributing to the discussion on this Bill so far. It is quite clear that the convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications and the information technology industries is urging all of us to draw the inevitable conclusion that we should harmonise our regulatory structures, policies, regulations and approaches. This is what the Bill does, in brief.

In supporting this Bill, members are contributing building blocks towards the construction of a knowledge-based society that is globally competitive. They are contributing to the emergence of a communications sector that will support competitive South African firms with the attendant benefits of employment, skills development and economic growth.

In conclusion, let me say that this is a Bill that establishes a new regulatory framework to foster and develop South African networks and content that reflects the South African experience and cultures. I should say that this Bill enjoys the support of the entire communications sector, therefore it deserves members’ wholehearted support. [Applause.]

Mr S L E FENYANE: Chairperson, I prepared a speech of seven pages. I will try to do without some. I will try to improvise.

The new body to be established will be called the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. It is important for us to understand the constitutionality of this body. Although media services fall within the provisions of section 4 of the Constitution, they are also subjected to the provision of section 192 of the Constitution. This implies that any authority that is established to regulate broadcasting should do so in a manner that resonates with the objectives of section 192. Section 192 states without equivocation that such a body should regulate in the public interest, and should ensure fairness and diversity of views which broadly represent the South African society.

We also say that this body should function independently and impartially. It is therefore important to unpack the contextual connotation of the qualificatory ``independent’’ attached to the name of this body. Embedded in this qualification are factors that include but do not exhaust, inter alia, provisions that govern appointment, tenure and removal from employment as well as those concerning institutional independence. In this instance our views converge with those of the Constitutional Court. If the independence of this authority is not guaranteed by statutes we develop, then corrupt and unscrupulous politicians, in collaboration with corrupt businesspeople, will capture and control this body.

When we talk about this industry of telecommunications and broadcasting we are really talking big money. We are talking of billions of rands that are raised daily by the industry. This in consequence implies that the authority must at all times engender and epitomise the fundamental essence of scrupulous corporate governance. For example, last year Telkom contributed approximately R22,7 billion to our economy, with a staff complement of approximately 61 000 people. Vodacom contributed R9 billion to the economy, with a staff complement of 2 500 people. The SABC contributed R2,4 billion to the economy, with a staff complement of 3 217 people. I do not have figures from M-Net, e-TV, Bop TV and the host of radio stations that are found in the country. However, it is important to note that this industry is one of the major players in our labour market and that whoever is appointed to regulate this industry must be expected to uphold certain standards of demeanour.

Let me skip the following section. Section 5 of the Bill stipulates that councillors of the authority will be appointed by the President, on recommendation of the National Assembly. Members have severally raised a concern regarding the provision of this stipulation, since Parliament consists of two Houses, the NA and the NCOP. Members of the committee have however indicated that they support the Bill, notwithstanding the fact that they have concerns about the clause in question. It is hoped that the matter will be revisited in the not-so-distant future. Let me skip the following sections. Obviously, members will understand why I am skipping them; we are running out of time.

With reference to the question of the independence of this body, I would like to wrap up my speech with a dry joke, told by an ordinary member of our society regarding the behaviour of politicians. The joke goes as follows. A man was walking alongside a cemetery, when suddenly he saw inscribed on a tombstone the words: Herein lies an honest man and one of the greatest politicians the country has had in so many centuries.'' After reading these words, that man was petrified with shock. He read the words again just to ensure that he was not at fault and exclaimed allowed: Phew! These people are insensitive and crazy. How can they bury in one grave two men who would never have spoken to each other whilst they were still alive. Their spirits will never rest in peace and God will never forgive those who buried them in one grave.’’ [Laughter.]

This joke is not a product of my imagination. It summarises the way in which ordinary mortals, informed by prejudice, view politicians as a group of people whose behaviour cannot be associated with probity. Whether these words are factual or not is not for me to decide, but that is how ordinary people view politicians. We are saying this body should be independent of people with such behaviour.

I humbly request that the Council adopt this Bill as the majority party has already supported it. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

Bill agreed to in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution. Business suspended at 13:21 and resumed at 14:32.

               NATIONAL LAND TRANSPORT TRANSITION BILL

            (Consideration of Bill and of Report thereon)

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! I wish to take this opportunity to welcome the hon the Minister of Transport to the House and to call upon him to address this House.

The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Thank you, Chairperson. Hon delegates, the National Land Transport Transition Bill is a significant milestone on the road to the fundamental transformation of transport in our country. Its basic principles emanate from the White Paper on National Transport Policy, which was adopted by Cabinet in 1996, after 18 months of intensive consultation. Since the adoption of the White Paper, my department, in partnership with our colleagues in provincial and local government, has worked tirelessly in close consultation with stakeholders to bring this legislation before this House.

As is the case with all transformation processes which are challenged with fundamentally changing the nature of society, this process has been long, difficult and characterised by intense negotiations about the trade-offs inherent to such processes. It was inevitable that the vested interests of the past systems would resist these changes.

However, I am extremely happy that I am able to stand before this House today and say that by keeping our eye on the fundamental issue of first meeting the basic transport needs of our people, the entire transport fraternity - users, customers, operators and Government - is united behind this Bill.

As I said, this Bill will bring about the fundamental transformation of land transport in our country. It does so because the distorted and perverse legacy we have inherited from the past was failing not only to address the basic needs for transport, but also to energise and integrate our economy and our social fabric. By passing this legislation, this Council will be laying the foundation stone of a new, integrated and needs- based approach to the planning, administration and management of land transport in our country.

In laying this foundation, the Bill deals mainly with transitional matters and the first building blocks of the new system we are in the process of creating. The full national transport policy cannot be implemented immediately owing to the need to dovetail it with the proposed new local government legislation. For this reason, the Bill is transitional and will be replaced by final legislation within the next few years. In so doing, it sets the scene for the long-term restructuring of land transport systems.

This Bill is based on five pillars, namely appropriate institutional structures; planning; regulated competition and the restructuring of the modes of transport; sustainable funding; and law enforcement. Those are the five pillars.

By providing for the formalisation and regulation of the minibus-taxi industry, the Bill will be an invaluable tool to provide order and harmony in that industry. In so doing, it provides the framework for this important sector to take its rightful place at the heart of our transport system. It is not insignificant that an industry which is the largest black empowerment sector in the economy and emerged out of great adversity, and which today conveys 60% or more of our daily passengers, will, through this Bill, be truly recognised, for the first time, for its role in our economy.

The significance is also that through this legislation we codify the regulatory environment within which the restructuring of the industry will occur. Important initiatives, such as the taxi recapitalisation project, will now have a clear and unambiguous environment within which to locate. I hasten to add, however, that this Bill, as such, does not deal with the recapitalisation project. That is a parallel process.

As I have said, it is important to stress that this legislation and the taxi recapitalisation initiatives are separate and parallel initiatives which coincide once only in the legislation. This means that the existing vehicles with the existing permits may be used until at least 1 October 2006, and that at a date not earlier than 1 October 2004, the new vehicle sizes will be required for all new operating licences. It is recognised that these vehicle sizes might not be appropriate in all situations. It is therefore provided for in this legislation that I as Minister, in consultation with my provincial colleagues, can provide for exceptions in rural areas or for tourists and courtesy services. Apart from this provision, this legislation is entirely about the transformation of transport in our country and not specifically about the taxi recapitalisation initiative.

I want to draw members’ attention specifically to the fact that during the consultative process, the term permission'' was changed to ''operating licence'' owing to confusion in the taxi industry, which was under the impression that apermission’’ only related to a limited period of five years. I would like to stress that conversions of permits to operating licences, that is to say converting existing permits to operating licences, will be on the same terms and conditions as the original permits in so far as the timeframes of such permits are concerned.

In order to provide a bridging mechanism for small businesses or for persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination, or to restructure parastatal and municipal transport operators, provision has been made for me as Minister of Transport, in consultation with my provincial colleagues and the relevant transport authority, to grant exceptions from tendering for subsidised service contracts and enter into negotiated contracts.

Except for planning and concessioning, commuter rail is not included in this Bill. This is because on the issue of industry structure, Government is locked into a number of processes which we should not pre-empt. Hon members will be aware that this is a sector dominated by a single infrastructure provider and a single operator, both of which are state- owned enterprises. I am referring, of course, to commuter rail.

Accordingly, in terms of the national framework agreement, Government is committed to a process of piloting concessioning. A commuter rail institutional reform study is also currently on the go, and as soon as it is finalised, detailed legislation in that regard will be published. It is also envisaged that legislation establishing a rail safety regulator will be tabled before the House later this year.

The Bill before the House is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 deals with introductory matters. Chapter 2 deals with matters of national concern. This chapter focuses on matters contemplated in section 146(2) of the Constitution as setting national norms and standards and applying a national land transport policy, and will take precedence over provincial laws dealing with similar matters. Chapter 2 will therefore apply in all provinces, and cannot be amended or repealed by provincial legislation.

Chapter 3 deals with matters of provincial concern, and this chapter or sections thereof will apply in each province unless that province has its own legislation to replace it or a part of it. This chapter was drafted to act as stopgap legislation until such times as provinces have their own legislation which is fully complementary to chapter 2.

Chapter 4 deals with general matters such as law enforcement and will apply uniformly in the provinces.

The passing of this Bill is crucial as it will enable proper planning by local authorities and the establishment of appropriate institutional bodies such as transport authorities to which the total public transport function may be devolved. It will promote order and harmony in the public transport industry, and it will ensure greater involvement of commuters and communities in the various processes to be conducted.

I am acutely aware of the concerns of my provincial and local government colleagues in transport regarding funding of transport and, specifically, of land transport. Funding is always a big issue. In order to address this, we have provided for conditional granting between national, provincial and local government or transport authorities. I am sure that hon members are all aware that the bus contracting function has been assigned to provinces and, with a view to further assigning it to transport authorities, provision has been made that the provinces must transfer a portion of the bus subsidy funds allocated to them through the Division of Revenue Act for the bus function to transport authorities.

Another important issue addressed in this legislation is that of transport law enforcement. This is a very important matter. MECs will be empowered to designate officials as road transport inspectors to monitor compliance with this Act, and provision is made for increased powers regarding the impoundment of vehicles operating illegally. It is also envisaged that the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act of 1998 and the Road Traffic Management Corporation Act of 1999 will eventually be made applicable to offences identified in this Bill.

Lastly, this Bill will ensure uniformity between provinces by setting minimum norms and standards for public transport as required by the Constitution.

Before I conclude, it would be appropriate for us to pause for a moment to remember and salute the many millions of our people who, over the decades of colonial and apartheid rule, took up the struggle on transport issues. We remember the bus boycotts of the 1940s and 1950s in Alexandra township, for example, and many other parts of our land under the slogan ``Asinamali, sifuna imali’’ [We have no money, we want money].

We recall the boycott of buses in the then Ciskei in the 1980s which led to the death of scores of our people at the hands of Sebe’s thugs. We recall the actions of the many commuters and transport workers as part of our resistance and struggle against apartheid. We remember these events and struggles not just because they were part of our struggle for freedom, but to remind us that our task today is to build a transport system which is about meeting needs and not about using transport as an instrument of monopolisation or artificial social engineering.

This Bill must be dedicated to those who suffered and died in the struggle for affordable transport and against a system which sought to use transport as an instrument of oppression and exploitation.

I would like to conclude by thanking you, Mr Chairperson, and other members of the NCOP for what I know will be a lively debate and constant support on this Bill. I would like to thank the select committee, and particularly its chair, Pemmy Majodina, the MECs for transport throughout our country, Colto and the officials from my department who have done such an excellent job in making it possible for us to have the Bill before the House today. [Applause.]

Mr S E ASIYA (Northern Cape): Mr Chairperson, it is an honour and a privilege for me to address this hon House. Before I start my address, I would like to congratulate the national Department of Transport. When we call them to the provinces, they come immediately. They have conducted two workshops for us, the last one having been held yesterday. We said to them that we would continue to call on them, because the Northern Cape is a vast region. We have only covered one section of the Northern Cape. We want to cover every corner of the Northern Cape. I appeal to them to come when we call them.

The Bill basically seeks to provide for the reconstruction and transformation of the national land transport system of the Republic in the short term to provide for incidental matters. The capacity of the 18- to 35- seater vehicles is too great for the needs of the Northern Cape. We know the Northern Cape is a big province. There are towns with fewer than 1 000 people where we have people operating taxis. If we have these new kinds of taxis, they are going to impede the development of the people. We are saying that we support the Bill as the Northern Cape, but that the points I have mentioned have to be taken into cognisance.

The Bill seeks to recapitalise the taxi industry by introducing diesel- driven 18-to 35-seater buses in replacement of 18-seater minibuses. The recapitalisation programme will transform the R15 billion market to a R20 billion industry. This obviously will initially transform every phase of this unruly industry. It is also a notorious fact that reckless driving and the dilapidated state of taxis are the major causes of accidents involving approximately 70 000 people and resulting in 2 289 deaths every year.

Thus this Bill provides an effective law enforcement mechanism to formalise and regulate the recapitalisation of the taxi industry. We therefore submit that, with appropriate pieces of legislation such as this Bill, the taxi industry can continue to contribute to true black economic empowerment. We should bear in mind that this industry has had a positive impact on development which will lead to the upliftment of South African citizens.

It is also noteworthy that this Bill will not only recapitalise the industry, but also make taxis safer and break the stranglehold of taxi mafias on the industry. I remember that at one of the public hearings, one person stood up and said that she had a minibus but did not have a permit to operate it. She was renting a permit from somebody else at R500 per month, and that person was now going to say: ``Let us register the minibus under my name.’’ This Bill is going to address those kinds of things. That is why we totally support the Bill.

Should this Bill pass into law, a project will be initiated to replace 126 000 aging, dangerous minibus taxis with purpose-built 18-seater and 35- seater vehicles. This will qualify owners for a subsidy of approximately R40 000 to pay as a deposit on the new vehicles.

The other points I want to raise emerged in public hearings, such as that the Bill should treat different situations differently. In the Northern Cape, the Bill is going to create problems because the Northern Cape is not very busy. Taxi operators were complaining about the fact that some people are going to be allocated a certain route which is busier while others are going to be allocated a less busy route. This is going to create a problem.

The other problem that they also raised concerns the issue of the 180 days’ grace they had to get permits. They said that because they were struggling to make ends meet, the grace period was too short and we are therefore proposing that this be increased to at least a maximum period of 360 days.

In my conclusion I would like to say that we know for a fact that, when laws are passed at national level, they also have financial implications at provincial level. We request that, when the Bill is passed, it be accompanied by a funded mandate and not an unfunded mandate because the latter impedes the social development of the people. As we know, the Northern Cape receives the smallest portion of the cake since we get only 2% of the national Budget. So an unfunded mandate is going to impact negatively on us.

Without further ado, I would also like to apologise for changing the order of the speakers’ list for this House. It was because of the nature of the problems we face in the province I come from.

I have to catch a plane now. That is why I am rushing and why I rushed the Whips earlier on. [Applause.]

Ms P C P MAJODINA: Mhlali-ngaphambili … [Chairperson …]

… we always prepare ourselves to address the House through Madam Chairperson, but now that she is not in the Chair we have to change it to Deputy Chairperson.

Deputy Chairperson, hon members, hon Minister of Transport, today we are debating a Bill which we see as a giant step forward in creating a better life for the masses in our country, with special reference to the have-nots and the working class in this country. It is with a deep sense of pride and confidence that the ANC Government has proven, again, that it is able and willing to deliver the mandate conferred upon it by the electorate.

Notably, this Bill is a culmination of intensive processes that have unfolded over the past five years. Intensive consultations have been conducted with stakeholders, namely commuters, bus operators, bus companies and the taxi industry, through the useful means of public hearings.

The same Bill seeks to restructure the entire public transport system to ensure integration of different modes of transport into the system. It also ensures that a small bus operator from Ntabankulu or Sterkspruit, or a taxi operator from Soweto, can benefit from this Bill. The era of protectionist policies whereby the apartheid regime protected the bus and rail industries by means of heavy subsidies to enable them to outcompete the taxi industry has come to its last moments today. This Bill is levelling the playing fields in the transport sector to allow equitable access to the market.

We have received mass support from communities on this Bill because it builds mutual understanding between commuters and operators on the issue of a stable transport system where respect for human rights is the name of the game.

Furthermore, this Bill introduces the concept of transport authorities who will effectively be the drivers of the implementation of transport policy at local level. The role of these bodies is of critical significance as it places emphasis on transport as the nodal point in local government development.

This Bill also introduces less-than-9-seater, 18-seater, 35-seater and even 46-seater vehicles. This should accommodate the Northern Cape’s demands. This means that the introduction of the purpose-built vehicles takes into account critical safety issues. Echoing the words of the President, allow me to send a strong word of caution to all those who think that they will intimidate this House into making wrong decisions in order to achieve their covert political agendas.

The monopoly of routes will come to an end, with special reference to the taxi violence or bus-taxi violence in Guguletu and Khayelitsha, where Golden Arrow bus drivers were killed. Thus we needed this Bill to be implemented yesterday.

This Bill will also deal with no-go areas where one has certain individuals monopolising the routes. This Bill promotes and protects the interests of both passengers and operators. It will ensure that Arrive Alive is not just a slogan, but a reality.

It also ensures a comfortable mode of transport for those people living with disabilities, something which did not happen in the past.

It would be irresponsible of me, as the chairperson of this committee, if I did not wish all South Africans safe driving during this coming long weekend and for them to ``arrive alive.’’ We always say that we must lead by example. That is why I am patriotic enough not to use all of the 10 minutes allocated to me. [Applause.]

Chief M L MOKOENA: Mr Chairperson, there was a time in this country when the transport industry was in chaos. There was no proper control over this industry. The question I am asking myself is why the previous government applied a we-do-not-care or a wait-and-see attitude, and why this kind of behaviour was perpetrated. I do not want to conclude that it was because they did not have plans or a vision. God help me not to conclude that it was because, in most cases, only a particular section of our population was involved in these conflicts.

I hope and believe that it is not true that some government agencies were fomenting these conflicts. This Government, by the people, for the people, of the people, deemed it fit and proper to come up with this piece of legislation. This legislation is the product of an exhaustive consultative process involving the provinces, local governments and some parastatals, organised labour and the bus and taxi industries, and began as early as in 1995.

This Bill outlines the manner in which national transport policies, norms and standards will apply to provinces. It requires the national department to draw up an annual strategic framework and for the provinces to formulate provincial frameworks. It also lays down the general principles for planning that will have to be considered by all involved in the planning of transport services. Who can think that these noble ideas will come to fruition by other means than through this democratic Government?

In the past, Government’s dominant role has been that of a regulator of bureaucratic details and a transport operator, but it has been weak in policy and strategic planning. Of course, what could one expect from them? We want to reverse this legacy. The Government will now focus on policy and strategic formulation, which is its prime role. The Government will reduce its direct involvement in operations and in the provision of infrastructure and services to allow for more competitive environments.

Government will emphasise strategic planning and bring together key players in regulatory codes to ensure unbiased regulation of safety and quality in general, to control market access for transport operators where it is necessary and to prohibit excessive tariffs in the case of monopolies. Hon members should please not ask me why this was not done for all these years, because they know the answer.

Today we are introducing much improved conditions which await South Africa’s estimated 126 000 minibus taxi drivers under the Government’s transformation and recapitalisation project, which is nearing completion. This will change our minibus taxis into a more user-friendly form of transport for all sectors of our society, including people with disabilities. We have to do this, because we are all aware that this industry transports more than 65% of our commuters daily.

For the first time in the history of this country, transport authorities will be established near people’s homes. The planning and transport authorities in metropolitan and local municipalities will take over the transport planning function as soon as possible. This means that most of the functions currently being carried out by the provincial LRTBs will, over time, be taken over by planning authorities.

The Bill makes provision for transport authorities and agreements for the formulation of transport areas. Secondly, this Bill provides for registration of taxi associations, their members and nonmembers. To qualify for full registration, taxi associations will have to have been in existence for a minimum period prescribed by the MEC.

Each member of this association will have to hold a valid permit or permission which will now be changed to operating licenses. Members of these associations will have to have converted their permits to permissions or operating licences. The association will have to subscribe to a prescribed code of conduct.

My province associates itself with this Bill. What pleases my province most is the fact that there will, in a way, be some funding from the national department and even from MECs.

In a very short space of time, the hon the Minister has deemed it fit and proper to overhaul the transport industry for better use. No one would ever have thought to come up with this kind of legislation except this democratic Government. No one would ever have thought of changing the face of the transport industry in this country except this ANC-led Government.

No one cared about the many losses of lives in the taxi industry except the ANC Government. No one deserves these accolades from me, except the one and only, the hon the Minister of Transport and his department. [Applause.] [Interjections.] The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

My province supports this Bill. [Applause.]

Dr P J C NEL: Meneer die Voorsitter, eerstens wil ek graag die Departement van Vervoer bedank vir die bekwame wyse waarop die amptenare van die departement die inligtingsessies ten opsigte van hierdie lywige stuk wetgewing in die gekose komitee en in die portefeuljekomitees in die provinsies aangebied het.

Dié wetsontwerp is ‘n stuk wetgewing wat verreikende gevolge vir die totale padvervoerbedryf van die land inhou en gevolglik is dit belangrik. Hierdie wetsontwerp het die fundamentele transformasie en integrasie van die padvervoerwette van ons land ten doel en is só opgestel om dit teweeg te bring. Met hierdie doelstelling het die Nuwe NP geen probleem nie. Indien die regulering van die padvervoerstelsel, en by name die taxibedryf, daarin kan slaag om orde te skep uit die chaos wat tans in sekere gebiede in die bedryf heers, kan dit alleen tot voordeel van ons land en sy mense wees.

Die taxibedryf het oor die jare ontwikkel in ‘n geweldige groot bedryf en lewer vandag ‘n baie belangrike en onmisbare diens aan die gemeenskap van ons land. Die taxibedryf vervoer daagliks sowat 65% van alle pendelaars en is verantwoordelik daarvoor dat ‘n groot deel van die bevolking ekonomies aktief bly.

Ongelukkig is dit ook waar dat die gemiddelde ouderdom van die sowat 130 000 voertuie wat in die taxibedryf in gebruik is, reeds meer as 10 jaar is. Dit is ongelukkig ook waar dat die padongelukke waarby taxi’s betrokke is jaarliks vir sowat 15% van alle padsterftes verantwoordelik is. Daarom is dit nie net in die belang van die gemeenskap nie, maar ook in die belang van die bedryf se voortbestaan dat hy georden en gemoniteer word.

Hoewel die Nuwe NP die wetsontwerp in beginsel steun, is daar tog volgens ons mening ernstige tekortkominge in die wetsontwerp wat in die toekoms aangespreek sal moet word voordat hierdie tussentydse wet as ‘n volwaardige wet geïmplementeer word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Dr P J C NEL: Mr Chairman, firstly I would like to thank the Department of Transport for the competent manner in which the officials of the department presented the informatory sessions in respect of this bulky piece of legislation in the select committee and in the portfolio committees in the provinces.

This Bill is a piece of legislation that holds far-reaching consequences for the road transport industry of the country and as a result it is important. This Bill has as objective the fundamental transformation and integration of the road transport laws in our country and has been compiled to achieve this. With this objective the New NP has no problem. If regulating of the road transport system, that is the taxi industry, can succeed in creating order out of the chaos that reigns in certain areas of the industry at present, it could only be to the advantage of our country and its people.

The taxi industry has through the years developed into an immense industry and today renders a very important and indispensable service to the community of our country. The taxi industry transports about 65% of all our commuters daily and is responsible for a major part of the population remaining economically active.

Unfortunately it is also true that the average age of the approximately 130 000 vehicles that are in use in the taxi industry already exceeds 10 years. It is also true, unfortunately, that the road accidents in which taxis are involved are responsible for about 15% of all road deaths annually. That is why it is not only in the interest of the community, but also in the interest of the industry’s survival that it should be organised and monitored.

Although the New NP supports the Bill in principle, there are nevertheless in our view serious shortcomings in the Bill that should have to be addressed in the future before this interim Act is implemented as a full- fledged Act.]

This Bill does not fully address the issue of funding. To say the least, it is very vague about it. Part 6 of the Bill provides for the interim funding arrangements and it merely regulates the financial affairs of the transport authorities. Clause 15 states that the Minister may make money available to provinces, transport authorities or municipalities. Clause 16 states that the MECs may provide funds to land transport with money received from the Minister or appropriated by the relevant provincial legislatures for that purpose. Clause 17 states that municipalities may provide funds for road transport.

It was indeed encouraging to hear from the Minister today that conditional grants to the provinces will be considered.

Daar is egter geen fondsbestuurliggame in plek in die provinsies vir hierdie doel nie, en hierdie wetsontwerp maak ook nie voorsiening daarvoor nie. Volgens ons mening is dit ‘n leemte in hierdie wetsontwerp dat daar geen spesifieke aanduiding is wat die bron van inkomste is, en hoe die fondse bestuur en aangewend moet word nie.

Ek wil vandag die agb Minister versoek om toe te sien dat die nodige tegniese kundigheid op provinsiale vlak geskep en ontwikkel sal word vir hierdie doel. Dit sal hoegenaamd geen doel dien as hierdie wetsontwerp, wat reeds ‘n baie lang pad kom en met groot moeite opgestel en geskryf is, vandag goedgekeur word, en later as wet geïmplimenteer word, maar dit nie gepaard gaan met die oorplasing van die nodige fondse na die provinsies nie.

Al die bepalings in die wetsontwerp, rakende onder andere die definisies van die verskillende voertuie wat vir die taxibedryf goedgekeur word om te gebruik, asook die bepalings rakende die uitreik van permitte in die toekoms, wat onder andere bepaal dat permitte uitgereik sal word aan ‘n spesifieke persoon vir ‘n spesifieke voertuig op ‘n spesifieke roete, sal tevergeefs wees indien dit nie gepaard gaan met die gelyktydige implementering van die herkapitaliseringsprojek nie.

Daar word in die wetsontwerp ook nie voorsiening gemaak vir die befondsing ten opsigte van wetstoepassing nie. Die wetsontwerp maak wel in Deel 18 voorsiening vir die aanstelling van verkeersinspekteurs, en omskryf die magte en pligte van die inspekteurs, sowel as die oortredings, boetes en strawwe wat deur die wetstoepassers gemoniteer en toegepas moet word. As daar egter nie meer verkeersbeamptes aangestel, en spesifiek vir hierdie doel opgelei word nie, en wetstoepassing nie baie streng toegepas gaan word nie, sal dit alleen maar ‘n futiele oefening wees. Al die goeie bedoelings van hierdie wetsontwerp en die harde werk sal dan tevergeefs en ‘n vermorsing van die belastingbetalers se geld wees.

Ek glo dat as daar aandag gegee word aan die genoemde tekortkominge in die wetsontwerp, en as hierdie wetgewing geïntegreerd met die herkapitaliseringsprojek plaasvind, kan sukses wel behaal word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[There are no fund management bodies in place for this purpose in the provinces, however, and this Bill does not provide for them either. In our view it is a shortcoming in this Bill that there is no specific indication of the source of the income, and how the funds should be managed and applied.

I want to request the hon the Minister today to see to it that the required technical expertise is created and developed for this purpose at the provincial level. It will serve no purpose whatsoever if this Bill, which has already come a long way and has been compiled and drafted with great difficulty, is approved today, and later enacted, without the concomitant transfer of the required funds to the provinces.

All the provisions in the Bill, those concerning, inter alia, the definitions of the various vehicles approved for use by the taxi industry, as well as the provisions concerning the issuing of permits in the future, which, inter alia, provide that permits will be issued to a specific person for a specific vehicle on a specific route, will be in vain if this is not accompanied by the simultaneous implementation of the recapitalisation project.

Provision has not been made in the Bill for funding in respect of law enforcement. The Bill provides in Part 18 for the appointment of traffic inspectors, and defines the powers and duties of the inspectors, as well as the offences, fines and penalties that must be monitored and applied by the law enforcement officers. However, if additional traffic officers are not going to be appointed, and specifically trained for this purpose, and law enforcement is not going to be very strict, it will be a futile exercise. All the good intentions of this Bill and the hard work will then have been in vain and a waste of taxpayers’ money.

I believe that if attention is devoted to the aforementioned shortcomings in the Bill, and if this legislation takes place integrated with the recapitalisation project, success can be achieved.]

I want to conclude with the following quote from a paper presented at the Saboa Conference 2000 by Mr Harald Harvey:

The birth of a new integrated public transport industry is imminent, but only if all of the role-players seize the opportunity.

[Applause.]

Councillor K SURTY (Salga): Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and distinguished members of the NCOP, Salga embraces this opportunity to speak on the occasion of the debate on this important piece of legislation, the National Land Transport Transition Bill.

The National Land Transport Transition Bill represents the transition, or rather evolution, from a fragmented, divisive and unco-ordinated system of transportation to a regulated, co-ordinated and co-operative system of land transportation.

The Bill correctly reflects the importance of local government, ensuring its role in the cohesive and integrated development of transportation. It does so by providing for the participation of municipalities in the declaration of transport areas and in the formation of transport authorities, the sole aim being to improve service delivery in the local sphere of government by grouping transport functions in a single, well- managed and focused institutional structure. More significantly, it provides an opportunity and challenge to the three spheres of government to give effect to the principle of co-operative governance as entrenched in Chapter 3 of our Constitution.

It is against this background that it is significant that the debate on this Bill takes place in this forum, which is the central institution of co- operative governance. The participation of the three spheres of government to debate this important Bill reflects appropriately the convergence of a uniform and national objective, which is at the heart of co-operative governance.

Hon members may ask: What contribution has Salga made in the context of this legislation, and what contribution will Salga make in the process of the concrete implementation of the objectives of the Bill? In respect of the first aspect we are heartened and also humbled by the accommodation of our views articulated in the select committee meetings. This gave rise to several amendments which were supported by the provinces and which, in our opinion, have enhanced the quality and the value of the Bill.

When the process of drafting this Bill began, it was clear that it would be a protracted engagement, nevertheless to be delivered in the end. The process was consultative and transparent, and really allowed for full participation of all role-players. The efforts of all stakeholders should be commended, for they have ensured the success of this project of establishing a law which is aimed at ushering in an interim system of land transportation in our country.

As Salga, we take pride in the fact that we have enriched the final product with our inputs. I am sure there is no doubt in the minds of all who are seated here today, let alone millions of our people, that the viability of our economy is firmly perched on an effective land transport system. For that purpose this legislation occupies a special place in the legislative arena.

A notable part of the legislation is the regulation and control of the taxi industry, which, I believe, South Africa has been awaiting in anticipation. We do not have to reflect too far into the past to remember ugly scenes of rampant taxi violence, which caused considerable harm to the industry and enormous loss of innocent lives. As recently as Saturday, we saw the killing of a bus driver in the dispute over routes between taxis and buses in Nyanga.

Much of the violence has its roots in the deregulation of the industry in the early 1980s, and was fuelled by the lack of effective enforcement of a strategic approach to the granting of permits. This legislation undertakes to regulate such a situation into permanent oblivion.

Transport authorities will play an important role in implementing the transformation of land transport in the local sphere. This means making sure that government’s institutional and regulatory actions mesh together the needs and demands of transport users. This will in turn deliver a rational and responsive transport system, which will enhance South Africa’s economic competitiveness and create opportunities for all its people. Of significance is the difference this will make to those who have been most disadvantaged in our country.

However, this praise does not come without some concerns, concerns which we have raised in the committee meetings of the past two weeks. Our contention is that the funding to municipalities to ensure successful implementation of this law at local government level should be clearly spelt out in the proposed legislation. If this is not achieved, the spectre of unfunded mandates may not be successfully expunged from our minds. Local government cannot be set up to fail by the devolution of functions which are not accompanied by the necessary funding. This Bill has set in motion the long-term restructuring of land transport in our country. We are satisfied that the consultative process has been extensive and inclusive. As organised local government, we support the Bill and we commit ourselves alongside other spheres of government to ensuring its successful implementation.

In addition, Salga can also assist substantially and substantively in developing uniform norms and standards throughout the country. We look forward to participating very vigorously in shaping the final legislation, which will replace this Bill in three years’ time.

I wish to take the liberty, at this point, of deviating from my speech and making reference to the coming few days, the Easter weekend. The history of this period leaves us holding our breath at the expected death toll on our national roads. It is precisely for that season that I join the Minister in calling all South Africans to be responsible road users. As a country, we cannot afford any more deaths on the roads and we say enough is enough and no more.

Ensuring the success of the Arrive Alive campaign is a national duty of all South Africans. I take this opportunity to wish everyone in this House, and our society at large, a happy and safe Easter period. Let us make our country a winner. Arrive alive!

In conclusion, we wish to thank the Minister and his department for having carried out such a difficult task with so much perseverance and optimal public participation. We also thank the select committee for inviting us to participate in the committee and the NCOP for acknowledging and recognising the role of local government in Parliament. [Applause.]

Mnu M MALAKOANA (KwaZulu-Natal): Sihlalo, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe neNdlu ehloniphekile, inkosi ihlala njalo iqikekele ukuthi abantu bayo bahlezi kahle nangemfudumalo. Masibalule ukuthi lo mThethosivivinywa uyabonakala ukuthi uyabanakekela abantu baseNingizimu Afrika.

Kade nokho sasifuna ukuphuma ngokugcwele phansi kwenqubomgomo yobandlululo. Asibonge kumhlonishwa uNgqongqoshe wezokuThutha. Mangiqale ngokudumisa ngiphakamise umusa kaSomandla ngokuthi ekugcineni izimpilo zabantu sezizocabangeleka ngokomThethosivivinywa osubekiwe. Phela kuzokhumbuleka ukuthi ubandlululo lwadlala kangakanani ngathi. Sizwile nokho ukuthi lokhu kusengumshisa-nyongo nje, isingeniso, isendlalelo senyama, isazofakwa emathanjeni njengalokhu kwadalulwa ukuthi okuningi okungaba yizikhalazo noma yizincomo kusazofakwa ohlakeni olulandelayo.

Kuza amaphasika nje kwabaningi kuxhuxhuzela izisu, akwaziwa ukuthi bangaki abazosishiya kulo mhlaba. Ilungu lePhalamende elihloniphekile umama uVilakazi like laphakamisa ngendaba yaseKranskop, kwaZulu-Natal, lapho kubhujiswe khona izimpilo zabantu abangenacala, kwadutshulwa itekisi, kwabhujiswa abantu abangaphezu kwabayisikhombisa. Ukuba mhlawumbe umthetho olawula ezokuthutha esikhuluma ngawo namhlanje wase ususebenza, ngabe lezi zimpilo azizange zilahleke; ngoba uma kulandelwa kahle kungatholakala ukuthi mhlawumbe ukhona umbango othize owawukhona lapho, mhlawumbe uphathelene nemizila, le mizila esizokwazi ukuthi ilawuleke njengamanje.

Izinto lapha eNingizimu Afrika, ikakhulukazi kwezokuthutha, bezihamba lukeke okwenkalankala noma okwelanga ligudla ebusika, ngoba bekuphalala igazi abashayeli beshayela ngokunganaki ngenxa yokungaqeqeshwa mayelana nokuziphatha nangempatho yabantu ngokujwayelekile. Nokho masithokoze ukuthi izimpilo zabantu sezizocabangeleka futhi ngoba umThetho-sivivinywa usho njalo kanti siyakubona nokuzimisela komhlonishwa uNgqongqoshe.

Futhi okuhle okubaluliwe ngukuthi amandla ngeke aqhoqhobalwe endaweni noma esizindeni esisodwa, kepha azokwendlalwa asiwe nasezifundazweni. Bazokhumbula abaningi, ikakhulukazi ozakwethu esivela nabo kwaZulu-Natali, ukuthi kwake kwaba yindaba le sibona sengathi amandla athathwa ayovalelwa laphaya kuHulumeni omkhulu phezulu. Nokho sathola ukuthi nathi sinamandla siyizifundazwe.

Imboni yezokuthutha kudingekile ukuthi ihlale inakekelwe ukuze ikwazi ukuba yimboni esimeme nenganikela emnothweni waseNingizimu Afrika; njengoba kuyimboni abampisholo abaziqalela yona. Lokho kungumlando owaziwayo nongephikiswe ukuthi eNingizimu Afrika njengoba silapha nje sikhuluma namhlanje, kungenxa yokuzinikela kwabantu bakithi abampisholo ekutheni le mboni mayisimame. Yimboni le edinga ukuphathiswa okweqanda ngoba inalo ithuba lokuhlumisa umnotho wakuleli zwe kwesinye isikhathi esike siwubone untengantenga.

Siyethemba ukuthi kuyothi uma sekuqedelwa uhlaka lwe-recapitalisation, kufakwe nalokhu esasikubalula njengesifundazwe. Kuzokhumbuleka ukuthi sasinovalo lokuthi sengathi udaba lwezitimela luwudaba olungazange lubhekeleleke kakhulu. Nokho siyathokoza ukuzwa ukuthi luyadingidwa lolu daba ezingeni eliphezulu. Ukubeka umgomo wokuthi akube wuhlobo oluthize lwezimoto olusebenzisa udizili, nakho kungaba yingozi ezimpilweni zabantu.

Bazokhumbula abanye ukuthi kukhona lapho okuke kwashiwo khona ukuthi yizimoto ezinjani ezizosebenzisa udizili. Lokho sakubuka. Siyathokoza ukuzwa kuHulumeni, ngasezingeni eliphezulu lasemNyangweni wezokuThutha, ukuthi cha kuzobhekelwa lokhu okwaba yiziphakamiso. Kodwa-ke, ngale kwalokho nokubona ukuthi amandla akhona nasezifundazweni, thina sithi: Cha, walithatha-ke igxathi elihle uHulumeni.

KuNgqongoshe sithi siyathokoza kakhulu. Izimpilo zabantu zizovikeleka. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of Zulu speech follows.)

[Mr M MALAKOANA (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairperson, hon Minister and hon House, a king is charged with the responsibility for the welfare and comfort of his subjects. Let me make the observation that this Bill shows such caring for the people of South Africa.

For a long time we have sought total emancipation from the apartheid policy. Let us express our gratitude to the Minister of Transport. I would like to start off by praising God for his mercy that people’s lives are going to be considered, in terms of the Bill that has been put forward. We will all remember how much we were exploited by the apartheid system.

However, we are aware that this is only an introduction, a skeleton, and that more flesh is still going to be added, as it has been revealed that any complaints or recommendations will be included in the next draft.

With Easter approaching, most people start panicking, for no one knows how many people are going to lose their lives. The hon member Mrs Vilakazi has raised the issue of Kranskop in KwaZulu-Natal where innocent lives were lost - a taxi shot at, and more than seven people killed. If the Bill controlling transport affairs that we are discussing today had been in place at that time, those lives would not have been lost; because if one can manage to get full information on this incident, one may find out that there was perhaps some rivalry involved, possibly about routes, which routes it will from now on be possible to control.

In the past the situation has been very abnormal in South Africa. Many lives were lost due to reckless driving caused by drivers’ lack of training in performing their jobs as well as in customer relations generally. However, let us rejoice that people’s lives are going to be given priority once more because the Bill demands that, and also because we are aware of the Minister’s determination.

Another advantage of this Bill that has been mentioned is the decentralisation of powers to the provinces, instead of concentrating them in one area or region. Most people, especially my colleagues from KwaZulu- Natal, will remember that this was once a big issue when we felt that all powers were being centralised at the national Government level. However, we later realised our powers as provinces.

The transport industry needs to be nurtured so that it remains stable and able to contribute to the South African economy, since it is an industry which black people initiated themselves. Today as we sit here and discuss issues, we know the popular and unchallenged history that this industry owes its resilience to the relentless efforts of our black people. This industry needs to be handled with care because it does have the potential to boost the economy of this country, which seems to be unstable sometimes.

We hope that when the recapitalisation framework is being finalised, the concern that we raised as a province will be taken on board. The members will remember that we were concerned that the position of trains was not provided for adequately. At least we are now glad to hear that this matter is being discussed at a higher level. Specifying that a certain type of vehicle should be designed as a diesel vehicle can also have dangerous results on people’s lives.

Some of us will remember that there was a time when it was specified that certain vehicles would use diesel. We studied that. We are happy to learn from the Government, from the highest authorities of the Department of Transport, that the suggestions made are going to be considered. In addition to that, and taking into consideration that the provinces have acquired more powers, we say: The Government has indeed taken a positive step.

To the Minister, we express our joy. People’s lives will now be protected. [Applause.]]

Mr T MHLAHLO (Eastern Cape): Chairperson, on behalf of the Eastern Cape province, I wish to submit our input to the process of formulation of this legislation and finally the adoption of this Bill by this important national institution.

To the Minister as well as members of the NCOP, in particular the chairperson of the Select Committee on Transport, the province of the Eastern Cape wishes to submit its appreciation of the roles he played during the formulation of this policy. We have consulted a number of stakeholders in the province, and we secured the mandate of many stakeholders in as far as the content of this Bill is concerned.

The province supports the National Land Transport Transitional Bill and we further believe that this piece of legislation will provide Government and the Department of Transport with a platform on which to manage national matters as well as provincial interests in a well organised manner. The establishment of transport authorities and formulation of policies in a co- ordinated manner does come out very clearly in this policy. The intention of the Minister, particularly on the issue of support for the provinces so that development is driven in the same direction in this country, is welcomed.

The Bill stipulates general principles for transport planning and this is appreciated precisely because Eastern Cape constitutes the poorest province in this country and is the second largest province in terms of population. Recently, we have experienced a number of deaths on our roads due to unco- ordinated policy development and the absence of well-planned public transport. We believe that this Bill is going to rectify all these shortcomings.

We also know very well that this is not going to be an easy process because, in the main, this is an outcome of the impact of apartheid policy. As all members know very well, the Eastern Cape was constituted from two homelands which were well established with different policies. We believe that this Bill is going to rectify that shortcoming.

Further, the timing of this Bill, especially as we approach the Easter weekend, should minimise the death rates on our roads. The Eastern Cape has had a reasonable number of deaths occurring on roads in the past, and we believe that the discussion today should influence the general public so that, for the first time, we can save lives on the roads in this country.

The Minister’s intervention on the policy of public transport, especially the formalisation of the taxi industry, is most welcomed. We believe that the taxi industry constitutes one of the backbones of black economic empowerment in this country, and we therefore wish to call upon those who are involved in this industry to utilise this important sector to achieve that objective.

We further believe that we cannot achieve that objective without the participation of the broader society. With this legislation the Minister intends to drive the process of public transport, so that we can utilise our resources in the best possible manner in this country.

We hope all role-players will take part in the implementation of this legislation, because it is not enough for the NCOP to discuss the contents of the legislation. However, I think these deliberations must inform those who will be practically participating in the transport industry in this country, so that together we can achieve these objectives. As we proceed towards the Easter weekend, the Eastern Cape believes that the present plans of the Department of Transport, both nationally and provincially, about which we have read in the newspapers, provide a platform for us to save the lives of our people.

Therefore, we want to congratulate the Department of Transport, and particularly the Minister, for the intervention he has made in the recent past. We believe everybody must be part of the process, the transport industry particularly. Reorganising what was formerly established in this country is not going to be an easy task. Apartheid was well institutionalised in this country. The taxi industry at some point was organised to resist black economic empowerment, but I think this piece of legislation does provide a proper platform for us to change that perception. Therefore, we want, as a province, to call upon role-players to participate in realising these intentions and also to be part of the growth in this country.

With these few words I wish to submit, on behalf of the province, our acceptance of this Bill. Again, we want congratulate the role played by the NCOP and the able leadership of its chairperson in the select committee. The Eastern Cape participated fully in the content and formulation of this policy. We further want to say to the Department of Transport, particularly its staff members, their legal advisers who came to our province on different occasions, that we appreciate that. With these few words we submit that we accept the Bill and we support it. [Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon member, I have not yet recognised you and you are already standing up. Now it is your time. [Laughter.]

Mr N M RAJU: Chairperson, hon Minister, special delegates from the provinces and hon colleagues in the NCOP, at the outset the DP wishes to state categorically that it will support any and every effort of the state to ensure the passage of any legislation that will facilitate the entry into the economy of the country of those South Africans who were previously prevented from doing so by the ideological miscreants in the old NP.

The DP acknowledges that the National Land Transport Transition Bill is such a welcome piece of legislation, and the party, though having some concerns, expresses its support for this Bill in the second House.

Before I outline the concerns of my party, may I express some thoughts on the positive aspects of the Bill. The DP recognises the need to regulate the transport industry. The commuting public is crying out for a safer and more efficient service. As mentioned by the Minister and others, the taxi industry was the vanguard in the empowerment of small-scale entrepreneurs, and this industry now needs a reappraisal and reorganisation. Unchecked, the industry has degenerated into a Frankenstein’s monster that has been let loose upon an unsuspecting public. Thus far taxi violence has taken a monstrous toll in our communities. When, oh, when will sanity prevail in this industry? Only the other day, right here in Cape Town, in Khayelitsha, this monster raised its ugly head. Colleague Miss Majodina alluded to this tragic event a moment ago. It would seem that the noble philosophy of live and let live seems foreign to those engaged in the taxi business. The DP joins with all law-abiding citizens in the country in calling for a halt to the wanton killings in this industry.

The party supports the envisaged legislation and recognises the need to create an environment for healthy competition and, most importantly, the need for the creation of acceptable standards by which public transport bodies will operate. This Bill is intended to regulate the industry by encouraging economic activity, creating an attractive investment environment and ensuring that those who were previously excluded from participating in this industry, will do so increasingly in an organised fashion.

What are the party’s concerns, if the Bill is passed? Firstly, the entire control of the transport industry, and especially the taxi industry, will now fall squarely under the control of the national Ministry of Transport. The provincial MECs are thus effectively emasculated. Like eunuchs, they will merely have to implement the provisions of the Bill. The present dual competence for transport, that is the national and the provincial, becomes effectively compromised.

Secondly, the role-players in the industry, the very taxi owners and operators, are effectively being marginalised because the management, policing and regulation of the industry are now out of their hands.

Thirdly, another major flaw in the Bill concerns the capacity and appointment criteria of the taxi associations. If only municipal councillors are eligible for membership, are we not acquiescing in a situation where politicians are taking effective control of the taxi industry, when we consider, for instance, the issue of tenders, the granting of permission to operate, the allocation of routes, the determining of the number of operators per route, the granting of subsidies where applicable and so on. The Bill presumes that local government politicians will administer and manage the taxi industry without fear and favour.

Fourthly, the issue of the loss of jobs cannot be underestimated. Such major changes in the whole complexion of the land transport industry must surely have an adverse effect on job losses.

Fifthly, a disturbing feature of the proposed legislation is the impact of diesel engines on the environment. Badly maintained or unserviced vehicles could only exacerbate the pollution problems that the public will have to suffer.

Sixthly, why is such a conspicuous bias shown in favour of road transport? The good old rail trains and trucks are being totally ignored and consigned to the scrapheap of history, like the horse and carriage of the halcyon days of yore. Surely more holistic public transport legislation, without such imbalances, could be proposed.

These are the concerns of the DP, but good South Africans as we in the DP are, we support the proposed legislation. In conclusion, the DP wishes all a happy Easter and ultra-safe driving. Drive alive and arrive alive! [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr P D N MALOYI: Chairperson, Minister of Transport, Comrade Dullah Omar - it looks as if he is not here - and hon members, I am definitely not going to be diverted by Mr Raju’s uninformed and unresearched speech, because I do not have enough time to do that. I think the Minister will be able to deal with some of those concerns, although I do not know where they come from.

The Bill before us is monumental in that it adds yet another pillar to support our fundamental principles of transformation and restructuring. That is the fundamental pillar of the ANC and the ANC-led Government. This it seeks to achieve, for the first time in the history of our public transport, by providing a safe, reliable, effective and fully integrated transport operation and infrastructure, which will best meet the needs of passenger customers at improved levels of service and costs, and in a fashion which supports Government strategies for economic and social development, whilst being environmentally safe and economically sustainable.

May I also mention that although the issue of operating licences for the undertaking of public transport has been set out exhaustively in this Bill, I think that it is in the best interests of the Council that I confine myself to the stipulated restrictions and exclusions, and the transfer of the existing permissions or permits. The Bill provides that each MEC must establish a single operating licences board for the province, with members who are impartial and have no financial interest in the public transport industry. The old adage of the rules of natural justice which says that no one can be a judge in their own case will not only be adhered to, but also be manifestly and undoubtedly practised. Such operating licences boards will be responsible for dealing with applications for the granting, renewal, amendment or transfer of operating licences.

A province will be able to make laws providing for the functions of the board to be transferred to similar bodies to be established by transport authorities, in respect of applications related to transport within their transport areas. However, this will only be done if the MEC is satisfied that the particular transport authority is competent to do so and is performimg its functions satisfactorily.

The board will be able to establish satellite offices in regions of the province for the convenience of the public. The satellite offices will assist the public in making applications for operating licences, receive applications and issue permits and distinguishing marks to be placed on vehicles.

This Bill will ensure that no one will be entitled to a new operating licence as of right. Every applicant will be granted or refused an operating licence in terms of transport plans, subject to the recommendations of the planning authorities.

Only one operating licence will be issued per vehicle. Persons directly involved in evaluating applications related to licences, preparing licensing strategies, processing applications for registration or undertaking law enforcement related to public transport, may not hold operating licences. Operating licences may not be hired out to other persons as has been happening.

A significant change from the status quo is that operators conveying learners and students will require permission, except for once-off tours, where the educational institution owns the vehicle or it has been set aside for the use of that institution.

The functions of an operating licences board are to receive, consider and decide on or otherwise dispose of applications for the granting of operating licences for interprovincial transport involving the province for which the oparating licences board has been established, or an operating licence of another province in which passengers are picked up or set down.

An operating licences board, on application made to it by the holder of any permit at any time before the day on which the permit lapses in terms of this Bill, may convert the permit to an operating licence in terms of this Bill and relevant provincial laws, if it would have had jurisdiction if the applicant had applied for an operating licence involving the same kind of transport.

After 1 October 2004, no new operating licence may be granted for vehicles other than the new approved ones, whether as a new operating licence or by way of renewal, amendment or transfer of an existing operating licence or permit.

The MEC, by notice in the provincial Gazette, will determine a date by which all permits must have been converted for the purposes of this Bill. The MEC will be able to defer that date in consultation with the Minister. Any permit not so converted within that time will lapse. Holders of permits will not be able to convert them to operating licences unless the permit is active in the sense that the services authorised by the permit have been provided for uninterruptedly for a period of at least 180 days before application is made for conversion.

I agree with the chairperson of the committee and other speakers that over the past few years we have experienced taxi violence and conflicts in which a number of our people, particularly Africans, were affected. This was so owing to our weak system of regulation or no regulation at all by the previous government.

Secondly, the conditions and age of the current taxis leave much to be desired. Amongst other things, these taxis were not built for passenger transport. They were simply family cars.

As the Minister has said, this Bill seeks to formalise and regulate the minibus-taxi industry and also promote order and harmony. It will not allow a situation like the one in Khayelitsha and Guguletu. It will fundamentally transform the industry over the next five years. By the year 2006, only specified vehicles as encapsulated in clause 31(1) of this Bill, will be allowed to operate as public transport, unless the Minister, obviously in consultation with MECs, directs otherwise by notice in the Gazette. [Applause.]

Mr G MADODA (North West): Chairperson, I hope I am audible.

Hon Minister and delegates, for far too long our country has cried out for a comprehensive overhaul of our public transport system. We have seen bloody and drawn-out internal strife within the system. Road carnage which is a result of often preventable accidents, both in the bus and taxi industries, has reached painfully high proportions.

Apart from failing to provide user-friendliness and safety, our public transport system has contributed very little to the critical efforts for national integration and planning and development, and for peace and stability in our nation.

This Bill will bring about long-awaited change to all these problems. It will protect the user, increase effectiveness and efficiency, and bring about stability and harmony. We believe that the devolution of functions to municipal areas, through the establishment of transport authorities, will bring about improved administration and management of the public transport system.

More than 70% of the North West province is rural. Roads in these areas are extremely bad, not only because of the recent floods, but also because of what we inherited. Public transport to these areas is virtually inaccessible, and where it is accessible, it remains very difficult for both transport users and transport operators. We believe that transport authorities will be better placed to tackle problems such as these. With improved vertical and horizontal co-ordination, these problems will not escape us.

This Bill is fairly comprehensive. What to me appears to be more important is how prepared provinces and the relevant authorities will be to implement its provisions. While the important areas of the formulation of regulations, the funding of transport authorities and training, especially of managers and transport authorities, as well as related concerns, have been addressed through this Bill, we need to make sure that we move into the implementation mode of this Bill with enough capacity, given the ever- emerging problems, especially in the taxi and bus industry.

This means that we need to move along with everyone involved. We need to continue to sustain the consensus that has already been built on this massive change. We need to start to work on co-ordination as early as at this point in time. We also need to ensure that we have enough enforcement capacity when we implement this Bill. We are happy that the timeframes that have been placed on the implementation of this Bill afford enough time to everyone to plan and prepare in good time.

In conclusion, the North West congratulates the Minister and his staff on this important piece of legislation. It is indeed a tribute to all those who continue to fall victim to the chaotic transport system that we have inherited. It is for this reason that we say that this new system must not fail; it must succeed.

We support this Bill. [Applause.]

Mr R M NYAKANE: Madam Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members of this House, I thank you. First and foremost, I would like to register the UDM’s acceptance of this Bill on the grounds that its intended purpose is to restore order and ensure peace within the transport industry.

However, I would like to share with the Minister a few observations I have made on this Bill. Firstly, part 6 provides that the Minister may make funds available to the provinces for the purpose of carrying out land transport activities. The Bill further provides that the national Ministry may also make funds available directly to the transport authorities for land transport activities. Parallel to these two provisions, the provinces will also be empowered to make money received available to the transport authorities for the same purpose.

I detect here an element of double standards that might arise and lead to repercussions in the process. One would therefore argue that only one source of channelling funds should be effected, preferably through the MECs’ offices, especially given that one of the MECs’ functions is to monitor the implementation of the provincial land transport policy and conduct investigations into matters arising from the implementation. Being the policy formulator, the establisher and the funder of transport authorities, the provincial legislatures should be accorded complete empowerment and capacity, and not be reduced to the status of homeland legislatures.

One is aware of the concurrent functions of both the national and provincial legislatures with regard to public transport in terms of part A of Schedule 4 of the Constitution. This provision need not unnecessarily hold the status and image of the MECs to ransom.

One other observation I made is that the smallest portion of the national Budget is expended on transfer payments, that is, payment for transport agencies, airways, railways, and so on. This leaves me doubting that the national department will be in a position to adequately finance the activities of land transport.

Another observation I made is about a great breakthrough which some of the people have referred to - that of permission offices, in other words the offices that are going to be set up in various regions. I think one has to highly commend the Minister for this particular step, because we are definitely going to realise our objective of job creation then. Job creation is going to take place.

I would like, lastly, to urge the Minister and his department to proceed with this venture. The sooner we get the taxi industry saga stabilised, the better it will be for the whole of South Africa. [Applause.]

Mr K D S DURR: I hope the Minister feels encouraged by the consensus that has been building up in this House since his introductory speech.

It has been a long road for the Minister to get to this stage of the Bill, and it has been a hard journey. It promises to continue to be tough as we go forward. If we encourage - I am sure that is what we intend to do - the Minister, it is because it is in everybody’s best interests that he should succeed. The excellent speeches by my colleagues would also encourage the Minister and give him some ideas. I know that there is a degree of flexibility as one goes forward, and that the Minister is listening to people like ourselves who come from the provinces and are closer to the ground.

The Bill seeks to restructure the laws that regulate transport in our country with particular reference to passenger transport and, of course, follows on White Papers and task forces and a variety of studies. It seeks to achieve harmony in the taxi industry and provides for the Government’s controversial plan for the recapitalisation of the taxi industry.

The whole problem is anything but easy. I wish I could stand up and give the Minister an alternative. I cannot, I have to say. However, I have some reservations that I will raise which the Minister can weigh to see if they have merit.

The Bill, with 131 headings and 18 chapters, which is 72 pages long, is a fine piece of work. It is a product, as the Minister said, of 18 months of work. One cannot accuse it of having been rushed or of being half-baked. It has been available for comment in various forms since 1996 and the provinces, the metropolitan municipalities and other stakeholders have been consulted.

I have to say that I am a little concerned when I read in the Financial Mail that some of the important organisations such as Sataco and the National Taxi Alliance are still not on board. I do not know whether it is for political reasons, whether it is a negotiating stance on their part or whether they are really opposed to what the Minister is trying to do. It is not clear. We would like to hear from the Minister how he is getting on with this matter and how Deputy President Zuma is getting on, if the Minister is aware of it, with those two important organisations.

The Minister has been lucky, if I may say so, in that his predecessor, who did some of the work, was a good Minister. He was a man who was respected in this House and we respect this Minister as well as his good intentions.

There is much positive in this Bill, but we have some reservations. It is not that we are trying to be smart or show that we know better in voicing these reservations. We have to ask ourselves, since this is an ambitious move, whether it is not overambitious and whether it is not overcomprehensive. Are we not biting off more than we can chew? Do we have the administrative capacity to implement such a profound change? Should we perhaps not consider doing what the Minister is planning on doing, but only in one city or province? I was chairman of the world’s leading air pollution control company which operates internationally and we ran many trials, for example, on ways for trucks to reduce pollution. The programme would first be run in Miami or London or some other city and then rolled out if it was successful.

I do not know how much leeway this legislation gives one to do that. If it can be done, it is something worth considering to see if we cannot, on an experimental basis, take a town or region that is co-operative and wants to do something and then try and experiment by introducing it there. After this, it can be rolled out through the rest of the country if it is possible.

The industry, as some of my colleagues have said, is, of course, one of the great entrepreneurial business success stories of black South Africans and of black empowerment. And nothing we say, when we want to regulate or improve this industry, takes away from that high achievement, because it shows that people can pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and can provide an efficient service with a lot of flair and a lot of enthusiasm, and so on. The industry has also had enormous successes, and we do not want, in what we do, to stifle that. We do not want to stifle the entrepreneurship, we do not want to stifle the flair, and we do not want to stifle those attributes that have made this industry the great and successful industry that it has become, with the huge public service it renders to this country, cost-effectively at the moment.

When we look at law enforcement, of course a lot of fingers are pointed at the taxi industry and I am sure some of the assertions are true. However, it is also true to say - and the Minister should know this better than anybody - that lawlessness is not something that is confined to the taxi industry. What happens in the industry is simply a manifestation of lawlessness generally, and we should not be deflected or calumniate the industry for being a source of lawlessness.

We have to ask ourselves: If we have failed and have been unwilling or unable to really implement the current regulations in terms of driver competency, safety standards on vehicles, such as they are, registration standards, etc, what guarantee have we got that we will be able to implement this far more ambitious programme in the future?

It remains for us to say that we wish the Minister every success. We hope he gets on well with Sataco and the national taxi authority. We are, I have to say, very concerned about these vehicles that the Minister proposes to introduce. We are happy that there should be specifications in terms of passenger numbers, etc. I am not a transport economist and I am sure the Minister is well advised on that. However, as far as the vehicle itself is concerned, we think it would be better to lay down specifications and standards, rather than to designate a particular manufacturer, so that we can, as far as is humanly possible, maintain competition between the manufacturers which, in the end, upholds and improves standards and drives down costs. Therefore, would it be possible for the Minister to follow a specifications and standards approach, rather than to nominate a particular vehicle manufacturer? This is something we think, in principle, would be better, if it is at all possible.

Finally, I have considerable experience in the air pollution field. I know that diesel engines are probably the way these buses are going to go, because that is the most cost-effective way to go. I know that particulates coming out of these exhaust pipes are carcinogenic. I know of the concern worldwide. I know that all over the world people are grappling with this. I know that enormous strides have been made. We have a golden opportunity to take this big fleet and maintain the highest possible air pollution standards by installing mechanisms in the traps behind the vehicle engines to ensure that in one fell swoop we take a big bite out of the air pollution health hazard which threatens the health of this nation.

With those few words, we wish the Minister well. We hope he feels encouraged, and we look forward to seeing this whole picture evolve. [Applause.]

Ms L F SHABALALA (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members and special delegates, in 1994 the democratic Government came to power which led to the new, democratic, legalised political arrangement and, therefore, to justice prevailing for the first time in our country. The previous government had a justice department in the country which had no justice, amounting to a violation of human rights.

The democratic Government can best serve its purpose by democratising society to ensure that people govern by being involved in the organs of civil society. Legalisation brought about a new order for our society, which went through a tense exercise. Through the legalisation process the taxi industry became close partners with the Government. Hence the concept of recapitalisation.

Professionalising the taxi industry was critical, as in the case of KwaZulu- Natal where the industry is run on a survival-of-the-fittest style.

Kuyinhlamba ukuthi abantu baleli bhizinisi sesababiza ngezinkabi. Kwezinye izimboni sithi kunezimenenja. [It is an insult to call the people who do this kind of business oxen; whereas we call their counterparts in other types of business managers.]

We look forward to a moment in our history when we refer to taxi owners as managers or directors.

The Government, through this Bill, should be congratulated because its priority is the commuter, who, in most cases, is the victim of any shortcomings in the transport industry. However, being the custodians of democracy, we seek to transform every sector. It is a reality that restructuring will always come with job losses, for which mechanisms are clearly defined in this Bill.

Therefore, we wish to congratulate the Minister. As KwaZulu-Natal we support this Bill.

On a closing note, I wish to congratulate the Minister of Transport on having launched the road safety campaign on the same day that we did in KwaZulu-Natal, that is, yesterday. This event was characterised by the presence of different sectors of the community, which demonstrated the extent to which our society is being democratised.

The MEC for transport in KwaZulu-Natal and the department are bracing themselves, of course, with zero tolerance, for the volume of traffic over the Easter holidays, as holiday-makers from all the provinces will be coming to KwaZulu-Natal.

I think the Minister has a lot of challenges facing him in the department. It is correct to say he has tried to right the imbalances of the past through restructuring. However, the Minister will always find people who will say to him: ``We are correcting you,’’ and one just wonders who is correcting things in this department. [Applause.]

Mr B J MKHALIPHI: Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members and delegates, the process of rural transport planning in the Mpumalanga province will undoubtedly be a challenging task for all of us. Land development objectives and integrated development planning have all along been confined to the urban areas. Many businesspeople and the average citizen did not pay much attention to these crucial planning exercises. At times they were viewed as tedious jobs assigned only to the municipal officials, the councillors and a few structures of the community.

In rural Mpumalanga, the district council will have to execute the task of establishing transport authorities where there are no municipalities, no infrastructure development and almost no roads at all. Obviously, research and extensive consultation will preoccupy the initial planning stage since no accurate road records exist with regard to the size of the population in most areas. They will find, for example, that where there are no access roads, commuters are often stranded and have to walk long distances in search of transport. Where roads exist, there is usually an oversupply of transport competing fiercely for an ever-shrinking market.

The rural areas of Mpumalanga require peculiar transport planning to cater for the largely agriculture-based commuting pattern with its ever-changing routes and working hours. These patterns change from season to season and from sector to sector. For example, the commuters to vegetable smallholdings, those working in orchards, plantations and mealie fields, have their own peculiar patterns of commuting, which differ remarkably. In addition, the transport authorities will have to contend with the economic decline of the agricultural sector in general.

The objectives of the National Land Transport Transition Bill make economic sense to us in Mpumalanga. On implementation it will enable companies, amongst others, to release their investments from transport commitments into wider job-creating opportunities. For example, the mining companies and Eskom in Mpumalanga’s Highveld areas will no longer have their capital committed to the running costs of buses and trucks, but will have the opportunity to specialise in their core activities, namely mining and power supply respectively. The same could be true for the tourism industry in the province. Let us allow the Kruger National Park and other tourist attractions in the province to specialise in tourism and have less and less to do with the transport of tourists. [Applause.]

Mr A MARAIS: Chairperson, I have a lot of friends, I must say. [Laughter.]

From the onset I would like to report that all stakeholders from the Free State are positively in support of the changes enshrined in this legislation. We also agree that the scope of this Bill is ubiquitous, as the hon the Minister has said.

The previous government firstly overregulated then deregulated the industry, with potentially devastating consequences for the economic viability and sustainability of the industry, flooding it with permits. What in fact happened, was that the old order generally criminalised black participation in the economy in so far as it conflicted with the imperatives of racial capitalism. Any activity that could not be controlled by whites, was criminal. Thousands of laws were passed to this end. With regard to the taxi industry, the former government moved from arrest and harassment to deregulation, that is, from criminalisation to deregulation, or rather lawlessness. This has prompted us in the Free State, noting our close proximity to Lesotho, the mining industry and its attendant passenger requirements, compelling conditions in Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu and Qwaqwa, and the unacceptable high fatality rates on our roads, to sought ways that would counter the democratisation of criminality, lawlessness and endemic violence. Since the mid-eighties, we have played a leading role in endeavours to modernise the industry. Strategies such as, for instance, the taxi co-operatives, have their origins in the Free State.

The Free State Interim Passenger Transport Act, Act 16 of 1998, was among the first in the country, although its constitutionality was heavily questioned at the time. Due to this early start, the formalisation and regulation processes are at a very advanced stage in the province.

At present there are 74 registered associations. The number of registered operators and vehicles amount to 6 310 and 7 947 respectively. Estimated illegal operators and vehicles vary from 2 036 and 2 600 respectively. At present we are processing approximately 2 000 special legalisation applications.

We have thus far established one provincial taxi office and four satellite or regional offices and are investigating further rationalisation to dovetail with the redemarcation process. Negotiations pertaining to the provincial co-operatives are advancing well, maybe not as fast as we would prefer it to, but they are well on course. A remarkable record indeed, I submit.

Invaluable experience gained over the past few years have indeed been very instructive. A progressive, modernised passenger transport industry requires high-tech communication systems to enhance its operations. From a provincial perspective, we therefore propose that special emphasis be placed on the following: That the registration administration systems be replaced by more advanced software to enable the offices of especially the registrars to perform their functions more effectively and efficiently; that these systems be network based to widen the network area in order to link the registrars’ offices and taxi associations and, where they are established, transport authorities; that access to the Internet be enhanced; and, implicit in the former, that access to vast comparative and pertinent literature on transport and inexpensive means of communication be enhanced with respect to reduced fares, telephone, travelling and postal costs to the former-mentioned offices.

We are asking the hon the Minister to intervene to ensure that this type of development is mimicked throughout. The passenger transport industry is a business, and the development of a management information system for the industry will go a long way towards professionalising activities and conduct. Information technology is one way of dovetailing the practices of the industry with the rest of the economy. In order to do this, accurate records of transactions, income, expenditure, etc, are needed.

On training and capacity-building, we are of the view that although various efforts have been made to provide this, either nationally or provincially, the fact that it was not monitored or evaluated created a problem. Funds were pumped into unstructured and unco-ordinated training. There is a need to move away from eclectic training towards a more customised training programme. In accordance with the NTTT recommendations, we are soliciting partnerships with the private sector and taxi industry in the training and capacity-building initiatives of minibus operators and drivers. There are indications of the willingness and positive attitude of the private sector thus far.

We are further of the view that modernisation and other ongoing changes will have a major impact on the industry and the department. It then becomes imperative to put especially the offices of the registrars in a better position to meet the challenges.

I shall now deal with some of the provisions of the Bill. Section 125 of the Bill, by implication, suggests that commuters should become more responsible pertaining to the recording of the names of drivers, operators and the vehicles in which they commute. It is our contention that this type of information must form part of a national public education strategy. We are appealing to the hon the Minister to elaborate on this.

Overall, the Bill is not emphatic enough with regard to citizens or commuter responsibility.

The prevention or overcoming of the overloading problem cannot solely be the responsibility of drivers or operators. Commuters should be accountable for impropriety as well. This must be considered and the Minister is asked to indicate whether there is a national strategy that is being contemplated in this regard.

The section further provides that authorised officers may order the driver or person in charge of the vehicle to surrender the operating licence or permit, or other distinguishing marks. Elderly persons are the most vulnerable and are always exploited. The Bill is absolutely silent on the humane aspects, such as in the event that a vehicle is impounded and the vulnerable are prejudiced. We need to understand what remedial mechanisms the Minister is considering through, perhaps, national legislation in instances like these.

We further contend that the Minister moved with speed, with the concurrence of the MECs and TLCs, regarding designated loading or off-loading areas and also regarding the regulations providing for national sanctions, both for the taxis and commuters.

The prescripts of the African renaissance enjoin us to transform our society, in both a tangible and an intangible sense, towards the attainment of the ideal ethos. We support the Bill. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Ms N D NTWANAMBI: Chairperson, let me begin by saying that as a person who went to seek the provincial mandate on this, I must say that, contrary to what Mr Durr has said, the province supports the Bill with no amendments and with no concerns. That is not a provincial mandate. It should be known that what he said is personal. [Interjections.] Let me come back to what we are here for. I had to correct that, because it could have been misunderstood. [Interjections.]

Perhaps it is because I was once a teacher that if I want to drive a point home, I have to narrate a story. I hope my time will not expire before my story is done. I want to tell hon members a very sad story. Perhaps some members will be able to relate to it.

Prevented by apartheid laws from taking his family with him to the city, a certain man took advantage of the transport subsidies the then government provided as incentives for upholding urban apartheid. He commuted daily between Dennilton, in the former KwaNdebele, and Verwoerdburg, which is now known as Centurion. This afforded him an opportunity to at least be part of his children’s upbringing. He was able to commute every morning and evening. He had saved some money, and he paid R104 instead of R408.

The then government announced the withdrawal of the subsidy scheme. This was a heavy blow to this man. He could not survive without cutting down on his daily commuting to and from Dennilton. He had also invested so much in his home in Dennilton, and he could not afford to lose his investment.

What he did was that he joined the growing army of shack dwellers on the outskirts of Mamelodi. [Interjections.] His wife had to join him in search of income opportunities because of the expense of running two households.

Namalunga ayayazi-ke indoda eyigoduka ukuthi iba nemizi emibili. [Ubuwelewele.] [Members of Parliament know that a migrant man always has two homes. [Interjections.]]

She soon found piece jobs, washing and ironing clothes for the middle-class residents of Mamelodi Gardens. Back at home things were not right, because …

… akukho bazali futhi abantwana bayazenzela. Akukho muntu okhulisa labo bantwana. Njengabazali, siyazi ukuthi kusho ukuthini ukushiya abantwana abangamantombazane bebodwa ekhaya. [… with no parents, children do as they like. There is no one to bring the children up. As parents we know what it is like to leave female children alone at home.]

I am saying this so that we have a better picture of why transport is a necessity. It exists to support a fundamental need of society, which is to give people access to opportunities for work, leisure and other social activities.

Transport is also necessary for sustained economic growth and the maintenance of our country’s international competitiveness. Jobs, economic growth and international competitiveness depend on a smooth and dependable modern transport system. This is exactly what this Bill seeks to achieve. It establishes a clear vision for transport in line with national objectives and provides all role-players in the system with a view of the priorities to be acted upon. Furthermore, it devolves as much of the implementation agenda as possible to lower spheres of government, including the proposed metropolitan areas.

One has to look at this Bill in the context of the benefits which will arise as a result of its implementation. Metropolitan governments enable more integrated planning. This is very important, given the fragmented and piecemeal manner in which the apartheid government implemented its socioeconomic policies. There was, for example, no connection between its land use and transport policies.

Apartheid transport policies were not aimed at providing people with access to job opportunities, social services, educational opportunities and social integration. Townships were planned and built far from white residential areas and central business districts where the bulk of job opportunities, educational opportunities and social services were situated, in many instances with few or no roads.

This fragmented approach between land use and transport planning had severe socioeconomic implications for township residents. According to a report by the Department of Transport’s Moving South Africa initiative, the average public transport trip in South Africa is 20 km, compared with 9 kilometres in developing Asian countries. The result is that South African commuters spend almost 40% more time travelling than their Asian counterparts. Consequently they have to pay more for transport and have less time to spend with their families and children. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mrs R A NDZANGA: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, Part 9 of the National Land Transport Transition Bill deals with the safety standards of transporting people every day, which is now a national issue.

For many people the taxi industry was once seen as a major breakthrough by black entrepreneurs into South Africa’s informal economy. However, during the past few years, South Africa has witnessed numerous incidents of taxi violence in which many innocent victims have died. Some taxi drivers do not have valid licences, they overload their vehicles, they do not use safety belts, some of their vehicles run with smooth tyres, and the worst is that some of them ignore road signs.

In Gauteng only, we have more than 40 000 vehicles operating as taxis, according to figures supplied by our MEC for transport in the province. What were once celebrated as a beacon of hope for black economic empowerment have become, in the words of our President, ``coffins on wheels’’.

I think all drivers who continue to be involved in road accidents should have their drivers’ licences confiscated and not be allowed to drive again for a long time.

Although there may be many reasons for continuing taxi conflict, some of it relates to disputes arising from operators failing to stick to their allocated routes, fighting over loading zones and ranking space, and failure to curb violent elements within the taxi industry itself. To my mind, however, the main reason should be sought in the deregulation of the taxi industry as part of the apartheid government’s policy of distancing the government from the black empowerment enterprises. The continuing violence suggests that it is time for our democratic Government to undo the apartheid government’s policies of economic deregulation and political instability, which led to the taxi violence in the first place.

In March this year, the mother of our Deputy Speaker in the province was hit by a stray bullet while two taxi drivers were shooting at each other. She was going to town but she ended up in hospital with a bullet wound that nearly took her life.

The problem in the industry does not only concern taxi violence. The aim of the National Land Transport Transition Bill is to adopt a holistic approach to solving the problems associated with the taxi industry. It seeks to restructure the taxi industry in such a way that all the illegal practices, such as those I have mentioned above which are associated with the taxi industry, can be removed.

The problem relating to taxi industry has been a concern for the province of Gauteng for a number of years. The provincial government has continually motivated strongly for the regulation of the taxi industry because the absence of laws were frustrating the fight against the taxi violence. On 6 April our MEC had to suspend the Faraday Taxi Association from operating for seven days because of lawlessness. The MEC made it clear to members of the association that the Government will not be intimidated. In the words of the MEC for Gauteng, Mr Mosonkuthu:

The suspension of the permit is not intended to harm anyone but is for the good of the association and the people.

Since 1995, we have been involved in ongoing discussions with all the relevant stakeholders in the taxi industry to find solutions to the taxi problem in the province, which culminated in the establishment of the Gauteng Taxi Initiative. The Faraday Taxi Association members behaved so well that the MEC had to lift their suspension. It is for this reason that we welcome this Bill. It will definitely contribute towards stability in the taxi industry. We support the Bill. [Applause.]

Ms B THOMSON: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, special delegates present, this Bill is long overdue and in its current state is incomplete but nonetheless goes a long way to redress a very dire situation. Week after week South Africa has watched and listened to horror stories about the minibus taxi industry. Virtually every newspaper, TV news bulletin and magazine carries a story of taxi violence or violation of traffic rules. People are being shot as they stand in queues. Taxi drivers perform driving gymnastics in their greed for more fares, often forcing others off the road. There are drive-by shootings from rival associations. Many vehices are in such a state of disrepair that they are literally held together by masking tape. The list is endless.

Ordinary people who want to go about their daily business are caught in the crossfire of groups of taxi drivers who believe it is their right to brutally eliminate competition, regardless of the loss of human life. Already in KwaZulu-Natal, the MEC, Sbu Ndebele, had to take drastic actions in the Empangeni-Eskhawini taxi conflict to prevent loss of human life when rival associations were engaged in turf wars and 11 people were massacred on 4 November 1999. This Government is a responsible one and will not allow this kind of anarchy to continue unchecked.

This Government does not seek to scrap the taxi industry through this legislation, nor does it seek to take away jobs from predominantly black drivers and owners. What this Bill is doing is transforming an industry from a chaotic, uncaring and dangerous one without uniform regulations, norms and standards to one that is regulated and has an infrastructure.

This Bill seeks to transform the industry, not for the sake of transformation or because we want to ensure that taxes are paid - although we believe that everyone has a responsibility to pay tax because everyone actually benefits from increasing the tax base - but because every life is important to us. We want to eradicate the criminal elements who threaten our citizens through their unruly behaviour.

We have always welcomed the fact that the people on the ground took the initiative to start businesses to deliver a vital service where there had been none. The taxi industry brought a necessary service to approximately 60% of our citizens who were out of reach of Metrorail and the public bus route. We commend the taxi industry for that service. We also welcome the fact that many black businesses got off the ground and had an opportunity to flourish against all odds. What this Bill seeks to do is not to stifle the initiatives of the taxi industry but to reduce the negativity which surrounds the industry. This Bill ensures that all provinces have the same infrastructure and support base. It also makes sure that the same permits are issued, following the same rules and regulations. It makes the industry accountable, both to the people which it serves and the Government.

We believe that intergovernmental co-operation is the cornerstone of this Bill. All nine provinces and all local authorities will have to work closely together to ensure that there are proper transport authorities in place to co-ordinate such functions, preparations of transport plans, policies and financial planning. Part of these plans should ensure that, firstly, uniform registration of taxis occurs, norms and standards are the same across the provincial boundaries, licensing and permits are standardised, corruption is eradicated, there is better law enforcement, commuters have safe vehicles, workers have fair conditions of service, and so on.

This Bill forges new paths for public transport. It reassures the public that their lives are in safe hands in the taxi industry. It also ensures that an industry which had previously been allowed to run rampant is now being organised in an orderly fashion.

The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Chairperson, in the little time I have available, I will respond to some of the queries which have been raised, questions which have been asked and points which have been made. I am aware of the fact that I will not be able to deal with all issues raised. I will be looking at our Hansard, and will try to respond to those queries which I have not been able to deal with during the course of this debate.

Firstly, I would like to thank all members for their participation and their support for the Bill. I think that all members have contributed in a way which is constructive and helpful. A number of suggestions drew my attention to concerns, and I want to give the House the assurance that all concerns will be addressed.

The hon Asiya from the Northern Cape raised a number of important points. Very briefly, I just want to say that the use of 35-seater vehicles is not compulsory. It is the demand that will determine the kind of vehicles that will be used. In other words, we are moving towards a situation where there is a balancing or an attempt to achieve a balance between need and demand which will determine the kind of vehicles used. So, if a 35-seater is too big, then clearly one will resort to using a smaller vehicle. When demand changes and one can use a 35-seater vehicle, it will be for the operator to decide whether to use such a vehicle.

I would like to make the point that the Bill also provides for exemptions, and I think that that exemption has come about as a result of the intervention of the committee of this House. The select committee was concerned about rural areas in particular and other needs. So there is a provision for exemption and that also provides rural areas in particular with an avenue through which their needs can be appropriately addressed. Many delegates and members commented on the recapitalisation process. Of course, recapitalisation is not dealt with in this Bill, although some of the provisions of the Bill do impact upon recapitalisation.

The same hon member expressed a concern about the conversion of the permits to operating licences which will be route-based. Here also, I want to make the point that there is no instant change. There will be consultation with associations. The idea is that there will be transport planning taking place. There is provision for transport planning authorities, and it is in terms of those planning authorities that the needs of an area will be determined and the routes determined. Those are matters which can be dealt with at a provincial and at a local level, and the Bill before the House allows that.

The hon member expressed concern about the period of 180 days which has been fixed for an operator to whom an operating licence has been issued to actually operationalise his licence, and he suggested that that period was too short. Now, the big problem we are trying to deal with there is that a large number of copied permits are floating around today which are being traded. There is a lot of abuse when one allows a licence or permit to be issued and it is not used. Now, we want to eliminate that abuse. The second problem with that type of abuse is that when that licence is not operationalised, another person can come along and apply for a licence on the basis of actual need. A second licence is then issued and, in due course, when all those licences are operationalised, one finds that there are far too many licences and operators, and one has the same kinds of problems which exist in the industry at present, which leads to tension, violence and conflict between taxi operators.

Therefore we have considered this aspect very seriously. All the MECs agreed that we should keep the period to 180 days. Whilst I note the concern which has been expressed, we believe that 180 days is a very reasonable period. It gives a person six months to make use of an operating licence which has been issued to him.

The hon member also raised the question of funded mandates and unfunded mandates. That is a very big issue. Firstly, I want to say that, as a matter of policy from our side as the Department of Transport and Ministry of Transport, we will never place a responsibility upon provincial or local governments without ensuring that adequate funding exists for that purpose. That is a matter of policy. Secondly, in the Bill itself, the issue of funding is dealt with. Our provisions are not going to deal with them. Thirdly, I want to make the point that we did include other provisions with regard to finance in the Bill, and we sought to make provision for provincial and local authorities to raise finance themselves through levies and to be able to impose a kind of taxation which will enable them to deal with their needs.

However, we ran into opposition from the Department of Finance, which has a policy in that regard. It does not want to see a multiplicity of taxes being imposed upon citizens of our country, so we were compelled to remove those provisions from the Bill. I am sympathetic to the concerns which have been raised and, at present, we are interacting with the Department of Finance. We have a structure which is called a four-by-four. It has four representatives from the Department of Finance, and four representatives each from the national, provincial and local departments of transport. We meet together in this four-by-four. It is not a vehicle. [Laughter.] In that structure, we are actually discussing the financing aspects. In other words, we will have to come back to the financing aspects again, but we will be dealing with them in the meantime.

The hon Majodina raised some very important issues and I feel that I must comment on one or at least two of them: firstly, the killing which took place in Nyanga. I issued a statement yesterday in which I condemned the killing. I condemned the use of violence, no matter where it comes from. I condemned the intimidation, no matter where it comes from. I also pointed out that Golden Arrow is not only authorised to ply in that particular area, but, in terms of a contract, it has to render that service and it is entitled to operate in that area. So, whilst I sympathise with the concerns of taxi operators, both Cata and Codeta, and I believe that their issues need to be addressed, they cannot be addressed through the use of violence and intimidation.

Therefore we have also appealed to law enforcement authorities to ensure that law and order is maintained. My hope is that the person or persons responsible for the killing will be arrested and be brought to court. For our part, we will do everything in our power to ensure that the right of commuters to use the mode of transport of their choice will be protected. The point I want to make in that regard is that one of the objectives of our policy, of which this Bill is a reflection and a result, is that commuters should have a right to use the mode of transport of their choice. Obviously, we want to see rationalisation of transport taking place. We want to see our rail transport, bus transport and taxi transport develop. There must be a balance. We would like to see more and more people leave their motorcars at home and use public transport, particularly rail. But we need to make those forms of transport attractive for our people. We cannot compel them through legislation to do that.

Therefore our vision is that we will be moving towards a situation where our public transport becomes efficient, attractive and safe for our people. We will not allow any kind of violence, and we want to eliminate the violence which is there. I think the hon member raised a very, very important point in this regard.

With regard to the road safety issue which the hon member and a number of other members have raised, the Arrive Alive campaign is very important. It draws attention to a number of specific and concrete things that we are asking people to do over the holiday period. These are: Do not speed; do not overload; do not drink and drive; wear your seat belts; ensure driver and vehicle fitness - a very important element - and promote pedestrian safety. Those are the six road safety commandments which we have indicated, and I thought I should take the opportunity to stress their importance since a number of hon members have raised the matter.

However, there is an additional point which I want to make. The Arrive Alive campaign, important as it is, has limited objectives. It is not a substitute for a national road safety programme for our country. Our country has never had a national road safety programme. In our department we are currently developing a discussion document which will lead to the adoption of a national road safety programme in our country. I will not go into any details now as the discussion document will be made available, and I have no doubt that this House would want to debate the document.

I envisage that that document will be debated in the country so much that ultimately we will have a product which will be very different from the discussion document itself. However, for the first time we will have a national road safety programme for which all South Africans will be working.

One of the important elements of our road safety programme is a more focused road safety education programme and a more focused law-enforcement programme. With regard to education, I have already met with the Minister of Education and our two departments have worked together, and we have developed curricula for schools which are being implemented in tandem with Curriculum 2005. These are going to unfold as the curriculum unfolds in our schools, so much so that one is going to see many more of these elements coming through. I think the hon member raised very, very important points.

The hon Nel raised a number of points and concerns. I just want to point out in that regard that we are dealing with a number of processes at the same time. This Bill is one element of a total transformation process of road transport. It is but one element, and there are a number of other elements. The recapitalisation process must therefore be seen as part of that total transformation process.

Training is a very important issue to which the hon member referred. There is some provision in the Bill for that. Also, within the taxi recapitalisation process, which is not before the House today, provision is made for training, not only of drivers, but also of taxi operators, in order to develop their management capacity, financial management and other forms of administration. Therefore training is going to form a very important part of that process.

Hon councillor Surty raised some very important points. I just want to tell her and the House that we consider the participation of local government to be absolutely important. I consider it to be so important that immediately after the first Ministers’ committee, Mincom, meeting, ie a meeting of the Minister and the MECs, I will arrange for an invitation to be sent to Salga so that it is represented at our Mincom meetings, thereby getting local government directly represented on our Mincom meetings through the participation of Salga. I want to thank Salga for its participation and the constructive contribution it has made.

I just want to make a very few brief comments on the input made by the hon Raju of the DP. Unfortunately, whilst he has indicated that he welcomes the Bill, he has made a number of remarks which are really inappropriate with regard to this Bill. For example, he says that one of his concerns about the Bill is diesel. Now, the word ``diesel’’ does not appear in the Bill at all. [Laughter.] That has nothing to do with this Bill but relates to the recapitalisation process. So that is a little reckless.

He also says that there is a bias in favour of road transport. I do not know why he is saying this, because there is no bias expressed in the Bill. He did refer to the horse and carriage. Perhaps his party should go back to the horse and carriage mode of transport. [Laughter.] However, I welcome his positive remarks with regard to the Bill.

There is no overcentralisation, which is what the hon Raju was trying to say. There is no centralisation. In fact, decentralisation is taking place. The establishment of transport authorities at local level makes it possible for local communities throughout our country to participate. He also made the point that we are taking control away from taxi operators.

I take it my time is about to expire, and I must therefore conclude.

What the hon Raju is asking for is the retention of the current situation. He is saying that we are taking control away from taxi operators, and he is quite right - we are not allowing the industry to regulate itself. Because we have had this form of deregulation for so many years with dire consequences for our country, we think it is the duty of Government - national, provincial and local - to regulate. However, we want to work in partnership with the taxi industry, so that there is effective regulation in the interests of commuters, the industry itself and the country as a whole.

This notion, that when one asks politicians to take responsibility one is doing something bad, is something I do not accept. Transport authorities will be served by local politicians. They must accept responsibility - that is what is happening here. Responsibility is placed upon their shoulders, but they will have to work within the framework of the law.

Hon Chair, I can see you are getting extremely restless because my time has expired.

There are a number of other matters which have been raised, and I will respond to the House at another time. Perhaps we will have another occasion to address them when we discuss recapitalisation in order to deal with the many other matters which have been raised.

Finally, I want to thank hon Durr for the points which he has made. The problem with the issue that we are dealing with is that once this Bill becomes law, it will be applicable throughout the country. In fact, many of these functions, such as the issuing of permits, already do occur in the provinces. Many of the local authorities already perform various functions. Therefore one cannot introduce them in a piecemeal way.

What we are doing - and I think the hon member is quite right in this regard - is that we will be introducing the adjudication of traffic offences law on an area-by-area basis, because that law lends itself to that kind of pilot implementation, if I may put it that way. This means learning from what we are doing and then improving our performance at other levels. I think there are aspects of our programme which can be implemented on an area-by-area basis, and then they can be extended to the rest of the country.

However, one cannot do that with this particular Bill. The member is quite right when he says this is an ambitious programme, but I believe it is not overambitious. I think it is implementable, and we are unanimous as national and provincial government and Salga that we can do it. I believe that if we work together this will be a success, and that it will be one of the country’s success stories of this decade. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

Bill agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Before moving on, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the hon the Minister for engaging this House in a lively debate.

                FIRE BRIGADE SERVICES AMENDMENT BILL

            (Consideration of Bill and of Report thereon)

Mr K D S DURR: Mr Chairperson, we support the Fire Brigade Services Amendment Bill. In expressing our support, we would like to just briefly raise a problem that the new board, as it is to be constituted, will have to deal with.

The problem is that the SA Insurance Association and the fire protection associations of South Africa have done an extensive survey recently which shows that, in the past few years since 1993, the value of claims paid by insurance companies for fires has quadrupled.

We see that the problem - this is a problem the board will have to deal with - has been the response from fire brigades. When fire calls came in, 56% of fire stations did not have enough staff on duty and 44% did not respond in the time set down in the code of practice approved by the SABS. The consequence of that is that not only have claims quadrupled, but premiums have also almost quadrupled. We see in the report of the fire protection association that fire stations were understaffed and that these people were demoralised.

There is an urgent necessity for us to take hold of this situation. I do not want to be a scaremonger, but I want to say to the House that I would like to have an assurance from the Minister concerned that if a multistorey building in a South African city were to catch fire during peak period, the local fire brigade would be able to cope and protect the lives of the citizens. That is the bottom line. There are serious doubts about whether that is the situation in our country.

With those remarks, we in the Western Cape would like to support the Bill.

Prince B Z ZULU: Mr Chairperson, hon members, I rise on behalf of the ANC to express unconditional support of the changes brought about by this Bill.

First of all, the current composition of the national Fire Brigade Board is not representative in terms of the new local government dispensation. Apart from this, most of the members who represented government departments and other institutions have either passed away or retired, and new appointees have no knowledge of the function of the board. Although most of the provisions of the Fire Brigade Services Act, Act 99 of 1987, were assigned to the provinces by Proclamation No 153 of 31 October 1994, most of the sections of the Act provide that approval be granted after consultation with the board. Due to the fact that there are now nine provinces, this implies that the board will have to convene more frequently to discuss some of the urgent matters identified by the provinces and that provinces should be properly represented on the board.

Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend section 2 of the Act by providing for a newly constituted board which is reflective of the interests of local government and the provinces. In giving recognition to gender equality, it is deemed appropriate to include injunctions that the board must comprise both women and men. The board shall, under subsection 2, be constituted as follows: one person designated by the Minister, who shall be the chairperson; one person designated by each of the premiers; two persons designated by the SA Local Government Association; one person designated by the Minister of Finance; and not more than three persons designated by the Minister, one of whom represents organised business and one of whom represents organised labour. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

Bill agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

                     COMPETITION AMENDMENT BILL

            (Consideration of Bill and of Report thereon)

Order disposed of without debate.

Bill, subject to proposed amendments, agreed to in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution.

The Council adjourned at 17:08. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

                      WEDNESDAY, 12 APRIL 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson: (1) The Minister of Education on 6 April 2000 submitted a draft of the South African Council for Educators Bill, 2000, and a memorandum explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The draft has been referred by the Speaker and the Chairperson to the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Select Committee on Education and Recreation, respectively, in accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).

 (2)    The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 12 April 2000 in terms of
     Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bills as section 75
     Bills:


     (i)     Council for the Built Environment Bill [B 16 - 2000]
              (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
              Public Works - National Assembly).


     (ii)    Architectural Profession Bill [B 17 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly).
     (iii)   Landscape Architectural Profession Bill [B 18 - 2000]
              (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
              Public Works - National Assembly).


     (iv)    Engineering Profession Bill [B 19 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly).


     (v)     Property Valuers Profession Bill [B 20 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly).


     (vi)    Project and Construction Management Professions Bill [B 21
              - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio
              Committee on Public Works - National Assembly).


     (vii)   Quantity Surveying Profession Bill [B 22 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly). National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson:

 Message from National Assembly to National Council of Provinces:


 Bill passed by National Assembly on 12 April 2000 and transmitted for
 concurrence:


 Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Bill [B 14B -
2000] (National Assembly - sec 75) (introduced as South African
Communications Regulatory Authority Bill - (Select Committee on Labour
and Public Enterprises - National Council of Provinces).

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister for Provincial and Local Government:

 Reasons for declaring a state of disaster in Mpumalanga Province,
 tabled in terms of section 2(4) of the Civil Protection Act, 1977 (Act
 No 67 of 1977).

                       THURSDAY, 13 APRIL 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bill was presented to the National Assembly by the
     Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government on 13 April
     2000:


     (i)     Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Second Amendment
          Bill [B 23 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76(1)).


     For further information on the Bill, see under the heading
     "COMMITTEE REPORTS" of the "Announcements, Tablings and Committee
     Reports" of today, 13 April.

National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson:

 (1)    The vacancy in the representation of the Province of the Free
     State, which occurred owing to the death of Mr C H Motshabi on 31
     January 2000, has been filled with effect from 29 March 2000 by
     the appointment of Rev M Chabaku.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Draft Code of Ethics for Members of the Cabinet and Members of
 Executive Councils as submitted by the Committee of Ministers convened
 by the Minister of Education, Prof A K Asmal.


 The copies have been made available to members. 2.    The Minister of Finance:


 (a)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
      Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding the
      establishment of the Swedish South African Business Partnership
      Fund, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
      Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding the
      establishment of a Rapid Response Fund (RRF), tabled in terms of
      section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
      Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Department
      of Trade and Industry Policy Support Programme, tabled in terms of
      section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
      Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning SADC
      Regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) of Fishing
      Activities Programme, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
      Constitution, 1996.


 (e)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Technology
     Support for SMMEs Pilot Programme, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (f)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa on Support for the
     Establishment of a Furniture Technology Centre in George, South
     Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (g)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
     Participation by South Africa in the SADC Regional Food Security
     Training Programme, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (h)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support for
     the SADC Finance and Investment Protocol (FISCU), tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (i)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Trade and
     Investment Development Programme for Small, Medium and Micro
     Enterprises, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry and the
 Select Committee on Economic Affairs.


 (a)    Arrangement between the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa and the Minister for Development Co-operation of the
     Netherlands on Sectoral Budget Support, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Arrangement between the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa and the Minister for Development Co-operation of the
     Netherlands on Sectoral Budget Support 1999, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom
     of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the
     Republic of South Africa concerning the Support for Economic
     Reform Grant, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Financial Protocol between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of the Republic of France, tabled
     in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (e)    Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great
     Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa on the Customs Transformation Project, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (f)    Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of Sweden regarding the
     establishment of a Bridging Fund, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (g)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Conference,
     Workshop and Cultural Initiatives (CWCI) Fund, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (h)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Technical
     Assistance Team (TAT) to support Planning, Implementation and
     Monitoring of RDP Projects, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (i)    Amendment to Arrangement on Development Co-operation between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     Australia, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (j)    Addendum Number One to Framework Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Nordic
     Investment Bank, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (k)    Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark and
     the Government of the Republic of South Africa regarding the
     Danish Assistance Programme to South Africa, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (l)    Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Technical Assistance Consultancy Programme, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (m)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Financial
     Management Improvement Programme (FMIP), tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (n)    Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway concerning the
     Promotion of the Reconstruction and Development Programme of the
     Republic of South Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (o)    Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the European Investment Bank for Financial Co-
     operation, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (p)    Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the European Investment Bank for Financial Co-
     operation , tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (q)    Framework Agreement between for Financial Co-operation between
     the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Investment Bank, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.
 (r)    Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development and the Government of the
     Republic of South Africa for the Support for Economic Growth and
     Analysis and Mandela Economics Scholars Program, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (s)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Support for
     Economic Growth and Analysis and Mandela Economics Scholars
     Program, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Select Committee
 on Finance.


 (a)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa on Support to
     Comprehensive Urban Planning Project in King William's Town, 1
     June 1999 to 30 June 2001, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Cato Manor
     Development Programme, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa on Support to Local
     Economic Development in Port Elizabeth, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Support to the
     Provincial Administration of the Eastern Cape for the period 1
     July 1998 to 30 September 1999, tabled in terms of section 231(3)
     of the Constitution, 1996.


 (e)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
     Strengthening Local Governments in Mpumalanga and Northern
     Province, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (f)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Community
     Projects Fund(CPF) Support Programme in the Free State, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (g)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Local
     Governance Support Program, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government
 and the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration.


 (a)    Memorandum of Understanding on Development Co-operation between
     the Government of the Republic of Italy and the Government of the
     Republic of South Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Agreement regulating Technical Assistance between the Government
     of Italy and the Government of the Republic of South Africa,
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Health, the Portfolio Committee
 on Education and the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry. Also
 referred to the Select Committee on Social Services, the Select
 Committee on Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on
 Economic Affairs.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Young
     Doctors for South Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Young Doctors for South Africa, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Grand Duchy of
     Luxembourg and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on
     Development Co-operation in the Health Sector in the Eastern Cape,
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning 2000 Public
     Health Sector Support Programme (PHSSP), tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (e)    Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Public Health Sector Support Programme, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
 (f)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Public
     Health Sectoral Support Programme (PHSSP), tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (g)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
     Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
     Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (h)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
     Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
     Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (i)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
     Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
     Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Health and the Select Committee
 on Social Services.


 (a)    Specific Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of
     Denmark and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     regarding the establishment of an Environmental Rapid Response
     Facility, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and
 Tourism, the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry and the
 Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy. Also referred to the Select
 Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs and the Select Committee on
 Economic Affairs.


 (a)    Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa on Development Co-operation for the
     period 1 January 1999 - 31 December 2001, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education, the Portfolio
 Committee on Housing and the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture,
 Science and Technology. Also referred to the Select Committee on
 Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on Public Services.


 (a)    Agreement between the Government of Switzerland and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support to
     the Bloemdal Block 23 South Project in Port Elizabeth, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Portfolio
 Committee on Housing. Also referred to the Select Committee on Finance
 and the Select Committee on Public Services.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support to
     the National Development Agency (NDA), tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Welfare and Population
 Development and the Select Committee on Social Services.


 (a)    Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Education Support to
     the Department of Education in the Northern Cape, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning South
     African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
 (c)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning EU -
     Education Sectoral Support Programme (ESSP), tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Technical
     Support to the South African Department of Education, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (e)    Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Technical Support to the South African Department of
     Education, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (f)    Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Education Sector
     Support to the National Department of Education, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
 (g)    Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development and the Government of the
     Republic of South Africa for the Support to Tertiary Education
     Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (h)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Tertiary
     Education Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (i)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Tertiary
     Education Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (j)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Tertiary
     Education Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (k)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for the Primary Education
     Results Package (formerly the South African Basic Education
     Reconstruction Project), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (l)    Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United
     States of America acting through the United States Agency for
     International Development for the Primary Education Results
     Package (formerly the South African Basic Education Reconstruction
     Project), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Select
 Committee on Education and Recreation.


 (a)    Specific Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of Sweden on Support to the Office
     on the Status of Disabled Persons, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of
 Life and Status of Children, Youth and Disabled Persons.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Public
     Service Management Development Programme, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Public Service Management Development Programme, tabled
     in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and
 Administration and the Select Committee on Local Government and
 Administration.


 (a)    Grant Agreement between the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development and the Government of the Republic of South Africa for
     the South African Global Climate Change Support Program under the
     Environmentally Sustainable Housing and Urban Development Program,
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the South African
     Global Climate Change Support Program under the Environmentally
     Sustainable Housing and Urban Development Program, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Support to
     the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative Pilot Programme,
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and
 Tourism and the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.


 (a)    Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development and the Government of the
     Republic of South Africa to provide support to the Office for
     Public Enterprises, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises and the
 Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises.
 (a)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Administration
     of Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for the Administration of
     Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Administration
     of Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
 Development and the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional
 Affairs.


 (a)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Municipal
     Infrastructure Investment Framework (MIIF) Program, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Grant Agreement between the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development and the Government of the Republic of South Africa for
     the Local Governance Support Program, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa on Human Resource and
     Financial Management Co-operation Programme from October 1999 to
     December 2002, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government
 and the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration.


 (a)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Institutional
     Development Project (IDP) under the Shelter and Urban Development
     Support Project ("SUDS"), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Two between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Institutional
     Development Project (IDP) under the Shelter and Urban Development
     Support Project ("SUDS"), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number One between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Shelter Access
     Facilitation Programme under the Shelter and Urban Development
     Support Project ("SUDS"), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Exchange of Letters between the Government of the People's
     Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa regarding a grant for Low-cost Housing Project in Edenvale
     and Modderfontein, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (e)    Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa concerning Development Co-operation
     in the Field of Urban Development and Housing, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Housing and the Select Committee
 on Public Services.


 (a)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for Assistance with the
     Restructuring of State Assets, tabled in terms of section 231(3)
     of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
     Institutional Strengthening of Public Works, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and the Select
 Committee on Public Services.


 (a)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the United States of America acting through the
     United States Agency for International Development and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa for the Institutional
     Development Program under the Shelter and Urban Development
     Support Project (SUDS) and Environmentally Sustainable Housing and
     Urban Development Project (ESHUD), tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Sector
     Support Programme for Community Water Supply and Sanitation in the
     Northern Province, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Community
     Water Supply and Sanitation Programme, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Sector Support Programme for Community Water Supply and
     Sanitation (SSPCWSS), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry and
 the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.


 (a)    Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the People's Republic of China regarding Integrated Fish
     Farming Technology Training Course, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Reinforcing
     the participation of South Africa in Maize and Wheat Improvement
     Research Network (MWIRNET), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (c)    Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Grand Duchy of
     Luxenbourg and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on
     Development Co-operation in the Agricultural Education Sector in
     the Eastern Cape, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (d)    Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Land Reform Pilot Programme, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs and
 the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.


 (a)    Agreement between the Government of Spain and the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa on Grant Assistance for Building a
     Primary School in the Free State Province, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Portfolio
 Committee on Public Works. Also referred to the Select Committee on
 Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on Public Services.
 (a)    Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark concerning the
     Promotion of the Reconstruction and Development Programme of South
     Africa, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (b)    Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the
     Kingdom of Denmark and the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa for the period 1999 to 2001, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, the
 Portfolio Committee on Education, the Portfolio Committee on
 Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the Portfolio Committee on
 Agriculture and Land Affairs and the Portfolio Committee on Safety and
 Security. Also referred to the Select Committee on Economic Affairs,
 the Select Committee on Education and Recreation, the Select Committee
 on Land and Environmental Affairs and the Select Committee on Security
 and Constitutional Affairs.


 (a)    Exchange of Notes between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of Ireland regarding Technical
     Assistance, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
 Development, the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Portfolio
 Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry. Also referred to the Select
 Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs, the Select Committee
 on Education and Recreation and the Select Committee on Land and
 Environmental Affairs.


 (a)    Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
     the Republic of South African on General Terms and Conditions for
     Development Co-operation, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Select
 Committee on Economic Affairs.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning EPRD
     Information and Communication Programme, tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Communications and the Select
 Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Labour
     Market Skills Development Programme, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Labour and the Select Committee
 on Labour and Public Enterprises.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Non-Grid
     Electrification of Rural Schools, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the European
     Community and the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     concerning Non-Grid Electrification of Rural Schools, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy and the
 Select Committee on Economic Affairs.


 (a)    Financing Agreement between the European Community and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning Assistance
     to Policing in the Eastern Cape, tabled in terms of section 231(3)
     of the Constitution, 1996.


 (b)    Specific Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa concerning
     Institutional Development Cooperation between the South African
     Police Service and the Swedish National Police Board, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security and the
 Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs.

1. The Minister for the Public Service and Administration:

 Review Report of the Department of Public Service and Administration
 for 1999-2000.

                        FRIDAY, 14 APRIL 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

(1) The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bill was introduced in the National Assembly on 14
     April 2000 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for
     classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Administration of Estates Amendment Bill [B 24 -   2000]
          (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Justice
          and Constitutional Development - National Assembly)
          [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its
          introduction published in Government Gazette No 12081 of 10
          April 2000.]


 (2)    The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to
     the relevant committees as mentioned below:


     (1)     The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee
          on Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also
          referred to the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and
          Forestry and the Select Committee on Land and Environmental
          Affairs for information:


         Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of
          Vote 36 - Water Affairs and Forestry and related accounts for
          1998-99 [RP 160-99].


     (2)     The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee
          on Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also
          referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and
          Constitutional Development and to the Select Committee on
          Security and Constitutional Affairs for information:


         Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of
          Vote 21 - Justice for 1998-99.


     (3)     The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee
          on Public Service and Administration and the Select Committee
          on Local Government and Administration:


         Report and Financial Statements of the South African Management
          Development Institute for 1998-99, including the Report of the
          Auditor-General on Vote 30 - South African Management
          Development Institute.


     (4)     The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee
          on Provincial and Local Government and the Select Committee on
          Local Government and Administration:


         Reasons for declaring a state of disaster in Mpumalanga
          Province, tabled in terms of section 2(4) of the Civil
          Protection Act, 1977 (Act No 67 of 1977).

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Reports of the Auditor-General on the -


 (a)    Financial Statements of Vote 17 - Home Affairs for 1998-99 [RP
     141-99];


 (b)    Financial Statements of Vote 28 - Public Works for 1998-99 [RP
     152-99];


 (c)    Financial Statements of the Zoological Gardens of South Africa
     for 1998-99 [RP 65-2000].

1. The Minister for Welfare and Population Development:

 Report of the Department of Welfare and Population Development for 1999-
 2000 [RP 86-2000].

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Council of Provinces:

1. Report of the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration on the Fire Brigade Services Amendment Bill [B 63B - 99] (National Assembly - sec 76), dated 10 April 2000:

   The Select Committee on Local Government and Administration, having considered the subject of the Fire Brigade Services Amendment Bill [B 63B - 99] (National Assembly - sec 76), referred to it and classified by the JTM as a section 76 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.

   1. In view of the urgent need to restructure the Fire Brigade Board, the Committee focussed on the composition of the Board.

   2. The Committee further recommends that the principal Act must be reconsidered: It must be reviewed and either redrafted or amended to reflect the terminology and constitutional arrangements contained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

2. Report of the Select Committee on Economic Affairs on the Competition Amendment Bill [B 10B - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 12 April 2000:

   The Select Committee on Economic Affairs, having considered the subject of the Competition Amendment Bill [B 10B - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the JTM as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill with proposed amendments, as follows:

                           CLAUSE 2
   

   1. On page 4, in line 1, to omit “and” and to substitute “or”.

   2. On page 4, from line 2, to omit paragraph (b) and to substitute:

      (b) consider an appeal arising from the Competition Tribunal in respect of - (i) any of its final decisions other than a consent order made in terms of section 63; or (ii) any of its interim or interlocutory decisions that may, in terms of this Act, be taken on appeal.

                  MONDAY, 17 APRIL 2000
      

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Minister in the Office of the President on 7 April 2000
     submitted a draft of the The National Youth Commission Amendment
     Bill, 2000, and a memorandum explaining the objects of the
     proposed legislation, to the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms
     of Joint Rule 159.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Council of Provinces:

1. Report of the Select Committee on Public Services on the National Land Transport Transition Bill [B 5 - 2000] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76), dated 11 April 2000:

   The Select Committee on Public Services, having considered the subject of the National Land Transport Transition Bill [B 5 - 2000] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76), referred to it and classified by the JTM as a section 76 Bill, reports the Bill with amendments [B 5A - 2000].

2. Report of the Select Committee on Finance on the Division of Revenue Bill [B 8B - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76), dated 17 April 2000:

   The Select Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Division of Revenue Bill [B 8B - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76), referred to it and classified by the JTM as a section 76 Bill, reports the Bill without Amendment.

3. Report of the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises on the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Bill [B 14B - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 17 April 2000:

   The Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises, having considered the subject of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Bill [B 14B - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the JTM as a section 75 Bill, reports that it has agreed to the Bill.

                    TUESDAY, 18 APRIL 2000 TABLINGS:
   

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
 Independent Development Trust (Main Fund) for 1997-98 [RP 182-99].

1. The Minister of Finance:

 (1)    Rider Number one to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning Parliamentary Support Programme, to be tabled
     in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (2)    Rider Number one to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning Policing in the Eastern Cape, to be tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (3)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning Technical Support to the South African
     Department of Education, to be tabled in terms of section 231(3)
     of the Constitution, 1996.


 (4)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning Public Service Management Development, to be
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (5)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to
     be tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (6)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning the Cato Manor Development Programme, to be
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (7)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning Private Sector Development Programme, to be
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (8)    Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning FISCU, to be tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (9)    Rider Number Three to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning District Health System, to be tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (10)Rider Number Three to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning Health Technical Support, to be tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (11)Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning Non-Grid Electrification of Rural Schools, to be tabled
     in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (12)Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning Technical Assistance Consultancy Support, to be tabled
     in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (13)Rider Number Three to the Financing Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the European
     Community concerning HIV/AIDS Programme, to be tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (14)Rider Number Four to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning District Health System, to be tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (15)Rider Number Four to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning Health Technical Support, to be tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (16)Rider Number One to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning Public Health Sectoral Support Programme, to be tabled
     in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (17)Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning SADC Finance and Investment Research Programme, to be
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (18)Rider Number Two to the Financing Agreement between the Government
     of the Republic of South Africa and the European Community
     concerning Private Sector Development Programme: Small and Micro
     Enterprises, to be tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (19)Financing Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa and the European Community concerning Sector Support for
     Community Water Supply and Sanitation, to be tabled in terms of
     section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (20)Agreement between the Government of Sweden and the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa on General Terms and Conditions for
     Development Co-operation, to be tabled in terms of section 231(3)
     of the Constitution, 1996.


 (21)Amendment Agreement between the Government of the United States of
     America and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on
     Community-based Water Board Development Project, to be tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (22)Amendment Agreement between the Government of the United States of
     America and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on
     Primary Education Results Package Programme: Department of
     Education, to be tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.

1. The Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology:

 (1)    Report of the Board of Control of the Woordeboek van die
     Afrikaanse Taal for 1998-99.


 (2)    Government Notice No 1034 published in the Government Gazette No
     20410 dated 3 September 1999, Withdrawal of Government Notice No
     644 of 19 April 1999 made in terms of section 5(1)(c) of the
     National Monuments Act, 1969 (Act No 28 of 1969).


 (3)    Government Notice No 1044 published in the Government Gazette No
     20410 dated 3 September 1999, Entries in the register of immovable
     conservation-worthy property in terms of section 5(1)(cC) of the
     National Monuments Act, 1969 (Act No 28 of 1969).


 (4)    Government Notice No 2063 published in the Government Gazette No
     20436 dated 10 September 1999, European Programme: Support for
     small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa.


 (5)    Government Notice No 90 published in the Government Gazette No
     20458 dated 10 September 1999, Designation of Provincial Language
     Committee in the North West, made in terms of section 8(8)(a) of
     the Pan South African Language Board Act, 1995 (Act No 59 of
     1995).


 (6)    Government Notice No 92 published in the Government Gazette No
     20458 dated 10 September 1999, Designation of Provincial Language
     Committee in the Western Cape, made in terms of section 8(8)(a) of
     the Pan South African Language Board Act, 1995 (Act No 59 of
     1995).


 (7)    Government Notice No 91 published in the Government Gazette No
     20458 dated 10 September 1999, Publication of a decision in terms
     of section 11(7) of the Pan South African Language Board Act, 1995
     (Act No 59 of 1995).
 (8)    Government Notice No 1125 published in the Government Gazette No
     20476 dated 23 September 1999, Registration of heraldic
     representations made in terms of section 10 of the Heraldry Act,
     1962 (Act No 18 of 1962).


 (9)    Government Notice No 97 published in the Government Gazette No
     20499 dated 1 October 1999, Designation of Khoi and San National
     Language Body, made in terms of section 8(8)(b) of the Pan South
     African Language Board Act, 1995 (Act No 59 of 1995).


 (10)Government Notice No 98 published in the Government Gazette No
     20499 dated 1 October 1999, Normative Framework for the
     recognition of Provincial Language Committees made in terms of the
     Pan South African Language Board Act, 1995 (Act No 59 of 1995).


 (11)Convention on the Means of Prohibition and Preventing the Illicit
     Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, to
     be tabled in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (12)Explanatory Memorandum to the Convention.


 (13)Convention to the International Centre for the Study of the
     Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), to be
     tabled in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (14)Explanatory Memorandum to the Convention.

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 (1)    Constitution of the United Nations Industrial Development
     Organisation (UNIDO), to be tabled in terms of section 231(2) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (2)    Explanatory Memorandum to the Constitution.