New Board of Independent Development Trust

Meeting report

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
I4 August 2002
NEW BOARD OF INDEPENDENT DEVELOPMENT TRUST

Chairperson: Chief M Hlengwa

Relevant document:
Independent Development presentation

SUMMARY
The Independent Development Trust briefed the committee on different aspects of the Trust. The Minister of Public Works introduced the new IDT board members.

MINUTES
The Chairperson welcomed the delegation from the Independent Development Trust (IDT).

Input by the CEO of IDT
Ms L Gwagwa (CEO: IDT) said that it is pleasure for them, as the new board, to meet the Committee and she gave the assurance that they are eager to execute the mandate of the IDT and they promise to fulfil their duties.

Ms Gwagwa said that she felt it was important to present the corporate plan of the IDT to the Committee. The IDT is required to submit a corporate plan to the Minister of Public Works by the end of February each year. She expressed the desire to visit the Committee twice a year, firstly, at the end February to present the corporate plan and secondly, at the end of August to give them a report on their progress.

Ms Gwagwa in her presentation made the following points:
● The three main functions of the IDT are to:
- development programme management
- leveraging resources
- institutional capacity building
● The core business of the IDT is to manage development programmes. They emphasise development. Their main purpose is to assist and support the government in the implementation of different projects.
● Their vision is to be a leading development agency in South Africa and the Southern African region and their main mission is to enable poor societies to improve the quality of their lives.
● Their strategic objectives are:
- to enhance community participation in local development planning processes.
- to identify agencies in support of poverty reduction programmes the IDT is involved in.
- to position the IDT to become a vibrant learning organisation.
● IDT has regional offices all over the country in 8 provinces. They do not have regional offices in Gauteng as the head office is based there.

Introduction of new board members by Minister
Minister Stella Sigcau said that when looking for candidates for the new board, they were asking themselves as the Department if they would find people who would carry out the mandate and they took time trying to get the people that they are introducing to the Committee today. People who were conducting the interviews were briefed thoroughly on the calibre of people suitable to be IDT board members. The Department is happy about the new board members who have widespread talents. The IDT has a huge task in front of them. The new board came at a time when the outlook is different in Africa as there is NEPAD and the African Union. What the department is pushing is that, with South Africa playing a major role in changes in Africa, they have to be people of excellence in more aspects than one.
Ms Sigcau continued that this was a historic meeting, as it had never happened before. They will not merely passively introduce the board members, but will say to them they should not dare fail South Africa.

The Minister then introduced the members of the board:
Chairperson: Mr M. Msimang
Mr E. Funde
Ms T. Ratefani
Mr Marumo
Mr Fuller
Mr Robertson
Mr Silinga
Mr Mkgolo
Mr de Beer
Ms Motso
Also introduced were departmental representatives, Ms Bici and Ms Radebe.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked the Minister and the Department for the work well done in choosing the board and expressed the wish for a good working relationship between the Committee and IDT.

Mr Opperman (DP) congratulated the new board on its appointment. He thanked the outgoing chairperson of the IDT for a good job that he performed and he hoped that the new chairperson would follow in his footsteps. When the Committee had visited IDT offices, they had been impressed by the degree of professionalism they saw there and he wished the new board members well in their work.

Mr Radebe (ANC) congratulated the new IDT board and the Minister for appointing a good board. He also thanked the old board members and IDT CEO for the work well done. He approved of the IDT's strategic objectives and wished the IDT the best for the coming year.

Mr Opperman asked if the involvement of IDT in government projects is optional and if it is not optional, why are projects in some provinces better than in other provinces.

Ms Gwagwa replied that their involvement is optional. The government departments are not forced to use IDT services. They either use IDT or consultants or do their projects themselves.

Before the meeting was adjourned, the Chairperson endorsed the words of appreciation by the committee members.