Pan SA Language Board (PanSALB) intervention

Meeting report

(Summary to follow)
The Chairperson said that she needed to express displeasure that the presentation had arrived late.

Ms Veliswa Baduza, Chief Operating Officer of Department, apologised for the lateness of the report. Initially the date for the meeting had been the 14 November 2012 but it had been moved forward. The Department was not making excuses and she understood that there was a need to comply with the rules of this institution.

Mr Mxolizi Zwane, Caretaker Chief Executive Officer of Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), also apologised for the lateness of the presentation.

Mr S Ntapane (UDM) said that there were new people being employed in PanSALB. Who had given that mandate and what had been the criteria? Why were the executive posts not given to people within the organisation?

The Chairperson said the Committee was not happy with the Department. When PanSALB was a problem and the Department could not handle it, Parliament had had to come on board. Now the Committee had not been informed about these new appointments. Her position as Committee Chairperson needed to be respected. She did not do personal favours, she did not want spouses and the like calling and asking for favours. This was something she would address outside the meeting.

PanSALB Presentation
Mr Mxolizi Zwane, Caretaker Chief Executive Officer (CCEO) said the presentation only touched on the Annual Report as it was before his appointment. The Auditor General findings had not been included and the briefing looked mainly at the way forward. The presentation would look at the background, first 30 days and the turnaround implementation. The organisation was at 90 days in its turnaround at this point. There had been an anonymous call that there were going to be some findings and the caller alerted him that there was a need to have auditors brought in to ensure that the monies being spent from now on were spent properly.

Within the first 30 days the CCEO appointed Ntumba and Associates as independent arbiter to assist him in the process of implementing the intervention. The focus during the first 30 days had been to conduct a detailed situational analysis, which incorporated document review, information gathering and verification and one on one interviews. During this phase specific interventions had been implemented (see document). The Ntumba team had identified two issues: failure to focus on the mandate and failure to comply with the PFMA.

The 30 days continued with:
- Employee engagement
- Stakeholder engagement
- Additional achievements
- Skills audit conducted for all Head office staff;
- Expenditure committee set up;
- Engagement with the Auditor General;
- Implementation of initiatives that address the Auditor General findings;
- Forensic audit of the legal fees;
- Review and alignment of all contracts;
- Alignment of the structure to address redundant positions;
- Alignment of the structure to address corporate governance deficiencies identified;
- Appointment of executives.
 
The anonymous call urged him to set up the forensic audit and an expenditure committee.

Mr Zwane said that the PanSALB turnaround strategy was intended to ensure that the organisation effectively discharged its mandate. The PanSALB turnaround strategy was intended to ensure that the organisation effectively discharged its mandate. The turnaround strategy set a foundation for PanSALB readiness to implement their 2013/14 to 2017/18 strategy.

The Turnaround Strategy adopted by the CCEO and the Ntumba team was broken into three phases:.
- first sixty days – stabilisation of the organisation;
- turnaround – put the organisation in the right operational mode;
- long term – implementing a PanSALB strategy in line with Treasury guidelines to deliver on its mandate.

The turnaround stabilisation phase was intended to grab the organisation’s attention to stabilise operations by stopping the bleeding, establish the turnaround strategy action plan, and develop a comprehensive stakeholder engagement plan.

The following initiatives had commenced to arrest the negative direction of the organisation:
▪ Stop the bleeding by monitoring payments, reviewing contracts, conducting forensic investigations;
▪ Close the skills gaps by commencing the organisational structure review, conducting a skills audit to determine the organisational capacity to deliver, placeing executives and skills in critical position, and reorganizing the office layout in order to ensure increased efficiency and productivity;
▪ Engage stakeholders to obtain their buy-in in the journey going forward;
▪ Develop a strategy to guide the PanSALB operations over the next five years.

The presentation also covered the turnaround phase in terms of revised PanSALB strategic direction, aligned organizational structure, the establishment of the tribunal, governance and reporting and policies and procedures.

The implementation of the strategy was mapped out and Mr Zwane stated that the first draft of the Five Year MTEF strategy had been submitted to the Department on 20 August 2012. The process of refining this document and developing specific initiatives for all the programmes was currently underway. This process included development of performance measures in line with the Auditor General requirements. The next submission was in November and the final was at the end of January 2013.

The organisational structure implementation was underway with the following milestones;
▪ Presentation of the structure to the following structures: union, Exco, Manco, Head Office staff, Provincial Staff, Provincial Language Committees (PLCs), National Lexicography Units (NLUs) and National Language Boards (NLBs)
▪ Consultation with affected employees;
▪ Assessment of affected employees;
▪ Confirmation of current staff into the new structure;

▪ Advertising of critical vacant positions;
▪ Signing of performance agreements with Head Office staff.
▪ The roll out of the following activities were underway:
▪ Signing of performance agreements for provincial staff;
▪ Roll out of the Skills audit to the provinces;
▪ Selection and appointment for the advertised position;
▪ Skills Audit feedback to the Head Office staff and incorporation of the information into the Individual Personal Development Plan;
▪ Confirmation and placement of affected employees;
▪ Development of Linguistic Human Rights and Language processes and standard operating procedures;
▪ Grading of all the positions in the structure;
▪ Internal and external salary benchmarking;
▪ Development and implementation of a remuneration strategy.

In terms of employee and stakeholder engagement The CCEO and his executives continue to engage and share information with the employees. This was done in the form of Head Office monthly staff meetings held on the last Friday of the month. The provincial staff were currently being covered through the provincial visits that the CCEO and his Executive team undertook during the months of September and October 2012.A management union monthly meeting has been instituted with two meetings held already. It was in this forum that management discussed the implementation of the Turnaround strategy and any other issues that the union put on the agenda.

Mr Zwane said that during the months of September to October the CCEO accompanied by the Executive Team visited all PanSALB provincial offices. The purpose of these visits were to:
▪ Provide the provincial structures and operations with feedback and obtain their input on the Turnaround Strategy and the PanSALB 2013-2017 Strategy;
▪ Obtain input through a consultative process from all PanSALB structures;
▪ Conduct an analysis of the status of provincial offices and their ability to deliver on the PanSALB mandate;
▪ Present the realigned PanSALB organisational structure;
▪ Engage all PanSALB provincial stakeholders to update them on developments and future plans.
▪ To establish relationships with the stakeholders in the provinces;
▪ Establish provincial language stakeholder forums.
▪ Foster cooperation and synergistic working relations among all provincial PanSALB structures.

There had also been PanSALB structure workshops as part of the turnaround strategy. These included workshops with Provincial Language Committees (PLCs), National Lexicography Units (NLUs) and National Language Boards (NLBs).

The Chief Financial Officer, Ms Mpelengeng Myombo, was not allowed to present as the presentation she was to give had not been presented to the Committee beforehand and later on in the meeting there was not time to present.

Discussion
Acting positions
Ms H Van Schalkwyk (DA) asked if the positions were still acting and did these positions have performance agreements with specific targets.

Implementation
Ms Van Schalkwyk asked how an effective service delivery structure would be implemented as well as the awareness of language use?

Unqualified audit
Ms Van Schalkwyk asked if the Committee could look forward to a clean audit.

Ms Mpelegeng Myambo, Chief Financial Officer of PanSALB, replied it was possible to get a clean audit. PanSALB had put their best effort forward to attain a clean audit.

Advertisement for positions
Ms H Van Schalkwyk (DA) asked if the tender had been advertised for the audit consultants. And why was there a need to appoint consultants and executive heads?

Appointments
Mr S Ntapane (UDM) said there was a crisis in South Africa about nepotism and ‘jobs for pals’. Was it not proper to have put a moratorium on the spending of money and then follow correct procedures to appoint people. What advised Mr Zwane to appoint the executive heads and consultants? What were their qualifications as these had not been included? What had led to their appointment if their jobs had not been advertised?

Mr Zwane replied that a moratorium would have placed PanSALB in problems as there were amounts that needed to be paid. A notification was sent out to all who were to be paid. They were told that payment would be received however various issues were now being tackled within the organisation.

Ms T Nwamitwa-Shilubana (ANC) said it was good for the Committee to know who the appointees were.

Mr P Ntshiqela (COPE) asked how were the executives appointed through a service provider.

Mr Zwane replied that there had been no policies on the executives and that was why there had been a need for an executive head to do the appointments. He had done an audit to see who could occupy positions and on the basis of that he had used the service provider to bring perspective on the candidates and who had given options. For some positions he had been given three options, for others four or five. The executive heads fit the bill for what PanSALB was now about in terms of how they functioned. The best candidates had been picked from a number of options. There would still be an opportunity in 12 months when the positions were re-advertised for people to compete with these appointees.

The Chairperson said it was important to know the qualifications of these executive heads. What qualifications did they have and were the ones who had been appointed the only candidates? Were there other appointments that had been made and had they been advertised? She asked for a brief CV of the executive heads who had been appointed.

Mr P Ntshiqela (COPE) said he was not happy with the response on the appointment of the executives. He requested the qualifications of the executive heads to see if they had the requisite qualifications.

Mr Zwane said that the CVs would be given to parliament. There had also been a director of supply chain management, some assistants and deputy directors appointed as well as a provincial coordinator and assistant manager at deputy director level. On the legal side a manager had been appointed. The posts had been advertised. PanSALB had avoided the appointment of the executive head of languages deliberately as this was a ‘make or break position’. It had been suggested that a profile should be built, to fix the organisation and then advertise for the position to get the best candidate. There was no need to rush as this was a critical position.

The Chairperson asked if the appointments were all external appointments. Had none come from within the organisation? If this was the case it gave the impression there was no upward mobility from within. This could cause tension within the organisation.

Mr Zwane said the people who had been appointed for 12 months all had the qualifications needed to do the job. PanSALB was happy with what they had seen so far. The positions would be advertised and these would allow for the persons to apply again. The process would be followed.

Work in PanSALB
The Chairperson asked if, despite the changes in management, the work continuing.

Mr Zwane replied that PanSALB continued to work and there had been identification and verification with Stats SA. There had also been verification done on HIV/AIDS terminology. There were also projects coming from the Translation Planning Commission. People were continuing to work and the strategy had been presented to them. Additional funding however would push the remaining activity within the financial year further and lay a foundation for the next financial year. The idea had been not to start by addressing funding but to make operational plans.

Executive Team
Mr Ntapane asked would it not have been wise to at least have one language practitioner in the executive team.

Clarification
Mr Ntapane asked for clarification on the predetermined objectives in terms of ‘delivering language product and services that create a conducive environment’. He wanted to know how this was going to be done.

Mr Zwane replied that when the strategy stated ‘the delivery of products that would enable a conducive environment’, a value chain had been done which indicated that all the structures needed to play a role with a focus being on research and development. On monitoring and evaluation, structures had been made out of the turnaround strategy. The thinking was once everyone focused on discharging the mandate as a whole it would make it simpler to discharge this mandate. A Memorandum of Understanding had been signed in Mpumalanga with the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and it would sign one by the end of the year with North West. PanSALB hoped to present in the next meeting of MECs in order to get them to buy in. PanSALB was finalising its programmes in each structure which would be annual programmes which were reviewable at any time.

Recovery of monies
Mr Ntapane asked how much were the cell phone excess amounts. And how much of the legal fees were recoverable?

Independent news contract
Mr Ntapane asked what was the amount saved in terms of the ‘independent news contract’ was for.

Ms Karabo Mbele, Corporate Affairs Manager for PanSALB, replied in terms of the appointment of independent newspapers, the intention had been good and had sought to look into the promotion of languages. The plan had been to have a back page that featured every Tuesday ‘Matric Matters’ which looked at language and education and articles were featured in mother tongue languages. This had been last year. This year there had been a focus on matters of language. There had been a focus on youth so that they could start reading papers and articles in their mother tongue and familiarizing themselves with it. The census had shown a loss of indigenous languages.

BCX contract
Mr Ntapane asked what was the position of the ‘BCX contract’ at the moment.

Ms Karabo Mbele, Corporate Affairs Manager for PanSALB, replied that the BCX contract had been terminated. It was a month to month contract. It had been alluded to that ICT had been a huge challenge and a high risk factor within the organisation. BCX’s contract was found to be wanting after an audit had been done. What had been done was they had been given an opportunity to get onto PanSALB’s database and apply through a tender process. An advertisement had been taken out over a month ago and due process was being followed. It had been found that it was easier and saved costs to have BCX on a month to month contract.

Training of staff
Mr Ntapane asked had training of staff been done as it was now November.

Ms Karabo Mbele replied that the training had been found to be inadequate and the reason was there had been insufficient budget. PanSALB had looked at the needs analysis within the organisation. This information had been included in the performance contracts which stated that there were certain requirements which would allow for training. There would be a move to sit with individuals and look at their training needs.

More detail
Mr Ntshiqela asked if there were more detailed documents than the summary report sent out to members.

Mr Zwane replied that a more detailed document was on a disc that could be provided to the Members at the end of the meeting. It contained various reports in full length.

Provinces
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana said some of the provinces she came from showed little activity in terms of language.

Mr Zwane said that the complaints that had come from the provinces was that PanSALB seemed to be doing nothing. This was especially the case in terms of language violation. People reported the violations but there was not a mechanism for intervening. People seemed to have lost faith in PanSALB as things were reported but nothing happened. He said that the relationship with the provinces was growing and this was needed in order to fulfil the mandate. Relationships that were working had been formed which was important as these were stakeholders. Without them the mandate could not be discharged.

Mr P Ntshiqela asked were appointments effected at provincial level.

Children maintaining their mother tongue
Ms Nwathima asked what strategies were there to make sure that children did not lose their mother tongue.

Mr Zwane replied that work had been done with the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape and they had started a process of teaching maths and science in the mother tongue (Xhosa). The national department planned to take it to other languages as well and was leading this. This project had started some time back but PanSALB had joined in this year. There was also a bursary being finalised and the budget was being prepared. In the coming year PanSALB planned to promote bursaries for two students per language to study at tertiary institutions and five per language at high school level with some contracts stating that they would pursue the language until Masters’ level. There was money to start but there was the need to get further funding to embark on certain projects. Quite a number of projects had not been embarked on but the budget had been cut to the bone to allow salaries and logistics to be funded. All projects had suffered.

Skills assessment
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana said that skills assessments had been done and she was glad that the process had been transparent.

Tenure of the Caretaker CEO
Ms D Msweli (IFP) asked if Mr Nzwane was acting or permanently employed.

The Chairperson asked how long Mr Nzwane had a contract for and how long was he to fill the role.

Ms Baduza said that when the Department had come to a previous meeting it had been stated that a care taker Chief Executive Officer would be appointed and Mr Zwane had been appointed. He had been given 12 months to turnaround the institution and he had already started. He was in constant contact with the Director General and the process would be reviewed and finalized. A decision would be taken when it would be ready for handover.

Mr Zwane replied that in terms of his position, within 12 months there would be a conclusion of the process.

Relationships within levels of employment
Ms D Msweli (IFP) asked what was the relationship of the executive with employees as well as the Department.

Mr Zwane replied he had asked all those in the organisation to cooperate as he was not on a witch hunt. He had done one-on-ones with staff members and he felt the relationship was good. He had asked staff to address problems with him rather than go elsewhere. The unions had given support when they had realised his approach was open.

Accountable to Parliament
The Chairperson said that PanSALB accounted to Parliament and even though the Minister gave money and monitored them, Parliament had the final say.

Mr Zwane replied there had been questions of to where did they report but his position was no matter what happened, PanSALB needed to report. It did not matter if it was to the Committee or the Department.

Board
The Chairperson asked when was the Minister appointing a Board. The Minister had been given a deadline. The Board before had only been academics who did not understand administration. They had been dissolved but this had not been a personal vendetta.

Dr Mbulelo Jokweni,ActingDeputyDirector General of the Department, replied that when appointing a board the Department needed to desist from just appointing language practitioners. There was a need to consider all the necessary skills such as legal skills, financial skills and so on. Even in the advert, this had been taken into consideration. The advertisment had been done and quite a number of applications had been received. The process as instructed by the PanSALB Act was that the applications needed to be forwarded to the Committee so that they could, in conjunction with the Minister, shortlist the candidates. Once the shortlist had been done and the Committee had made recommendations, the Minister could appoint. Where the process was currently was all the applications had been made within the Department and a submission had been made through the Director General so that the Minister could forward the applications through to the Committee. However when the submission was on route to the Director General, an error had been detected and this had been duly corrected. The submission was back in the Office of the Director General. The expectation was that once this was approved, it would go to office of the Minister and then forwarded to the Committee to start the process of short listing.

Former CEO
The Chairperson asked if the issue of the former CEO been resolved.

Deputy CEO
The Chairperson said she was happy that the position of deputy CEO had been removed as it had not made sense. However the organogram would need to be brought before Parliament to be approved.

Mr Zwane replied that at the end of July, there had been an agreement to have a separation agreement as there was no intention to renew the contract as the position was no longer going to be there.

Anonymous calls
The Chairperson said that as much as anonymous calls were made, there was no need to be paranoid as anonymous persons could also bring destruction and distrust. Sometimes these people were just bitter so PanSALB needed to be cautious.

Mr Zwane replied that he had not acted only on the grounds of the anonymous caller. He had investigated the claims and found amounts due to be paid and frozen them. He had also gotten the minutes from Board meetings.

State of PanSALB
The Chairperson said that the according to the Auditor General, PanSALB was the worst entity along with the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) amongst the DAC entities.

Commissioners on the Tribunal
Mr Ntshiqela noted that a tribunal was to be in place by January 2013. He wanted to know what was the progress.

Mr Zwane replied that commissioners had not been appointed. There had been advertisements and recommendations had been requested and these were still coming in. Once the process had been pushed to finality, then it would be possible to bring a short list before the Committee. There had been a search for three from public and four from other institutions such as the Human Rights Commission. Once there were these numbers, there would be a move towards appointment. The hope was by January all would be ready. The processes and procedures had already been launched.

The Chairperson said there had been costs incurred in bringing about the Tribunal. She was not sure about the Tribunal Commission yet.

Relationship with the Department
The Chairperson asked about the relationship with the Department.

Mr Zwane replied that the relationship with the Department was fair.

Pending cases
The Chairperson asked about pending dismissal cases.

Mr Sam Jafta, Legal Manager at SALB, replied that the matter with MrsNtombenhle Nkosihad been set down for conciliation and was scheduled for sometime between 10 and 15 of December. As soon as there was an outcome, the Committee would be briefed on the developments. In terms of the case concerning Adv Feni there was a need to consider and explore ways in which the issues could be settled amicably. The current status was that it was currently under conciliation. Other matters had been settled.

Mr Zwane replied that there had been a cost matter which had been settled. With Mr Simelane there was an order being waited on. In terms of MrsNtombenhle NkosiPansSALB was not sure whether this had been a matter for the Public Protector as this was an issue relating to labour relations. The issue had been that she had been placed in a level lower than what she was supposed to be placed and thus was owed the difference in wages. An award had been given by the Public Protector but there was a need to figure out if this was correct and then a way forward would be mapped out. Letters had come to Parliament saying that PanSALB had not been honouring that award. However this award had not been by a labour court or a forum that dealt with such issues. PanSALB had sought a legal opinion on the role of the Public Protector in this matter as well as the award.

The Chairperson asked why there had been no reconciliation in terms of Adv Feni as there had been with Mr Simelane. The high legal costs had been attributed to the issues with Adv Feni.

Mr Zwane replied that there had been engagement with Adv Feni to see if the matter could be resolved but it seemed that there was some obstruction to this. The matter Adv Feni had brought against PanSALB was  in various courts including the High Court in Pretoria, the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein, the Labour Court and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). In all of these, PanSALB had had to incur legal costs. In these cases there were cost orders against Adv Feni which he was supposed to pay. All this was a simple dismissal matter which could have been resolved by arbitration at CCMA level. There were attempts to reconcile but some of his demands were not feasible such as R40 million or lifetime employment.

The Chairperson requested the Department to look into this matter, especially if MsNtombenhle Nkosi said she was in a position that was lower than what she was meant to be in. In the communiqué that had been sent to the Chairperson the issue had never been raised. It had only be a matter of being paid the money owed.

Legal costs
Mr Ntapane asked how much would legal costs be ‘vis a vis the amount recoverable’.

Ms Van Schalkwyk said one could not budget really for legal fees. From where had the fund for their legal fees come?

Mr Jafta replied that due to the great deal spent on legal fees, a decision had been taken (in consultation with the Justice Department) that in cases where there was a need for legal representation, the state attorney would be utilised. PanSALB had engaged the state attorney to this effect.

The Chairperson asked what had been done about the outstanding legal costs. If there was fraud then there needed to be a case as it was state funds. The advocate had written to her saying that PanSALB was not paying them.

Mr Zwane replied that a forensic investigation had been done and it had been found that money had been fraudulently obtained by the lawyers who represented PanSALB. This had been put to the law enforcement agencies and it had been reported to the Law Society. The money that had been fraudulently obtained would be recovered. It seemed that the advocate would bill PanSALB and the attorney would add more to the bill. PanSALB would pay those bills not knowing that the amount had been doubled. The attorney in question had been reported to the Law Society. The money could be recovered from the Fidelity Fund. PanSALB was  still looking at the option of brining a civil suit against the attorney but failing that they would still go to the Fidelity Fund to recover the amount. The discrepancy between the original bill and what PanSALB was asked to pay showed that the amount had doubled. The money would be lost on the cases that were still outstanding. For example in one instance R4 million had been used to fight a contract that had nine months remaining. In the past financial year PanSALB had spent about R6 million on legal fees which was not acceptable. There had been attempts to stem this flow.

Mandate of the Care Taker CEO
The Chairperson asked how far the powers given to the caretaker CEO reached as the Committee did not want to blame him for things outside of his mandate or power. There was a need to understand this.

Ntumba and Associates
Ms Van Schalkwyk asked what were the exact costs of using Ntumba and Associates. She said any tenders were advertised even if the institution was used for a short period of time.

Mr P Ntshiqela (COPE) asked why were the consultants appointed.

Mr Zwane replied that there had been the need for a consultant who was an auditor . The focus had been to get the house in order and the Auditor General was already beginning with the audit and there had not been enough manpower to get the work done. There was only one person within the finance department accompanied by some support staff. There had been no advertisement for consultants. The cost of the consultants had cost about R4 million for 4 months. The auditors had been in place for only a period of time and this was now done. There had been no CFO during the time so there had been a need.

Mr Ntshiqela replied that he understood that there had been a need for a service provider to be appointed but the exorbitant fees incurred were alarming and he thus requested a break down of the budget.

Ms Van Schalkwyk said in her next life she wanted to become a consultant in South Africa.

The Chairperson had said she was not happy with the exorbitant funds. R 4 million was too much for a turnaround strategy. She said it would be better to employ people rather than have consultants. The Department was one that used a great number of consultants. She did not like consultants. There were so many people who could be hired in instead of using consultants.

Organogram
Mr Ntshiqela asked for an organogram so that reporting lines could be understood. This would help in understanding the reporting lines of the newly appointed executive.

Mr Zwane replied that there was an organogram and it could be presented to members. It was on the disc that accompanied the presentation and could be given to members. The executives were sitting at chief director level.

Internal Controls
Mr Ntshiqela asked about the internal controls that had been said to have been developed and implemented, he wanted to know if there was access to or a preview of these controls.

Mr Zwane replied that these were controls that made sure that procurement was done properly – that was why there was a need to respond to the Auditor General as supply chain management was of serious concern. This was done to address this concern.

Ms Mpelegeng Myambo replied that internal controls were not just principles but also policies and standard operating procedures as well as the personnel within the organisation to implement these controls. Policies had been reviewed and some had already been implemented from 1 November 2012. They were there to provide discipline, process and structure within PanSALB. This would promote accountability and the applicable laws and regulations were complied with. It would also improve the reliability and integrity of financial and non-financial reporting information which was mostly what affected the audit outcome. There was not much accountability and reliance on the audit information.

Advertisements for Commissioners
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana asked if the public nomination for commissioners had been in local papers for people in the rural areas to see them and have an opportunity to become commissioners.

Mr Zwane replied that advertisements had been placed in the City Press, Daily Sowetan and the Sunday Times. He took the point that there needed to be advertisements in more local papers. PanSALB was able to extend the advertisement as this was their prerogative. They would consider re-advertising in the local language papers.

The Chairperson said that this needed to not be ‘a consideration’ but needed to actually be done. There had always been the challenge that people in certain areas did not get to be part of Boards. There was a need to not underestimate organic intellectuals as most of the information came from them.

Mr Ntshiqela encouraged PanSALB to make use of the local radio stations.

Closing Remarks
The Chairperson was not happy with the way the Department had been doing things. The Committee was not happy with the Department’s monitoring of entities. She was not 100% comfortable with the turnaround as she had not seen what was on paper materialise yet. The strategy itself she was fine with. She gave PanSALB three months to show what had been done and show how far things had gone. She felt that in the last two years of chairing the Committee nothing had been done in PanSALB. It was one institution where staff morale was low and staff managers needed to open their doors to staff. These were where the problems started as people felt neglected. She also felt that a skills audit would be good as well as various training initiatives. The Chairperson asked for a break down of the financials and what had been received from the state as the Chief Financial Officer had not been able to give her report.

The meeting was adjourned.