National Assembly - 08 August 2002
THURSDAY, 8 AUGUST 2002 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at 14:01.
The Chairperson of Committees took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 0000.
NOTICES OF MOTION
Ms S C VAN DER MERWE: Chairperson I shall move on behalf of the ANC on the next sitting day of the House:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) the African Union was formally launched on 9 July 2002 in
Durban; and
(b) the President of the Republic of South Africa, the hon Thabo
Mbeki, was elected the first chairperson of the African Union;
(2) believes that the launch of the African Union represents the commitment of the African people to building unity, solidarity, peace and stability, good governance, economic development and a culture of human rights on the continent;
(3) welcomes the launch of the African Union; and
(4) congratulates President Thabo Mbeki on his election as the first chairperson of the African Union.
[Applause.]
Mr E K MOORCROFT: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move:
That the House -
(1) notes that former ANC activist Mkhuseli Jack, has requested President Mbeki to replace failed Eastern Cape Premier, Makhenkesi Stofile;
(2) further notes that Mr Jack lists, among failures -
(a) the nonpayment of 7 000 teachers;
(b) the late or nondelivery of books to schools;
(c) the failure of the school feeding scheme; and
(d) chaos in the provision of health care;
(3) expresses its support for this call to fire Mr Stofile; and
(4) urges the ANC to put delivery and good governance ahead of personal and party loyalties.
[Applause.]
Mr J H SLABBERT: Chair, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That the House -
(1) notes that Transnet has awarded three major contracts worth more than R2,2 billion to start the development of the Ngqura port in the Coega industrial development zone near Port Elizabeth;
(2) further notes that the new port is expected to receive its first ships by September 2004; and
(3) acknowledges and congratulates Transnet on its commitment to socioeconomic upliftment by stipulating that black economic empowerment companies are to have a minimum of 30% participation in the awarded contracts.
Mr D J SITHOLE: Chairperson, on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House - (1) notes that -
(a) President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda signed a peace agreement to end
the military conflict between their two countries; and
(b) the signing of this agreement is as a result of months of
negotiations facilitated by the President of the Republic of
South Africa, the hon Thabo Mbeki;
(2) believes that -
(a) the signing of this peace agreement represents an important
milestone in the struggle for the realisation of peace and
prosperity on the African continent; and
(b) this agreement will contribute positively to making this century
an African one and to the furtherance of the objectives of the
New Partnership for Africa's Development; and (3) the people of South Africa welcome the signing of the peace agreement
as it ushers in a new era of solidarity and common purpose among the
peoples of Africa.
[Applause.]
Dr B L GELDENHUYS: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that I shall move on the next sitting day of the House:
That the House -
(1) notes with concern that 2 900 commercial farmers in Zimbabwe will be forced to vacate their farms by midnight today with devastating consequences for the economy of the whole region;
(2) expresses its deepest concern that the aforesaid evacuation will aggravate the plight of more than six million people in Zimbabwe facing starvation in the next 12 months; and
(3) calls on the SA Government to do everything within its power to safeguard the investments and property of SA citizens in Zimbabwe in terms of the bilateral agreement on the protection of investments and thanks it for its endeavours so far in this regard.
[Applause.]
Mr S ABRAM: Chairperson, I give notice that I shall move at the next sitting of the House:
That the House -
(1) notes the talks between the leader of the UDM, Mr Bantu Holomisa and Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, as well as Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchlor;
(2) acknowledges the escalating conflict inflicting loss of life, damage to infrastructure and the psychological and emotional trauma being suffered;
(3) calls upon the UN to enforce its resolutions calling for the withdrawal of Israeli tanks and forces from all occupied Palestinian territories; and
(4) further calls upon all parties involved in the conflict to return to the negotiating table mediated by pragmatic, trustworthy and neutral internationally acclaimed personalities.
Ms E THABETHE: Chairperson, on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) David Potse was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment
and 18 years for indecently assaulting and raping baby Tshepang;
and
(b) the crime committed by this rapist is the most gruesome form of
human rights violation and must be condemned by all;
(2) believes that women and children’s rights must be consistently upheld and respected by all in our society;
(3) commends the good work done by the SAPS and our criminal justice system in effecting justice in this case and welcomes the sentence thus meted out; and
(4) calls on our youth to work towards the moral regeneration of our society and to protect and defend the rights and dignity of the girl child.
[Applause.]
Mrs R M SOUTHGATE: Mr Chairman, I hereby give notice I will move on behalf of the ACDP at the next sitting of the House:
That the House -
(1) notes with concern the plight of women in Bangladesh, in particular the more than 200 women who last year alone were brutally attacked by men with sulphuric acid, which resulted in terrible scars;
(2) commends these brave women for their strength and determination to continue to fight for their lives and their rights in the face of such adversity, especially in Bangladesh, where women have very low standing, even more so if they are married;
(3) stands together with the ACDP, as we commemorate Women’s Day in Parliament today, to salute not only these women, but women worldwide, from all walks of life, including all the abused women in South Africa who have endured physical, emotional or psychological abuse and have survived against great odds; and
(4) calls on the Government to increase awareness of abuse against women and to instill justice where justice is due, to help put abusers behind bars and to make our nation a safer place for all.
Mr I S MFUNDISI: Chairperson, on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the UCDP: That the House -
(1) notes with concern that in this women’s month the University of South Africa is faced with a situation of having to decide whether or not to pay the legal fees of their disgraced Chairman of Council, Mr McCaps Motimele, who has been ordered to pay R150 000,00 and legal costs for having sexually harassed a former lecturer at the university, Dr Margaret Orr;
(2) notes that whatever he did was a personal matter; and
(3) acknowledges that -
(a) public funds should not be committed to this despicable conduct,
as it would be supporting him against her; and
(b) at best he should be relieved of the responsibility of being
chairman of such a world-acclaimed centre of learning.
[Applause.]
Mr L N DIALE: Chairperson, on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) ANC stalwart and veteran of uMkhonto weSizwe, Comrade Justice
``Gizenga'' Mpanza, passed away on Tuesday, 30 July 2002, after
a short illness;
(b) Comrade Gizenga served in the Wankie military campaign as part
of the Luthuli detachment and fought alongside comrades such as
James April, Cletus Mzimela, Joseph Nduli, Chris Hani, Basil
February and many others; and
(c) comrade Gizenga served on Robben Island with Comrades Nelson
Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and others;
(2) salutes this gallant fighter and giant of our revolution; and
(3) the people of South Africa convey our deepest and sincerest condolences to the Mpanza family and friends, and vow to take forward the progressive values and principles to which he dedicated all his life.
[Applause.]
Mr S B FARROW: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that I shall move on behalf of the DP at the next sitting day of the House:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) today is the last day on which Zimbabwean commercial farmers and
farmworkers may legally be on their land;
(b) the disastrous directive by Zanu-PF will displace 1,5 million
people who will be left destitute by this wilful destruction of
the agricultural economy; and
(c) famine will affect 6,5 million people in Zimbabwe and a further
6 million people in countries which relied on food imports from
Zimbabwe; and
(2) recognises that it is only the 50 000 large and small commercial farmers in South Africa who stand between food and famine in the Southern African region.
[Applause.]
Mr H J BEKKER: Mr Chairman, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That the House -
(1) notes the contents of the report of the Myburgh commission in respect of the severe devaluation of the rand earlier this year;
(2) further notes that the IFP at the time of the appointment of the commission indicated that this investigation would be a costly exercise, which would do no more than give the Government a greater understanding of market forces and exchange rate fluctuations; and
(3) therefore urges Government Ministers and spokespersons to give careful consideration to statements issued by them in order that such statements do not impact negatively on the market place and lead to the volatility in the value of the rand, so clearly demonstrated by the recent Government fiasco regarding mining rights and the future ownership and shareholding of mines.
Ms N L HLANGWANA: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) Natalie du Toit was presented with the David Dixon Award for the
most outstanding athlete of the Commonwealth Games on 4 August
2002; and
(b) Natalie du Toit made history when she swam against able-bodied
swimmers in the 800 metres in the Commonwealth Games on Friday,
2 August, in Manchester, in the process earning two gold medals;
(2) believes that -
(a) her achievements serve as an honour to all South Africans and
women in particular; and
(b) this achievement further demonstrates the strength and
resilience of women who, throughout our history, have been in
the forefront of our social transformation processes, aimed at
realising a truly free, nonsexist, nonracial, democratic South
Africa; and
(3) notes that -
(a) the ANC and the people of South Africa congratulate Natalie du
Toit on her sterling performance during these games; and
(b) her achievements serve as an inspiration to all young people in
South Africa.
[Applause.]
Mr J DURAND: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the New NP:
That the House -
(1) notes with concern the appalling working conditions that some factory workers are exposed to on a daily basis; (2) finds it shocking and totally unacceptable that some employers can be so careless about their workers’ general well-being;
(3) believes that workers are businesses’ most valuable asset and are entitled to safe and healthy working conditions; and
(4) notes that the New NP welcomes the Department of Labour’s decisive action against employers who are not adhering to prescribed labour legislation and calls on the department to expand their investigation, because illegal labour practices must be stopped.
[Applause.]
Ms N C NKABINDE: Mr Chairman, I will move on behalf of the UDM at the next sitting of this House:
That the House -
(1) notes -
(a) the disconnection of water and electricity supplies to numerous
schools in the Blue Crane Municipality; and
(b) the debt of R1,4 million following a payment of R81 000 earlier
this week;
(2) expresses its utter frustration at the unacceptable schooling conditions in which students had to ask neighbouring communities to use basic services such as toilets and water; and
(3) calls on the Minister of Education to ensure that such deplorable education conditions do not repeat themselves and to guarantee the creation of a suitable learning environment for all our children.
DEATH OF MARIA MAMODUPI RANTHO
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice: That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) Maria Mamodupi Rantho, a former ANC member of the National
Assembly, passed away on 12 July 2002;
(b) Ms Rantho served in Parliament between 1995 and 1998 and that
during this term she served in the Portfolio Committee on Public
Service and Administration and the Portfolio Committee on
Reconstruction and Development Programme; and
(c) she was later appointed as a commissioner in the Public Service
until her untimely death;
(2) acknowledges her immense contribution to the struggle for justice in South Africa and her relentless commitment to advocating the rights of persons with disabilities and building a new democratic, nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous South Africa; and (3) mourns the loss of this patriot and extends its sincere condolences to her family and friends.
Agreed to.
CONGRATULATIONS TO SOUTH AFRICAN COMMONWEALTH GAMES TEAM
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M J ELLIS: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the House -
(1) welcomes home the South African Commonwealth Games team who, together, won 46 medals;
(2) congratulates them on their achievements and the manner in which they participated in the Games, which brought credit to their country; and
(3) commends Natalie du Toit on receiving the first David Dixon Award as the outstanding athlete of the Commonwealth Games and symbolising the determination of South Africans to overcome adversity and succeed.
Agreed to.
SHOPRITE-CHECKERS WOMAN OF THE YEAR 2002
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes that Ms Fhawutani Ramabulana from the Northern Province was voted the Shoprite-Checkers Woman of the Year 2002;
(2) believes that -
(a) Ms Ramabulana serves as an inspiration to young women to work
hard; and
(b) her achievement is consistent with the political programme of
the Government and the people of South Africa to create an
enabling environment for the empowerment of women as we
celebrate national Women's Day; and
(3) congratulates Ms Ramabulana on receiving this important and prestigious award.
Agreed to.
CELEBRATING WOMEN'S DAY
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M J ELLIS: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) Friday, 9 August, is Women's Day which will be celebrated
throughout our country; and
(b) the struggle for full equality for women has still not been won
and that in almost every sphere of our national life women still
do not enjoy the equality which is their right in terms of our
Constitution; and
(2) while celebrating the advances made and the real achievements of women in our country, nevertheless commits itself to achieving that which our Constitution promises.
Agreed to.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF ERNIE ELS IN BRITISH OPEN
(Draft Resolution)
Mr J DURAND: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes with pride the outstanding performance of Ernie Els during the British Open and congratulates him on his victory; and (2) also wishes all the participants in the African Games the best of luck and believes that they will follow in Ernie Els’ footsteps and do South Africa proud.
Agreed to.
MURDER OF MR JOAS BAKER MOGALE
(Draft Resolution)
Dr M S MOGOBA: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes -
(a) with sadness, the murder of Mr Joas Baker Mogale of
Atteridgeville, Pretoria;
(b) that Baker was a former Robben Island veteran, a member of the
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and a leading light in black
economic empowerment;
(c) that he was one of the founder members of the Foundation for
African Business and Consumer Services (Fabcos) in 1988, became
General Secretary (Administration and Public Liaison) of Nafcoc
and was one of the first directors of Future Bank; and
(d) that he was also a founder member of Tsogo Sun, a director of
Business Beat (a Deloitte and Touche subsidiary) and a board
member of Business Partners;
(2) expresses condolences to his wife, Sheba, and family; and
(3) hopes that criminal violence, that robs us of the cream of our nation, can be contained or rooted out completely.
Agreed to.
APPOINTMENT OF PUBLIC PROTECTOR
(Draft Resolution) The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move the motion as it appears on the Order Paper as follows:
That, notwithstanding the resolution adopted by the House on 24 June 2002, the date by which the Ad Hoc Committee on Appointment of Public Protector must complete its task be extended from 8 August 2002 to 30 August 2002.
Agreed to.
RECOMMITMENT OF SOUTH AFRICAN MARITIME AND AERONAUTICAL SEARCH AND RESCUE BILL TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I hereby move the motion on the Order Paper as follows:
That the House recommits the South African Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue Bill [B 23B - 2002] to the Portfolio Committee on Transport for further consideration and report. Agreed to.
EXTENSION OF TIME ALLOTTED TO THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I hereby move the motion printed in my name on the Order Paper as follows:
That, notwithstanding Rule 106, the time allotted to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for his statement today, be extended to 30 minutes.
Agreed to.
The SPEAKER: Hon members, I have received a request from the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to make a statement on the World Summit on Sustainable Development. I will now grant the Minister an opportunity to make his statement.
WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(Statement)
The MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM: Madam Speaker and hon members, Southern Africa is the cradle of humankind. About 120 000 years ago, human beings began the journey from here to occupy the other continents and the furthest corners of planet earth. For most of this period, our ancestors lived in harmony with nature. Over the millennia, human beings advanced socially, economically and culturally, never once facing self-destruction.
All that changed in the last 100 years. Human beings, for the first time, started destroying the very earth which we need for our survival. Much of the world’s fish stocks have been depleted. Large quantities of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by industrial and motor vehicles has led to global warming. Many plant and animal species are becoming extinct. Rivers and underground water resources are being polluted, and forests are being destroyed. The last century can be characterised as the era of unsustainable development.
Our world is on a development path that is unsustainable. If we all consume as much as the average US citizen does, this world will implode. But the patterns of consumption are not just unsustainable, they are also unfair. The entire continent of Africa is responsible for a mere 3% of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, yet pays the same high price for climate change as the rest of the world. So, poor Africans are subsidising rich Americans, Europeans and Japanese.
The first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in 1972 in Stockholm. Speaking in Rio de Janeiro in June this year, President Mbeki said, and I quote:
Today, thirty years later, we have fewer fish in the sea, more carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere, more desertification, more soil erosion, and more species extinction.
Our very development model is questioned daily by the earth’s ecosystem, on which all life and all economic activity is dependent. Our patterns of consumption and production cannot be left unchecked. If the Chinese citizen is to consume the same quantity of crude oil as his or her US counterpart, China would need over 80 million barrels of oil a day - slightly more than the 74 million barrels a day the entire world now produces. If annual paper use in China of 35kg per person were to climb to the US level of 342kg, China would need more paper than the world currently produces.
The period since the Rio Earth Summit was one of unprecedented global economic growth. Growth in the world economy in the year 2000 alone exceeded that during the entire 19th century. Yet people continue to die of hunger; babies are born, grow up and die without being able to read or write; many fellow humans do not have clean water to drink; and people die of curable diseases. The gulf between the rich and poor members of the human race widens as we speak.
The Johannesburg World Summit must take further our pledge at the Millennium Summit to eradicate poverty. It must focus on implementation and action. Its outcome must make sense to she who has to walk for kilometres to fetch drinking water and to she who spends hours gathering firewood for energy. It must also speak to he who consumes more than the earth can give.
The quest for sustainable development cannot and should not be separated from the struggle for the emancipation of women. The burden of women in developing countries is compounded by poverty, malnutrition, lack of access to fresh water, inadequate sanitation and desertification. The dominance of men in global decision-making must change. Something is wrong when, even in the year 2002, the entire world only has 22 woman environment Ministers.
The Johannesburg World Summit is now only two weeks away. We are nearing the end of a long preparatory period spanning the past two years. At the beginning of the process, it was not possible to say with any degree of certainty what the scale, agenda or outcomes of the summit would be. But now, on the eve of the event, the stage is set and the agenda is clear. As the world begins to gather in Johannesburg over the next few weeks, they will build on the far-reaching consensus that was generated during an extremely rich and comprehensive global preparatory process. What are the main areas of agreement? Firstly, there is consensus that the central focus of the summit should be on the eradication of poverty. Secondly, there is consensus that the summit must be primarily about implementation and delivery. Thirdly, it is agreed that there should be a balanced emphasis on all three pillars of sustainable development: social development, economic development and the protection of the environment. Fourthly, it is agreed that the main areas of action should be access to water and sanitation; access to energy, health care, food security, and biodiversity and ecosystem management. Fifthly, there is consensus that implementation must involve partnerships between governments of the North and the South, and between governments and the private sector and civil society. Sixthly, there is agreement that Africa must enjoy priority in the action plans, with Nepad serving as the delivery vehicle. Seventhly, there is consensus that that summit must endorse and rededicate itself to the decisions of the Rio Earth Summit, including agenda 21.
There are outstanding areas on which agreements have not been reached. These include the application of the principle of common but differentiated responsibility among countries for sustainable development; the setting of targets for the provision of adequate sanitation and the setting of targets for renewable forms of energy; the phasing-out of environmentally harmful and trade-distorting subsidies; the mobilisation of already committed funds and the need for new and additional resources, and the link between sustainable development and good governance.
In order to explore solutions to the outstanding issues, President Mbeki and Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided to convene a meeting of a select but representative group of countries referred to as `the friends of the chair’. These countries include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, the Russian federation, Senegal, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Venezuela.
The meeting was held on 17 July in New York. At the meeting it became clear that while tough negotiations will take place at the summit, there is a genuine commitment on the part of most countries to a constructive search for solutions. As a result of these consultations, South Africa accepted a proposal made by, among others, the G77 group that negotiations should begin two days before the actual start of the summit. So, these informal negotiations will now take place on 24 and 25 August.
We are confident that all outstanding matters can be resolved. All indications are that the summit will be attended by a large number of heads of state and government. This, together with the presence in Johannesburg of global leaders of all sectors of society, promises to make this event one of deep significance to humanity.
The official United Nations Summit will, in addition to governments, provide for the active participation of representatives of, amongst others, youth, women, trade unions and business organisations. Representatives of these groups will also have the opportunity to interact directly with heads of state and government in a series of relatively intimate round-table meetings.
In addition to the events at the Sandton Convention Centre, hundreds of parallel events will take place elsewhere in Johannesburg and other South African cities. The Civil Society Global Forum involving tens of thousands of delegates will take place at the Nasrec Expo Centre from 23 August to 4 September.
A number of civil society pre-summit conferences will take place from 19 August to 23 August. Among these, the International Youth Summit will be held at Sun City in the North West, and the Indigenous People’s International Summit will be held in Kimberley. The International Local Government Conference will be held at the Sandton Crowne Plaza Hotel. Judges and chief justices from around the world-will meet at the Global Judges Symposium from 18 to 20 August. Private-sector leaders will attend the Business Forum Lekgotla at the Hilton Hotel.
The Interparliamentary Union will be holding a two-day event entitled ``Sustainable Development: The role of parliaments in ensuring implementation and accountability’’ on 29 and 30 August at the Sandton Convention Centre. Over the same two days, the Parliamentarians Workshop on Clean Air and Clean Water, organised by Parliamentarians for Global Action, will be held at the Summer Palace Hotel.
In order to provide for the worldwide request to exhibit sustainable development best practice projects, a tented city, called Ubuntu Village, has been constructed. At the centre of Ubuntu Village is the 11 000 square metre Tensile One, the world’s biggest tent. Ubuntu Village will be a hive of activity, with exhibitions, talks, conferences, launches and cultural events. Among the exhibitions will be an extensive display of renewable and clean energy technology. The village will also be open to the public.
The Randburg Dome will be transformed into the Water Dome by the Global Water and Sanitation Sector. This will be the gathering place for governments and nongovernmental organisations involved in water and sanitation. The Water Dome will house exhibitions, talks, meetings and conferences on the subject.
South Africa’s vibrant culture will also play a role in enriching the event. Johannesburg’s Newtown precinct will be the epicentre of a large number of theatrical, musical and other cultural performances.
The Global Forum opening ceremony will be held on 23 August at the Johannesburg Stadium. The South African Government official welcome ceremony will be held on 25 August at Ubuntu Village. On the day before the heads of state and heads of government segment of the WSSD takes place, President Mbeki and Secretary-General Kofi Annan will visit the cradle of humankind in order to pay homage to our origins.
Both the Gauteng province and the Johannesburg metro are leaving no stone unturned to make the event a success. The province is engaged in the ``greening of the summit’’ project. The aim is to establish an international benchmark in the minimisation of waste and the minimisation of the environmental impact of huge events. Ninety per cent of the waste generated by the summit will be recycled, and an innovative scheme would compensate for the emissions of carbon resulting from energy used in summit activities. The Johannesburg metro has spruced up the city to give a warm African welcome to our visitors. In response to a call for volunteers, the citizens of Johannesburg responded in a spirit of Vukuzenzele. Five thousand volunteers have been recruited to perform a range of tasks. I would like to extend my thanks to these patriots.
All South Africans should share in the pride of acting as hosts to the world’s presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens, judges, representatives of workers and business; youth and women; religious leaders, and representatives of communities from all corners of the earth. This will be a massive gathering of representatives of humanity under the slogan ``People, planet, prosperity’’.
Humanity returns to Africa, our common birthplace, to open a new chapter in human solidarity. All will be united in the pursuit of one single overriding imperative: the adequate provision for the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. [Applause.]
The SPEAKER: Hon members, we will be returning to the issues raised by the Minister and others that are linked to the World Summit when this House debates the summit and the issues next Thursday. As hon members are aware, we will also be participating in the meetings at the World Summit organised by us and the Interparliamentary Union. As we are having a debate, there will be no statements from parties on the Minister’s statement.
Before we proceed to the subject for discussion, I would, firstly, like to greet hon members as tomorrow is Women’s Day. I want to greet the men and the women, and urge them to focus on a certain number of issues that will be raised, I hope, not a moment too soon.
I particularly want to welcome the large number of women whom I see in the public gallery. [Applause.] I want to greet all of them and, of course, on behalf of this House, all women in South Africa. I also want to draw attention to the fact that we are celebrating our achievements as a society, particularly those of the women. But we should also be focusing on what we still need to do to create the nonsexist society that is reflected in our Constitution. So we need to be focusing on both.
Part of achieving that is for women in the country to engage much more with Parliament, in the public gallery, on the floor of this House and, of course, in our committees. I hope we will see many more women engaging with Parliament, and many more men speaking on issues of how to create a nonsexist society. [Applause.]
I wait to see in the forthcoming debate how many of those cheers are translated into actual speeches. [Interjections.] I now look forward to the Chief Whips promptly changing their speakers’ lists.
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: Malibongwe! [Praise] Madam Speaker, hon members of the House, the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, the hon Dr Ben Ngubane, and the Deputy Minister, the hon Brigitte Mabandla requested me to pass on a message of thanks and gratitude to all members of the House, to the dignitaries and the South African citizenry for gracing the symbolic occasion of the enrobement of Sarah Baartman which took place on Sunday, 4 August, at the Civic Centre here in Cape Town.
A woman named Sarah Baartman was taken away from her home country, South Africa, to London in 1810. The African continent at the time was not regarded by Europe as a place of historical entity. Its people, religion, tradition and culture only made sense when interpreted through the eyes and consciousness of Europe. Africa was regarded as a continent divided by civilisation, which could be described as white Africa and black Africa. That was a time when Africa was vulnerable. Colonialism took advantage of this unfortunate circumstance and moved in to rob Africa of its dignity.
Sarah became one of those who suffered under colonial prejudice, who became the victims of racism which embodied the superiority of a people whose culture and norms operated on the basis that what they could not understand or comprehend had to be inferior since they regarded themselves as the better race. What they believed in had to be better than anyone else’s, and that was colonialism at play.
The sole purpose of Sarah’s abductors was to exhibit her in the Piccadilly Circus as an item of interest, basically viewed as a creature to be paraded to the European audiences for jest and entertainment. Her captors saw in her a commodity they could use for making profit from the circus. Rational analysis makes us doubt if the exact intention of her being taken to Europe was explained when she was led out of her country of birth. All we are told is that she was promised a share of the profits which would be generated through the ``wonder’’ that she was. How sad! A so-called civilised class debased itself to levels of disgrace and disregard for human dignity and respect - abuse at the highest level.
The story of Sarah Baartman reveals the saddest part of our history as a country and the humiliation that was meted out by colonial forces to the people of Africa. From the top of the continent to south of the Sahara, colonialism ravaged the culture of the peoples of this continent. It accelerated the erosion of the unity of the groups and communities on this continent.
When one reads the balance sheet in the political-cultural field one sees that by the 1800s colonialism found itself strong enough to intensify and accelerate the state of instability, characterised by violence, wars and disorder emerging from the insecurity of the Mfecane conflicts; the Fulbe jihads; the rise of the Tukulor and Mande empires in the western Sudan; the disintegration of the Oyo and the Asante empires in West Africa. This situation is comparable to the Napoleonic wars, the intellectual revolutions and the German and Italian wars of unification. The problems in Africa were not peculiar to the continent, but were a reflection of the disagreements and expansions of kingdoms.
South of the Sahara we found the San and the Khoi being driven out of their lands and exterminated or assimilated into colonial society. Sarah Baartman, a woman of Khoi origin, was identified as a subject of scorn and humiliation. She was exported to Europe, a continent far away from her homeland, divided from her continent by the sea. How could she, even if she longed for home, be able to swim back to the shores of the Cape over the seas? How would she run away, back to her home of warm summers and green fields? She was encaged, enslaved and marketed in the circus as a strange creation of nature.
Sarah must have felt lost, desolate and lonely. Those who tried to fight for her freedom in the British courts - the abolitionists - were told that Sarah signed a contract willingly, implying that she signed up for humiliation, degradation, scorn, prejudice, exclusion, racism and sexism. Did Sarah really willingly agree to be paraded naked along a stage two feet high to be exhibited like a wild beast, forced to walk, stand or sit as ordered? We have heard the following before, haven’t we? ``The slaves are happy with the treatment the masters and madams give them. These people would rather be here than anywhere else.’’ So said the masters trying to justify their acts.
Sarah is one of us. She is back home. She is here to receive the burial that human beings are accorded by their families, communities and countries. Sarah is back to remind humanity that human rights, respect and dignity befit all persons, no matter who they are, where they come from and what they are called and named because they belong to someone. They belong to a community, to a family. They have relatives who love them.
We love Sarah for who she was, one of us shipped off, in a diaspora to confirm the prejudices of colonial masters, to satisfy the curiosity of a French scientist, who could not resist cutting up her body when she died and dissecting it to conduct experiments and as a way of investigating whether she was real enough to be classified as human, or whether she actually belonged to the circus as part of the animal kingdom tamed to entertain circus-goers.
Sarah’s brain and other soft tissues were preserved. Her skeletal remains were put on a museum display until the 1970s. Sarah Baartman’s debasement in both life and death came to reflect, in a very confirmed practical manner, the voracity of an unfounded racial superiority complex.
We are here today to initiate, through this debate, the reburial of one of us, the interment of Sarah Baartman, and not the ``Hottentot Venus’’, as she was derogatorily dubbed.
A French print entitled La Belle Hottentot depicts Sarah, the African
miracle, as a woman standing on a box pedestal with her buttocks exposed.
Several figures bend, straining for a better look, while a male figure at
the right of the image even holds his eyeglass up to better behold the
woman’s body. Some remarks were made, including, Oh! Goddamn, what roast
beef'' andAh! How comical is nature.’’
We are here not to mourn Sarah’s death, but to celebrate the strength of our people who made sure that she is not forgotten, who made sure that we negotiated with the French government to repatriate her remains. This is the triumph of our people, the belief in human rights and respect for the entire humanity. We have risen as a country and as a people from the ashes of oppression, from the scourge of apartheid and colonialism, firmly convinced that safeguarding human rights and women’s rights is a struggle we must all continue to wage to ensure that human beings are treated equally and with dignity. This is the affirmation of our Constitution, of our history, of a people determined and prepared to uphold the principles of human rights.
To achieve genuine equality in our country, our programmes must be based on a real understanding of what gender oppression can do to a nation. Sarah’s history of persecution and humiliation is but an illustration of what happens to those who are discriminated against on the basis of colour, sex or geographic exclusion. We are one nation that cannot afford to accept any form of discrimination after what we have gone through as a collective.
Oppression is rooted in a material base, it is expressed in sociocultural attitudes, all of which are supported and perpetuated by an ideology which subordinates women. The history of oppression in our country has clearly demonstrated the fact that women became the instrument through which the strength and the resilience of our people was tested. They were thrown onto the lowest ladder of economic structures, turned into breeders of labour for the mines and farms, and forced to do the dirty and humiliating work churned out for the institutionalised systems that relegated them to the level of subhumans.
Women in this country, particularly African women, were subjugated, deprived and marginalised in many different ways. They were regarded as junior and inferior to the male species. They make up the majority of the unemployed, the disempowered. They were not in decision-making structures, but our democratic approach to human beings today is to change such patterns of discriminatory practice.
Sarah Baartman will be laid to rest at her place of birth tomorrow, 9 August, in the Gamtoos River Valley. The women and men of this country salute Sarah Baartman, who faced and fought the worst form of racism all by herself, without the immediate collective effort that has seen our country freed from apartheid colonialism. Sarah’s burial will be a response to the late Comrade President O R who said in 1985, and I quote:
We do not consider our objectives achieved, our tasks completed or our struggle at an end until the women are fully liberated.
Sarah Baartman is finally free from humiliation and scorn. This gives us hope that the struggle for the liberation of this nation, from a painful past of 300 years of oppression and repression, hunger and exclusion, will gradually redress the evils of the past.
We stand here today to thank all those who made sure that we got the opportunity to bury Sarah Baartman in honour. They are the ambassadors of South Africa to France, the former ambassador, Ms Barbara Masekela; the current ambassador, Mrs Thuthukile Skweyiya; the French government; members of the French National Assembly for the unanimous vote that upheld the principles of human rights, the vote for her repatriation to her people; and the reference group of 12 members - Y Abrahams, Prof H Bredekamp, Chief J Burgess, Ms D Ferrus, hon member of Parliament Mrs Bertha Gxowa, Mr J Kollapen, hon member of Parliament Mrs Makho Njobe, Dr Adelaide Tambo, Prof P V Tobias, Prof H Soodyall and Ms S Williams.
Sarah Baartman’s dignity has been reclaimed. Through her reburial, we may begin to say the images of women in Africa will reflect those of people who are respected, and the many facets of inequality brought about by colonial influences may finally be dealt a final blow. Sarah belongs to the women of Africa. Although Sarah came from the womb of the Khoi people, she belongs to all of us. She belongs to Africa. She belongs to humanity.
Malibongwe igama la makhosikazi! [Kwaqhwatywa.] [Praise the name of women! [Applause.]]
Mrs P W CUPIDO: Madam Speaker, I would also like to join you in greeting all the women on the gallery, and extend a warm word of welcome to all of them.
Suid-Afrika is voorwaar een nasie met vele volkere, 11 amptelike tale, vele kulture en uiteenlopende geloofsbeginsels; inderdaad ‘n veelsydige nasie, en tog kleurryk en interessant in sy diversiteit. Nog meer interessant is die feit dat ‘n eg Suid-Afrikaanse vrou, Saartjie Baartman, ons land se politieke leiers tot stilstand bring op die vooraand van Suid-Afrika se nasionale dag vir vroue. Saartjie is vir ons ‘n herinnering aan erge koloniale misbruik, gruwelike menseregteskending, rassistiese uitbuiting en misbruik van en disrespek vir die vroulike liggaam. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[South Africa is indeed a nation with a multitude of peoples, 11 official languages, many cultures and diverse religious principles; indeed a multi- faceted nation, and yet colourful and interesting in its diversity. Even more interesting is the fact that a true South African woman, Saartjie Baartman, on the eve of South Africa’s national day for women, is bringing our country’s political leaders to a standstill. To us Saartjie is a reminder of severe colonial abuse, gross human rights violation, racist exploitation and abuse of, and disrespect for, the female body.]
My question today is whether women in this country are better or worse off since Saartjie’s experiences. [Interjections.] I recall the four very young girls of this country who were apparently abducted by the paedophile Gert van Rooyen and have never since been found. Have they perhaps been raped, abused, murdered or sold into prostitution in other countries? How many women and children in this country have suffered gross humiliation, abuse, neglect, rape and assault, intimidation and unfair labour practices only because they are women and vulnerable?
Even though this Government has a portfolio committee in place that looks at the rights and status of women, it still lacks the will to put structures and resources in place to empower women sufficiently. Internationally, South Africa ranks very high as far as illiteracy amongst women is concerned. This is a sore point for women’s groups, who claim that current efforts and opportunities are weak and ineffectual.
Why does the ANC Government keep South African women poor and illiterate? [Interjections.] I believe that improving literacy amongst women is the key to improving women’s political awareness and hence their status in society. [Interjections.] A literate woman would know the difference between a good and a weak government, and that is why some governments keep their women poor and illiterate. They do so so that they remain dependent on the government of the day.
Kaapstad Uniestad onder beheer van die DA is ‘n leier op die gebied van geslagsgelykheid en die bemagtiging van vroue. Agt vrouedirekteure is pas aangestel as hoofde van sleutelportefeuljes in die Kaapstad-administrasie. Kaapstad-munisipaliteit is voorwaar meer suksesvol as ander metro’s omdat dit nie deur die ANC geregeer word nie. [Tussenwerpsels.] [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Cape Town Unicity, under control of the DA, is a leader in the field of gender equality and empowerment of women. Eight female directors have just been appointed in the Cape Town administration as heads of key portfolios. The municipality of Cape Town is indeed more successful than other metros because it is not governed by the ANC. [Interjections.][Applause.]]
Marthinus van Schalkwyk’s dishing out of jobs for pals and the abuse of taxpayers’ moneys have once again proved that association brings resemblance. How many New NP women did he appoint to his cabinet? [Interjections.] Not one!
Ek wil vandag vroue aanmoedig om op te staan en hulle regmatige plek in die samelewing in te neem. [Tussenwerpsels.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Today, I would like to encourage women to stand up and take their rightful place in society. [Interjections.]]
Without further ado, I suppose that there is a time to come and a time to go. Today it is my turn to greet this House and also to say farewell to colleagues and friends of the past eight years. [Interjections.] It has indeed been an honour for me to be a part of the transition of this country, especially at this level of government. [Interjections.]
Al het dit nie altyd so gelyk of geklink nie, kan ek agb lede verseker dat ek ‘n groot respek opgebou het vir kollegas aan albei kante van hierdie Raad. Dit is die gebed van my hart dat God werklik vorentoe vir ons ‘n nuwe generasie leiers sal stuur, en dat hier werklike transformasie sal plaasvind sodat ons eendag kan terugkyk na vandag as deel van ons land se geskiedenis. [Tussenwerpsels.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Even if it did not always look or sound like it, I can assure hon members that I developed huge respect for colleagues on both sides of this Council. It is my heart’s prayer that somewhere down the road, God would send us a new generation of leaders, and that true transformation will take place here so that one day we can look back to this day as part of our country’s history. [Interjections.]] We can only rise up if we have experienced lows. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for your excellent leadership. Thank you to all the staff members. May God bless South Africa. [Applause.]
Mr M F CASSIM: Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of the IFP to take part, on this very solemn occasion, in a very important debate. I wish to identify myself with the hon Minister and the remarks she made on this topic.
I wish to address this topic under the title ``the enrobing of Sarah Baartman’’. Stripped of the covers of modesty, stripped of her identity and the real name given to her by her parents, stripped of friends, family, community, tribe, nation, belonging, motherland, dignity, political rights, humanity, love, happiness, understanding, sympathy, empathy, communion and everything else, how can Sarah Baartman be enrobed adequately to compensate for everything that she was shorn of and all the humiliation heaped on her by the former colonialists that held sway here and who dispossessed her and her people of so many things?
Shakespeare made King Lear observe: ``Unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal.’’ Indeed, Sarah could vouch for that seeing just how unaccommodated she was, a mere exotic object to the type that the Minister described as those who trampled all over her humanity. But our unique miracle as a nation is to see hope where it could not possibly exist and light where darkness is at its most intense. This is our miracle. Since 1994 we have begun to reverse the process of the endless stripping by colonialists that damaged our people, our flora, fauna and our country’s resources. When we enrobe Sarah Baartman, metaphorically and symbolically, we once again invest in ourselves all our rights, dignity and humanity.
I want to begin by saying the following to Madam Speaker, all the women in the Chamber, the gallery and the nation: In this extraordinary task of enrobing, we, as that gender portion known as men, wherever we are and whoever we are, should commit ourselves to supporting gender equality implicitly and without any reserve. [Applause.] The enrobing of Sarah Baartman is not one ceremony and certainly no single occasion. Sarah Baartman is every woman in our land and, very particularly, every black woman in the land [Applause].
When we consciously and with dedication educate each young girl to the level of her potential; when we uplift each rural woman to become economically independent; when we respect the right of each woman to her bodily integrity; when we protect each girl-child and each woman against rape and violence; when we allow each woman to come into her own and to make choices and to have those choices respected, even if that choice means that she insists on the use of a condom during intimacy; when we elevate suitable women candidates to the most prestigious offices in the land so that there is a systemic emancipation and empowerment of women, then we would have fully enrobed Sarah Baartman and her ceremony would have been complete. [Applause.]
Sarah Baartman is a direct and powerful challenge to former colonialists, men and boys, all of us now living here in our country in the new dispensation. In Africa the leadership role of women is as ancient as history itself. I will cite only two examples. Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt 3 300 years ago and Queen Cleopatra also ruled over Egypt as far back as 2 030 years ago. It is nothing unusual in Africa for women to have led their countries with great distinction and honour.
In enrobing Sarah we affirm the truth that everything in our political lives comes full circle. Those that were once degraded and dehumanised are now raised up in honour and are celebrated. Those who were taken by force and compulsion in virtual chains are now being brought back home with love and fond remembrance. Today we, who sit on these seats as power brokers, will enrobe Sarah if we harken to Nkosi Buthelezi when he implores us, regardless of where we belong, to commit passionately to a revolution of goodwill, or if we were to make it our mantra, in tone with the elder statesman Madiba, the incantation ``never and never and never again’’.
Power is a corrosive thing; it is a potent acid. The Bible promises that the meek shall inherit the earth. Believers who have God in their hearts understand the power of love, the power of good will, the power of faith. That is the power we should seek to develop and that is the power we must use and encourage to be used as proselytes for genuine and untrammelled democracy here and everywhere else in the world.
Each of us, more than anyone else in the world, needs to enrobe Sarah; the poor and the destitute; the weak and the helpless; the uneducated and the unskilled; the homeless and the hungry; men and women; boys and girls - then, and only then, will power work for the betterment of society, instead of just for the gratification of big and petty tyrants and dictators. North of us and in many other places, tyranny and despotism are common things. In such countries colonialism ended, but true freedom is as absent now as it has been for a very long time.
When we participate in the enrobing of Sarah, we are symbolically also enrobing all the girls and women of our land who are ravaged by hunger, joblessness, violence and intimidation. The impact of HIV/Aids on women is considerably more dramatic than on men, and if we fail women at this critical juncture, our society, in less than two decades, will have a severe imbalance in the ratio between the gender groups on account of the higher mortality rate among women through HIV/Aids.
Today we have an opportunity to commit ourselves to the gender-equal society in the world and to freeing women from oppression, violence, rape and abuse. Let us together enrobe Sarah and in doing so let us act in unison against the degradation of our fellow beings, mother earth and those who are most precious to us, namely our daughters, mothers and wives, our equal partners in the journey of life.
Let the coming Woman’s Day be a watershed. Sarah, sister, we embrace you to ourselves. May God similarly embrace you and raise you! [Applause.]
Ms L M T XINGWANA: Madam Speaker, I believe that this day is a day of mourning. We are burying Sarah Baartman who died 200 years ago and I therefore believe that we should bury her with the dignity and respect that she deserves.
Ngoko ke andisayi kungena emxhentsweni nasemtshotshweni wokuba i-ANC ayilunganga okanye ilungile. Ndicinga into yokuba namhlanje yimini yokuba sihloniphe. Xa singcwaba eAfrika, singcwaba ngesithozela. Nokuba umntu lutshaba lwakho umngcwaba ngothando; umngcwaba ngentlonipho. Ndiya kucela ke ukuba oomama nootata kule Ndlu namhlanje bathethe … (Translation of Xhosa paragraph follows.)
[I am not going to enter the debate about whether the ANC is good or not. I think that today is a day to show respect. When we bury the dead in Africa, we do it in dignity. Even if a person was your enemy; you bury them with love. I will therefore, ask women and men in this House today to speak …]
… in unity and with the dignity that Sarah deserves.
UMphathiswa wethu wezeZindlu sele esivulele ngokunika imbali kaSarah Baartman. USarah Baartman ube kokuveliswe kukuhlupheka, ebesebunzimeni bocinezelo phantsi kwe colonialism nobuhlanga. (Translation of Xhosa paragraph follows.)
[The Minister of Housing has given an introduction to the history of Sarah Baartman. Sarah Baartman was a product of poverty and was oppressed and exploited under colonialism and racism.]
Sarah Baartman, like all African women in this country, suffered all forms of exploitation and oppression.
Baye bafika ke kweli lizwe bayitshabalalisa inkcubeko yethu, bazitshabalalisa iilwimi zethu. Yiyo loo nto abanye bethu bengazi ukuba umntu uziphatha njani na emngcwabeni. Umntu uye afike emngcwabeni eze kudelela ngathi ucinga ukuba kusemtshotshweni. Ngoko ke xa sikhumbula, eAfrika sasingenayo imida. Sasingenaye umSuthu nomTswane; sasingabantu sonke. Siyazi ukuba amakhosi ethu ayephuma aye kuzeka kwamanye amazwe akude, kungekho calu-calulo.
Masikhumbule kwakhona ukuba bona oomama aba bamaKhoi namaSan babezekwa ngootata bethu. Kwakusithi xa kuyiwa emfazweni amakhosikazi angabulawa. Amakhosikazi ebehlonitshwa, abuyiswe, agcinwe, azekwe, abe ngabanye babantu besi sizwe. Nabantwana babo bebegcinwa, behlonitshiwe. Thina kwaXhosa nolwimi lwethu lunazo izinto oluzifumeneyo phaya koluya lwimi lwamaKhoi namaSan. Siyayazi into yokuba nabeTswana ngokunjalo bahleli kunye bephilisana kusendiselwana namaKhoi namaSan, simntu mnye.
Sitsho ke sisithi, siyayazi into yokuba abeLungu bafika bayitshabalalisa yonke into, baqala baseka imida, benza ucalu-calulo, basahlula. Bathabatha amakhosikazi bawatshabalalisa bawenza ayinto yokudlala emhlabeni. Ngoko ke ndifuna ukuthi uthe sele efile uSarah Baartman … (Translation of Xhosa paragraphs follows.)
[They arrived in this country and destroyed our culture and languages. That is the reason some of us do not know how they should conduct themselves at funerals. A person would come to where a funeral is being held and take people for granted as if it were at a Xhosa dance ceremony. When we try to remember, in Africa we never had boundaries. There was no Sotho or Tswana; we were just human beings. We know that traditional leaders sought wives from far countries and there was no discrimination.
Let us again remember that our fathers took Khoi and San women as wives. During times of war, women would be spared. Women were respected and treated with dignity, would be brought back, cared for and well looked after, be married and be part of that nation. Their children were also saved and treated with dignity. We as amaXhosa as well as our language, have things that we gained from the language of the Khoi and the San. We also know that the Tswanas too lived together with them, exchanged marriages, and were united.
These things were destroyed when the white people came as they introduced boundaries and discrimination and racism, and divided us. They killed women and made fun of them. Even when Sarah Baartman had died …]
… she continued to endure this degradation and suffering because the colonial and racist rulers believed that she was not a human being.
She was kept naked in a cave; when she died they were very much interested in her body. They were very much interested in her brain, because they believed that she was not human, that she was an animal. They did their research, they did an inspection and analysis of her body and, in the end, they found that she was a human being. But because she was black, they kept her there for 200 years, continuing to humiliate her and make her an object of their entertainment.
Therefore, …
… sifuna ukuthi namhlanje sikhahlela … [… today we want to salute …]
… it is the Government of the ANC that has gone and brought back Sarah Baartman and made sure that they organised a dignified burial for her after 200 years.
Ndifuna ukuthetha ngentsingiselo yomhla we-9 ka-Agasti. [I want to talk about the significance of 9 August.]
The day 9 August is a significant and historic day for the people of South Africa, in particular women. It is a day on which we remember our struggles, the women’s struggle in South Africa. It is a day on which we remember our victories. Therefore, it is very significant that Sarah Baartman is buried on this day, the day of women in South Africa, because Sarah Baartman is a symbol of all African women in this country. In fact, she is a symbol of all women who suffer degradation, exploitation, harassment, violence and abuse. We, therefore, want to say, ``Let all of us honour this day, let all of us go and bury Sarah Baartman.’’
The ANC has declared the month of August as the month for women’s emancipation as part of the Letsima programme. The ANC Women’s League’s theme for this month is, ``Restore our dignity, respect our human rights and together let’s work for sustainable development’’.
The burial of Sarah Baartman tomorrow, therefore, signifies and heralds a new era, when women’s dignity and women’s human rights will be respected and restored. It is a new era during which we must call for unity and peace in our country.
We therefore commit ourselves, during this month, to continue with our programmes to mobilise and unite women, and also with our programmes to fight for women’s rights and for peace in our country.
We also call on men and women to fight violence and abuse of women and children. We say enough is enough. Let us not have another baby Tshepang. We also salute and commend baby Tshepang for her record healing and also say she has also shown a spirit of resilience during her traumatic time because of the hope and the prayers of our women, as well as the contribution of our Government to ensuring that the issues of child abuse and women’s abuse are addressed. Today the person who is responsible for what happened to Tshepang has finally been brought to book. Therefore we believe that this will be a lesson to all those men out there who still want to abuse women, who still want to abuse our children and who still do not believe that women must be respected. We hope that this will show them that our Government is serious and our Government means business in protecting our women and fighting all this abuse and corruption.
We also call on all of us to recommit ourselves to the programme to fight the spread of HIV and Aids. We call, especially, on those who have started home-based care programmes. We ask our Government to put more resources into these programmes and also provide more resources for the orphans who need our support and protection. We must also regenerate our energy and make sure that we support the moral regeneration campaign, because all these evils would not be there if we were committed to this campaign.
With regard to poverty alleviation, I also want to call on all of us, it is not just the responsibility of the Government. I believe that our Government has opened up opportunities. There are various programmes and schemes that have been opened up by this Government to ensure that we are able to start small businesses, that we are able to organise ourselves, and therefore I call on women, in particular, who mostly bear the brunt of poverty, to organise themselves and to take advantage of these opportunities.
I also want to call on our Government and our NGOs to take up support of the literacy programme, because we know that most of the people who are illiterate today are women, especially women in the rural areas. I think, during this year of the volunteer, let us volunteer during our time, our recess, and let us go out to the rural areas and make sure that we initiate meaningful literacy programmes that will empower our women with skills, not only to be able to read and write, but to be able to set up developmental programmes that will sustain them and their families.
As women we are also committing ourselves to the African Union. We know that most of the programmes and the processes of the AU have left women behind. But we are saying we are going to take over and take up the programme of the AU and Nepad. We are calling for a monitoring body within Nepad that will ensure that there is gender mainstreaming in all the programmes and structures of Nepad. Our Parliament has already committed itself, so that we have 60% representation in all Nepad structures, because Nepad is about development and without women, we believe, there can never be development in Africa.
With regard to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, WSSD, we are again saying that women must participate in that programme. The ANC Women’s League, together with women NGOs in South Africa, has organised a programme, an international women’s tent that will be based in Nasrec, where various programmes to empower women will be presented. We are also organising a train that will be departing from the Great Lakes region, move to Uganda, down South, touching on all the countries of Africa, which will highlight the HIV/Aids campaign and peace and stability in Africa.
Therefore, we are asking women in South Africa to make sure that they are involved in these programmes and also receive the women and the people who will be coming to participate in the UN conference, so that when they go back home they have a good a picture and have learnt from and shared our own experiences and our democracy. [Time expired.]
Mrs S M CAMERER: Madam Speaker, I would also like, on behalf of the New NP,
to extend a welcome to the women in the gallery, many of whom, I am aware,
are prominent in local government. It is an honour and a pleasure as a
woman to speak in this debate on Sarah, or Saartjie, Baartman. Let me deal
with her name first. According to the Khoisan legal advisor, on her birth
and marriage certificates she appears as Sarah Baartman, but in the
volksmond'', as an expression of love and affection, she is referred to
asSaartjie.’’ I have been asked by our caucus on this occasion, on the
advice of our Khoisan members, to refer to her as ``Saartjie’’ in my speech
today.
The interment of Saartjie Baartman tomorrow in her homeland nearly 200 years after she was lured to Europe with the promise of fame and fortune, holds lessons for South Africa and the Western World - lessons unfortunately learned too late to benefit Saartjie and the multitude of her fellow Africans who had at that time, and during the intervening period, endured untold suffering. Saartjie was, allegedly at any rate, a free woman when she got to England, though she was exploited and humiliated as a freak and a mere object by a prurient and voyeuristic European audience. Her human dignity was ignored and demeaned and she had previously been enslaved like millions of her fellow Africans, who were enslaved in horrific circumstances, and of whose suffering we should also be mindful at a time like this.
As South Africans we should be proud of the Government action to retrieve Saartjie Baartman’s remains from France, where they were insultingly on display for years and then stored at the Museum of Mankind in Paris. Former President Mandela, who initiated the request for her remains to be handed back in 1994, and Deputy Minister Brigitte Mabandla who negotiated the return, should be congratulated on their initiative.
It is extraordinary that Saartjie Baartman’s remains continued to be displayed in France until 1974, in contravention of all tenets of human rights applicable in France, Europe and the rest of the world, and in spite of the international adoption of the United Nations’ Declaration on Human Rights 30 years previously. ``Why’’? we must ask. And the answer must lie in the fact that people and their attitudes are conditioned by their history, as written or handed down. Accordingly, the most important lesson to be learned from Saartjie Baartman’s story is that our received history needs to be reassessed, re-examined and, if found wanting, challenged and rewritten.
Europe’s interest in women like Saartjie Baartman was aroused originally by writers like Le Valiant, the French explorer and hunter, who wrote about his travels and exploits in Southern Africa in the eighteenth century. He wrote about Hottentots and Khoisan women in a section of his writings and drawings entitled ``Behind the Hottentot Apron’’ in which he described certain physical peculiarities allegedly possessed by these women. Now this was not regarded then as eighteenth century porn or even as something insulting to the dignity of these women or their nations as a whole, but merely as a valid commentary on the so-called natives of the dark continent, which then became part of received history and subsequently went unquestioned.
When Saartjie Baartman was brought to England and France and displayed as more or less a wild animal or subhuman, no one regarded it as strange. The history that many of us in this House have learned at school, and even at university, was predicated on, or even derived from, records of this nature, manifesting attitudes that are completely in conflict now with our respect for human rights, our commitment to equality for women and the human dignity of all people as guaranteed in our Constitution and in international conventions. Accordingly, it is up to us to ensure that our documents and our history reflect our values and that such attitudes, completely inimical to our values today, are not retained or passed on to our children.
Saartjie Baartman was not the oddity. The attitudes of Le Valiant and others, almost exclusively male and European writers and commentators of the previous era, are indeed the oddity. Saartjie Baartman had a short and tragic life. She was only 27 when she died in 1816. Because she made the mistake of going to Europe where, as the Dutch poet Dianna Ferrus has depicted in her touching poem, she was subject to ``the poking eyes of the man-made monster who lives in the dark with his racist clutches of imperialism, who dissects your body bit by bit.’’
Now she has been brought home to be laid to rest, but she must not be forgotten. She must become a symbol, not only for the Khoisan, but for all the women of Africa who during this millennium are reclaiming their dignity and their human rights.
On the eve of national Women’s Day, we must also be mindful that the impairment of, and the disregard for, human dignity and the rights of women of our continent do not only derive from an imperialist and colonial heritage, but also from our own cultural and societal practices. Where these impact negatively on women they must be revised or removed. Let Saartjie Baartman be a reminder to us all of where we want to go in reclaiming the human dignity of African women. [Applause.]
Ms ANNELIZÉ VAN WYK: Madam Speaker, the dedication of this debate to the memory of Sarah Baartman is both fitting and inspirational. We cannot undo the suffering of Sarah Baartman and the many others who suffered a similar fate, but the return of and the laying to rest of Baartman’s remains is a victory for human dignity, and serves as encouragement to ensure that we do everything in our power to reclaim the dignity and rights of all women.
The South African Constitution enshrines the rights and dignity of all people in South Africa. It ensures that women will have equal rights to their male counterparts and that they will never again have to suffer the humiliation that Sarah Baartman experienced.
Today, we must, however, ask ourselves whether we are doing enough so that these guaranteed rights in the Constitution become a living reality for the majority of South African women. I believe that none of us can stand here today and say with a clear conscience that we have achieved equality, upliftment and empowerment for all women in South Africa. There are still too many women in every corner of South Africa who are not yet aware of their rights, and who certainly have no access to their constitutional guarantees.
It is only once women can achieve a certain level of independence that the dignity of women will be restored and that they will be able to take up their rights completely. Women must be enabled to break free from their current circumstances. Their inability to do so is as a result of their economic and emotional dependence. If we empower women in these spheres, we will begin the process of restoring dignity.
Women bear the brunt of poverty. Too little is done in order to focus specifically on the economic empowerment of women. Ironically, it is left to women to find ways to feed and care for their families in the face of utter despair and, miraculously, they do so with little available.
The UDM believes that, given the necessary support and encouragement, women will take that resolve and turn it into economically viable opportunities. Women are not asking for hand-outs. They simply must be given the necessary opportunity and encouragement. Programmes must be developed that aim to give specifically women access to land and capital.
Too many women remain the victims of rape, abuse and violent crimes. Many of these crimes are committed against women by family members, their partners, or people known to them. This also demonstrates the desperate situation that many of these women find themselves in and who, because of their economic dependency, are unable to break free from these situations. Living in a crime-ridden society with no access to capital, little or no basic education or skills training, and not owning any land or other productive resources leave women with very little opportunity of becoming economically active and breaking free from the circumstances that they currently find themselves in.
The role of women in our community cannot be overemphasised. Women, mothers, sisters and wives form the backbone of our society. It is on the lap of his mother that a baby learns about life. It is at the hand of his mother that he learns about what is wrong and right. It is through the words spoken by her that he learns to speak. Why then do we imagine it to be possible to talk about the upliftment and empowerment of the nation when we do not put in place the basic foundation required?
Our priority, undoubtedly, must be to reclaim the dignity and rights of our women as individuals and as an entity. It is only once this is achieved that success for the nation will follow.
Just as the return of Sarah Baartman symbolises the strength of women in the face of despair, let her return encourage us to work in unity to achieve dignity for women throughout South Africa, not only for those in cities, but specifically for those in the deepest rural areas who are, in all modesty, simply being mothers to a nation, for it is only once women can take up their rightful place in society without fear that we will be able to say that we have achieved freedom and dignity at last.
May Sarah Baartman rest in peace. May her memories inspire us to make Africa a warm Mother Africa for all her children, including the girl child, both in dignity and in right. [Applause.]
Ms J MOLOI: Madam Speaker, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, we have gone a long way in the liberation of women and transformation of gender relations, and we still have a long way to go for the total liberation of women from apartheid and colonialism to a just and egalitarian society based on social security, economic prosperity and equal justice.
In observing August as women’s month and in celebration of national Women’s Day, that is tomorrow, 9 August, we have to congratulate the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, particularly Deputy Minister Bridgette Mabandla, on a job well done in bringing home a woman of this South African soil, Sarah Baartman, for proper burial as part of restoring women’s dignity and human rights, thus symbolising a new beginning. We salute all the women who were bold enough to take to the streets in 1956, fighting against the oppressive pass laws and, therefore, paving the way for the basis for a gender struggle. Without any doubts, that beginning has borne the many fruits that we are reaping today. It is important to take stock of the impact on the progress made by this young South African democracy, lest we forget. We created the national gender machinery that asserts women within all spheres of governance, for instance the Office on the Status of Women, in Government; the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and the Status of Women, in Parliament; independent bodies such as the Commission on Gender Equality; in civil society, with various community-based organisations, political organisations and NGOs that deal with gender issues.
As South Africans, we are proud to realise that many countries envy our gender management system, and we are recognised as having the most advanced instrument in the implementation and mainstreaming of gender. Therefore, we feel that we have made quite a significant impact.
We salute our efforts of ensuring that the gender programme exists at international level where the Beijing Platform for Action and Cedaw serve as international instruments utilised in the implementation of the gender programme. We have succeeded in coming up with the gender and development programme for SADC, and we have to ensure that we continue with the integration of gender on the whole African continent by engendering the Nepad programme as a challenge facing us.
In a short space of time, we have managed to assert women within the political and decision-making processes, both in Government and in Parliament, though much still has to be done and will be achieved through the implementation of the Employment Equity Act, which is currently in place.
We have noticed that only the ANC as political organisation here in Parliament has come up with a quota system to involve women in decision- making. We are, therefore, challenging other parties to follow the example of the ANC to ensure that they have a clear mechanism to involve women and not depend on the ANC. In fact, we would prefer to have binding legislation that will ensure continuous women’s representation in Parliament.
Private institutions in our country are not an exception in respect of this issue. They have to implement the policies of this country. Therefore, this means that they also have to show an integration of gender and involvement of women in decision-making, and ensuring that all other provisions are being implemented, particularly the Employment Equity Act.
On the aspect of violence against women, there is a lot to be done, because we have a lot of problems in this area. There are achievements, and most of the laws have been enacted, like the Maintenance Act and the Domestic Violence Act, and serious attention is drawn to sexual harassment. It is no longer loose and just running itself and not being attended to.
The tightening up of the criminal justice system is yet another factor that needs to be applauded. We still raise, with serious concerns, the high rate of child molestation and rape cases, and we feel that they still need quite a lot of attention. If the whole society could join together, we could be able to come up with a mechanism of making sure that we restore the dignity of our society.
Many more areas of focus on the Beijing Platform for Action and Cedaw have been integrated in the Government programme and are currently being implemented. We will be able to produce the country’s report reflecting our progress in these two areas. In other words, the integration of these programmes is quite visible in a number of other areas that are identified by the Beijing Platform for Action and Cedaw. As a matter of fact, as a country we must be proud to have a report that reflects the significant progress that we have made.
Part of what can restore women’s dignity is the eradication of poverty that degrades women to the level of beggars. We need to come up with a strategy that will impact on the economic lives of poor women. It is impossible to speak of dignity whilst we are unable to put food on the table for our children. To remind ourselves of what was said by women on 9 August 1956, whilst they were marching to the Union Buildings, I would like to quote: ``We shall not rest until we have won for our children their fundamental right to freedom, justice and security’’. In order for us to achieve this, we need to consolidate all the efforts and ensure that we really work hard as a nation to fulfil those aspirations of freedom, justice and security for the young ones.
Government has initiated the integrated rural development strategy, and the Presidency has identified nodal points countrywide for the implementation of this strategy. Through the rolling programme of the integrated rural development strategy located within local government, the poor communities will benefit from this programme. In addition to the integrated planning process undertaken by Government, cluster programmes are initiated in order to ensure that the collective approach to planning and implementation is worked on. Gender programmes are integrated and mainstreamed within this approach, and all heads of various clusters are expected to report on the gender progress. Whilst doing this, they would be within the auspices of the administration and cluster heads.
What becomes a major challenge at this point in time, which we feel has not quite made a major impact, is the integration of gender at the level of procurement management, financial systems and the Public Finance Management Act’s implementation and the co-ordination located within the national Treasury. If this could be done correctly and well, it would take care of mainstreaming gender in the office of the state’s Tender Board, procurement management, the public finance management implementation unit, and in the entire financial system.
The Presidency has a role to co-ordinate gender activities, and we feel and believe that that role is correctly placed and should continue that way. We also have to make sure that the Public Service develops a mechanism of monitoring and evaluation to assist the implementation of the gender programmes within the departments. In fact, we do not want to leave this area to the officials whose focus is not on gender. But, if they are taken up by heads of department and heads of various clusters, we are sure that we would be able to analyse its impact and the integration of the gender programme. In conclusion, I would like to say that whilst we are engaged with various gender activities in this Women’s Month, it will be proper for all societies, both women and men, actively to deal with the HIV/Aids programmes in order to fight the scourge. We have to focus on home-based programmes, on counselling of the affected and the infected, and to engage in education programmes, as well as awareness campaigns.
As women, we have to challenge men to play an active role in HIV/Aids, because Aids is not an area that is only concentrated on women, but faces the whole of society. By saying so, we really appeal to men to be at the forefront of dealing with HIV/Aids.
I also wish to congratulate the community of Orange Farm, currently named Palestine, for joining hands on the girl-child programme that pays particular attention to HIV/Aids sensitisation amongst the youth, and to countering gender violence that ravages society, with specific reference to a number of programmes that deal with gender violence. [Applause.]
Ms C DUDLEY: Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I acknowledge You. Madam Speaker, ACDP Women of Destiny, ladies and gentlemen, loss of person, place, potential, future and pride - today trafficking in women is a multibillion dollar market and in Sarah’s days someone was also profiting from her being demeaned, ridiculed, shamed and degraded. Traffickers and pimps, past and present, prey on the dreams and vulnerabilities of women seeking employment and opportunities for the future.
Research shows the most popular destinations for traffic in women are countries where prostitution is legal. And now, South Africa is brazenly, knowingly and wilfully contemplating decriminalising and legalising prostitution and joining their ranks. South Africa will no longer be a transit country as it is today, but a legalised and official destination. Legalisation of prostitution not only causes an increase in trafficking in women to meet the demand created by a legalised sex industry, but makes it difficult to hold traffickers accountable for their activities, as traffickers and pimps evade prosecution by claiming the women knew what they were getting into.
Prosecutors have a hard time establishing the line between voluntary and forced prostitution when it is legal, as their case depends on proving that the woman did not consent. Women like Sarah will have no more protection in South Africa, once prostitution is decriminalised, than she had in Europe. Slavery was a hot topic at the time when Sarah was being exploited and a young Jamaican pressured government to intervene in her situation, but the courts ruled that Sarah had entered into a contract of her own free will and the exploitation went on.
The head of operations for the UN Centre for International Crime Prevention says that the laws help gangsters. Prostitution is semi-legal in many places and that makes the enforcement tricky. Sweden recently passed a law to combat violence against women that created a new offence, the gross violation of a woman’s dignity. Prostitution is included as a type of violence against women and the purchase of sexual services is now prohibited and punishable. Sweden’s approach recognises the harm done to women under conditions of sexual exploitation. It is premised on the belief that women have the right to dignity, integrity and equality. In holding users accountable this new law effectively targets the demand for trafficking in women. This example should be commended and emulated.
South Africa has rightly judged the actions of those who trafficked, pimped and aided and abetted these heinous, inhuman crimes against Sarah and should not now condemn itself by decriminalising these same actions within our own boundaries.
Prostitution, sex tourism, trafficking in women and other practices that reduce women to sexual commodities have had a particularly devastating impact on women in developing countries and oppressed groups of women in so- called developed countries. The sexual exploitation of any woman is cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, establishes the standard of treatment for all women and is incompatible with the inherent dignity and worth of the human person.
The ACDP welcomes the return of Sarah Baartman’s remains to South Africa as significant in a process of reclaiming dignity and identity and the healing of a people and a nation who have experienced the deep hurt. However, sadly, even in death Sarah is being paraded and gawked at if one watches television and the little inserts that are meant to salute her. The father heart of God breaks. She was made in His image.
As far as I know, Government is not putting money at any level toward homes where women who have been in prostitution try to take themselves out of that lifestyle and make a new life for themselves. There are homes like the house in Hillbrow and Beauty for Ashes here in the Western Cape who desperately need our help and assistance, because they are doing an incredible work at this time. Beauty for Ashes, a home for women who choose to turn from prostitution and make a new life is right here in the centre of Cape Town and they are on www.giveandgain.com. Members can also get their details from our offices. [Applause.]
Mr I S MFUNDISI: Madam Speaker and hon members, the Sarah Baartman story epitomises the lack of dignity accorded to African women and this by people who claim to be proclaiming the word of God. Sarah’s story is a real manifestation of man’s inhumanity to man that causes countless to mourn. With the advent of imperial power, indigenous culture was thrown out of the window. Inferiority was imposed on Africans. The so-called master race decided what to do and when to do it with the African folk. While Africans were subjected to servitude, the women carried a double burden. They were kept at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy and were employed in low-paying unskilled jobs.
We appreciate that in the midst of all the humiliation and degradation, African women stood up and spoke out. They have shown their mettle in a maze of adversity. Despite the debasement of Sarah, we have icons we can look up to, and we note the half-full rather than the half-empty glasses at our disposal.
Charlotte Maxeke, born Manye, comes to mind. This jewel of Africa went to study at the Wilberforce University in the United States of America. On her return, she not only brought back her deserved degree, she also learnt about the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This church was founded by slaves of African origin staging a walkout from the Methodist Church because of the inhuman treatment meted out to them by the supremacist whites during worship service.
It is important that we look forward in life and not remain bitter about what happened to Sarah Baartman. That is past. We should concentrate on how to restore dignity and respectability to African women. All we have to know is that women have an equal right to dignity, integrity and life. They have not been created from the crumbs that fell off the Master’s table as He was creating men. Women have rights that should not be violated in any way.
We should acquaint ourselves with instruments such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as adopted by the United Nations in 1979, and pieces of legislation passed by this Parliament such as the Domestic Violence Act in order to appreciate that all gender- based violence has to be frowned upon regardless of who the perpetrator is.
Surely we have to contain the spiral of violence in South Africa? Intervention strategies have to be sought to eradicate this pervasive problem. There is truth forever in the words: ``The first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first.’’ Sarah Baartman, a woman once degraded, has since been placed on a pedestal of glory. She is an icon with whom all yearn to be associated. [Applause.]
Dr M S MOGOBA: Madam Speaker, the struggle to bring the remains of Sarah Baartman back to her motherland is a great victory for human rights. She belongs here, and the soil of Africa wanted her back here. Those who enslaved her and deported her to a foreign country and then dehumanised her and made a public spectacle of her are psychologically sick and in need of healing.
Many years ago a celebrated member of this House, the hon Sam Khan, described racism as a mixture of biological ignorance and racial superstition. And so it is. It makes some people develop a superiority which is completely unjustified and baseless.
The heroic and dignified burial of Sarah Baartman on Women’s Day should send a message to all and sundry that human dignity is a God-given attribute and that those who violate it violate God, in whose image human beings are created. The only unfortunate thing is that Sarah Baartman is being buried in a country where, lately, there has been unacceptable levels of violence and indignity inflicted on our womenfolk. The message from this House and from the burial service of Baartman should be clear: Violence against women comes from sick men who are also cowards. Real men should engage other men in brutal fights in which they will get what they deserve
- blow by blow. There is no heroism whatsoever in subjecting your beloved wife to physical torture, brutality and savagery.
In African society of old a family court, representing both families, would meet and condemn this behaviour and attempt to do some counselling. If this did not work, a tribal court would be appealed to. Their judgment and verdict would result in public punishment that would be so severe that very few would want to repeat the crime. One can contrast this with our modern form of imprisonment in hotel-type prisons. We have a lot to learn from African jurisprudence, particularly the element of peer and societal rejection of antisocial and inhuman behaviour. This African lifestyle was not inferior or uncivilised. It was a society and lifestyle which should be the envy of many civilised men and women. We salute Sarah Bartman.
Mnr J P I BLANCHÉ: Mevrou die Speaker, die Federale Alliansie is dankbaar dat die Parlement ‘n paar uur wy aan die geskiedenis van Saartjie Baartman. Maklik sal politici haar treurige lewensverhaal misbruik vir eie gewin, want reeds het ons gesien dat haar liggaamsbou tydens haar leeftyd misbruik is deur hartelose individue om hul verwronge rasse-vooroordele te regverdig.
Die vraag is waarom maghebbendes deur die geskiedenis van die mens die magteloses en dikwels die fisiek benadeeldes misbruik het vir hul eie magsposisies, om hulself sodoende te versterk. Waarom kan ons nie nederig voor die Skepper staan, dankbaar dat ons in posisies geplaas is om reg te laat geskied teenoor die benadeeldes in ons gemeenskap en ons nasie nie? Ek glo dat die terugbring van Saartjie Baartman se stoflike oorskot na haar vaderland ‘n boodskap inhou vir die moderne wêreld: ‘n Boodskap van versoening van rasse eerder as ‘n geleentheid waar verwyte geslinger word oor wandade van voorgeslagte wat lank gelede begrawe is. Saartjie se tragiese geskiedenis het min te doen met rassisme, dit het alles te doen met die mens se beheptheid met ander mense se fisieke voorkoms en ons verwaandheid om benadeeldes as minderwaardige mense te etiketteer.
Ons, wat die voordeel van geleerdheid, tegnologie en die moderne wetenskap het, moet Saartjie se herbegrafnis aangryp om Suid-Afrikaners te leer dat elke mens, ten spyte van sy of haar fisieke voorkoms, ‘n gelyke reg op eerbied en respek het, maak nie saak van sy of haar staanplek in ons nasie of in ons gemeenskap nie.
Deur die eeue heen was daar vroue wat leidende rolle in die geskiedenis gespeel het. Dink maar aan Helen van Troje, Kleopatra en die Koningin van Skeba. Meer onlangs was daar Eva Peron, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, en hier tuis, Helen Suzman en vele ander vroue. Selde nog het ons nasie hom so sterk vereenselwig met die onreg wat teenoor ‘n vrou gepleeg was soos wat ons nou doen oor Saartjie Baartman en wat aan haar gedoen is nie. ‘n Honderd jaar gelede is die Afrikanervrou leed aangedoen en het ons vir haar en haar kinders ‘n monument opgerig. Hierdie naweek en vandag sê ek namens die Afrikaners, ons is nie bereid om toe te laat dat die Saartjie Baartmans van Afrika agtergeblewe bly in ons eerbetoon aan vroue en dogters van Afrika nie. [Tussenwerpsels].
Ons dank die Skepper dat ons so kort na die skepping van die nuwe Suid- Afrika ook hierdie onreg gepleeg teenoor ‘n vrou van Afrika kan regstel. Daarom wil ons by hierdie geleentheid vir die vroue van Suid-Afrika sê: ``Julle het ‘n unieke rol om in die Afrika-renaissance te speel. Bly nederig, liefdevol, sagmoedig en vroulik, dan sal jy as vrou met agting en respek bejeën word en sal ons en ons nageslag vir julle monumente bou’’.
Ons is bly dat die onreg wat teenoor Saartjie gepleeg is, reggestel word. Die DA sal help om vroue en ander benadeeldes se regte in Afrika te verdedig en vestig, want ons is trots op die vroue en die dogters van ons land.
Ek wil afsluit met die opmerking: Politieke aktiviste is snaakse ``mense. Net gister nog het sommige van hulle vroue’’ ge-necklace’’ om politieke redes, môre daag hulle dalk by die begrafnis op.[Tussenwerpsels]. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mr J P I BLANCHÉ: Madam Speaker, the Federal Alliance is grateful to Parliament for dedicating a few hours to the story of Saartjie Baartman. Politicians will misuse her sad life story with ease for personal gain, because we have already seen that in her lifetime her physique was abused by heartless individuals to justify their warped racial prejudice.
The question is why, throughout man’s history, the powerful that be have abused the powerless and often the physically challenged to further their own positions of power, in order thereby to fortify themselves. Why can we not stand humbly before the Creator, grateful to have been placed in positions to let justice be done to the aggrieved within our society and our nation? I believe that the return of Saartjie Baartman’s mortal remains to her land of birth holds a message for the modern world: A message of reconciliation of races rather than an occasion at which slurs are hurled about regarding the atrocities of previous generations that have long since been buried. Saartjie’s tragic story has little to do with racism and everything with man’s obsession with other people’s physical appearance and our conceitedness in labelling those who have been aggrieved as being inferior people.
We, who have the advantage of learning, technology and modern science, must seize Saartjie’s reburial as an opportunity to teach South Africans that everyone, despite his or her physical appearance, has an equal right to reverence and respect, irrespective of his or her standing in our nation or society.
Through the ages there have been women who have played leading roles in history. Think about Helen of Troy, Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba. More recently we had Eva Peron, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, and here at home, Helen Suzman and many other women. Seldom before has our nation identified itself so intensively with the injustice perpetrated against a woman as is now the case with Saartjie Baartman and what was done to her. One hundred years ago the Afrikaner woman was ill-treated and we erected a monument for her and her children. This weekend and today I will say on behalf of the Afrikaners that we refuse to let Saartjie Baartman lag behind in our tribute to the women and girls of Africa. [Interjections.]
We thank our Creator that, so soon after the creation of the new South Africa, we can also rectify this injustice perpetrated against a woman of Africa. That is why on this occasion we want to say to the women of South Africa: ``You have a unique role to play in the African Renaissance. Remain modest, loving, gentle and feminine, then as a woman you will be treated with esteem and respect and we and our descendants will build monuments for you’’.
We are glad that the injustices perpetrated against Saartjie Baartman are being rectified. The DA will help to establish and protect the rights of women and other wronged persons in Africa, because we are proud of the women and the girls of our country.
I want to conclude with this remark: Political activists are strange people. Only yesterday some of them were necklacing women for political reasons, but tomorrow they may turn up at the funeral. [Interjections.]]
Mrs M S MAINE: Madam Speaker, hon members, the Beijing Platform of Action of 1995 defines violence against women as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to, result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Whether occurring in public or private life, violence against women is one of the most brutal consequences of the economic, social, political and cultural inequalities that exist between men and women.
It is also perpetuated by legal and political systems that have historically discriminated against women. The international community has recognised that sexual violence against women constitutes a violation of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sexual violence further constitutes violation of a woman’s reproductive rights, particularly her right to bodily integrity and to control her sexuality and reproductive capacity. Rape, female circumcision, female genital mutilation and forced sterilisation are among the types of violence that violate women’s reproductive rights.
Sexual violence occurs in both the private and public spheres of women’s lives. It constitutes a human rights violation whether the perpetrator is an agent of the state or a private citizen. Sexual violence can occur against individuals of any age, within the family or any other relationship, within the community or in the workplace, during situations of armed conflict or any other time or place.
The international community has specifically recognised women’s and girls’ rights to be free from sexual violence in various international human rights treaties. For example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, called Cedaw, was adopted by the United Nations in 1979, and compels states to prohibit trafficking in women. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Women’s Convention protects a woman’s right to health, including her physical, psychological, reproductive and sexual health.
In addition, the 1998 Rome Treaty forming the International Criminal Court states, for the first time under international law, that rape, sexual slavery, enforcement, prostitution, forced pregnancy and forced sterilisation and other forms of sexual violence are each to be considered a crime against humanity and a war crime.
The era, and bodies of knowledge around sexual violence, of women Granny Sarah Baartman and other enslaved women’s time was narrow. During this time, the creation of the constructed symbols applying to black women demonstrate that notions of gender, race and sexuality were limited in overarching structures of political domination and economic exploitation.
However, the advances made by and for the women at present, with the creation progressive international and domestic human rights laws, bear testimony to the achievements made by women activists the world over who articulate unacceptable forms of subjugation, exploitation and oppression. Whilst much work is still needed to be done to ensure substantive equality for all women at all levels, the shift from Nkoko [Granny] Sarah Baartman’s time to the present is immense.
The process illustrated by the treatment of the bodies of enslaved African women and of women such Nkoko [Granny] Sarah Baartman encompass useful examples of all women objectified and degraded by acts of sexual and physical violence. Rape and other acts of overt violence that women have experienced, such as physical assault, domestic abuse, incest and sexual extortion further exacerbate women’s subordination and oppression.
Mo nageng ya rona re fitlheletse go le gontsi jaaka Puso. Melawana e le mentsi e e busetsang seriti sa bomme e fetisitswe. Nka bala mengwe ya yona jaaka … [In our country, we have achieved a lot as Government. Many laws which recall our dignity as women have been passed. I can mention some of them; like …]
… the Domestic Violence Act, the Maintenance Act, the Recognition of Customary Marriage Act and the Equality Act … ke e mengwe ya tse di diragalang. [… are some of those that exist.]
Mme le fa tsotlhe tse di dirilwe re setse ka namane e tona ya tiro jaaka bomme. Setlhogo se se dirilweng mo go Nkoko Sarah Baartman se santse se diragala ka gore bomme gammogo le bana ba basetsana ba betelelwa ka palo e e kwa godimo.
Lehuma le santse le rena mo gare ga Afrika yotlhe mme batho ba ba amegang thata ke bomme. Botlhokatiro bo iponatsa thata mo difatlhegong tsa bomme ka ke bona ba bonang gore ba malapa a bona ba a apara le go ja sentle. Ka jalo ya rona kgaratlho ga e ise e fele.
Go tliswa ga marapo a ga Nkoko Sarah Baartman ke maiphitlhelelo a magolo mo go rona Maafrika. Re dira boikuelo mo matoneng otlhe a Afrika le a naga ya rona gore ka nako ya bogolo jwa tekanyetsokabo ya matlole a bone e lebisiwe mo go lwantsheng lehuma gore bomme ba nne le seriti.
Re na le mannane a kontinente kgotsa ``Continental Programmes’’. Re itumeletse go fetolwa ga OAU go nna AU. Se se raya gore ditlhabologo tsa Afrika di tlaa nna le isagwe, fela motho o tshwenngwa ke palo e e kwa tlase ya bomme mo dipuisanong le mo tsamaisong ya tsona. Re dira boikuelo mo boeteledingpele jotlhe jwa Afrika gore ke tlhoka go nna teng ga palo e e namatsang pelo ga bomme gore ba kgone go thusa le go thibela dintwa tse di mo Afrika, gore bomme le bana ka ba amega segolo ba bolokesege.
Gompieno re ipofa jaaka bomme gore re ikana ka leina la ga Nkoko Sarah Baartman gore ga re kitla re emisa go lwa go fitlhela tsotlhe tse re di umakileng di baakangwa. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Even if all of these have been done we still have a big task as women. The cruelty that was done to Granny Sarah Baartman is still happening because women as well as girls are raped at a high rate.
Poverty still prevails in the whole of Africa and people who are affected most are women. Unemployment shows on the women’s faces because they are the ones who see to it that their families are clothed and eat properly. As such our struggle is not yet over.
Bringing back the remains of Granny Sarah Baartman is a big achievement to us as Africans. We appeal to all the leaders of Africa and that of our country that at a time of their budget allocation they should ensure that funds are directed to fighting poverty so that women should have dignity.
We have Continental Programmes. We are happy about the changing of OAU to AU. This means that developments in Africa will have a future, but one is worried about the low number of women in negotiations and in its running. We are appealing to the whole leadership of Africa that we need a satisfactory number of women to help in curbing the wars in Africa, so that the women and children who are mostly affected, be safe.
Today we commit ourselves as women that in the name of Granny Sarah Baartman, we will never stop fighting until all that we have mentioned is corrected.]
We commit ourselves to ending sexual violence against women, to eradicating poverty and systematically reducing the impact of HIV/Aids on women in our communities. [Applause.]
Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, I have three minutes, and would like to make three remarks. Firstly, newspaper headlines read: ``The Dignity of Saartjie Baartman Restored’’. Is that really true? Yes the dignity of her memory might have been restored, but was her person restored? She died in a foreign country as an object of abuse; a spectacle stripped of all dignity whatsoever. Let us not fool ourselves: Real respect for a human being and the bestowing of real dignity cannot be backdated. Yes, it soothes the conscience, but it does not heal the person.
Let our generation never act in a way that compels a future generation to try to restore the dignity of those whom we have marginalised, abused and dehumanised. Real dignity and real respect must be bestowed by our generation to all peoples of our generation - living persons created in the image of God.
There is a popular song with the title ``Living Years’’. It is about the regrets of a son who was too late to heal his relationship with his father. A part of the lyrics says:
It is too late when you die to admit we don’t see eye to eye; I am sure I heard his echo in my baby’s newborn tears; I just wish I could have told him in the living years.
Whether it is Saartjie Baartman, Hansie Cronje, your parents or your wife,
it is too late when we die''. Do itin the living years’’.
Tweedens, ons mag nooit die vrou degradeer tot ‘n blote seksobjek nie. Dít gebeur in verhoudings, in toneelstukke, in rolprente en in gesprekke. Vrouens mag nie gesien word as ‘n kombinasie van liggaam, vlees, kurwes en hormone nie, maar as volledige mense: hart, siel, verstand en emosies. Seksuele verhoudings moet nie gebaseer word op blote lus nie, maar op respek, waardering en liefde. Daarom word ons oproep om die herstel van die waardigheid van die vrou ‘n klug as ons antwoord teen HIV bloot is om kondome uit te deel, eerder as om respek en eerbied vir die huwelik te bevorder.
‘n Debat oor die waardigheid van ons vroue word ‘n klug as die raad van Unisa besluit om die eis te betaal wat toegestaan is teen een van sy lede weens seksuele teistering van ‘n vrou. Dit word ‘n klug wanneer ek as man my vrou sien as my besitting oor wie se lewe ek die sê het. Dit word ‘n klug wanneer gesprekke onder die belt, meestal ten koste van ons vroue, die braaivleisvure domineer.
Derdens, Saartjie Baartman is ‘n simbool van gemarginaliseerd wees. Sy was ‘n randfiguur van die samelewing. Die boodskap vir vandag is: Geen mens en geen gemeenskap mag gemarginaliseer word nie. Marginalisering wanneer groot massas in haglike omstandighede verkeer sonder die mees basiese vereistes vir ‘n menswaardige bestaan, maar ook marginalisering van die verlede, mag nie vervang word met nuwe marginalisering nie: Marginalisering wanneer blanke boere in Zimbabwe beskou word as tweedehandse indringers, en juis vandag hulle plase moet ontruim ná jare se sweet en arbeid; marginalisering wanneer in ‘n nuwe Suid-Afrika, sekere gemeenskappe weer eens uitgeskuif word na die rand van die samelewing. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Secondly, may we never degrade women to mere sex objects. This happens in relationships, in stage plays, in films and in conversations. Women should not be seen as a combination of body, flesh, curves and hormones, but as complete people: heart, soul, mind and emotions. Sexual relationships must not be based on mere desire, but on respect, appreciation and love. Therefore our call for the restoration of the dignity of women becomes a farce if our response to HIV is merely to hand out condoms, rather than to promote respect and honour for marriage.
A debate on the dignity of our women becomes a farce if the council of Unisa decides to pay the claim allowed against one of its members as a result of sexual harassment of a woman. It becomes a farce when I as a man view my wife as my possession over whose life I have the say. It becomes a farce when conversations below the belt mostly at the expense of our women, dominate the braaivleis fires.
Thirdly, Saartjie Baartman is a symbol of marginalisation. She was an outsider in society. The message for today is: No person and no community should be marginalised. Marginalisation in which large masses live in desperate conditions without the most basic requirements for a dignified existence, but also marginalisation of the past, must not be replaced with new marginalisation: Marginalisation in which white farmers in Zimbabwe are viewed as second-hand intruders, and have to vacate their farms precisely today after years of sweat and toil; marginalisation in which in the new South Africa certain communities are once again pushed out to the periphery of society.]
My message is: Every person is valuable and dignified. Every community is valuable. Let us live out and bestow real human dignity in every sphere of life ``in the living years’’.
Mnr S E OPPERMAN: Mevrou die Speaker, daar was baie emosiebelaaide debatte die afgelope aantal weke rakende Saartjie, of Sarah, Baartman. Niemand kan ontken dat die pyn en die hartseer van hierdie vrou, en wat sy moes deurmaak, ons opnuut aan die hart gegryp het nie.
Daar is ook by tye egter balans verloor deur kenners en woordvoerders met verskillende agendas, wat mekaar duidelik met uitsprake probeer oortref het om die oog te vang. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mr S E OPPERMAN: Madam Speaker, there have been numerous emotional debates over the past weeks in respect to Saartjie, or Sarah, Baartman. No one can deny that the pain and the sorrow of this woman, and what she had to endure, have once again touched our hearts.
At times, however, balance has been lost by experts and spokespersons with different agendas, who clearly attempted to outdo one another with their statements in order to be noticed.]
Dr Cyril Hromnik, an expert on the early history of Southern Africa, in an article, ``A Place called Paradise’’ says:
While true history is a source of inspiration and confidence, it is also true that a history that is muddled-up is a source of confusion.
Daarom is dit vir my persoonlik belangrik dat daar ook ‘n ander dimensie op die debat rakende hierdie vrou, wat soveel pyn verduur het, en haar mensegroep geplaas word. ``Saartjie Baartman is die grootmoeder van ons almal’’, het iemand onlangs gesê. Ek het groot simpatie met Saartjie se verlede, maar ons verlede strek veel verder as Saartjie self terug. Iemand anders het haar die mees geëksploiteerde en vernederde vrou ooit in Afrika genoem - asof die verhaal van elke vrou uit Afrika deur al die eeue heen aan ons bekend is.
Is ons seker dat haar regte naam Saartjie, of Sarah, Baartman was, of dra
ons by tot die miskenning van haar ware identiteit deur haar Sarah of
Saartjie te noem? Krotoa het hulle immers Eva'' genoem, en Autsumao het
hulleHarry die standloper’’ genoem. Tussen al hierdie uitsprake deur het
provinsies tougetrek oor waar sy eintlik hoort, asof haar geboorte- en
leefwêreld begrens en in provinsies afgebaken was.
Die feit dat die oorblyfsels van Saartjie Baartman, of wie sy ook al was, môre in die Gamtoosvallei onder groot belangstelling begrawe sal word, het ten minste een tergende vraag begin beantwoord ten opsigte van hierdie vrou, en ten opsigte van elkeen van ons wat op een of ander wyse aan hierdie inheemse groep verbind word. Saartjie Baartman het behoort, en om te behoort is ‘n integrale deel van haar waardigheid, en van elkeen van ons s’n. Dit is deel van ons identiteit. Dit is deel van ons menswees.
As ons wil bou aan die identiteit en die waardigheid van enige individu, enige gemeenskap, enige mensegroep, dan is dit belangrik dat daar feitelike substansie hieraan gegee word. Historici, argeoloë, paleontoloë, kenners en almal van ons wat deur feitelike substansie geaffekteer sal word, behoort te help dat duidelikheid gebring word, want enige persoon, gemeenskap of mensegroep wat onseker is oor sy histories gefundeerde verlede, sal in ‘n see van konflikterende spekulering na enige boei gryp om voort te drywe na ‘n onsekere en ‘n vae toekoms. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Therefore, it is of personal importance for me that there should also be another dimension to the debate with regard to this woman, who endured so much pain, and her race. ``Saartjie Baartman is the grandmother of us all’’, someone remarked recently. I have great sympathy for Saartjie’s past, but our past stretches back much further than Saartjie herself. Someone else called her the most exploited and degraded woman ever in Africa - as if the story of every woman from Africa throughout the ages were known to us.
Are we certain that her real name was Saartjie, or Sarah, Baartman, or are
we contributing to the disregard of her true identity by calling her Sarah
or Saartjie? After all, they named Krotoa Eva'', and Autsumao they named
Harry the Strandloper’’. Among all these statements the provinces took
part in a tug of war as to where she in fact belonged, as if the realm of
her birth and existence were surrounded by a border and demarcated in
provinces.
The fact that the remains of Saartjie Baartman, or whoever she was, will be buried in the Gamtoos Valley tomorrow amid much interest, has at least begun to answer one challenging question with regard to this woman and with regard to every one of us who is in one way or another connected to this indigenous group. Saartjie Baartman belonged - and to belong is an integral part of her dignity and the dignity of every one of us. It is part of our identity. It is part of our humanity.
If we want to develop the identity and the dignity of any individual, any community, any race, then it is important that factual substance is given to this. Historians, archaeologists, paleontologists, experts and all of us who may be affected by factual substance should assist in ensuring that clarity is brought forth, because every person, community or race that is unsure of its historically based past will grab at any life buoy in a sea of conflicting speculation in order to drift to an uncertain and distant future.]
What shall we call her? A Khoi woman? If Khoi means man'', does it imply
that she was a man-woman? Or shall we call her a San woman? If San means
naked’’, does it imply that she was a naked woman? Or shall we refer to
her as a Khoisan woman, as some prefer?
Of was sy dalk ‘n Quena-vrou? Quena verwys onder andere na ‘n spesifieke godsdiens wat beoefen is, en wat noue bande gehad het met Oosterse gelowe. Dit lewer bewys dat kontak met handelaars uit Indië reeds eeue aan die gang was, lank voordat die Portugese en die Hollanders op die toneel verskyn het. Die heilige plekke waar die Quena aanbid het, is steeds sigbaar in groot dele van Suid-Afrika. Kenners wys op die duidelike ooreenkomste met Oosterse gelowe en Stonehenge in Engeland. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Or was she perhaps a Quena woman? Quena refers, inter alia, to a specific religion that was practised, and that was closely connected to Eastern religions. This provides evidence that contact with merchants from India had already been ongoing for centuries, long before the Portuguese and the Dutch arrived on the scene. The holy places where the Quena worshipped are still visible in large parts of South Africa. Experts highlight the significant similarities to Eastern religions and Stonehenge in England.]
Is the name autentotoe'' synonomous with the namehottentot’’.
Autentotoe'' meanswe are related’’, and was used in communication with
strangers when trading took place. Autentotoe'' is a name that was later
corrupted by early Europeans into the well-known and later abrasively used
nameHottentot’’.
Hierdie is die begin van indringende vrae wat nou gevra moet word. Die mensegroep waaraan Sarah behoort het, en waarvan ek deel is, maak aanspraak op eerste-nasie status en alles wat daarmee gepaard gaan. Daar is verkose hoofmanne en -vroue van verskillende stamme wat saamgestel is uit mense wat soek na hulle gister, die Atakwas, die Gonokwas, die Inkwas, die Gorikwas en andere wat daarop aanspraak maak dat daar vir hulle voorsiening in die Grondwet gemaak moet word, met alles wat daarmee gepaard gaan. Indien hierdie aansprake net op emosie gegrond is, en nie histories gefundeer kan word nie, sal enige aanspraak op regsgronde verwerp kan word, en saam met die verwerping van ons aansprake sal ons toekoms, ons identiteit en ons waardigheid verwerp word.
Die Regering moet dringend bydra dat hierdie fundamentele deel van die geskiedenis van ons land die regmatige plek en erkenning kry wat dit verdien. Ons moet duidelikheid kry oor ons verlede sodat die lig helder kan skyn op ons toekoms. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[This marks the beginning of some incisive questions that must now be asked. The race to which Sarah belonged, and of which I am part, lays claim to first-nation status and everything associated with that. There are elected chiefs, both men and women, from several clans which comprise people searching for their yesterday: the Atakwas, the Gonokwas, the Inkwas, the Gorikwas, and others who claim that provision should be made for them in the Constitution, together with everything associated with that. If these claims are based only on emotion and have no historical basis, any claim will be rejected on legal grounds and, together with the rejection of our claims, our future, our identity and our dignity will be rejected.
The Government must urgently see to it that this fundamental part of the history of our country receives the rightful place and recognition that it deserves. We must have clarity with regard to our past in order for the light to shine brightly on our future.]
Prof H NGUBANE: Madam Speaker and colleagues, our national Women’s Day tomorrow will be uniquely celebrated by an event which arouses in most of us contradictory feelings; feelings of joy, as well as of pain. It is only a pity that she will be buried under the name of Sarah Baartman; a name that was a mark of subordination and humiliation. If we consider that it was her physical appearance which put her in such a humiliating situation, we should stop and think about who we ourselves are in Southern Africa. Most of us as women in South Africa have wide bums, wide hips and padded backs. We should not be ashamed of that.
In order to honour Sarah Baartman we should see to it that the designers - those with dresses for women in their shops - have dresses that are made to suit African woman. [Applause.] We should not be ashamed of who we are. We should be proud and hold our heads up high, because there is a reason for our being what we are. The prejudices which affected Sarah Baartmann still exist - even today. Our young girls, when they enter a beauty competition, will be rejected because they have wide hips and they are not slim. [Applause.] Hardly any designers cater for us and in the end we are brainwashed by constantly being shown beautiful pictures of women in magazines that reflect figures of women in the dominant culture. Sarah Baartmann’s story should actually make us think seriously of who we are in South Africa and Southern Africa, and about how these things still happen, but in a clever way, one which is not so obvious.
The point that I want to focus on, which is the leading theme of this
debate, is reclaiming the dignity and the rights of African women. The very
topic implies that there is something to be reclaimed, that there is
something which has been lost by African women. We need to look at those
things even in day-to-day communication among ourselves, and see what was
there that was good and is now being eroded. For instance, today people
sing the song: Igama lamakhosikazi malibongwe.'' [The women's name should
be praised.] The very terminkosikazi’’ [a woman] is elevating a woman
because a suffix is added to inkosi'' [a king] and a woman is now a great
inkosi’’ [king] and various other words like that are used to refer to
women: inkosazana'' [maiden],indodakazi’’ [daughter] and others like
them. All these things were meant to enhance the dignity of women. What is
spoken goes with the conceptual value and morality of a society.
The instance of the erosion of the dignity of African women is also visible in the context of marriage. As we all know, on marriage in Africa, especially Southern Africa, women never changed their names. They retained their names and they held the status of a mother, while the man held the status of a father, which made them partners in parenting. At the same time, however, the woman had her domain, the domestic domain, where she had all sorts of control over that domain in the agrarian culture. Hon members can imagine that the women had control of all crop-yielding land, while the man had control of the livestock land. All this balance meant that women were not dependent on men, but that there were checks and balances which saw to it that there was equity in the gender relationship. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr D A A OLIFANT: Madam Speaker and hon members, let me start by saying: ``Malibongwe! [Let it be praised!] [Interjections.] Malibongwe! [Let it be praised!] [Interjections.]
Sarah Baartman is uit die Kaap weggelok onder voorwendsels dat sy ‘n goeie werk sou kon kry, baie geld sou kon verdien en natuurlik ‘n lekker gemaklike lewe sou lei. Dit was nie so nie en sy het eerder ‘n lewe van hel, pyn en vernedering ervaar.
Jong meisies word net so van die platteland gelok om in die stede te kom werk. Hulle beland dan hier onder die indruk dat hul lewens aansienlik gaan verbeter. In baie gevalle moet hulle dan met die onmenslikste omstandighede tevrede wees. Hulle slaap in motorhuise, werk ongoddelike ure in die huis en by die winkel, en dan moet hulle vanaand nog kinders oppas wanneer die baas en die miesies hul vriende oornooi vir ‘n geselligheidjie. Hulle kan nie naweke uitgaan nie, kry nooit af nie, kry slegter kos as die hond en verdien minder geld as wat belowe is.
‘n Ander aspek is dat hierdie dames mense met behoeftes is. Hulle gaan mans ontmoet, verhoudings aanknoop en soms erg mishandel word. Dan is daar diegene wat besluit, of soms gedwing word, om as prostitute te werk om geld te verdien. Dit is dikwels as gevolg van ekonomiese omstandighede, asook van pure manipulering deur mans wat bloot die teergevoeligheid van vroue uitbuit. Selfs op plekke waar die swak ekonomiese omstandighede ‘n geweldige negatiewe impak het op die sosiale vesel van ons gemeenskappe, is uitbuiting, mishandeling en geweld teen vroue en kinders aan die orde van die dag.
Ons ken natuurlik die voorbeeld van baba Tshepang in Louisvale. Ek is baie dankbaar daar geskied reg in ons regstelsel en dat David Potse - ons neem aan hy was die kind se pa - lewenslank tronk toe gestuur is vir hierdie onmenslike daad.
Verder wil ons ook ‘n sterk waarskuwing aan pa’s rig. Dit is altyd elke ouer, en in die besonder die pa, se plig om die kinders en die huisgesin te beskerm en net die beste vir hulle te gee. Dit is die onmenslikste ding wanneer ‘n kind, wat haar hele lewe aan haar vader toevertrou, deur hom verkrag en onsedelik aangerand word. Ons spreek ons simpatie uit met alle vroue en kinders wat op die walglikste en onmenslikste maniere verkrag en onsedelik aangerand word, en wat deesdae in die meeste gevalle ook wreed vermoor word.
So ook gaan my simpatie uit na die ouers van Edwina Booysen, ‘n vyftienjarige dogter van Atlantis wat vermis geraak het nadat sy en haar 30- jarige vriendin gaan stap het. Hulle is deur vier mans gegryp en die bosse ingesleep. Edwina se vriendin was gelukkig om te ontsnap, maar sy was nie en het op die wreedste moontlike manier met haar lewe geboet. Sy is verkrag en met meer as 300 meswonde in ‘n vlak graf begrawe. Daar word beweer dat sy in daardie stadium nog kon gelewe het. ‘n Kind van baie eenvoudige ouers, maar met ‘n blink toekoms, is deur ‘n spul walglike barbare verhoed om haar ideale te verwesenlik.
Ek wil ook die mense, en veral die vroue, van Atlantis, Mamre, Pella, Witsand en ander gebiede in die Weskaap en die res van ons land prys vir die manier waarop hulle baklei om die skuldiges wat hierdie dade pleeg agter tralies te probeer kry. Geen man het die reg om vroue te verkrag nie. Hulle moet ook nie met die twak verskoning kom dat die dade gepleeg word as gevolg van die uitlokkende kleredrag van vrouens nie. Dit is onaanvaarbaar.
Ek is ook baie trots op die mans wat onlangs aan die Men's March''
deelgeneem het met die boodskap,Real men don’t rape’’. Dit beteken dat
die uitbuiting, vernedering en slegte behandeling waaraan Sarah Baartman
200 jaar gelede blootgestel is, vandag steeds voortduur onder haar
nakomelinge. Dit kan nie, dit mag nie, moet nie en dit durf nie meer geduld
word nie.
Terwyl ons dus gereedmaak vir die teraardebestellling van haar oorskot môre, op Vrouedag, moet ons ook dink aan die voortgesette ontmensliking van die Sarah Baartmans van vandag.
Vroue gaan nog baie gebuk onder groot diskriminasie in ons samelewing. Op die fabrieksvloer verdien vroue steeds minder as mans en het hulle baie minder voordele as mans. By sekere werksplekke is daar vroue wat nie eens afkry om vir ‘n eenvoudige papsmeer te gaan nie. Op ander plekke word vroue se swangerskap nie eens erken nie. Dit is ook so dat veral die swart vroue wat die meeste swaarkry juis enkelouers is wat boonop werkloos is.
Ek rig ‘n ernstige versoek aan die Departement van Welsyn om al die probleme met die uitbetaling van toelaes vir vroue en kinders so gou as moontlik uit die weg te ruim. Ek weet nie of agb lede al by die uitbetaalpunte was nie, maar die grootste vernedering is die tipe taal waarin vroue toegesnou word wanneer hulle daar staan en wag vir die toelaes om uitbetaal te word, maar hul name is nie daar nie en hulle wil dit nie aanvaar nie. Dit moet asseblief end kry. Die departement moet verder sy amptenare opvoed om hierdie mense beter te behandel. Hierdie mense is nie daar om te bedel nie. Hulle gaan daarheen om ‘n toelae te ontvang waarop hulle geregtig is. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Sarah Baartman was lured away from the Cape on the pretext that she would get a good job, could earn lots of money and would obviously lead an easy life. This was not the case and she experienced a life of hell, pain and humiliation.
In the same way young girls are lured from the rural areas to come and work in the cities. They end up here under the impression that their lives would improve considerably. In many cases they have to be satisfied with the most inhuman circumstances. They sleep in garages, work ungodly hours in the house and at the shop, and then in the evenings they still have to look after children when the boss and the madam invite their friends over for a get-together. They cannot go out over weekends, never get time off, receive worse food than the dog and less money than what they were promised.
Another aspect is that these ladies are people with needs. They are going to meet men and have relationships and sometimes even be badly abused. Then there are those who decide, or are sometimes forced, to work as prostitutes in order to earn money. This is often as a result of economic circumstances, as well as of pure manipulation by men who merely exploit the sensitivity of women. Even at places where poor economic circumstances have a severely negative impact on the social fabric of our society, exploitation, abuse and violence against women and children is the order of the day.
We of course know the example of baby Tshepang in Louisvale. I am very grateful that justice is prevailing in our justice system and that David Potse - we assume that he is the father of the child - will receive a lifelong prison sentence for this inhuman deed.
We would furthermore also like to issue a strong warning to fathers. It is always every parent’s duty, and in particular that of the father, to protect his children and family and only give them the very best. It is the most inhuman thing when a child, who trusts her father with her life, is raped and indecently assaulted by him. We express our sympathy to those women and children who are raped and indecently assaulted in the most repulsive and inhuman manner, and who, these days, are also murdered in most cases in the most brutal manner.
So also my sympathy goes to the parents of Edwina Booysen, a fifteen-year- old daughter of Atlantis who went missing after she and her thirty-year-old girlfriend went for a walk. They were grabbed by four men and were dragged into the bushes. Edwina’s friend was lucky enough to escape, but she was not and paid with her life in the most brutal manner possible. She was raped and was buried in a shallow grave with more than 300 knife wounds. It is alleged that at that stage she might still have been alive. A child of very simple parents, but with a bright future, was prevented from realising her ideals by a bunch of vile barbarians.
I also want to praise all the people, and especially the women from Atlantis, Mamre, Pella, Witsand and other areas in the Western Cape and the rest of our country for the manner in which they are fighting to get the perpetrators of these deeds behind bars. No man has the right to rape any woman. They should also not come with their stupid excuse that these crimes are committed as a result of the provocative clothing of these women. This is unacceptable.
I am also very proud of the men who recently participated in the men’s march with the message ``Real men don’t rape’’. This means that the exploitation, humiliation and bad treatment to which Sarah Baartman was exposed to 200 years ago is still continuing today amongst her descendants. This cannot, should not, may not and dare not be tolerated any longer.
While we are getting ourselves ready for the burial of her remains tomorrow, on Women’s Day, we should also think of the continued dehumanisation of the Sarah Baartmans of today.
Women still suffer a lot under major discrimination in our society. On the factory floor women still earn less than men and have much fewer benefits than men. At certain places of work there are women who do not even get off to go for a simple papsmear. At other places women’s pregnancies are not even recognised. It is also a fact that especially black women who struggle the most are, in fact, single parents who are also unemployed.
I am making an earnest appeal to the Department of Welfare to deal with all the problems regarding the payouts of grants for women and children, as soon as possible. I do not know whether hon members have been to these payout points, but the biggest humiliation is the type of language in which these women are snarled at when they stand there and wait for the grants to be paid out, but their names are not there and they do not want to accept this. This should please come to an end. The department should further educate its officials to treat these people better. These people are not there to beg. They go there to receive a grant to which they are entitled.]
On a more positive note, although a lot needs to be done, women are taking control of their lives. On the political front South Africa boasts the largest number of female Cabinet Ministers and more than 25% of its members of Parliament are women. Of course, 30% of the ANC’s members are women. That is, of course, the example.
On the economic front we should seriously consider the shockingly low participation of women in the economy. In the private and public sectors black women, meaning African, Coloured and Indian, are still positioned at the extreme low end of management structures. We hope that the Government will soon be able to evaluate the country’s employment equity policies, so that the law can be enforced more harshly if there is an insufficient improvement in these figures.
In the Western Cape we have an outstanding role model in the form of Zulfah Alli, who successfully tendered for a building contract worth an unprecedented R7,2 million. She had to overcome lots of obstacles and, at times, insults to get this particular contract. It was only when she wrote to President Mbeki and also took a complaint to the Western Cape Racism Conference early last year, that her problems with the DA and the Western Cape government came to light. She was threatened with legal action and the withdrawal of her tender, but she continued this fight. In the Western Cape there was a law called the Preferential Procurement Act, whereby they would only give black empowerment companies contracts with a ceiling of R2 million. Well done, Zulfah, that is the spirit of women.
We also sing praise to Natalie du Toit, who is not only an outstanding athlete, but who is also disabled. She has won the highest honour for the people of South Africa with her outstanding achievement at the Commonwealth Games. [Applause.]
Ons sing ‘n loflied aan ‘n maatskappy in Atlantis, naamlik Atlantis Forge, wat gestremde vroue in diens het wat hoogs tegnologiese masjiene bedien en wat produksie van uitstaande kwaliteit lewer vir maatskappye soos Daimler- Chrysler, BMW en Volkswagen. Na ek verneem beoog dié maatskappy dat ongeveer 5% van sy poste uiteindelik deur liggaamlik gestremdes gevul sal word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.) [We sing a song of praise to a company in Atlantis, namely Atlantis Forge, where disabled women are employed who service highly technological machines and who deliver products of outstanding quality for companies such as Daimler-Chrysler, BMW and Volkswagen. After I enquired, this company eventually aims to fill approximately 5% of its post with disabled people.]
We sing praise to all of those women in our country who have been abused, raped, indecently assaulted and discriminated against, but who have stood up to fight for their rights and have ensured that the perpetrators of these deeds were successfully put behind bars.
The fight for the emancipation of women in our country and in the world still has a long way to go. However, we men can help to shorten this particular fight. The sooner we realise that women are our equals and not just the bearers of our children, who must also prepare our food, the sooner we can be a successful society, a successful country and a successful world. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 16:35. ____
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORT
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
- The Speaker and the Chairperson:
(1) Assent by the President of the Republic in respect of the
following Bills:
(i) Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill [B 8B -
2002] - Act No 25 of 2002 (assented to and signed by
President on 31 July 2002); and
(ii) Taxation Laws Amendment Bill [B 26 - 2002] - Act No 30 of
2002 (assented to and signed by President on 31 July
2002).
National Assembly:
- The Speaker:
(1) Message from National Council of Provinces to National Assembly:
Bill, subject to proposed amendments, passed by National Council
of Provinces on 7 August 2002 and transmitted for consideration of
Council's proposed amendments:
(i) Planning Profession Bill [B 76B - 2001] (National Assembly
- sec 75) (for proposed amendments, see Announcements,
Tablings and Committee Reports, 24 July 2002, p 1213).
The Bill has been referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Agriculture and Land Affairs of the National Assembly for a report
on the amendments proposed by the Council.
- The Speaker:
The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
relevant committees as mentioned below:
(1) The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Water Affairs and Forestry:
(a) Government Notice No R 980 published in Government Gazette
No 23636 dated 19 July 2002: Regulations tabled in terms of
section 71(2) of the Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No 108 of
1997).
(b) Proclamation No 242 published in Government Gazette No
23180 dated 8 March 2002: Board of Bloem Water: Extension of
Service Area, tabled in terms of section 28(1)(c) of the Water
Services Act, 1997 (Act No 108 of 1997).
(2) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Transport. The Report of the Auditor-General is referred to the
Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration and
report:
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the South African Roads
Agency Limited for 2000-2001, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2000-2001 [RP 65-2002].
(3) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Transport:
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Air Traffic and
Navigation Services Company Limited for 2001-2002.
(4) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Trade and Industry. The Report of the Auditor-General is referred
to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration and
report:
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research for 2001-2002, including the
Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2001-
2002 [RP 98-2002].
(5) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Trade and Industry.
Report of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research on
the Technology Impact for 2002.
(6) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Justice and Constitutional Development. The Report of the Auditor-
General is referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts
for consideration and report:
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Independent
Electoral Commission regarding the Management and Administration
of the Represented Political Parties' Fund for 2000-2001,
including the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial
Statements for 2000-2001 [RP 15-2002].
(7) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Labour. The Report of the Auditor-General is referred to the
Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration and
report:
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Compensation Fund
for 2001-2002, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2001-2002 [RP 118-2002].
TABLINGS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
Papers:
- The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development:
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Independent Electoral
Commission regarding the Management and Administration of the
Represented Political Parties' Fund for 1999-2000, including the Report
of the Auditor-General on the Financial
Statements for 1999-2000 [RP 14-2002].
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
National Assembly:
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Education on Visits to Institutions of Higher Learning, dated 6 November 2001:
The Portfolio Committee on Education, having sent delegations to institutions of higher learning in May and August 2001, reports as follows:
A. Objective of visits
In a meeting on 28 February 2001, the Committee unanimously agreed
that delegations undertake provincial visits to institutions of
higher learning to assess the rate at which transformation was
taking place and to give special attention to the following
issues:
1. Implementation of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme
(NSFAS), to ensure that access by the poorest of the poor to
higher education is improved.
2. Adaptation of entry requirements, bridging programmes and the
manner in which entrance requirements are made public to all
people, irrespective of language and cultural background.
3. How much the tradition and ethos of the institutions have
adapted to new ethnically and culturally integrated student
bodies, so that all students form an integral part of these
institutions.
4. How much institutions have adapted their curricula to ensure
appropriate output to satisfy the country's goals of economic
renewal.
B. Delegations
1. Peninsula Technikon
The delegation was under the leadership of the Committee
chairperson, Prof S M Mayatula (ANC), and included Dr J
Benjamin (ANC), Ms D G Nhlengethwa (ANC), Ms E Gandhi (ANC),
Mr R P Z van den Heever (ANC), Prof S S Ripinga (ANC), Mr S J
Mohai (ANC), Mr K Moonsamy (ANC), Ms N C Manjezi (Committee
Secretary) and Ms N Borotho (Committee Assistant).
2. University of Fort Hare, University of Transkei and University
of Natal
The delegation, under the leadership of the Committee
chairperson, Prof S M Mayatula (ANC), included Mrs M A A Njobe
(ANC), Ms E Gandhi (ANC), Mr A M Mpontshane (IFP), Dr B L
Geldenhuys (New NP), Ms N C Manjezi (Committee Secretary), Ms
N Borotho (Committee Assistant) and Mr B Ntsong (Departmental
Official).
Prof L M Mbadi from the UDM joined the delegation at the
University of Transkei.
3. Wits University, Potchefstroom University and University of the
North
The delegation, under the leadership of Ms P K Mothoagae
(ANC), included Mr S B Ntuli (ANC), Ms P N Mnandi (ANC), Mr R
S Ntuli (DP), Mr C Aucamp (AEB), Ms A Jojozi (Committee
Secretary), Ms D Martin (Committee Assistant) and Mr M Mampuru
(Departmental Official).
Mr L I Maphoto (ANC) joined the delegation at the University
of the North.
C. Peninsula Technikon - 22 May 2001
1. Official view by Prof B Figaji, Vice-Chancellor
On arrival at the Peninsula Technikon, the delegation was
warmly welcomed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof B Figaji, and the
Management Board.
At the Technikon, they focus on providing an environment
conducive to learning and on programmes that promote academic
success for those serious about using the opportunity to
obtain a tertiary qualification. The institution takes pride
in providing for the holistic development of students -
academically, spiritually, physically and culturally. Students
are provided with technological education that prepares them
for the world of work through experiential programmes.
The Senate deals with academic staff. The Student
Representative Council (SRC) runs its own budget and meets
with the Management Board on a six-weekly basis. There are
good students and a very supportive staff.
At the time of the visit, they were building the R26 million
Information Technology Centre, with 1 450 computers. They
needed more funding to complete the project.
The Technikon shall be a centre of excellence for career
education, to be recognised by the community, commerce and
industry, as well as the public sector, as being responsive to
the needs of society. It will be non-racial, non-sexist and
democratic.
2. Implementation of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
- official view by Mr G Reynecke, Head: Financial Aid, and Mr
T Titus, Head: Student Affairs
The Technikon has historically served a student population
coming from socially, educationally and economically
disadvantaged backgrounds. Providing financial aid to students
to ensure access of the poor to higher education has always
been a priority. It is important to ensure sustained support
to such students during their academic life. The scheme
administers all financial aid - institutional funds from
donors, nominated awards and work study programmes.
(a) Processes and procedures
Institutional policies governing the distribution of
financial assistance is developed and reviewed by the
Financial Aid Committee and the Financial Aid Forum. The
committee consists of academics, support services and
student leadership. The forum is a working committee
representative of staff in the Financial Aid Office and
the SRC. The input of students is canvassed through the
forum to review, develop and implement policies governing
the distribution of NSFAS funds. The forum has regular
meetings to focus on the implementation of criteria
developed and the assessment of appeals from student
applications on matters related to the allocations of
NSFAS funds.
Students are involved in all committees in the
institution and participate fully in them. The Technikon
at all times ensures the sustainability of the system.
(b) Criteria
Key elements in the selection of students are academic
ability or potential and financial need. These elements
are guided by an NSFAS policy document. Students are
expected to pass at least 50% of their courses in order
to qualify. They are also allowed one year longer than
the prescribed minimum duration to qualify.
Financial need is broadly based on the income of the
household and the number of dependants. Students or their
families are generally expected to contribute towards
their study costs, with the poorest making the smallest
or no contribution at all. A maximum amount of household
income is determined annually. Upon registration, a
student must pay R940 upfront (this increases the next
year). Only registered students are allocated money from
the scheme.
(c) Costing of awards
The method of determining the size of awards is based on
the NSFAS guideline: Study cost minus own contribution
minus other awards equals NSFAS award. Study cost is made
up of tuition fees, accommodation and meals (or private
boarding) and books. As 60% of the students are from
rural areas, there are systems to assist them.
(d) Application and selection process
Senior students apply during October/November. Once data
is captured on the mainframe computer, selection is done
as soon as possible after registration, usually during
March. Upon completion of the required contracts,
selected students are assisted by means of access to
meals, books, photocopies and study material, even though
it takes a while before funds are transferred to the
institution.
First-year students apply during registration. Selection
is done during May/June. The same process for senior
students applies to them upon receipt of completed
contract forms required. Only registered students can
access the funding.
The selection process is systems-driven. Initial
screening assesses basic academic ability and financial
need of applicants. Further manual assessments are done
to ensure that students have been treated fairly. All the
processes and procedures are progressive, democratic and
transparent.
(e) NSFAS allocations
1997 - 2 138; 1998 - 3 020; 1999 - 2 396; 2000 - 3 199.
(f) Challenges and positive aspects
A challenge shared with the SRC and other student bodies
is to limit the abuse of funding on the one hand and on
the other to congratulate the government for introducing
this.
3. Entry requirements, student development and integrated language
development - official view by Ms C Jacobs, Language Co-
ordinator, and Mr L Himunchul
Peninsula Technikon is a higher education institution and the
standard requirement is a matriculation certificate. It also
has a Recognition of Prior Learning policy that facilitates
access of mature students who do not meet the formal entry
requirements, but bring a wealth of learning acquired via
experience in the workplace and other learning environments.
The institution has also been involved in alternative
admission processes like Headstart and Access Programme. These
initiatives aim at preparing students for higher education by
providing foundation work in areas like mathematics and
science. Access Programme was also a vehicle for training and
education of returning cadres in the early 1990s, to enable
their reintegration into post-apartheid South Africa.
They do not have any bridging/foundation programmes.
Compensatory programmes are integrated into the academic
offering of departments. All departments have one or more of
the following programmes: supplementary instruction/tutorial
support; laboratory/practical assistants; language development
tutorials; and academic consultation.
The effectiveness of peer collaborative learning has been well
researched and documented. Early theories - Dewy, Piaget and
Bruner - provided clear direction that led to the much valued
peer collaborative learning. Developmental psychologists
carried on the early research, and recent research in college
student development and retention lent further empirical
support.
The fact that only 24% of the students have English as their
first language, presents a teaching and learning challenge for
educators. Experience has shown that the only way to improve
the success rate, is to recognise and confront the issue of
language. Unfortunately, there is no easy or rapid, yet
effective, remedial programme to correct the extent of the
linguistic disadvantage the majority of students experience
when they enter higher education. The Technikon has adopted a
short-term support strategy for students and a longer-term
change strategy for staff. These strategies are implemented
together, but the two sets of outcomes are measured
independently.
(a) Purpose of short-term strategy for students
The purpose is to improve their language skills by
providing structured tutorials, offering computer-aided
language learning courses, establishing and supporting
peer study groups and providing more student-centred
learning material.
(b) Purpose of long-term change strategy for staff
The purpose is to involve lecturers, through capacity-
building training programmes and material development
projects, to consciously think about how they teach,
about the appropriateness of the material they use and
about the need to consider the linguistic ability of
their learners.
The US has donated R1 million for student support and
staff development initiatives.
4. Curriculum change - official view by Prof H Fransman, Director:
Educational Development Centre
The Technikon commits itself to develop academically, socially
and technologically competent students, who are responsive to
the broader need of society, by:
* Promoting an environment conducive to human development
* Facilitating appropriate tuition, co-operative education
and support according to the academic needs of the
students
* Encouraging staff commitment to quality education and
service
* Offering programmes for educationally disadvantaged
students
* Fostering lifelong learning.
The centre is intimately involved in providing support to
teaching staff so that their efforts may lead to elevating the
quality of student learning. Part of the support is given
through intensive research into student learning. Research has
shown that at school students learn too much detail, they have
no time to think. The Technikon want to see students use their
analytical ability more often. It was emphasised that students
should become more concerned with the nature of evidence on
which they base an argument.
Students learn a multitude of techniques in the different
disciplines. These techniques are used to solve problems
related to the discipline and the industry. Very often
students do not question these techniques, as they believe
that the lecturer is right. In the early stage of their career
in higher education, students treat staff as the ultimate
authority from whom they expect the answers. In order to cope
with the workload, surface approaches to learning are adopted,
i.e. the memorising of facts. The other issue is: HOW did the
lecturer engage with the students and the learning material?
The new approach to curriculum development via outcomes,
modularisation and continuous assessment, hopes to alleviate
some of these problems. It was found by the centre that
students preferred teachers with a similar cognitive style as
their own. For example, students who are very dependent on the
lecturer, would require more structural support provided by
articulated forms of teaching. If the lecturer has not been
able to determine the extent to which students are dependent,
he/she will not know how to adapt the teaching.
The centre does research on student learning as an extension
of previous research in an attempt to discover in greater
detail what students' conceptions of learning are. While many
students study, especially during examination or test time,
very few learn. Areas to be covered, are:
What does learning mean to the student? What are their
preferences for different courses? What are their preferences
for different styles of learning (e.g. a holistic style, a
serialist style, a deep approach, a surface approach or
strategic approach to learning)?
The research is based on work done in the UK, Sweden, Denmark
and the USA, and it has also been extended to the Technikon
Northern Gauteng, the Eastern Cape Technikon and M L Sultan
Technikon. The findings of the research will inform their
curriculum development processes and the manner in which the
Technikon teach.
5. Curriculum development - official view by Mr J Garraway
The curriculum development process has involved changing
teaching in step with government policy. According to the
National Plan for Higher Education (2001:9), one of the
challenges facing higher education is the "mobilisation of
human talent and potential through life-long learning to
contribute to social, economic, cultural and intellectual life
of a rapidly changing society". This is to be done through
improving teaching programmes so as to produce students with
critical competencies necessary to function in modern society,
students who are information- and computer-literate, who are
effective communicators, who possess analytical, problem-
solving and knowledge reconfiguration skills, and who are team
builders and networkers with negotiating skills. Overarching
these developments are the policies of redress and equity
outlined in the White Paper on Higher Education of 1997.
The Technikon has set about responding to the challenges laid
down by the Department by changing teaching in the following
two ways:
(a) Designing an outcomes-based curriculum
In 1999 technikons submitted outcomes-based, rather than
subject-based, qualifications to SAQA for interim
registration. This was a joint effort by all technikons.
During 2000 lecturers in every Peninsula Technikon
department worked on these qualification outcomes, as
follows:
They broke the qualification outcomes down into smaller
outcomes more specific to teaching and learning, in that
they reflected the Technikon's particular teaching and
learning fields of expertise. They then included the
above critical competencies in the wording of the
outcomes.
The lecturers added outcomes which reflected passing
judgement on actions and changing behaviour to adapt to
new circumstances.
The outcomes were levelled so as to reflect the stage of
learning of the learner.
(b) Designing integrated assessments
In 2001 lecturers began designing integrated projects so
that learners could achieve the outcomes described above.
These projects were characterised as workplace simulation
activities, integrated across subjects and involving
critical competencies. Projects were criterion-
referenced, meaning that what lecturers were looking for
in an ideal answer, including the critical competencies,
was made clear to learners before they started the
project. Furthermore, learners were expected to assess
and monitor their progress in the project against the
criteria as a method of encouraging life-long learning.
All programmes have advisory committees on course
content. Most students are given the opportunity to look
for jobs.
According to the President of the SRC, Mr T Damoyi, there
are in-service training programmes for students. The
academic board reviews programmes offered so as to update
the curriculum.
6. Student development - official view by Mr E Sebokedi, Deputy
Head: Student Affairs
A major challenge for the leadership development and student
governance support segment was to develop capacity to train
student leadership in accordance with identified needs, whilst
at the same time continuing to provide support to student
structures. Within the context of limited resources, they
offer students leadership development programmes and give
support to structures on campus.
The operation of the leadership development and student
governance support segment was translated into key performance
areas and key performance indicators.
The KPAs and KPIs for the SRC Administration office (Student
Governance Support) were never finalised.
(a) Areas identified as scope of work
* Dealing with general student enquiries (providing
information and referrals)
* Typing correspondence and reports for the SRC and
student structures
* Mailing and registering correspondence, reception of
calls and messaging
* Other related matters.
(b) Student leadership training and evaluation
The office organised 17 workshops during the year under
review. The total number of participants in training
workshops during the year was 510. The target groups for
the workshop were divided into two cohorts, namely
elected student leaders and non-elected leaders. The
participants evaluated four workshops, namely those held
for class representatives (Faculty Councils) and house
committee members (Central Residence Committee).
The workshops conducted during the period of review
partially met the two objectives:
* To facilitate learning about the roles and
responsibilities of elected student leaders
* To train students in problem-solving skills.
The focus areas of problem-solving and systems
orientation were adequately met.
(c) Leadership consultations
Over the past five years, an open-door policy for student
leaders wishing to consult on a range of
problems/challenges, was established. The general
approach is to listen to the problem statement, to ask
questions of clarification and to suggest possible
options to deal with the matter at hand. It is
consistently communicated to student leaders that it is
their responsibility to take decisions and act upon them.
To accurately account for the impact of such
consultations, presented a problem. It was therefore
decided to get more accurate data on such consultations.
The practice of recording data was not consistently
followed during the period under review. The consultation
focus areas were: 41% workshop planning; 17% enterprise
opportunities; 41% project conceptualisation; and 17%
others.
(d) Institutional promotion and student development
This office is currently engaged in three initiatives to
promote student development:
* Drafting an institutional development plan
* Co-ordinating the first-year orientation forum
* Contributing to the establishment of a new IT
Centre.
These activities relate to the department's objective of
maximising resources for skills development on campus.
On drafting the student development plan, the student
affairs division complements the concerted efforts for
both students and staff.
D. University of Fort Hare - 6 August 2001
1. History and microscopic view of previous 18 months - official
view by Prof D Swartz, Vice-Chancellor
The University of Fort Hare was established in 1916 and
includes the Alice and Bisho campuses, with 5 200 students and
570 staff members. It is a rural, agricultural and research
university with a huge potential, central to the political
economy of the Nkonkobe region.
The name "Fort Hare" is internationally and nationally known
and envisaged to be known as a Centre for Liberation Studies,
a Centre for Leadership Development, and a Centre for
Agriculture, Rural and Environmental Technology.
(a) Decline and crisis of 1990s
There was a massive structural and strategic shift in
higher education due to the impact of globalisation on
higher education and serious leadership weaknesses.
(b) Institutional crisis of 1998-99
The institutional crisis of 1998-99 revolved around three
sources:
* A financial deficit of R90 million
* Academic viability - student numbers declined (in
1999 there were 2 500 students, which affected the
macro-economic viability and university finances
because of a radically reduced government subsidy)
* The failure of leadership at all levels.
(c) New beginning - 2000
The crisis led to the departure of the management and the
appointment of an Interim Management Team and a New
Council after six months. The university had remarkable
stability on campus, with no boycotts or strikes.
The six-point plan was drafted, which included a
stabilisation process, short-term liquidity,
institutional review (to understand what was happening on
campus), the advent of Strategic Plan 2000 (SP 2000), and
management and leadership implementation.
SP 2000 sets out in broad strategic terms a new vision,
mission, corporate goals and institutional activities
aimed at laying a basis for comprehensively restructuring
and developing the university in the 21st century. It was
launched by the Deputy President, Mr J Zuma, in May 2000.
(SP 2000 is available on website ufh@ac.za.)
(d) Vision
Fort Hare aspires to become a vibrant, equitable and
sustainable African university committed to teaching and
research excellence, building on its unique historical
role and rural location to provide an enriching education
service to its graduates and scholars.
(e) Mission
Its mission is to provide high quality education of
international standard, contributing to the advancement
of knowledge that is socially and ethically relevant, and
applying that knowledge to the scientific, technological
and socio-economic development of our nation and the
wider world.
(f) Corporate goals
* Securing long-term sustainability and viability
* Becoming the Centre for Leadership Development
* Achieving teaching and research excellence
Addressing the development challenges of the region
and the nation
* Becoming a world-class university.
(g) Strategic objectives
The 10 strategic objectives, as mentioned by the Vice-
Chancellor, are to diversify and expand the revenue base,
to offer high quality and competitive programmes, to
sharpen the teaching and research skills base, to refocus
and realign academic programmes, to make strategic use of
Fort Hare's human capital resources, to improve the
quality of student and staff life, to increase the
capacity, quality and efficiency of support systems, to
forge new educational partnerships, to promote rural
development in Nkonkobe and the Eastern Cape region, and
to raise rural and development support for local
industry, agriculture and development sectors.
(h) Implementation strategy - core interventions
* Vision, governance and leadership
Prof D Swartz is of the view that Fort Hare needs to
involve people in order for them to be responsible.
There is a need for corporate commitment to SP 2000
values and ethics, to promote service ethos,
performance management and link-shared governance
with individual responsibility.
* Academic restructuring
In January 2000, eight faculties were closed. Fort
Hare had created four new faculties: Agriculture and
Environmental Sciences; African and Democracy
Studies; Science and Technology; and Management,
Development and Commerce. The Govan Mbeki Research
and Development Centre was also established.
Their respective focuses would be:
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: The science
of free-ranging animals, agronomics sciences,
environmental science and land use planning,
agricultural economics and rural development
African and Democracy Studies: Liberation studies,
Eastern Cape studies, music and arts academy, Nelson
Mandela Law School, theology of empowerment
Science and Technology: Indigenous resources
management and development, developmental
technologies, community health sciences, and
analytical sciences
Management, Development and Commerce: Education
management, public policy and management, business
and accounting, developmental studies, and co-
operative studies
The Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre will
play a very important role in promoting research
culture, building strategic research linkages,
improving quality of research management, and
developing rural and development infrastructure.
They also appointed Executive Deans and granted VSPs
to 112 surplus staff. They phased out non-viable
programmes and introduced new ones.
* Finance and revenue
This would involve updating financial records,
introducing a new FMS, programme-based budgeting,
training financial management, restructuring the Fort
Hare Foundation and starting a major capital fund
campaign to boost income.
* Support services
This would involve the refurbishing of buildings,
modernising administration systems, improving student
services, outsourcing non-core services, and
upgrading IT infrastructure.
* Human resources
This would include introducing new HR policies,
redeploying staff to new operational divisions and
faculties, a skills development plan, performance-
based management and an equity plan.
* Strategic partnerships
This would include the Nkonkobe Development Plan, the
Agripart Initiative, the Daimler/Chrysler
partnership, co-operative businesses, leadership
(students at work), and the Rhodes and Unitra
partnerships.
(i) Current plans
Fort Hare had plans on some important matters, according
to Prof Swartz:
* Three-year rolling plan
* Business plan for new faculties
* Financial growth plan: five years
* Risk profile and risk management plan
* Establishment of consulting arm
* Major capital campaign.
(j) Achievements
There has been unprecedented institutional stability at
Fort Hare. Their overdraft/deficit was reduced from R90
million to R49 million in one year, and they hope to be
completely out of the red by the end of 2004. They did it
on their own, without any help from consultants.
For the university to be a successful centre of academic
excellence, it has to be smaller and more focused. There
has been a major increase in student numbers: from 2 500
in 2000 to 5 200 in 2001 - growing market confidence in
the future of Fort Hare and beginning of investment
flows.
(k) Weaknesses and threats
The financial fundamentals are still weak - the income
side requires serious attention. Further growth in
student numbers imposes serious budget constraints. New
faculties and programmes require time for consolidation
and development. The management systems and processes
still need to undergo major changes.
(l) Major challenges facing Fort Hare
* Maintaining internal support for SP 2000
* Securing financial support for SP 2000 (key role of
the government, donors and alumni)
* Policy certainty (no mixed signals to the market)
* Consolidation gains made since 2000 and delivering
on critical reform path.
(m) Regional collaboration, core and strategic missions
Prof Swartz said that key challenges in regional
collaboration were stability, strategic orientation of
the sector, viability and sustainability and meeting
policy objectives. The higher education sector could be
improved significantly - many changes have already taken
place in respect of selecting the most appropriate
instrument to meet particular challenges.
Higher education has two roles: a formal educational
mission and a strategic educational mission.
* Formal educational mission
They can produce graduate skills for the economy and
do research to advance the frontiers of knowledge
* Strategic educational mission
This includes the direct application of knowledge to
socio-economic development, human capital
development, technological innovation and
valorisation of the economy
The core and strategic missions in respect of
regional collaboration include the rationalisation of
serious duplication, the audit process, the creation
of common support services (IT, joint admission and
on-line registration), the sharing of costly staff
and courseware, joint enrolment and accreditation,
and inter-institutional capacity building (research,
management and teaching).
The strategic mission will also include striking long-
term partnerships with the government and industry in
the province, aligning the development strategy from
sector to human capital in the province, directly
stimulating the economic development process via
strategic knowledge application, and accessing
untapped revenue sources.
(n) Strategic clusters
Agriculture and biotechnology; Marine Conservation and
Aquamarine Culture; Public Service Capacity Building;
Development and Rural Management; Education Management;
and Heritage and Cultural Tourism.
(o) Approach of Fort Hare on issue of "merger"
Fort Hare does not support a "merger" vis-à-vis
UNITRA/Rhodes/Fort Hare. However, they are in favour of
structured partnerships around strategic goals that are
realistic, efficient and effective.
Fort Hare has numerous proposals on structured
partnerships:
* To synergise core teaching and research missions or
audit institutions in the region
* To expand the remittance of institutional resource-
sharing
* To develop a strategy linked to regional economic
development
* To establish an inter-institutional mechanism for
ensuring commitment.
2. Fort Hare profile - official view by Prof R Bally, University
Planner
(a) Introspection and goals for new Fort Hare
The present management of Fort Hare was appointed early
in 1999. A strategic planning committee was formed, and
existing staff rather than consultants were used in a
participative, capacity-building process. The ruthless
introspection culminated in the Review Report of 1999.
Fort Hare, as one of its main goals, aims for long-term
sustainability and viability, being a world-class
university with emphasis on leadership training,
excellence in pertinent teaching and research, and
contributing to national development.
The SPC implementation control centre, co-ordinated by Dr
B Walter, has six implementation areas, each headed by a
staff member:
(b) Vision and governance - Mr J Ruthman
Academic - Mr M Silinga
Support services - Ms Y Kambule-Soul
Human resources - Mrs N Mpete
Revenue and finance - Ms Z Ndlovu
Partnerships - Mr S Kobese
Approximately four to eight faculties, based on niche
areas, were identified in SP 2000. The new faculty
management structure is being implemented and Executive
Deans have been appointed in the new faculties.
The new faculties represent a very significant step in
the implementation process and the new levels of
implementation (i.e. strategic plans/business plans are
being produced at various levels - faculty, academic
unit, institute and administrative unit level).
(c) Academic transformation
A new programme, driven by newly appointed Executive
Deans in each faculty in line with SAQA requirements and
SP 2000, interdisciplinary models, academic and financial
viability, market and social needs and a viability
template were developed, ready for application by the end
of August 2001. The new programme was completed and
submitted in terms of SAQA and CHE requirements.
(d) University support systems
These systems include marketing and communication,
information technology, student support, and the quality
of life of students, library and archives, residences,
and sport and physical planning, as well as developing
the two campuses.
(e) Projects and funding
It has been noted that much of the transformation should
come from external funds. The SP 2000 identifies areas
where funding is needed. The funding projects include:
Renovation: upgrading of residences, university frontage
and sports facilities
New projects: proposed music academy and student computer
laboratories
(f) Human resources
The entire new organisational structure had started with
the faculty structure. There are totally new job
descriptions and reporting lines involving union and
staff negotiations and Labour Relations Act compliance.
Fort Hare envisages improved service provision to
students and encourages staff capacity development.
(g) Finance and revenue strategies
There is expansion and diversification of the revenue
base, with a view to:
* Increase student numbers, and retention
* Maximisation of subsidy
* Improved availability of financial assistance and
revenue through research and consultancy
* Fundraising
* Alumni mobilisation
* Incentive packages for payment of fees
* Selling of excess capital stock
* Better use of under-utilised resources.
(h) Community issues
An integrated development plan was developed with
Nkonkobe, based on the community and Fort Hare's need to
support Alice as a university town. There is also a
research action programme, funded from the Premier's
Office for developing community projects.
(i) Partnerships
Fort Hare has partnerships with local and provincial
governments, NGOs and communities to improve the quality
of rural livelihood, specifically to reduce poverty. They
have also earmarked the business development centre as a
community-based project.
3. Fort Hare: forward to viability - official view by Mr P Cole
(a) Context of challenges
The major challenges are seen to be the rural setting,
changing demographics and degree selections, students
mostly coming from the low-income sector of society, and
rapid changes in respect of student catchment areas.
(b) Rural setting - economy
As the university is located in the former Ciskei
homeland, the local infrastructure is poor. There is a
high rate of unemployment and local costs, and some
student catchment areas experience declines in per capita
income.
16% of the population lives in the Eastern Cape. 77% of
those employed in the Eastern Cape earn a monthly salary
of less than R2 501 (approximately R30 000 per annum). An
average income per household per month in the Eastern
Cape is R1 479 (R17 748 per annum). Of the total students
currently registered at Fort Hare, 4 131 come from the
Eastern Cape. The total annual cost of an undergraduate
law degree at Fort Hare is R20 000.
(c) HIV/AIDS
There is a high percentage of HIV/AIDS in the Eastern
Cape, and life expectancy is down to 40. This clearly
means that graduates in the province can expect a working
life of 15 to 20 years. The epidemic impacts both on
graduates and on the university workforce.
(d) Areas of recruitment
These are: South Africa - 4 779; Zimbabwe - 235; Lesotho
- 130; other SADC countries - 21; rest of Africa - 25;
other - 11.
(e) Changes since 1999
1999: less than 1% were foreign students and over 70%
were from the "Border Corridor". Student recruitment
declined and female student ratios were low in some
faculties.
2001: foreign students count over 9%, and students are
recruited more widely (nationally). Student recruitment
is increasing and gender ratios are achieving equity.
(f) Opportunities and risks
These are characterised by the funding formula tabled by
the Department of Education in March 2001. This formula
is driven by the cost factor and uses FTE (full-time
equivalent) enrolment with a two-year lag, as FTE is
always counting ahead. The 2001 subsidy was calculated
from 1999's enrolment figure, and the cost-driven budget
is adjusted downward.
At the time of the visit, the funding formula for the
2001-02 subsidy was R86,992 million. The view was that if
2001's enrolment was used, rather than 1999's, the
subsidy would be R102,9 million. These are funds lost due
to the lagged formula.
Fort Hare is not satisfied about how the funding formula
is structured and implemented.
Proposed new funding formula: this formula will be driven
by FTE enrolment, teaching and research outputs. It is
not cost-driven - prices are set within budget resources.
It is heavily weighted to higher degrees, not humanities.
NSFAS funding formula: the funds divided between
institutions based upon enrolment are weighted by race.
The awards allocated to students by institutions are
based on a means test. In Fort Hare, there are more
students and lesser funds. In 2000, the smallest average
award was R3 757 - 55% of the average size for
universities and 1,5% of all NSFAS funds.
There is a need for equity in respect of the NSFAS
funding formula. NSFAS funds to Fort Hare have been and
will be allocated as follows: 1999 - R7,91 million; 2000
- R7,2 million; 2001 - R7,9 million; 2002 - R10,12
million; 2003 - R13,7 million.
The main problem with the NSFAS is that it is very tough
on students, many being turned away. There is an upfront
payment of R1 500 for all students, and the student joins
the system based on the arrangement with the NSFAS.
Fort Hare needs extra support from the government, as it
is financially viable.
(g) Student enrolment and staff
1997 - 4 591; 1998 - 4 068; 1999- 3 903; 2000 - 4 459;
2001 - 5 190. Postgraduates comprise 9% of the student
population (450), and include Honours students, 20 PhDs
and 120 Masters students.
There is an increase in postgraduates at Fort Hare, and
there is a need for bigger institutions in the country.
Student ethnicity: African - 5 158; White - 23; Coloured
- 19; Indian – 1 Student gender: females - 62%; males -
38%; B Prim Ed (mostly female) - 1 200.
Academic staff equity: Black - 55% (non-academic staff
mostly black); White - 45%.
Women remain under-represented at senior level, both in
the academic and non-academic sectors.
(h) Personnel
The salary bill was drastically reduced over the previous
two years. They have limited salary increases until 2003,
with low average salary increases and rates in recent
years. Fort Hare needs to attract and retain key
academics with competitive salaries.
(i) Student debt
Students drop out for financial reasons. Fort Hare
envisages a need for reform of NSFAS allocations.
Although it is difficult to collect debt from students
who have left the university, they have done major work
on student debts. They targeted an increase in debt
collection from registered students: 50% in 2001 to 70%
in 2002 and 2003.
(j) Strategies - Fort Hare Viability
Strategies on Fort Hare Viability aim to:
* Accommodate the recent increases in enrolment in the
existing formula
* Phase in the new formula
* Attain equitable NSFAS funding
* Continue control of personnel costs and student debt
management
* Seize opportunities for additional income
* Manage improved performance and set targets for own
income.
(k) Research and development
Research activity on masters and doctorate graduates,
publications, patents, reports and artifacts was slow at
the time of the visit. Postgraduate studies was being
restructured, and the research and development function
was centralised in the Govan Mbeki Research and
Development Centre.
Areas of research excellence included Agriculture
(several nodes), Chemistry, Life Sciences (several
nodes), Psychology, Languages, Theology and Law.
4. Residences and refurbishment of hostels - official view by Ms L
T Ngalo-Morrison, Dean of Students
They have started renovations in an attempt to improve
residences, as hostels must be conducive for learning.
Students work on the hostel refurbishment project, for which
R800 000 had been budgeted. Students took it upon themselves
to repair and clean dilapidated hostels.
Six student residences which had to be closed down, have been
reopened and renovated to meet booming student accommodation
needs. They need to raise funds from donors to refurbish
buildings.
5. Alumni - official view by Mr L Jacobs
For the past three years, alumni stood central to
transformation work. Mr L Jacobs had visited North America,
Gauteng, Cape Town and interim structures to provide
information on a continuous basis.
6. Visit to archives - official view by Mr M Synders
(a) Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College: (SOMAFCO)
This school, opened in Tanzania in 1972, aimed to train
young, black men and women to be the leaders, teachers
and professionals of the new South Africa, after the end
of apartheid. The main subjects during that time were
politics, drama and art. When the school was closed in
1992, the ANC entrusted Fort Hare with caring for its
archives. Along with papers from its missions around the
world came a collection of papers, artefacts and student
works from SOMAFCO.
The Hon G A M Mbeki donated his guitar from Robben
Island.
Documents, like SOMAFCO papers, audio-visual material,
federal seminary archives (the school closed in 1974) and
university documents of the 1980s, are kept in a locked
office.
(b) Meeting with institutional forum
The dlegation was welcomed by Mr Kobese, Community
Partnership Co-ordinator. The institutional forum
consists of political structures and stakeholders, like
the SRC, student organisations, labour structures,
members of academic structures, members of the Council,
members of Nkonkobe municipality, members of Buffalo
City, and members of management. It is viewed as Fort
Hare's parliament.
Prof Mayatula gave a brief overview of the key functions
of the Committee and the objectives of the visit.
(c) Challenges of national plan "to merge or not to merge" -
official view by Mr A Gwabeni
The CHE report suggests a combination of some
institutions; a combination of Fort Hare and Rhodes
University was specifically mentioned.
The national working committee, led by Mr S Macozama,
visited Fort Hare prior our visit to advise the Minister
of Education on how to minimise the number of tertiary
institutions.
A merger, according to Fort Hare, is a strategic and
internally generated decision taken by organisations, not
a superimposed solution. It is dependent on the sharing
of a common vision.
Regarding their experience in South African institutions,
the Silo mentality requires institutions to collaborate -
with uneven distribution of resources, the funding
formula must prioritise redress; sharing resources
through the funding formula should be encouraged; and
with artificial competition, institutions must focus on
specific niche areas.
(d) Fort Hare views to merger
The institution is opposed to a merger, and feels that
mergers must be decisions of individual institutions.
Incremental and organic evolution of mergers are
preconditions for success in the public sector. There is
a strong view that collaboration is the short- to the
medium-term solution, and there have been discussions
with UNITRA, Rhodes and other institutions outside the
Eastern Cape on concrete programmes for collaboration.
(e) Current and future areas of collaboration
Current programmes include library services, an IT
infrastructure and health programmes, while future areas
include a central admission office, course development,
quality assurance and presentation of courses.
(f) Why opposed to merger?
* Fort Hare transformation project: The good work done
may be undone, and its vision (which includes
multiculturalism, new values concommittant with the
new society they are building and nation building,
which addresses socio-economic development and racial
and gender equity) may be clouded
* Micro-economics of project: There is a possibility
of the system imploding as a result of too much being
loaded on it (a question of its ability to absorb new
challenges)
* Economic implications of merger: It may cost more to
set up and maintain the administrative systems, and
there will be implications for local economies, which
will have a direct impact on the shifting of the
administration.
Fort Hare sees the higher education system in South
Africa and in the Eastern Cape evolving organically on an
incremental basis, with full support from the government,
and collaboration as the short-term solution. A clear
regulatory system must help align institutions to
national priorities.
7. Student funding - official view by Mr L O Mabuyane, SRC
president
Mr Mabuyane saw no need to compare Fort Hare's political
context in respect of student funding with institutions that
have been advantaged historically, like UCT and WITS.
The maximum number of 411 students for tuition (i.e. R4 120
per student) is seen as a serious threat, and the funding
formula is also a problem at Fort Hare. Many matriculants with
exemption who reside in the rural areas are sitting at home
without any form of assistance because their parents are
uneducated and unemployed and cannot provide any form of
financial assistance for their children to further their
education at tertiary level. R29 million is expected from the
NSFAS.
Student quality of life also needs to be taken on board; it
must be checked whether residences are user-friendly to all
students.
The government and the NSFAS need to re-examine the funding
formula to provide financial assistance for needy students.
Fort Hare needs to attract academic staff. The more students
on campus, the more funding the institution receives from the
NSFAS.
Student debt
The SRC played a major role in convincing and encouraging
those who were able to pay their fees, to do so. This made the
SRC unpopular on campus. Student debt results from two main
reasons:
* Dropouts are unable to pay the university, as most of them
are unemployed
* No certificate is issued if outstanding fees are not paid
in full, and students leave the system.
In this respect, the NSFAS has its own way of tracing persons.
8. Conditions of employment - official view by Mr N R Mboniswa
There was a very intensive bargaining process between Fort
Hare and stakeholders. They compared salaries of academic and
non-academic staff with those of UPE, UniVenda and UWC, and it
appeared that their salaries were competitive in neither the
labour market nor compared with other institutions of higher
learning. The salary of the Vice-Chancellor is equivalent to
that of a Dean at UPE. The implication of this was that the
economy of Nkonkombe would be affected, should people leave
the area.
Staff turnover
Reasons for staff turnover:
* Most staff were deployed by the government
* Fort Hare was unable to retain staff
* Salaries were not competitive.
E. University of Transkei - 7 August 2001
On arrival, the delegation was warmly welcomed by Prof N Morgan
(the Administrator) and his management. The University of Transkei
was established in 1975, and the medical school started in 1986.
The Minister had visited the institution five weeks before the
delegation's visit. The nursery school and in-service centre were
destroyed by a tornado. Due to financial constraints they were
never repaired and were collapsing. Renovations will start with
residences, which would cost R1,5 million.
1. Medical School
In 2001, there were 74 registered students at the medical
school, and they were expecting an increase to 95 in 2002. The
medical faculty had 749 medical students, of whom 34 were
postgraduates. These figures formed the anchor of the
university. They had also checked on which units were not
viable, not giving a unit a chance to use the surplus of
another unit.
Biochemistry laboratory: The building is a pre-fabricated
structure consisting of two big rooms, used both as
biochemistry and physiology laboratories. Due to insufficient
space, students are divided into groups for lecture sessions,
attending on different times each day. During examination
times, both rooms are converted into examination rooms.
It only accommodates 10 students. Some students are from the
Technikons, doing in-service training for six months.
There is no air conditioning in the laboratory, and there is
always an unbearable smell. The Head of Anatomy, Prof N
Baguma, appealed to the government to provide the institution
with facilities to produce the best doctors in the country.
Despite the conditions, the lecturers want to produce good
quality doctors.
2. Science Faculty - official view by Mr B R Madikizela
The delegation visited the cold room, which had a fresh-water
laboratory. Mr B R Madikizela, a P.HD student, worked on the
water research commission project, doing water quality and
faunal studies in the Umzimvubu catchment, with particular
emphasis on species as indicators of environmental change. It
was part of his Ph D. They produced the report for the water
commission, indicating their observations.
The primary aim of the project was to establish a water
quality database and an inventory of aquatic fauna in the
Umzimvubu and its main tributaries. A secondary aim was
identification of species sensitive to environmental threats
which might be used as future indicators of environmental
change. (This report is available on request from the
Committee Secretary, Ms N C Manjezi.)
3. Zoology Museum
This museum was established in 1998. The high schools in the
area visit it regularly and familiarise themselves with
certain species. In the Botany Department, they have collected
4 000 indigenous plants.
4. African Archive
This Department has a wide range of South African indigenous
and popular music. The equipment and about 30 000 records were
donated to the Department. The video machine, television and
computers were donated by the University of Maiz in Germany.
5. Unitra Sasol Library
This R3 million project was donated by Sasol, built in 1997,
officially opened on 18 May 2000. It operates 24 hours a day.
It houses literature for five faculties. There is an on-line
digital catalogue, seminar and video conferencing, and
students can access literature anytime. The former President,
Dr R N Mandela, has his own reading room, which he uses when
he visits the university.
6. Meeting with Administrator, Management, Deans, Representatives
from labour structures and SRC - official view by Prof N
Morgan, Administrator
(a) Vision
UNITRA aimed to be a leading university in Africa,
focusing on innovative programmes addressing rural
development needs.
(b) Mission
UNITRA is committed to excellence by offering relevant
and effective teaching, research and community outreach
programmes with specific emphasis on the promotion of
sustainable rural development, while providing service to
its clientele through optimal resource utilisation.
(c) Location
It is located in the poorest and most densely populated
region of the Kei, Wild Coast and Drakensberg areas. The
Eastern Cape has a rural population of six million
people, and 65% live in rural areas. The rural Kei and
Wild Coast districts have a population of three million,
half the population of the province. 54% are females, and
60% of the rural people are female. In rural communities,
youths make up to 60% of the population.
UNITRA is thus in a poverty-stricken area, households
having an income of less than R352,52 per month. The
rural catchment area of UNITRA has inadequate access to
social and economic infrastructure and services: only 24%
have running water; only 31% have flush toilets; 31% do
not have electricity; 4% have access to
telecommunications; there are 0,3 medical officials per 1
000, compared to the national figure of 6%; educational
levels are the lowest in the whole of South Africa.
7. Institution indicators for financial sustainability
Future financial sustainability depends on State funding,
diverse income streams (including consultancy and contract
research), adequacy of student financial aid, based on NSFAS
criteria, the ability to collect fees, and the ability to
adjust budgets.
(a) Key issues and challenges faced by UNITRA
* Reducing fixed costs
* Ensuring full cost recovery
* Introducing financial discipline through devolved
budgeting
* Fee strategies and collection.
In 1999, the university had a R100 million overdraft
until March 2000. They received a subsidy of R104
million, which was regarded as insufficient.
(b) Some realities
There are limited funds from the Treasury. Restructuring
will have to be deliberately engineered and managed if
success is to be achieved. The notion of reducing the
number of institutions does not mean reducing access to
higher education. The sensibility of each arrangement
must be determined on how it responds to the goals of the
National Plan for Higher Education. Comprehensive
technical intelligence about every regional site is a pre-
requisite for the project to succeed.
Prof Morgan met with the Minister of Education on 4 June
2001, and the budget issue was discussed. Due to budget
constraints, academic staff and 282 workers were
retrenched. The Department of Labour was contacted for
the social plan, especially for those students who were
registered at the university. UNITRA also made a
commitment to re-employ the workers who were retrenched.
(c) NSFAS funding
The university is underfunded by NSFAS. As a result, they
intend to request a supplementary amount. The
affordability in respect of the region is different from
that of any other region. Applying the criteria for those
who have applied, would require R24 million.
As a huge amount of R39 million is still owed by
students, the SRC also assists with the collection of
fees by broadcasting on UNITRA community radio.
(d) Viability in finances
The working committee needs to be assisted with technical
expertise and quality technical information. The health
centre needs to realise its current status in terms of
viability.
Viability assessments were to be completed by the end of
August 2001. Various departments could be closed and some
could be strenghtened. The view is that if some
departments are to be closed, there should be other forms
of restructuring, and students can be transferred to
other universities to complete their studies.
8. Faculty of Health Sciences - official view by Prof E L Mazwai
This faculty has 749 students in the School of Medicine, the
School of Nursing and the School of Allied Health Professions.
Teaching takes place at three campuses in Umtata, East London
and Port Elizabeth, which form part of the Academic Health
Service of the Eastern Cape. In 14 years, UNITRA has graduated
more than 200 medical doctors of a quality equal to, if not
better than, many medical schools in the country.
(a) Teaching
Their strength has been their teaching philosophy, being
problem-based learning and community-based education.
This is now world-recognised - the faculty is a WHO
collaborating centre. Students are exposed to community
issues early in training (first year), including
indigenous knowledge systems, such as traditional
healers. In addition to the teaching standard, they have
developed a computer-based teaching laboratory, a
telemedicine unit and a professional skills laboratory to
improve quality of teaching and graduates' competencies.
(b) Service
By its very nature, community-based education and
training are decentralised from tertiary through to
secondary and primary health care centres, and with
teaching comes service. The teaching hospital in Umtata
serves a population of 2,9 million, with more than 100
specialists. They have also initiated a postgraduate
programme and training specialists in eight medical
fields - they are trained at centres in Port Elizabeth,
East London and Umtata. Medical registrars also improve
the quality of care given to patients.
UNITRA and UCT have an agreement on training registered
students in medicine and postgraduate courses.
(c) Research
As most tertiary institutions are judged on the basis of
research output and publications, the faculty has had a
limited output in this area. This has been mostly due to
developmental and infrastructure restrictions in terms of
laboratory and equipment. However, they do have an MRC
unit (on carcinoma of oesophogus, with research in
molecular biology). The university collaborates with the
Department of Health and overseas universities on
HIV/AIDS research. Most of the research is community-
based and service-oriented.
(d) Infrastructure
The university plan was to increase the number of medical
students from 90 to 120 per class over the following
three years, and they wanted to add six Allied Health
Professions - Occupational Therapy, Physiotheraphy,
Speech and Hearing Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics,
Radiotherapy and Medical Technology. They have plans and
the potential to increase the number and mix of health
sciences they train, but the major constraint is
infrastructure, which needs financial input. Discussions
with the Department of Education on a new medical campus
adjacent to the hospital at a cost of R120 million have
been put on hold to see what facilities could be
developed on the existing campus at a reduced cost. As a
matter of urgency, the development of the in-service
training centre for laboratories for students and
research, and also teaching, would be the most
appropriate. UNITRA was able to achieve with very limited
funding because of chronic under-funding nationally.
In the last four years, conditional grants from the
Provincial Administration have helped to alleviate the
situation. There has never been any major injection of
capital for infrastructural development, either at
inception of the medical school in 1986 or after the new
democracy in 1994.
There are infrastructure issues that have not been
attended to, and a merger will bring additional costs in
the short term. Money needs to be injected for
infrastructure. Staff never received increments, now they
have become demotivated.
(e) Academic restructuring
All the programmes are complying with the mission. They
revisited it in 1999 and in 2000, but there were no
substantive shift. As UNITRA is the largest single
employer in the region, they have spent R160 million per
annum.
(f) Student enrolment
The student numbers in 2001 have grown to 4 500, compared
to 3 800 in 2000.
(g) Governance
There is no council at UNITRA. There is an administrator
who is in support of the management team of the
university. There is a need to appoint a new Vice-
Chancellor and a new council.
Due to the turmoil in 1999, the council resigned.
Meetings were held with community and parents to inform
them of ongoing progress. The Department of Education did
not have any faith in the university and nothing happened
to establish the council.
By the end of August, they were to start the process to
establish a governance council. Prof Morgan informed the
delegation that the Auditor-General's report and other
reports formed the basis of the issue to be attended to
on two levels:
* An intention to provide residence for students and
lecture halls - a decision was taken to build the
structures, as this money was not taken from the
operational budget
* Internal controls - new policies to exercise
discipline.
(h) Hospital
A positive development is the commissioning of the new
Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital. It has 480 beds at a
cost of R350 million. It will attract specialists to the
area, especially South Africans, to teach and offer
specialised services. There is hope to establish new
specialities such as cardiology and cardiac surgery,
radio physics and radiotherapy, vascular surgery and
renal transplantation.
There was great concern that what they have achieved so
far, has been done at great sacrifice in human cost, with
no improvement in salaries or promotions for the last
four years. If they are to prevent diminishing morale and
retain staff against competition from outside
institutions, capital injection is absolutely urgent.
This way they feel that they can reverse the downward
spiral, stabilise the Faculty, attract more specialists
for specialised services, and improve on research and
publications. With the increase in the medical student
class and addition of the six departments in the School
of Allied Health Professions, they have a capacity for
1 000 students over the next three years. All this can be
done at a very modest cost, which the university
management is currently formulating and calculating.
The delegation visited the massive site to see the new
academic hospital, still under construction. This
training hospital is built by the Department of Health
(50% national and 50% provincial), and is expected to be
completed by the end of March 2002. The estimated budget
to run the hospital is R196 million per annum.
(i) Merger
The merger in a classic sense purposely targets areas of
synergistic benefits - people seek deliberate benefits
and synergies and manage these to new organisations. In
respect of certain private companies, this was a failure.
In creating a merger, according to Prof Morgan, the
institution needs to address the issues with Rhodes, as
they have a governance council.
* Negative aspects
Other areas of excellence, apart from medical
science, which, because of the financial turmoil,
have been neglected. Staff members had been abused
for the previous five years in respect of promotion,
increments and the taking away of other benefits.
Everything the university is busy doing in this
respect, will disappear if there is a merger.
* Businesses supporting UNITRA or other sources to
improve finances
They had established links with the business
community and received huge support from the
community. There were ongoing meetings with business
to address the finance issue.
Some historically disadvantaged institutions helped
to improve the financial position. There was a need
to equalise funding in order to address the gap
between Gauteng, the Western Cape and their region.
(j) Payment of fees
Discussions were held with the student leadership about
the commitment of students to pay fees. This was
broadcast on the community radio, and there was a good
response. Decisions were taken by parents and students to
make arrangements to pay outstanding fees, but some did
not honour this commitment.
(k) Retrenchments
These came about because of a shortfall in respect of the
pension fund. The university made specific arrangements
to develop retrenched staff and reskill them for new
jobs. They also committed to the social plan those who
wanted to study at the university.
(l) Issue of redress
They cannot tackle the issue of redress if there are
institutional, financial and regional problems. This
needs serious attention.
(m) Management of institution
There are few fundamentals and policies in respect of
running the system. There is a need for strengthening
middle management, training and capacity development of
staff. Human resource and technical issues need
attention. Although there is no council, they have an
audit committee performing that managerial function.
Rev E Guwa had a very strong view of not closing
historically disadvantaged universities down, as he was a
product of those universities.
(o) Institutional forum
This forum was set up according to the statutory
requirements, and was composed of all internal structures
of student associations, labour and community structures.
(p) NEHAWU input
NEHAWU endorsed what Prof Morgan had said, and expressed
disapproval on certain issues:
* Transformation was viewed as a most painful and
difficult process. NEHAWU was not against
retrenchment with benefits, but in support of change.
There were structures in place to address those
problems
* They viewed the sustainability and viability of the
institution as very important.
(q) SRC input
The extent of the problems mentioned impacted very
negatively on students. The SRC have made efforts to
persuade students to pay their fees. The gravity of the
problem has caused them to make history - it was indeed
unusual to find a situation whereby the management and
the students agreed that the latter would pay 50% of
their debt before the beginning of the new term. This has
shown the level of maturity of the SRC in understanding
the dynamics of co-operative governance, particularly in
regard to pulling the institution out of its financial
mess.
They were against closure of the university, and
moreover, not in support of a merger - it was not deemed
as beneficial to the institution.
They also asked the NSFAS to increase the grant because
most people in the area were unemployed and there was no
industry to support the institution financially.
The SRC's view was that a merger would adversely affect
those from historically disadvantaged areas.
F. University of Natal - 8 August 2001
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof B M Gourley, warmly welcomed the
delegation at the Pietermaritzburg campus.
1. Overview - Prof B M Gourley
The University of Natal, located in KwaZulu-Natal and
established in 1910, has an enrolment of 22 000 students, of
whom over 15 000 are undergraduates. As such, it is the second
largest residential university in South Africa. It comprises
two centres, one in Durban on the coast and the other in the
provincial capital, Pietermaritzburg, some 80 km inland.
The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine is part of the
university, and is located on the Durban campus. In total,
there are four campuses - Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Medical
and Edgewood.
During the 1990s most students were white - approximately 13
500. Now almost 76% are black students.
It is one of the top-rated universities in South Africa in
terms of research output and independent ratings by the
National Research Foundation, and has formal links with some
240 leading universities in the USA, Europe and the Far East.
It is known as a centre of excellence in Africa and is doing
significant research into HIV/AIDS.
Many international students are studying here.
The governing structures are in hands of the academics on the
Durban campus.
In the early 1990s the Durban campus alone housed 84 different
NGOs, most of them refugees from the apartheid regime. Their
presence on the campus profoundly affected the nature of the
university and the conversation about its role in South Africa
at this point in its history. Students were involved in
working with the NGOs.
(a) Vision
The university's strategy is one of Quality with Equity.
It dedicates its excellence in teaching, research and
development to progress through reconstruction. It serves
South Africa, and KwaZulu-Natal in particular, by
delivering quality teaching, which enables students from
all backgrounds to realise their academic potential and
to obtain degrees of an international standard.
It undertakes quality research up to national and
international standards, and provides development
services which meet community needs.
It is a socially responsive organisation. At the time of
the visit they were condusting an HIV research project
(160 different projects), and many are placed in the
networking centre.
KwaZulu-Natal has 80 000 teachers, of whom 30% are HIV-
positive. They really need to launch a substantive
campaign to attend to this issue.
(b) Mission
They strive to serve all sections of the community
through excellence in scholarship, teaching, learning,
research and development.
(c) Student numbers and composition
The size of the university has changed substantially over
the last 10 years. There has been planned growth in the
face of virtually no State support in respect of
infrastructure. It has been made possible by making
provision for loan funding for students with the
potential to succeed but not the money to afford the
fees.
(d) Research profile
The profile has changed over the years, as an entirely
different set of policies came into effect to support new
directions. These policies were designed to encourage not
only a more entrepreneurial approach to research but also
a more nuanced approach. They emphasise potential links
between research and development and aim to find ways in
which the research agenda could be influenced by
development issues that are fed by the research agenda.
Initiatives that support the goals of regional and
national agendas are actively encouraged. HIV/AIDS is a
good example.
There is huge capacity for research and postgraduate
studies in the region, and the percentage of
undergraduate studies has increased. Most students are in
the open learning mode on the Pietermaritzburg campus.
(e) Staff profile
The staff profile has not been changed as much as one
would have liked. Both availability of staff and labour
law considerations impact on this. Equity plans are in
place.
(f) Race in 1990 and in 2000
There have been enormous disparities in respect of gender
and race.
1990 - 54% White; 30% African; 3% Coloured; 13% Indian
2000 - 49% White; 25% African; 4% Coloured; 22% Indian
(g) Gender in 1990 and in 2000
1990 - 34% female and 66% male
2000 - 44% female and 56% male
A higher percentage of female students registered between
1990 and 2000 than males. An age/race profile of students
in 2000 showed that undergraduate Coloureds, Indians and
whites were younger than blacks.
Registration by area or specialisation - many study
business and commerce. By 2001 the number of students
pursuing a career in humanities had increased; the number
in science and technology grew by 10%.
The university also encourages foreign students to enrol
in order to improve the standard of education. It is
important for the educational learning experience to have
international students on campus.
(h) Distance education
They want to retain and control quality distance
education. At present, there are between 4 000 and 5 000
involved in distance learning, of whom 2 500 are
Africans.
(i) Merging
The university is opposed to a merger. They strongly
believe they need to equalise the conditions of service
and grant generous retrenchment packages, should there be
a merger with Durban-Westville. As the two institutions
have different scales, a merger will be disruptive to
their administrative way of doing things, as they will
have more students.
The university does not want to put donor and research
funding at risk which it receives from the international
community. The entire process has to focus on producing a
better higher education system.
2. Transformation process - official view by Prof E A Ngara,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Students and Transformation
Prof Ngara played an advocacy role and sought to promote
transformation in areas where they seemed slow to achieve the
desired objective in respect of certain aspects of
development. He had attended conferences and seminars where
the view was expressed that the last group of universities to
be transformed would be those that called themselves "liberal
universities".
What is transformation?
The White Paper on Higher Education outlined the framework for
change, making it clear that the higher education system had
to be planned, governed and funded as a single co-ordinated
national system. It identified the areas in which
transformation should take place and outlined the principles
that should guide the process of transformation, but stopped
short of defining the concept.
It referred to a complete and fundamental change for the
better, and suggested that transformation had to entail change
from what was the norm to a new norm, from a culture and set
of values and practices that prevailed in the past to a new
culture and set of values and practices.
He identified four principal domains in which transformation
should take place:
(a) Governance - it referred to the development of a more
democratic system of power relations between the various
sectors of the institution by, for instance, seeing to it
that fundamental changes occur to ensure adherence to the
principles of democratic governance, accountability,
transparency and inclusiveness in decision-making. This
was underpinned by compliance with the requirements of
the Higher Education Act, the Employment Equity Act and
other relevant legislation and policy documents.
(b) Demographics and equity - it referred to changes taking
place in an institution to reflect the demography of the
nation and the region. Enrolment figures and staff
statistics should change to ensure diversity, race and
gender equity, as well as representation of people with
disability.
(c) Institutional/organisational culture - it referred to the
degree of transparency and openness in the communication
system and decision-making processes of the institution,
the extent to which linguistic and cultural diversity was
recognised, accepted and celebrated, the degree of
sensitivity to diversity issues (i.e race, gender, sexual
orientation and disability) and the extent to which there
was a culture of debate and democratic disputation, as
opposed to violent demonstration by students and decrees
by authorities.
(d) The core functions domain - it referred to fundamental
changes made in teaching, research, the community and
national service to facilitate national, economic, social
and political transformation, the key elements being
curriculum, quality and growth, student development,
knowledge production and responsiveness to national and
community needs.
Transformation in respect of all these domains should be
relatively easily achievable in organisations with a tradition
of openness in their decision-making processes.
Prof Ngara further mentioned that while the university was
normally classified as a historically white university, the
Faculty of Medicine was historically black; it was the only
medical faculty in a long time that was training African,
Indian and Coloured doctors, before MEDUNSA was established.
Student numbers broadly represented the demographics of
KwaZulu-Natal. These numbers, as at 24 July 2001, read as
follows:
Race Number Percentage
African 10 620 44,81%
Indian 7 404 31,24%
White 4 995 21,07%
Coloured 665 2,76%
Other 25 0,10%
..... -------
Total 23 700 99,80%
.... -------
The university was not doing well in respect of the racial
composition of staff. However, a few years ago a programme
funded by the Mellon Foundation was put in place to help
promising academics from previously disadvantaged backgrounds
to acquire postgraduate degrees to render them suitable for
appointment to academic positions. Not all management members
believed that this programme would help them move fast enough
to accelerate the appointment of blacks, especially Africans,
to the academic staff. They produced a document which they
believed could help accelerate the process - it was still to
be considered by the verious structures.
3. Curriculum development and access programmes - official view by
Prof A C Bawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academics
Curriculum development is a defining characteristic of the
university. It has constantly been supported through strategic
investment of resources, the highest level of innovation in
curriculum development and through teaching and learning.
Every year, they make three Distinguished Teacher Awards,
which celebrate its excellence.
Curriculum development is at the heart of the education
process in that it is centrally linked to developing good
citizens of a democratic South Africa. It is therefore
critical that students have a sense of their role in the
reconstruction and development of the nation and possess the
skills and framework to lead ethical lives as they embark on
careers requiring leadership and entrepreneurship.
The Strategic Initiatives Document states that student should
not leave the University without a keen appreciation of:
* The values and concerns of the different communities in
which they will be living and working
* Where they are in history and what responsibilities and
leadership roles they may be expected to fulfil
* The ethics of their particular chosen careers and of
making choices at this moment in history.
To facilitate this, they have created an Ethics Centre, a
Leadership Centre and a Centre for Entrepreneurship. They have
also established a significantly large Service Learning
Project, which allows students to spend part of their study
time working in communities and reflecting on that work. About
20% of the students have some form of exposure to service
learning.
The university has committed itself to developing a set of
core basic competencies in every student - these are taught
through a set of core foundational modules.
The curriculum development process is strongly influenced by
the need for multi-discipline, which is evident in
undergraduate programmes. They have led the way in this regard
in South Africa.
They have also established a Centre for Information Technology
in Higher Education, which facilitates the optimisation of the
role of IT in learning and teaching. They are ensuring that
they have sufficient computers on an outstanding network to
facilitate the development of a new learning paradigm, which
involves the use of constructivism as a philosophy of
learning.
The university has serious concerns about the impact of
traditional learning paradigms on the underdevelopment of the
"right brain", and has a large project under way to ensure
more holistic left brain/right brain learning.
Access programmes
They have three kinds of access programmes:
* Students with matriculation exemption but without a
sufficiently satisfactory pass for admission to degree
programmes - they would wish to study science,
engineering or medicine but do not have satisfactory
passes in Mathematics and Science.
* Students with a senior certificate but without
matriculation exemption and who show potential to succeed
in higher education - they would generally be placed in
one-year foundation or access programmes which would lead
to access to degree programmes.
* Adult learners without senior certificates - they have not
had the opportunity to complete their schooling but
demonstrate a satisfactory level of numeracy and
literacy.
The university also offers a number of undergraduate and
graduate programmes in a mixed-mode format for working people.
In 2001 there were about 500 new students in access programmes
in respect of science and engineering, 200 in humanities and
social sciences, 500 in management sciences, 150 adult
learners in open learning programmes and 5 000 workers in
programmes designed for them.
4. Integrated student body - official view by Mr T Wills, Dean of
Students, and Dr D Rajab, Dean of Social Development
The students fully embrace integration. 18% of them are
married. The SRC is present at all levels of student
governance - about 10 to 12 students for 10 000 students (they
need to review this).
The institution has also been seen to encourage integration in
sport. There is a wide range of sports, and students adhere to
the sports policy.
They opened their residences in 1984; house committees see to
the welfare of students. 25% to 30% live in residences, which
were full at the time of the visit. Many come from
metropolitan areas. There is no gender segregation.
The number of white students declined because mostly blacks
live in the residences. The whites left because they felt
uncomfortable staying with black students and could not afford
the residential costs, which were expensive. Some black
students who could not afford the costs, moved to cheaper
places.
(a) Student Development
Student Development is located in the Division of Student
Services, and is responsible for the conceptualisation,
implementation and quality assurance of all student
development programmes offered by the division. These
include Student Counselling and Careers, Campus Health
Clinics, Residences, Student Leadership Development,
Sport, Administration, Student Governance, Clubs and
Societies, Student Academics Affairs and Financial Aid.
They put in a huge effort to support students.
Student Development aims to address development needs of
all students at the university through professional
services of the division. This involves an analysis of
the special need of students within the context of higher
learning.
It calls for strategic planning and implementation of
systems that support developmental growth of all students
in a dynamic and changing context.
The task of student service providers in the various
sections is to set up structures that will provide
opportunities for life skills learning in curricular and
co-curricular activities.
(b) Student Development Plan - rationale
The rationale for the development of a strategic plan
arose from the following realities:
* The university has a duty to address national needs.
South Africa requires well-trained professionals who
are well-rounded, critical and independent thinkers.
* The job market is competitive and demands excellent
graduates with strong interpersonal and leadership
skills and high levels of accountability, integrity
and commitment to industry.
* It is a world-class institution with its reputation
at stake when it comes to production of its
graduates. Universities are also under pressure to
maintain a competitive edge over other institutions.
* The imperative to address the diverse needs of
students warrants a repositioning of student
development initiatives from periphery to mainstream.
* The HIV/AIDS pandemic has widespread implications
for student intakes, financial aid, health and
support services, and training and counselling.
(c) Guiding principles
To address the developmental needs of a diverse and
dynamic student population, the plan will encompass the
following guiding principles:
* The holistic development of students involves a
partnership with all sectors of the university
community. This includes Academics, student affairs
professionals, students and the general community.
* The application of a multi-pronged, multi-
disciplinary and multi-cultural perspective in the
development of all programmes to address the needs of
a diverse and dynamic student population.
* The introduction of systemic interventions
encompassing institutional changes to facilitate the
development of a new type of graduate in keeping with
the changing demand of society.
* Quality with Equity. Effective utilisation of
resources and the provision of support to enable
learners from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds
to succeed.
The Office of the Dean of Student Development is offering
a new 10-week winter semester certificate course in
collaboration with other academics and administrative
departments on the Durban and Pietermaritzburg campuses
for student services staff and graduate students who may
wish to pursue a career path in student services. They
have already trained 39 students in these courses.
5. Financial support - official view by Rev J Ngomane, Director:
Financial Aid Service
The establishment of the NSFAS by the new democratic
government is one of the most important initiatives that
underpin the transformation of educational access in South
Africa.
The stability the scheme has brought to campuses nationwide
has been evidenced by the lack of educational boycotts and
student unrest during the past three to four years. The
government's visionary thinking regarding the NSFAS and
continued support of these endeavors should be applauded. The
appearance of the delegation from the Committee charged with
consultation with all stakeholders indicates the dedication to
the cause of educational justice for all in the new democratic
South Africa.
(a) Background
The university has always been involved with the needs of
poor students. Prior to the early days of transformation
from 1984, the bursaries and scholarship office
administered a means test to award the few bursaries from
various sources at its disposal (e.g. bequests, deceased
estates). By 1988 that office was receiving 5 000
applications a year from needy students.
The university responded by allocating funds from its
limited budget (about R13 million in 2001) to the annual
budget of the newly constituted Financial Aid Service.
This was supplemented during the early 1990s by
organisations such as Kagiso Trust, the IDT (Independent
Development Trust), the South African Institute of Race
Relations (SAIRR) and the Kelloggs Foundation.
By 1996 they had to limit the intake of needy entrants to
500 per year in order to manage the budgetary
requirements responsibly. The number of active financial
aid applications settled at about 3 500 per year. They
are currently funding about 2 000 undergraduates.
About 13% of the student body is deemed sufficiently
financially disadvantaged to receive benefits from the
NSFAS. Therefore there is immense pressure on the
university to increase funding for needy entrant. 50% of
them are not paying any family contribution - the
university and government are funding R22 000 per year.
Some key areas have been fundamentally important in the
success of the NSFAS:
* The creation of the NSFAS as a statutory body and
the subsequent establishment of its Board with
representatives from higher education stakeholders
and the community.
* The NSFAS loan recovery system and the quality of
the administrative systems.
* The involvement of the Financial Aid
Services/Bureaux of Tertiary Institutions in the
administration of NSFAS loans is important. Financial
Aid Officers process enquiries and applications forms
from potential students. This can involve dealing
with more than 1 000 students per officer.
* The NSFAS in consultation with Financial Aid
Officers designed a tool called "The Means Test",
which enables them to determine the relative
financial need of any student applicant. This is very
helpful in the administration and selection of
students.
(b) Financial Aid Budget for 2001
The allocated budget for the NSFAS is R56 million,
divided as follows: Bursaries - R5 million (needy
students); scholarships - R12 million; and loans - R39,5
million.
(c) Challenges
Selection criteria related to the NSFAS hinder students
from the poorest backgrounds from accessing tertiary
education. The more immediate challenges are:
* Criteria focus on academic excellence and do not
take into account rural school and family background.
Alternative selection methods must be developed for
educationally disadvantaged students.
* Hidden costs related to applying (e.g. access to
phones, the post, photocopying of documents and
direct costs (between R135 and R2 000 per
application) average about R500, which the poorest of
the poor cannot afford. A further R500 acceptance
deposit is required after academic selection; even
more if a residence deposit is required, which is
often the case with rural students.
* A lack of consultation in respect of review and
implementation of NSFAS policy and procedures, taking
into consideration that the institution and officers
are the backbone of the NSFAS success story.
* A lack of uniformity and monitoring of policies
instituted by the NSFAS, while the university has
aligned its financial aid policy to suit the
implementation of NSFAS policies and procedures.
* Fund entrants only in the second semester.
* Only half of the recommended maximum is given, that
has led to students withdrawing from studies before
completion. The maximum limit of R16 000 for 2001
according to government guidelines was not being
adhered to. In one institution the average size of an
award to an applicants is R3 000.
* They do not use the means test to identify needy
students and determine award sizes.
(d) Profile of South African student
White students live in houses close to the campus and are
studying away from home by choice. They are usually not
on financial aid, and invariably have part-time jobs as
waitressws, shop assistants, etc, to earn pocket money
and to contribute towards paying expenses. They are
independent and self-assured. They are found in all
disciplines, especially males in Science, Engineering and
Architecture. There is some racial friction in clubs and
societies, and to a limited extent in student government
bodies, where blacks dominate. They participate a lot in
sport.
Indian students live at home some distance from campus;
they travel by public transport or by family car. Many
privileged students have their own cars. Few are on
financial aid. The wealthy ones study away from home by
choice. They study and "play" in groups (good gender
mix), and hardly participate in clubs and societies or
student government bodies. They mainly study Commerce,
Law and Medicine (both genders).
95% of black students live in residences, mainly on
financial aid. They mainly study Law, Social Science and
Humanities. Females study Nursing and Teaching.
Especially the males participate in student government
bodies. There is a high attrition rate.
The white student population has decreased because of
perception that NSFAS funding targets the poorest. Middle-
class families experience problems to qualify for NSFAS
funding.
(e) Student debt
When assisting the poorest of the poor with financial
aid, it is important to note that the Finance Division
has reported that more than 704 students owed more than
R100 000. The highest debt of any one student was
R177 128.
(f) Existing administrative mechanisms for disbursement of
NSFAS funds
The university has not experienced any difficulties with
existing NSFAS administrative systems. The problem
alluded to in a letter from the Minister of Education to
the chairperson of the NSFAS Board (time between
registration and disbursement of funds) was not a serious
issue, as, according to the university's assessment, the
scheme was being run in a very professional and highly
competent manner.
(g) Size and coverage of loan
The maximum limit of R16 000 of an NSFAS loan did not
adequately accommodate the actual study costs experienced
by students at a residential university. Tuition and
accommodation fees alone could be near R20 000 at 2001
rates, while the full costs, books and other necessary
living expenses, could be nearer to R30 000. This clearly
prejudiced the neediest students, who required loan
funding from other sources to meet their obligations -
funding which might not be offered on the favourable
terms and repayments conditions applicable to NSFAS
awards. A loan should be able to cover all fees at any of
the institutions.
They have received petitions from students who were
unable to repay loans due to unemployment, owing to them
being black-listed by credit bureaux.
(h) Eligibility criteria
Based on their experience, they would like attention to
be given to the following:
* Expand the range of post-graduate courses for which
NSFAS awards may be made, while acknowledging the
commitment of the NSFAS to assist talented and needy
students to enter tertiary institutions.
* Consider making awards to permanent residents who
are not South African citizens. The restriction
prejudices students from other African countries who
have South Africa as their home and have been
accorded permanent resident status.
* Staff and students have experienced that while the
most needy students benefit greatly from the
application of the means test, certain categories of
students are placed in a difficult position - small
families with an income above R50 000 (often single
parents with one breadwinner) often find that
assessed funds are beyond their reach, and that they
are effectively ineligible for funding.
Eligibility criteria should look at funding postgraduate
students, in accordance with the National Plan outlined
by the Minister.
There must be uniformity in the monitoring and
implementation of the policy at all institutions, and
NSFAS policies should be be reviewed continuously.
(i) Targeting priority fields of study
According to Rev Ngomane, it will be more appropriate and
more effective for institutions themselves, rather than
the NSFAS, to target priority fields of study in line
with national policy. The discretion and flexibility that
will be needed to successfully implement this aspect of
national policy, would be very difficult to accommodate
if driven by a centralised funding agency such as the
NSFAS.
6. Excellence and relevance in research - official view by Prof S
S Abdool Karim
(a) Research grants and contracts
The increase in grants is built largely on the
university's reputation and on donations attracted by it:
1995 - R4 million; 1996 - R50 million; 1997 - R65
million; 1998 - R83 million; 1999 - R105 million; and
2000 - R165 million. International research grants
amounted to R30 million.
(b) Research strategy
In response to a rapid changing research environment,
their research support strategy reflects the imperatives
of the South African national system of innovation within
which the higher education system is located.
The university's research committee provides support to:
* Outstanding academics that undertake high quality
basic and applied research and other creative work
that produces academic publications or their
recognised equivalent, like Dr N Ggaleni, Prof P
Berjak (on seed technology); Prof J Moodley (on
mothers dying during child birth because of
hypertension); and Prof K Durrheim (racism and
identity - geographies of racial exclusions).
* The centre of research excellence, which enjoys
national and international recognition and draws on
researchers in a broad range of disciplines across
the university.
* Increased investment in attracting, retaining and
training young academics to provide a new generation
of researchers.
* Research with community partners.
Collaborations such as these strengthen the research
ethos because they contribute to the university's
commitment to socially responsive science and
scholarships. They are now trying to address local demand
to develop new knowledge.
(c) HIV/AIDS
They actively support AIDS research, both through the
Africa Centre for Population Studies and Reproductive
Health and the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research
Division. It has been noted with concern that HIV/AIDS
will have a serious impact on the ability of a large
number of people to access higher education. The age
group 18 to 24, traditional cohort of university
students, is seriously at risk and disadvantaged
communities particularly will be affected. There is a
great deal of student awareness programmes on the
pandemic.
G. University of the Witwatersrand - 6 August 2001
1. Official overview by Vice-Chancellor, Prof N Reid
Prof Reid joined WITS in 2001. The institution's priority is
transformation and it has made progress, particularly with
staff. They are working on schemes to fast-track the
appointment of blacks to managerial positions. 50% of academic
appointments have been blacks, but they were appointed to
middle management. There are vacancies in some faculties but
WITS is struggling to get South Africans to fill them (e.g.
they are looking for a Zoology lecturer with a Ph D, but most
applicants are from Asia).
WITS is committed to supplementing and assisting disadvantaged
students and to ensuring that this be accessible to them. 57%
of the students are black and 47% are female. 70% come from
Gauteng and 30% from outside. There are students from SADC
countries and from the rest of Africa. They hope to expand and
admit students from beyond Africa so as to embrace the spirit
of globalisation. The curriculum has to incorporate
Africanism, bearing in mind the colonialism that Africa had
experienced.
(a) Financial assistance
WITS has received R27 million from the government for
2000-01.
(b) Bridging programmes
WITS has for many years been concerned about student
access to various faculties and about problems that
students from a disadvantaged background experience when
they are accepted into the university. This has resulted
in a number of bridging programmes, some of which were
initiated 25 years ago. These programmes were initially
designed to bridge the great divide between school and
university. The bridging courses served the purpose and
helped many students who had been admitted.
More recently, with the changing demographics of WITS'
student population, the fact that there were many
students from a disadvantaged background and a very poor
primary and secondary educational system, WITS realised
that there was an urgent need to reassess student access
to a tertiary education qualification. The faculties were
restructured and reduced from nine to five.
(c) Faculties
The five new faculties are:
Commerce, Law and Management
Engineering and the Built Environment
Health Sciences
Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
Science
Each faculty has educational officers who establish
mechanisms to facilitate and allow students into their
academic programmes, students who would not automatically
gain access because of their secondary school
achievements.
2. Commerce, Law and Management
Mathematics and Science are entrance requirements for B Com
Accounting. Few students enroll for this degree. Those who do
not qualify to study B Com Accounting, are allowed to do a two-
year bridging course.
(a) Commerce Development Programmes
Since 1996, the Commerce Faculty has experienced
significant change in the constitution of its student
body. Increasing numbers of African, Coloured and Indian
students are being admitted, some of whom do not meet the
automatic entry requirements and a number of whom are
from previously disadvantaged educational backgrounds.
The Commerce Development Programmes unit (CDP unit) was
formally established in 1997 to facilitate and co-
ordinate the anticipated transformation in academic
development needs of both students and staffing of the
faculty. Thus far it has accommodated about 430 students,
registered for the extended curriculum B Com degree. The
registration figure for the Commerce Skills course for
2001 was 81 students.
(b) Graduation rate of CB402 students: 1997 intake
Data was collected and collaborated in a longitudinal
study of students registered for CB402 for the first time
in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The first CDP-extended
curriculum students completed their four-year degrees in
2000. The student intake for CB402 in 1997 was 113.
According to statistics supplied, 14 graduated, 64
dropped out, 12 students were excluded, 11 moved to other
faculties and 18 were still completing their degrees.
(c) Extended Curriculum B Com degree
In contrast to other tertiary CDP initiatives, a bridging
course for previously educationally disadvantaged
students seeking entry to the faculty was not considered
appropriate, hence a formal four-year extended curriculum
B Com degree structure has been introduced. It is
structured in such a way that first-level courses are
split over two years. During the first year, a student is
required to take a specially designed course in
Commercial Skills.
The CDP assists with academic development of the annual
intake of extended curriculum students. It also functions
as a research and advisory resource for academic staff in
teaching departments to address mainstream teaching and
learning problems.
(d) Entry requirements
To meet the automatic admission requirements for B Com,
an applicant needs:
* A total of 23+ points for matric subjects.
* Mathematics at higher grade or 60% (C) at standard
grade.
To be accepted for the extended curriculum degree, an
applicant needs:
* A total of 17+ points for matric subjects.
* To have come from a previously disadvantaged
educational background. Preference is given to
applicants from ex-DET schools.
* Those who do not meet the minimum mathematics
requirements, are required to register for and pass
Foundation Mathematics, a course designed to provide
students with the knowledge and confidence to proceed
to computational Mathematics.
(e) School of Law
The School of Law does not have a formal bridging
programme, but offers an extended LLB to a limited number
of disadvantaged students. This LLB is normally offered
over four years. Courses offered are in line with the
demand in the economy.
3. Engineering and the Built Environment
Learners are admitted into this faculty on the basis of their
Grade 12 results. Common requirements for admission include
mathematics and competency in English. With most of the
schools, Physical Science is a further requirement for
admission.
The faculty ensures that learners from disadvantaged
backgrounds have a wide range of career opportunities.
Selection and placement tests and interviews are held by the
faculty to ensure that alternative admission is administered.
If learners have lower points than required, this alternative
admission system allows them to enter a different school in
the faculty.
In some schools though, they can enter the Foundation
Programme directly, while in others they can enter into the
main stream directly and then be directed to the Foundation
Programme after the first series of tests written in April.
These programmes take the form of an extended curriculum,
where the first year of academic study is extended over two
years with a wide range of academic development programmes to
develop competencies.
The faculty does recognise that Mathematics has a restricted
number of candidates, especially from disadvantaged
backgrounds, for entry. It also recognises that Mathematics at
secondary school level has not necessarily provided the
required competencies for academic success. At the beginning
the success rate of the special selection tests was 23%; now
it has increased to 60%, especially for students from
disadvantaged communities.
4. Health Sciences
There is a new curriculum for medical students doing practical
in Primary Health Care. Arrangements have been made with North
West, the Northern Province and Mpumalanga.
(a) Problems experienced
* Students from a disadvantaged background are not
prepared to deal with the high pressures of tertiary
institutions.
* First- and second-year students experience a 50%
failure rate, due to the fact that they have a poor
background in Mathematics and Science. WITS has had
to change its entry requirements to medical school
and this has changed the number of years one has to
study for a medical degree to four intensive years.
The curriculum has been changed as well.
* Students from disadvantaged schools have difficulty
in asking questions in a large lecture hall. This
makes it difficult to pick up problems they may
experience. WITS has decided to make group small -
about 8 students per class.
* WITS has developed contact with hospitals in
Mpumalanga and the Northern Province for graduates to
work there.
(b) College of Science
The College of Science was started in 1991. Every year
about 130 students are admitted to the stream that leads
to Science. The two-year programme also offers computer
skills, library skills, etc. More students can be
admitted, but most students do not do well in
Mathematics.
5. Humanities, Social Sciences and Education
Entry requirements in this faculty have been changed.
Curriculum specialists are located in the different faculties,
who are involved in curricula review and restructuring of
education diplomas and degrees. Many of the staff are involved
in producing text books across the spectrum.
Five computer centres have been set up to allow teachers and
students to have access to computers. Teachers have been
allowed to upgrade themselves in their area of study or
interest. For example, teachers without matric (PTC) but with
many years of working experience may study certain courses.
Applicants older than 23 who do not meet the entry
requirements, may study for the four-year degree or three-year
diploma.
6. Faculty of Science
The faculty has the following branches: Biological Science;
Molecular Science; Geo-Science; and Pure Mathematics.
An E in higher grade Mathematics is the entry requirement.
Should applicant not have this, a special selection test is
offered to allow them to gain access. Those who pass the
selection test, are interviewed and potential is identified.
60 to 80 students are allowed to study through a foundation
programme to improve their success rate.
WITS encourages organisations like Eskom to allow their
bursars to do a two-year postgraduate degree in Engineering
while being paid 75% of their salary.
7. University Institutional Forum
The forum has about 45 members (four members of the SRC; SASCO
is also represented), and meets once a quarter or whenever
there is a need. The term of office is three years. It advises
the Council on issues affecting the university i.e.
transformation and HIV/AIDS.
Most students are not aware of how the forum can assist them.
It is planning on improving communication with students.
Plan of action
The Forum needs:
To redefine the university's role.
To improve its communication strategy.
To improve staff morale.
8. Student Representative Council
The SRC has 15 members, five white, six black and four others.
Issues that students deal with, are different from issues
dealt by students in previous years. Some of these are
HIV/AIDS, second language learning and media on campus. The
SRC has delivered on their manifesto of promises. It has
solved some of student governance problems. Students have been
involved in restructuring and transforming the university. The
SRC also ensures that the university does not exclude
students.
9. HIV/AIDS
The SRC initiated the HIV/AIDS tests at WITS. Members of the
Council have gone for HIV/AIDS tests but have not released
their results. Their main goal is to have students go for
HIV/AIDS tests. Enough condoms have been distributed and the
university has been involved in formulating an HIV/AIDS
policy.
10. Sexual harassment
WITS has employed a part-time sexual harassment officer; they
cannot afford a full-time one. Those who feel that they have
been sexually harassed, can consult the office. There are
statistics available that suggest sexual harassment and rapes
do occur.
11. Language
WITS is addressing the language problem and foundation courses
are offered for disadvantaged students. A language survey to
determine the language problem experienced by students has
been conducted. The Department of Education does not consider
sign language an entrant requirement.
12. Racism
Students are not willing to come forward and report incidences
of racism, as they are scared of being victimised. WITS does
not allow initiation of students.
13. Postgraduate students
They do not have a platform from which to raise their
concerns, and they do not receive adequate funding for their
studies.
14. Key people from bridging and foundation programmes
The needs of the students who do not meet entry requirements,
are addressed. Students who experience personal and academic
problems, are counselled.
15. Unversity Research Committee
Research in South Africa is funded by Science Councils. WITS
is trying to identify black women academics. The research
committee has proposed a capacity development scheme to
support and promote blacks, women and the youth.
Challenges in increased involvement of Blacks/women
Academics are not paid well and this makes it difficult to
attract them to the university. The pressure is on black
graduates to contribute to their families financially once
they are qualified.
The Faculty of Science, followed by Engineering, produces a
number of publications. WITS has a system of senior
mentorship, where experienced scientists are funded from
outside to train young scientists. The Nuclear Physics
Institute has signed agreements for exchange students with
Zimbabwe.
It is difficult to access funds for a publication, as you have
to be on a list of Research Journals, which have not been
updated for five years.
The Faculty of Engineering is fully committed to research, but
it is difficult for the university in general to retain black
students to enter postgraduate studies, as they prefer to work
after completing their junior degree, due to the fact that
their parents or families expect them to pay towards the
studies of siblings still at school. They either join the
public or private sector because education institutions offer
lower salaries.
16. National Plan Co-ordinating Committee - merging of
institutions
The institution is not scared of change, and for the past
three years has engaged in transformation. Informal
discussions are taking place on a possible merger. However,
international experience shows that a merger of institutions
succeeds when there is enough time to do it, but does not
succeed when forced. It has shown that institutions like WITS
should strengthen its strategic alliance rather than merge.
WITS does acknowledge that Johannesburg needs more than one
university, but is not sure whether a merger will address this
need. The merger could be done at programme level. Their
concern is that if pushed to merger, they will end up not
addressing their problems and will not be able to focus on
transformation. Nevertheless, WITS is willing to engage in
policy discussions.
17. Postgraduate Association
Previously there was no way for postgraduate students to
channel their grievances. The Postgraduate Association does
not have a seat in the Senate. There are not enough funds to
promote research at WITS, as the government is no longer
funding the institution properly. This makes it impossible for
WITS to sustain itself without proper promotion of research.
18. National Student Financial Aid Scheme
For many years funds have been allocated to needy students
registering at institutions of higher learning. Since the
inception of the NSFAS, WITS has administered these funds in
accordance with criteria laid down by the NSFAS as well as
WITS's General Rules of Practice for awarding University
Administered Bursaries and Loans (for 2001).
(a) Size allocation per student
The maximum allocation to each student has increased
steadily each year from R10 000 in 1996 to R16 000 in
2001. The maximum income level has been increased to R130
000 per year to assist middle-income students who face
financial constraints. Lower income levels were from
R10 000 to R15 000 per year. This enabled the extremely
needy students to be assisted.
(b) Eligibility
* Students cannot access NSFAS funds unless they are
registered. It is the Department of Education that
has set this criteria. However, WITS does waver
registration fees if a students is on the NSFAS,
while other universities do not allow that.
* The duration of financial assistance is equal to the
length of the degree plus one year (up to a maximum
of seven years in the case of medical students).
* In certain circumstances where a student has already
qualified for an undergraduate degree, he or she may
not receive additional funding. However, WITS and the
Oppenheimer Trust have established a loan scheme to
be administered by the NSFAS.
* Difficulty is experienced by students who do not
qualify for maximum funds but require additional
funding for accommodation and subsistence. If a
student is in a residence, the allowance pays for
accommodation, so there are no surplus funds
available for subsistence. If the student uses
private accommodation, the allowance is used to
payment the rent, and therefore no subsistence is
available.
* In 2001 there were roll-over funds, which assisted
690 students who otherwise would have been excluded.
(c) Disabled students
WITS encourages access of disabled students, regardless
of a lack of resources.
* These students experience specific problems as a
result of their disabilities. In most cases they are
enrolled on special/extended curricula which require
that the period of study and thus the loan period be
extended. The difficulty comes in where a student has
surpassed the number of years allowed but has not
finished the degree. Although they are denied
funding, it is felt that a disabled student should be
assisted to study further. However, there have been
no funds allocated for this purpose. In addition,
disabled students often require specialised material,
which at this stage are not funded by the NSFAS.
* The Dean of Student Affairs discussed these points
with Mr R Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of the
NSFAS, who agreed to take the matter up with the
NSFAS Board.
* Disabled students are assisted by the university's
Roll-over Loan Programme. This programme was started
in 1993 to assist needy students on financial aid who
were unable to pay fees not covered by their
packages. Since then the programme has grown from
assisting only a handful of students to assisting 690
students in 2000-01. It includes the granting of
additional NSFAS loans and is aimed at students who
are unable to pay the balance of their fees at the
end of the academic year. Provided they have passed
and have not received the maximum NSFAS loans, these
students' applications are reassessed and they are
granted additional loan funding according to their
financial need rating. Foreign students, including
those with refugee status, SADC students (unless they
become South African citizens) and part-time students
are not eligible for loans.
The NSFAS requires that all students make some
contribution towards their costs. Because of this
requirement, all students applying for the Roll-over Loan
Programme must have made a contribution towards their
fees accounts, according to their individual
circumstances. WITS also provides a Service Bursary
Scheme, whereby students may work in departments within
the university to assist them to make their own
contributions. Wits also receive donated funds and funds
from the University Council. These funds are used to top
up student packages with bursaries. Students are not
required to repay this portion to the university.
H. Potchefstroom University (PU) - 7 August 2001
1. Traditional ethos and transformation
The School of Theology was founded in 1869 in Burgersdorp. In
1919 the institution became a University College for Christian
Higher Education (CHE). It became a University of South Africa
College in 1921, being called a University College in 1951.
The university has had one satellite campus since 1966. More
blacks started studying at PU since 1967. Residences were
opened to all races in 1990. There are about 2 000 students on
the Vaal Triangle Campus.
2. Vision
A university of high quality with a Christian foundation,
entrepreneurally orientated and responsive to the requirements
of the age, the country and the nation.
3. Transformation
The transformation process started early in the 1990s. Prior
to 1994 they met with different stakeholders, and various
issues were discussed. Before transformation took place, there
was tension and uncertainty among staff, and there is still
tension.
In the mid-90s the composition of the council was changed, as
it was dominated by whites. It contained 17 white males. 30%
of the members were internal members and 70% were external.
Three were Senate members.
In 1993 the council consisted of one principal, four vice-
principals, two Senate members, one employee, one student and
external members. An agreement was reached to enlarge the
council to 23 members, consisting of 14 white males, seven
black males and two white females.
In 1999 further changes with regard to gender and the number
of employees were made in respect of the council. It consisted
of 17 whites, six blacks and five females.
Principal - 1; Vice-Principal - 2; Management Committee;
Senate - 2; Other employees - 1; Institutional Forum - 1;
Students - 2.
(a) Student numbers
1919-1965 - students numbered about 2 000. In 2001 there
were 13 327 students at PU and the Vaal Triangle - 75%
white, 25% black, 43% males and 57% females. 45% are from
North West and 55% from other provinces and other
countries. Postgraduate students are 3 490 (about 26%)
and undergraduate students are 9 837 (about 74%).
(b) Massification
The number of students increased as the years went by and
telematic learning systems have been developed. PU's
telematics results have been better than the results of
students studying on campus (contact students). They are
also better than those of students studying at UNISA,
probably due to the fact that the majority of distance
learners are mature and dedicated. Telematic, distant and
contact students all write the same examinations.
PU has been used to develop a telematics learning system,
and its learning centres quite often operate in concert
with other institutions to enhance education. These
institutions are all over South Africa: Northern Province
- 7; Mpumalanga - 21; North West - 13; Northern Cape - 5;
Eastern Cape - 12; Western Cape - 12; KwaZulu-Natal - 12;
Gauteng - 1.
This programme is meant for students who, for whatever
reason, cannot attend residential institutions. PU is
trying to attract more black students to balance with the
country's demographics. Black students who qualify for
admission are not turned away. PU does not prevent
students from other denominations (not Christian) to
study there. They are satisfied with the results of
telematic learning systems, and has taken steps to ensure
that private providers make the programme a success.
PU has nine faculties and 13 research focus areas. They
also offer outreach programmes - postgraduates engaged in
community services. Research is conducted to assist
communities in respect of nutrition, legal aid, etc. The
Theology Faculty has more black students than any other
faculty.
Twice a year school teachers enroll for diploma and
postgraduate diploma courses offered by PU to upgrade
them in Mathematics and Science. About 1 000 black
teachers have been upgraded by them over the past four
years. These teachers are allowed to use the university's
laboratory facilities, as most of their schools do not
have laboratories.
(c) Institutional culture
The language medium of PU is Afrikaans. About 6 000
students study in English. 90% of all textbooks are in
English and lectures are in Afrikaans. All examination
papers are in Afrikaans and English, and students may
answer questions in the language of their choice. In the
Vaal Triangle, 50% of the lectures are in Afrikaans and
50% in English.
Prof Zibi organised morning classes to teach management
Setswana, which helped them to be sensitive to other
languages. PU is opposed to the merger of institutions.
They have a negotiated statute, which came about as a
result of transformation. The statute will be revisited
in some technical respects once the private acts are
scrapped. Lectures have never been disrupted due to
unrest.
(d) Disabilities
PU has developed material to enable blind students to
study. Different buildings have been made to cater for
persons with disability (e.g. toilets, off-ramps, lecture
halls, etc). Disabled staff members who cannot drive or
use the computer, are assisted.
(e) Language
PU attempts to ensure that language is not a barrier for
students. A language-assisting facility has been
installed to assist students with reading skills.
Computer courses are offered for all students. The
university feels very strongly about Afrikaans, but will
not exclude or discriminate against other languages.
There are students trained to assist students who cannot
cope with the content of courses.
(f) Satellite campus: telematic/distance programmes
Most students attending the satellite campus and distance
programmes are working people with their own families to
support, and thus cannot afford to attend full-time
lectures.
(g) Student affairs
There is a high level of representation of students on
different committees. PU regards students as equals in
all committees they are serving on. SRC members are
members of the Senate, the Executive Council and the
Council. The management does not interfere with student
politics, and students independently deal with their
affairs.
(h) SRC
SASCO was not part of the meeting, as its members were
picketing outside the premises when the delegation
arrived. The delegation met with members of the Vaal
Triangle's SRC and PU's SRC. There was tension on campus
when the SRC chairperson started studying at Vaal
Triangle. No one was prepared to address issues. Change
began when students started questioning what was
happening.
Finances
Many measures are in place to assist students
financially. It has always been a problem for
students to pay for registration.
Language
Students tried to establish a forum to discuss issues
- a student parliament. This parliament sits once a
term, depending on the need. Some programmes are
offered in English. Evening lectures are mainly for
part-time students, but full-time students are
allowed to attend them. Study material is in both
languages. Sometimes, at Vaal Triangle, students are
allowed to decide on the language they prefer to be
lectured in. They participate in lectures in a
language of their choice.
Each campus has its own SRC. Potch has 18 portfolios
and Vaal Triangle eight. The student body has eight
portfolios, among others Sport, Culture, PRO,
Secretary, Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. It is
directly involved in assisting students.
NSFAS
Funds are only made available to students after they
have registered at Potch or Vaal Triangle. Students
cannot access funds if their fees have not been paid.
Students do not abuse the NSFAS, as the NSFAS targets
needy students. Vaal Triangle is a small campus and
it is easy to detect needy students. Both SRCs assist
in identifying needy students.
Residences
At Vaal Triangle, residence students are allowed to
stay where they want. Most of them socialise with
students of their own culture. Black students (five
years ago) pressurised management to be accommodated
in their own residences, but it was refused.
Allegations exist that there is an element of racial
discrimination at university residences. At Potch
students are allowed to stay where they want, taking
cognisance of the fact that mono-cultural residences
have not been allowed to develop.
HIV/AIDS
There is a support group that deals with AIDS. There
are no condoms available on campus, as the
distribution of condoms is regarded as contrary to a
Christian value system.
(i) Dropouts
PU does not have readily available statistics on the
number of academic dropouts. It has no record of students
who dropped out because of financial reasons. Those who
usually drop out after the first year, do not report or
come back, which makes it difficult to trace them.
(j) Orientation/initiation
Initiation is done in a fashion that is comfortable to
the students - it is a programme owned by the students.
3. NSFAS
The Financial Support Services Department at PU is the vital
link between the NSFAS and students.
(a) State of NSFAS IN 2001
In 2001 PU received R14 133 522, and R11 209 355 was
allocated. NSFAS 2001: R11 140 000; NSFAS Teachers
Education 2001: R2 484 522; NSFAS x 2000: R412 000; NSFAS
Thintana 2001: R97 000.
Total number of students assisted: 1 096; population
distribution: 65% whites and 35% blacks receive the
funds. 20% of black students and 7% of white students
receive NSFAS funds. 96% of black first-year students
studying towards a degree in education receive NSFAS
funds for teacher education.
(b) Management of NSFAS at PU
The NSFAS is managed on a three-system approach -
marketing, production and financial strategy. To market
the NSFAS, the university:
* Advertises in the student newspaper, Die Wapad.
* Holds meetings with Deans, Directors of Schools,
lecturers, house committee members and the SRC to
sensitise on financially needy students.
* Uses the Internet, e-mail and groupwise to inform
students who have access to electronic media.
* Liaises with the Financial Department (Accounts) to
identify students with financial problems.
* Makes first-year students aware of the NSFAS.
* Liaises with individual students to identify more
financially needy students.
Students who receive NSFAS funds, receive funds that
cover all academic costs. PU does not return roll-over
funds to the NSFAS, as they are aware that at the
beginning of every year there are students who need
financial assistance. These students are allowed to
access roll-over NSFAS funds for registration. Only
students who meet the academic requirements, can access
these funds. PU allocates between R9 000 and R12 000 to
each student, but priority is given to the needy. The
NSFAS is satisfied with the way in which their funds are
administered.
2. Entry requirements, bridging programme and publication of
requirements for access
(a) PU offers a Technical College Programme for students who
do not meet entry requirements. These access programmes
are offered in Rustenburg, Vereeniging, Van der Bijl
Park, Springs, Benoni, Potchefstroom and Sasolburg.
(b) They offer Saturday classes (and has been doing so for a
number of years) to assist Grade 12 pupils to pass so
that they may meet the university's entry requirements.
(c) PU has Student Counselling Services responsible for
selecting students, career guidance using psychometric
tests, assisting students to cope with their studies
psychologically, and offering special administrative
tests for students who do not meet entry requirements.
Students who qualify to be admitted to study Engineering have
a minimum of 21 points. Students who do not qualify are
allowed to write a special admission test in Mathematics.
Those who do not pass the test, are allowed to study a two-
year course in order to register. About 20 students are
allowed to register for a one-year course that will enable
them to study Engineering. This course is expensive and costs
the university a lot of money. Tests are used to select
students to study Pharmacy, Theology and Social Work.
3. SADC students
PU does admit students from SADC countries, but their matric
results have to be evaluated by the Matriculation Board. These
students are from Zaire, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The
university has students from Korea and Britain, who study
through telematics. PU has prepared study guidelines that
assist distance-learning students. Distance-learning
programmes are good programmes, not secondary.
I. University of the North (UNIN) - 8 August 2001
UNIN is a rural university within a predominantly black
population. The ratio is 99% black, other races making up the
remaining 1%. 55% of the student body are female.
1. Academic sector
There are more females in the top managerial levels. There are
more males (321) than females (141), more blacks (296) than
whites (147), and only five coloureds and four Indians on the
permanent staff of the main campus. On 1 July 2001, a new
academic structure was established.
(a) Programmes
UNIN has various formative degrees and diplomas in the
following directions:
Arts and Health Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Law
Agriculture, Health and Natural Sciences
Management Sciences
UNIN offers programme-based study directions within two
faculties. These programmes will be housed in schools:
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Arts
Social Sciences
Education
Law
Management and Leadership Studies
Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences
Natural and Environmental Sciences
Mathematical Sciences, Computer Studies and Information
Technology
Health Sciences
Applied Agriculture Sciences
Mining and Manufacturing Engineering
Research Development
A programme-based study direction was developed in
response to the needs in community - UNIN has four
research units. To date the focus has been on
undergraduate programmes. Postgraduate programmes as well
as research have always taken a backseat. UNIN now
intends to increase efforts towards greater student
intakes at postgraduate level. There are still more males
than females, and UNIN wants to put mechanisms in place
to attract more females into the research arena.
UNIN has experienced a drastic drop in overall student
enrolment and is now in the process of developing
strategies to deal with the situation. It identified the
following as factors that caused the dramatic drop in
enrolment:
* Instability within the institution as a result of
the active involvement of its student body in
national politics.
* Lack of viable marketable academic programmes.
* The opening of alternative institutions of higher
learning, especially white universities and
technikons, since 1994.
* The development of an increased interest in
technikons, compared to universities. Lack of
adequate financial support for students in need,
especially first-time entrant and postgraduate
levels.
* Low matriculation results, especially at university
entry level in the Northern Province.
* Lack of student retention mechanisms.
* Lack of competitive recruitment strategies.
* Poor image of the institution.
(b) Disabled students
UNIN caters for disabled students and partially sighted
students. It has the best equipped and running disabled
students unit, which will accommodate the needs of the
disabled. Plans are afoot to put up a special building to
house the unit. Physical facilities around the main
campus have been improved to meet the needs of this
sector of the student community.
UNIN has a good programme for the deaf, visually and
mobile impaired students. Funds have been raised to build
a unit for disabled students. However, UNIN cannot afford
to buy furniture for them, and appeal to the government
to assist.
(c) Recruitment
To attract students, UNIN advertises in both the printed
and the electronic media. It is difficult for the
university to attract postgraduate students, as it cannot
afford to offer bursaries in competition with traditional
white universities.
(d) NSFAS - implementation and limitations
* Ideally the funding should enable needy students to
overcome their financial difficulties and further
their education. Regrettably this is not the case, as
the NSFAS is not able to fund students to the full
tune of what they require, since there are minimum
and maximum allocations prescribed by the NSFAS
Board. This means then it does not cater for all
students' needs. Since its inception, the NSFAS has
never been able to pay all fees for that particular
year for students because of the limited funding and
the number of students who qualify for financial
assistance according to NSFAS requirements.
* NSFAS funds are allocated to 60% females and 40%
males. Students who do not meet NSFAS requirements
are not allowed access to the funds. NSFAS
allocations are made after a student has registered.
* The success rate of students receiving NSFAS funds
is about 60%.
(e) NSFAS -implication for UNIN
UNIN depends mainly on the NSFAS to fund students, as it
does not have reserves like other institutions,
especially historically advantaged institutions. It has
been a trend that, since the establishment of the NSFAS,
UNIN has not been able to pay the allocation prescribed
by the NSFAS because of limited funding. The amount
allocated to an institution is divided by the number of
students who qualify for financial assistance. For
example, in the academic year 2000, the maximum
allocation recommended by the NSFAS was R14 600, but the
maximum allocation that the university could make
available, was R8 500 per student. This amount does not
even cover the fees fully, let alone meals and book
allowance.
The fact that students do not get an allowance for books,
could lead to them failing or dropping out.
(f) Means test
* Most institutions use the means test; others use
their internal local software as the cut-off point
for income. This creates a problem in a sense that
the means test is not compulsory, and thus funding to
students is not uniform.
* It is not clear whether funding is really received
by deserving (poor) students or not, since students
do not provide true information about their parents'
or guardians' income status. This makes it difficult
to assess the authenticity of information given.
There is no system which institutions could use to
access the parents/guardians information. Most
students submit pension slips, and UNIN depends on
these submissions to select students.
* Students studying for a two-year diploma at UNIN, do
not qualify for financial assistance. They struggle
to get financial assistance, as UNIN does not have
funds to allocate to them.
* The NSFAS sponsors undergraduate students and only a
few postgraduate degrees and diplomas. UNIN has to
cater for students who do not qualify for NSFAS
funds.
(g) UNIN'S contribution
UNIN has its own Student Financial Aid Trust, established
in 1996. The trust awards bursaries to needy students in
Pharmacy, Optometry, Agriculture, Natural Sciences,
Management Sciences and Medical Sciences. Since 1999, the
trust has allocated bursaries to the tune of R600 000. At
the time of the visit the trust hoped to raise R1 million
before the end of 2001.
(h) Student Representative Assembly
* Students are not happy with the way NSFAS funds are
allocated - these are allocated to students after
they have registered. This means that students who
cannot afford to pay registration fees, are unable to
access funds and are not admitted.
* Funds (about R2 million) have been withdrawn from
UNIN because they were not utilised by the
university. UNIN's Finance Section did not have a
mechanism to allocate NSFAS funds to students. This
happened even though students were sent home because
they could not pay the registration fee.
* Funding is allocated mostly to students studying
Science and Technology - students studying other
courses are neglected.
* Most students are black.
* UNIN has a programme to ensure that SADC students
are recruited and attracted.
* The SRC is now referred to as the Student
Representative Assembly, and its constitution has
been changed.
* There is no clear mechanism to ensure that
university debts paid by students go to the
university and not to lawyers.
* UNIN is apprehensive of paying for first-year
students, as there is no guarantee that those
students will get a 50% pass.
(i) Administration and technical staff
* Funding allocated to UNIN is not adequate, and thus
some students have to drop out.
* About 4 000 students applied to study at UNIN, but
not all could register, as most of them could not
afford registration fees. This has resulted in a
significant drop in the numbers of students
registered. Some staff members had to be retrenched,
because there were not enough students to lecture.
* UNIN is unable to attract students with good matric
results. It is only the funded traditional white
universities that are able to attract such students,
as they can offer them bursaries.
* UNIN is unable to attract students of colour, as
meals offered at the univer+sity are not of good
quality.
* 300 Pharmacy applicants were turned away because
pharmacy laboratories were small and could not cater
for many students.
* UNIN has 600 computers but not enough trainers to
train students, as there are not enough funds to pay
trainers.
(j) Concerned Lecturers and Academic Staff Support Group
(CLASSG)
* Students are unable to access the NSFAS for
registration. Most academically qualifying students
cannot afford to pay registration fees, which makes
it difficult for UNIN to attract academically viable
students.
* UNIN offers a good bridging programme, UNIFY. The
Senate has agreed to expand the programme to other
fields of study.
* UNIN adheres to the National Plan on Higher
Education.
* Students registered in 2001 are committed in
studying because they are encouraged to make a
contribution towards their studies. They have to make
some payment to register.
* Politicians should assist UNIN to improve its
culture of learning.
* UNIN offers a community outreach programme -students
cannot graduate without doing community work.
* UNIN conducts research for the government.
(k) Entry requirements
It is important for students to understand the language
used in different courses. For example, students studying
Science have to attend a language course for Science to
enable them to understand the course. This course has
been offered since the 1970s. UNIN addresses issues of
language and culture in cases where the medium of
instruction is a second or third language.
2. Visit to experimental farm - offical view by Prof Fritzgerald,
Administrator: UNIN
There is tension between UNIN and the Administrator. Prof
Fritzgerald is working hard to ensure that this does not
affect UNIN's functioning. According to him, the culture of
learning has to be improved, and politicians could assist in
this regard.
J. Recommendations
1. In keeping with the objective of specialist schools, centres of
excellence and a focused vision, the above-mentioned
institutions should look at placing greater funding and
resources in the particular speciality towards which they seem
to be moving:
(a) Peninsula Tecnikon is moving towards digital technology
and engineering, thus it should specialise and make this
their priority, with advanced courses being offered so
that they can produce not only computer operators but
also software and hardware technologists.
(b) To protect the valuable work kept in the Research Centre
at the University of Fort Hare, it should be microfilmed
and digitised.
(c) The funding formula for universities should be reviewed;
the current year enrolment should be used as a yardstick,
not the enrolment of two years ago. The formula should
also provide for financial assistance for needy students.
(d) The Department of Education should review the formula for
funding institutions of higher learning with the aim to
find ways in which to address the neglect of previously
disadvantaged institutions and to empower them to fulfil
their missions.
(e) Special financial assistance to UNITRA is of the essence
to upgrade their medical faculty.
(f) The Department of Education should substantially increase
the NSFAS budget to accommodate more students and to
effectively and realistically open the doors of higher
learning.
(g) As students from SADC countries are not eligible for NSFAS
funds, a clear policy in respect of assisting them should
be developed.
(h) The University of the North needs to open a Mining
Engineering Department or Faculty, as the entire Northern
Province has a mining potential not fully utilised.
(i) History as a discipline needs to be prioritised to realise
the authentic and correct history of our people in South
Africa.
(j) African Languages need to be revitalised in our
institutions of higher learning.
(k) The National Research Foundation should facilitate
research and training of postgraduate students at
historically disadvantaged institutions.
(l) Special focus should be given to Potchefstroom University
in respect of language, gender, religion and
representativity in order to speed up the process of
transformation there.
K. Concluding remarks
The Committee observed with appreciation the general stability in
the institutions visited. There seems to be relative co-operation
between stakeholders, with institutional forums working together
well. Most of them seem to be making significant strides in
keeping up with transformation policies. All agree that the NSFAS
plays a big role in facilitating many students from poor
communities to access institutions of higher learning.
L. List of participants
Peninsula Technikon
Mrs V Elissac, Public Relations Officer
Prof B Figaji, Vice-Chancellor
Prof J Tromp, Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Mr G Reynecke, Head: Financial Aid
Prof H Fransman, Director: Educational Development Centre
Mr M Clarke, Chief Director: Finance and Administration
Ms C Jacobs , Language Co-ordinator: Engineering
Mr E Sebokedi, Deputy Head: Student Affairs
Mr S Ndabezitha, Chief Director: Human Resources and Support
Services
Mr J Garraway, Educational Development Centre
Mr L Himunchul, Educational Development Centre
Mr T Titus, Head: Student Affairs
Mr B Jodwana, SRC: Engineering Officer
Mr T Damoyi, SRC: President
Adv L Harper, Special Assistant to Vice-Chancellor
University of Fort Hare
Prof D Swartz, Vice-Chancellor
Prof D O Okeya, Executive Dean: Science and Technology
Mr M S Silinga, Academic Cluster Leader
Mr N Ruthman, Co-ordinator: Vision, Mission and Governance
Ms Z Ndlovu, Co-ordinator: Finance and Revenue Strategies
Prof R Bally, University Planner
Ms L T Ngalo-Morrison, Dean of Students
Mr S Kobese, Community partnership co-ordinator
Mrs A H N Mbete, Director: Human Resources
Mr L Jacobs, Director: Marketing and Communications
Mr L Sogayise, Rural Action Programme Co-ordinator
Mr M Moodley, Technology Support Centre
Mr A Gwabeni, Institutional Forum Administrator: Academic
Cluster
Mr P Cole, Economic Development Consultant
Mr N Dladla, Dean; Management, Development and Commerce
Mr L Mabuyane, SRC President
Mr N R Mboniswa, Administrator
Mr M W Magwa, SPC member
Institutional Forum
Represented by General Student Council, South Africa Student
Congress, United Democratic Students' Movement Organisation,
National Tertiary education staff union, Pan Africanist Student
Movement Association, Azanian Student Congress, NEHAWU
Ms Memani-Balani, Mr S Muzamba, Mr S Vamva, Mr N L Lufefe, Mr S P
Sitole, Mr V T Gqube, Ms L D Khoabai, Mr M P Mhlanti, Mr V Peter,
Mrs Bokwe, Ms T Heshlula, Mr L M Jakatyana, Mr S R Matshoba, Mr A
B Magoloba, Mr E Maki, Mr S M Goqwana, Mr B Sixaba, Mr T L Bhengu,
Mr L M Bara, Mr S Tini, Mr L S Toti
University of Transkei
Prof N Morgan, University Administrator
Mr P O Chabane, Special Assistant to Administration
Prof C Z Gebeda, Manager: TELP
Dr S M Matoti, Planner
Prof J M Noruwana, Vice Principal
Prof E L Mazwai, Dean: Health Sciences
Prof N J N Mijere, Acting Dean: Faculty of Arts
Prof A Coetier, Acting Vice Dean: Arts
Prof M Mahabir, Dean: Faculty of Economic Sciences
Mr P K Gqulu
Mr L H Kentane, Vice Dean: Education
Prof S V S Ngubentombi, Dean: Education
Rev Dr W M Guwa, Dean of Students
Mr F H Mbali, Member of IF
Dr W M Kwetana, NTESU
Ms S N Nkanyuza, President: NTESU
Prof J A Faniran
Prof B S Nikani, Dean: Science
Ms K Kirishanlal-Gopal
Mr B Mabentsela
Mr A W Anderson, UASA
Mr N P Tyamzashe, Nehawu
Mr Z Madlongolwane, Nehawu
Mr M Somkoko, Nehawu
Mr M Mboni, SRC
Mr V P Zoko, SRC
Mr M Sodlodla, SRC
University of Natal
Prof B M Gourley, Vice-Chancellor
Mr P M Malgas, Registrar
Dr D Rajab, Dean of Student Development
Prof S S Abdool Karim, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
Mr T M Willis, Dean of Students
Prof E A Ngara, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students and
Transformation)
Prof A Bawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics)
Rev J Ngomane, Director: Financial Aid
University of the Witwatersrand
Prof Max Price, Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences
Mr Makhukhu Mampuru, National Department of Education
Ms Wendy Orr, Wits Transformation and Employment Equity
Prof Charles Landy, Acting Dean, Faculty of Engineering and
the Built Environment
Mr Tony Lelliott, Acting Dean: Faculty of Humanities, Social
Sciences and Education
Prof Colin J Wright, Dean: Faculty of Science
Prof David Solomon, Acting Dean: Commerce, Law and Management
Prof Norman Reid, Vice Chancellor
Mr John Kuhn, SRC UF Deputy Chairperson
Mr Steve Lebelo, Wits Foundation
Prof James Fisher, Senate
Ms Jillian Carman, UF Secretary: Convocaetion Executive
Ms Barbara Buntman, Lecturer: Art History
Ms Margaret Orr, Director: Centre for University Learning,
Teaching and Development
Ms Kathy Munro, Director: Wits Plus Centre for Part-time
Studies
Ms Michele Aucock, Director: Commerce Development Programme
Ms L Murray, Academic Planning Officer (Registrar's Office)
Prof C Eales, Representative: Faculty of Health Sciences
Prof F Maraicano, Representative: Faculty of Science
Representative (National Plan Co-ordinating Committee)
Prof L Nongxa, Chairperson: University National Plan
Co-ordinating Committee
Prof J Feddenhe, Faculty of CLM
Prof H Janks, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and
Education
Prof H M Marques, Faculty of Sciences
Prof Y Ballim, Faculty of Engineeering and Built Environment
Mr D Young, Lecturer and Member of Senate
Ms N Jappie, Support Services, Member of Senate and Dean of
Students
Mr A Adamjee, SRC Treasurer
Ms S Goga, SRC Media Officer
Mr I G T Moroeng, Internal Vice-President
Mr J Huddle, SRC Secretary
Mr J Kuhn, SRC Vice-President
Mr N Letshoene, Deputy Chairpersoon: PSA
Mr T Odhiambo, PGA: Projects and Campaigns
Mr M Y Cajee, SRC President
Mr V Black, Head: Financial Aid
Mr A de Wet, Executive Director: Finance
University of Potchefstroom
Mr T Eloff, Principal Designate
Mr A J Viljoen, Vice-Principal
Mr W E Scott, Vice-Principal
Prof M S Zibi, Vice-Principal
Mr Theo Venter, Institutional Forum
Mr P J J Prinsloo, Vice-Principal
Prof H J Reyneke, Dean of Students
Mr J S du Plooy, Head: Financial Support Service
Prof P du Plessis, Director: Academic Services
Prof H N Kotze, Head: Student Counselling Services
Mr T Cato - Deputy Director - Academic Administrator
Mr H Stavast, Director: Student Affairs, Vaal Triangle Campus
Mr S Nsibanyani, SRC Chairperson: Vaal Triangle
Ms H Mulder, SRC Chairperson: Potchefstroom
Ms B Basson, SRC Vice-Chairperson: Potchefstroom
Ms C Dikotsi, SRC: Social Intergration
Prof P Potgieter
University of the North
Prof A L Mawashe, Assistant to the Administrator
Ms K M A Hlane, Acting University Registrar
Ms N O Kwenaite, Public Relations Co-ordinator
Prof P Fritzgerald, Administrator
Mr M C Makhambula, Academic Administrator
Prof N M Mollel, Caretaker Director: School of Social Sciences
Prof S Louw, Languages and Communication Studies
Prof P F Breed, Caretaker Director: Management Sciences
Dr P W Mashela, Caretaker Director: Physical and Mineral
Sciences
Adv Phindela, Caretaker Director: Law
Prof G T Mncube, Quality Assurance Manager
Mr W E S Thema, Acting Executive Director: SD and SS
Dr D S Hiss, Caretaker Director: School of Health Sciences
Prof P E Franks
Dr N M Mokgalong, University of the North Academic Staff
Association (UNASA)
Mr M J Theman, Caretaker Dean: Humanities
Mr M E Thangeni, Caretaker Director: Mathematics and Sciences
Mr M F Ralenala, School of Education
Mr M M Lemao, NEHAWU
Mr M P Madidimao, NEHAWU
Mr Eric Maimela, Post-Graduate Society Chairperson
Mr T Musolwa, SRA Secretary-General
Ms Sheila Mmusi, National Tertiary Education Staff Union
(NTESU)
Mr K D Malele, Deputy President: Internal SRA
Ms N Pitje, Administration and Technical Staff
Mr V D Mabuza, BSA
Mr C I Khanye, Administration and Technical Staff
Mr G M JJIA, National Tertiary Education Staff Union (NTESU)
Prof NL Nkantini, National Tertiary Education Staff Union
Prof P R Franks, University of the North Academic Staff
Association (UNASA)
Mr M A Ngoepe, Concerned Lectures and Academic Staff Support
Group (CLASSG)
Report to be considered.