Commission for Gender Equality Annual Performance Plan 2011

Meeting report

Commission for Gender Equality Annual Performance Plan: 2011/ 14
The Annual Performance Plan (APP) 2011/14 was presented by Mr Mlanozelwa Shozi, the Acting Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). He mentioned that the Constitutional Mandate of the CGE was to promote respect for gender equality and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality. The additional powers and functions prescribed by national legislation in Section 11 (1) of the CGE Act 1996 (Act No. 39 of 1996) was to monitor, investigate, research, educate, lobby; advise Parliament and report on issues concerning gender equality; monitor  compliance with regional and international conventions and  the  Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act  2000 (Act No. 4 of 2000) (PEPUDA);  assist complainants in instituting proceedings in the Equality Court; and conduct investigations and make recommendations regarding persistent contraventions of PEPUDA. Its vision was to see a society free from all forms of gender oppression and inequality. Its mission was to monitor, evaluate and make recommendations on policies of the public and private sector; provide information and educational programmes; evaluate and make recommendations on legislation affecting the status of women; investigate, resolve and rectify gender issues; collaborate with Government and civil society; and monitor and report on international conventions.

The CGE’s relation to the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities was in terms of the President’s Proclamation of July 2009 and the relationship was largely administrative. The CGE’s independence remained as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996), Section 181(2), unless there was a constitutional amendment. The Ministry/department like all the other organs of state was obliged to assist, protect the independence of the institution in terms of Section 181(3). The mandate of the Commission remained exclusive in terms of Section 187.The values of the Commission was anchored in the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law. It functioned with an ethos grounded in the values of Independence; Professionalism; Accountability; Ethical behavior; and Teamwork. 

The Commission had four strategic objectives which were presented by Ms Keketso Maema, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CGE. The first objective was to ensure the creation and implementation of an enabling legislative framework that promoted the attainment of gender equality, while the second was to protect and promote gender equality by engaging with relevant stakeholders to educate and raise awareness on issues of gender equality, challenge patriarchal perceptions and stereotypes and take action against infringements of gender rights through the implementation of appropriate redress. The third objective had to do with monitoring state compliance with regional and international conventions, covenants and charters which have been acceded to or ratified by the Republic, relating to the objects of the Commission. The fourth and final objective was to build an effective, efficient and sustainable institution that would fulfill its Constitutional mandate on gender equality. The thematic governance oversight approach by Commissioners included Gender and Poverty; Gender based v violence; Democracy and good governance; Gender, Culture, Religion and Tradition; Gender, HIV and AIDS; and the National Gender Machinery. 

The sub strategies for objective one were to monitor and evaluate the promotion of gender equality and any relevant policies and practices of the public and private sector and report to Parliament; to initiate and review the improvement of the legislative framework in all spheres of Government that impacted on priority areas of gender equality;  to conduct periodic performance assessments of priority Ministries, State institutions, Government departments, political parties and the private sector, on the implementation of applicable legislation and policies that impacted on gender equality; evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the national justice facilities for gender discrimination; promote policy cohesion and institutional cooperation in gender equality for land, water, sanitation, transport and climate change. The sub-strategies of the second objective dealt with the investigation of complaints on violations of gender rights and identify appropriate re­dress; to initiate investigations of systemic violations of gender rights in the public and private sector and identify appropriate redress; to initiate the development of a coordinated programme to eliminate gender discrimination; initiate interventions for the sustainable development and promotion of gender equality in the social, cultural, political, economic, security and human rights dimensions; collaborate with organs of state, civil society and other institutions to effectively develop, protect, promote and attain gender equality.

The sub-strategies of objective three were to conduct annual reviews and audits of state compliance with obligations under the conventions, covenants and charters and to report an a regular basis to Parliament and the Office of the Speaker of Parliament; and to interact with and report to national, regional and international bodies on state compliance with conventions, covenants and charters acceded to or ratified and to make recommendations for improvements. Strategic objective four consisted of six sub-strategies. The outcome was to create a well-defined governance structure for effective oversight by the Commissioners over the Chief Executive Officer, with clear roles, responsibilities and a delegation framework; develop a financial management strategy that consistently delivered an unqualified audit; develop and maintain an information technology (IT) infrastructure that supported the organisational objectives of the CGE; develop a comprehensive human resources (HR) Strategy that aspired to address all HR related matters in a coordinated fashion; develop a long term funding model for the CGE that included funding from the National treasury and donor agencies; develop a coherent communications strategy that promoted a positive public image of the CGE.

The Annual Performance Plan 2011/12 was highlighted in the CGE’s Public Education Information (PEI) Department, the Legal Department, and the Research Department. Some of the highlights in the PEI were the sixteen days of activism, the local government elections dialogue, the installation of a tole free line, and the media advocacy campaign. The Legal department facilitated the Employment Equity hearings; did a review of the pre-1994 legislation; made submissions to Parliament on legislation; and monitored compliance with international instruments. The Research department monitored Local Government Elections, and the Victims Charter implementation and 365 days campaign.

A summary of the budget and expenditure was presented by Mr Mashabi Putu, the Chief Financial Officer of the CGE. (Please refer to the presentation document).

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked the CGE for the presentation and asked Members to engage with the presentation. She was concerned that some activities in the Annual Performance Plan and the Strategic Plan were listed without costs and clear timeframe indicators.

Ms P Duncan (DA) shared the same concern with the Chairperson on the costs and time-frames. She indicated that the Annual Performance Plan of the CGE was tabled in Parliament long ago and asked why the Committee did not receive a copy of the documents yet. She expressed her dissatisfaction at the Committee's receiving documents a day before the meeting from the CGE on its presentation. Members needed sufficient time to go through the documents well before the meeting. She was concerned on the 85% of the Core Service Delivery budget that went to Compensation of Employees and asked the Committee to have special meeting with the CGE to discuss its expenditure trends. The entity was an independent institute and yet depended on funding from Government to be functional. She asked the Commission to seek more funds from donors so that its independence could be more evident. 

The Chairperson shared her concern on the turn-around strategy and asked to what extent it had been included in the presentation. 

Mr Shozi responded that the CGE had ten provincial offices and extensive traveling was needed between offices for engagement and administrative purposes. The CGE was given the mandate by Parliament to reach all people in the country, even those in the rural areas. Members of the CGE would not be able to reach every area in South Africa without traveling to those areas.

Ms Duncan said she understood what Mr Shozi said and asked for a breakdown of all the expenditure trends because 85% of the Core Service Delivery budget could not be spent on Compensation of employees.

Mr Shozi indicated that the CGE had three main departments; the PEI, the Legal and the Research department. All those departments needed financing and extensive traveling was needed to fulfill its mandate, and the employees had to be compensated for their work. However, he was thankful for the concerns and would take it into consideration.

Ms Maema informed Ms Duncan that the attached budget on the last page of the APP gave a more detailed layout of the activities and the expenditure associated with it. She acknowledged that traveling was very high in the last financial year because the Commission needed to engage more with its various stakeholders.

Ms Maema responded to the Chairperson that the turn around strategy was more related to internal issues like Human Resources and Financial Management. The CGE did engage with the Committee the previous year on the progress of the turn around strategy and did manage to achieve some of the goals that were highlighted in the strategy. Phase two dealt more with the Strategic plan which involved the reviewing of the vision, mission, plans and issues from National Treasury. 

Ms Maema informed Ms Duncan that a number of issues around the Professional Services had changed, e.g., money for continuous training, research, benchmarking best practices, and the importance of members staying in touch with the latest developments in their line of work.

Ms Duncan clarified to Mr Shozi that she did not compare the CGE to a business and did not say that it was a business. She asked Mr Shozi for the role of the  Commissioners and the employees because it seemed as if there was confusion on the issue. She asked for the roles to be very clear because every Commissioner and employee had a role to play. 

Commissioner Janine Hicks responded that the budget and expenditure was directly correlated to the mandate and role of the CGE as indicated in the CGE Act. Roles were clearly defined for the Commissioners and employees and she did not agree that there was confusion on the issue.

An ANC Member indicated that she was once a Commissioner and asked for more insight on the current state of affairs in the CGE. She noted that the CGE was an independent institution but relied on the State for funding and therefore felt the need for more engagement on funding, even if the Committee had to engage National Treasury to ask why issues regarding women were underfunded.

The Chairperson said that questions and concerns had been exhausted and advised Members to follow up with any further engagement in writing.

The meeting was adjourned.