CGE Reports on Gender Transformation in Procurement, Tertiary Institutions & Traditional Leadership

Meeting report

Ms Fikile Masiko was elected to chair the meeting due to the Chairperson’s absence. She congratulated all the matriculants who had passed. She suggested that the Committee should work with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to put measures in place to ensure the safety of female students at university. By providing them with a safe environment, female students will be better able to complete their education and have access to higher forms of income.

She recommended that the Committee reflect on the progress made in creating gender equality, youth development and the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and the Committee look into the laws that protect women, youth and persons with disabilities.

She explained that the Committee would receive three briefings from CGE, focusing on gender transformation in procurement and higher education institutions, as well as women empowerment through the Houses of Traditional Leaders in South Africa.

Opening remarks by CGE Chairperson
Ms Tamara Mathebula, CGE Chairperson, indicated that during the 2018/19 financial year, CGE conducted both research and investigative hearings, in line with its constitutional and legislative  mandate. CGE Act provides it with powers to monitor and evaluate the policies and practices of all organs of the state to promote gender equality.

The first report assessed gender transformation in tertiary institutions following the public investigative hearings, where CGE subpoenaed certain universities to account on compliance with the Employment Equity Act (EEA) and other gender legislation.

The second report looked into the procurement policies and processes in the public sector as well as the compliance with the National Treasury guidelines. Further, CGE looked into the barriers within the institutions the Commission selected, in achieving gender equality and the challenges faced by female and youth-owned companies in receiving tenders.

The third report assessed women empowerment through the Houses of Traditional Leaders in South Africa looking at their policy gaps and their progress in ensuring gender equality.

CGE Report: Assessing Women’s Empowerment Through Houses of Traditional Leaders
Ms Naledi Selebano, CGE Researcher, informed Members that the Commission conducted a research study to understand why the traditional sector is failing to comply with the existing legislation and policies that seek to promote gender mainstreaming in the country.

Some of the key findings and recommendations were:
• There was a lack of effective coordination in the work of the provincial and national houses
• The Commission found low levels representation and participation of female traditional leaders compared to their male counterparts
• It found a lack of gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment programmes, accompanied by a lack of understanding of these programmes

One of the recommendations by the Commission is for the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL) with the assistance of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) to develop intervention programmes and effective mechanisms to educate and raise awareness of the provisions of the Constitution and national legislation on gender transformation and women’s empowerment in traditional leadership structures.

Gender Transformation in Higher Education Institutions
Ms Mamello Matthews, CGE Legal Officer,  stated that CGE subpoenaed four universities (University of Zululand, Nelson Mandela University, Sol Plaatje University, Mpumalanga University) and the DHET to appear before it and account about compliance with the Employment Equity Act and other gender related legislation (this process formed part of the Commission’s transformation hearings in 2018/19). Further, the hearings were used as a platform to bring to light the discrimination and risks experienced by women, persons with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ persons across various sectors and levels in the workplace.

Some of the key findings and recommendations included the Commission recommending that the University of Zululand (UniZulu) make use of its recruitment policy to include persons with disabilities in the workforce. The Commission recommended UniZulu adopt a gender policy, a GBV policy and a sexual harrasment policy. The Commission found that women are under-represented at the top and senior management positions at Sol Plaatje University (SPU) and recommended that this be improved on. It also found that the SPU does offer subjects to deaf and visually-impaired students.

Gender Transformation in Procurement
Ms Samantha Britz, CGE Legal Officer, said that during 2018/19 the Commission initiated a public investigative process which focused on the procurement practices within the public sector. CGE also sought to ascertain compliance with National Treasury guidelines within the public sector and to establish the challenges experienced by women in accessing procurement opportunities in the public sector. Four departments were chosen to take part in the process: Agriculture, Land and Rural Development (DALRRD); Health (DOH); Social Development (DSD); and Basic Education (DBE).

Some of the key findings and recommendations included that DSD had not awarded contracts to tenderers not scoring the highest points thus it was not advancing historically disadvantaged persons, as required by the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA). It recommended that the DSD implement this provision. The Commission found that only 3.6% of the DBE procurement budget was spent on companies owned by women. The Commission found that DALRRD awarded most of its tenders to male-owned companies

She said that the report showed that women are gradually making strides in male-dominated areas. More should be done to ensure further inclusion of women and youth-owned business in government procurement.

Discussion
The Acting Chairperson appreciated that the Commission has followed up with the higher education institutions since the publication of the 2018/19 report. She recommended that both the Committee and CGE should establish if the four government departments have been engaged to ascertain their progress in implementing the recommendations in the procurement report. She asked how CGE wants the Committee to assist in ensuring that the recommendations are implemented by all the parties.

Ms Phiri applauded the Commission for providing concise reports and said that the information in the reports were positive. She asked what progress there had been during the 2020/21 financial year.

She condemned the alleged manhandling of the female councillor in the Amathole District Municipality and recommended that the Committee issue a statement denouncing this.

She applauded UniZulu for its implementation of the CGE recommendations. She asked for an updated CGE oversight report on the progress in the implementation of the recommendations made to the other universities. She applauded the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) for placing pre-delivery care in its facilities. More follow ups should be made to see if this is practical to implement at the other institutions.

The Acting Chairperson agreed that the Committee ought to release a statement on the incident that took place in the Amathole District Municipality and the broader ill-treatment of women in government.

Ms N Sharif (DA) posited how national government would be better able to manage and implement gender equality policies and ensure better women representation in the Houses of Traditional Leaders in both committee and executive positions.

She asked what role CGE plays in ensuring that women in universities are provided safety and security.

On UniZulu, she asked if CGE has assessed the implementation of the policies by officials at the university.

Referring to the procurement report, she asked why CGE had chosen those four departments in the report and if the Commission will look at other departments, to ensure that there is transformation on a universal level. She suggested that CGE consider creating a universal policy that can hold the Executive to account.

She expressed her happiness with the work of CGE and said that the Committee needs to be more proactive in its oversight work.

The Acting Chairperson agreed that the Committee must be more proactive in its oversight work. 

She advised the Commission to extend its research into the safety of women in private residences, citing the murder of Mangosuthu University of Technology student, Zolile Khumalo, by her partner at a private residence.

Ms S Hlongo (ANC) applauded CGE for advancing women’s rights and ensuring their inclusion in all sectors. She noted that CGE is conducting frequent monitoring of the institutions involved in the reports. However, she felt that not much has been said on what is being done to support women living with disabilities.

The Acting Chairperson agreed that more needs to be said on what efforts are being taken to support women living with disabilities.

Mr S Ngcobo (DA) said that it was concerning that higher education institutions are still not meeting their employment equity targets, particularly for persons with disabilities. He asked if the Commission has gone back to UniZulu to find out if it has been able to develop the virtual systems to support students with disabilities, which it said it would do. 

Mr Ngcobo asked if the Gender Transformation In Higher Education Institutions report has been shared with the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology.

The Acting Chairperson said that she was pleased that there is a report on sexual harassment campaigns, which look to protect young women from Student Representative Council (SRC) members who were alleged to take advantage of new female students. She suggested that both CGE and the Committee monitor these campaigns.

Ms Sharif asked if CGE has conducted a study to ascertain the number of universities that cater for persons with disabilities.

Ms Mathebula agreed that the Commission should intensify its monitoring of the sexual harassment campaigns in universities. CGE has weighed in on the guidelines which look into addressing sexual harassment and GBVF in institutions of higher learning.

CGE response
Ms Selebano referred to the question on government interference in the Houses of Traditional Leaders and said the legislation on the Houses of Traditional Leaders is clear that government departments must provide the Houses with administrative and technical support. CGE noted that where the departments took over the functions and operations, the Houses of Traditional Leaders would determine what programs must be taken forward; whereas when the departments were not involved, these programs were not taken forward. Often this creates a lack of cooperation between the two. More effort needs to be made to clarify the powers and functions of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Houses of Traditional Leaders to ensure they are able to work in harmony.

On providing support to women with disabilities, she mentioned that CGE must also look to provide support to homosexuals.

On the development of virtual systems at universities, CGE Deputy Chairperson, Dr Nthabiseng Moleko, replied that the CGE Annual Performance Plan usually does contain follow ups on recommendation implementation and performance. However, she was unsure if there is an updated report on this analysis but she committed to following up on this.

She confirmed that the report has been shared with the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education. CGE met with that Portfolio Committee to find out how to further, generically, some of the findings in the institutions. It then set up a task team which looked at the performance in the various indicators and findings of 30 institutions, including 8 TVET Colleges. Subsequently, it decided to engage its shareholder.

Ms Mathebula added that CGE shared the report on higher education and transformation in both the private and public sector with the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and the Portfolio Committee on Labour.

The Acting Chairperson said it was concerning that some of the findings are not available due to the absence of the Chief Executive Officer in the meeting. She asked what the Commissioners are doing to champion the findings in the higher education institutions involved in the study.

Ms Matthews confirmed that CGE has engaged with the institutions subsequent to the follow up hearings, many of whom have said that they face budgetary challenges. She highlighted two positive developments. One was the assignment of E-managers to pursue transformation in the institutions; the second was the progress in the implementation of sexual harassment policies, which is important to the Commission.

Ms Matthews said that the lack of representation of women in leadership positions in higher education institutions continues to be a challenge and is partly due to the budgetary constraints.

CGE has written letters to UniZulu but she needs to clarify if there has been a response. She explained that CGE usually follows up through written communication, where it lists the undertaking and asks if it has been implemented. 

Ms Sharif asked if work has been done to ensure that young women feel comfortable in reporting abuse at higher education institutions.

Ms Matthews replied that she could not respond to this question, as CGE would have to engage with the men and women who attempted to report abuse and find out what their experience was.

Ms Britz replied that CGE selected those four departments for the procurement study in 2018/19 as general health and land were part of the thematic areas CGE was focusing on. DSD was included to assess the extent of its support to DOH on psychosocial practices. DBE was selected due to complaints received by the Commission.

She confirmed that there will be continued investigative hearings by the CGE legal department and a new selection of departments will occur. Subsequently, CGE will hold follow up hearings for those departments and afterwards track their compliance with the recommendations.

On how the Committee can assist persons with disabilities to benefit from procurement, she suggested that it request the Department of Women, Youth and Disabilities to issue a directive to the accounting officers in government departments, to include gender transformation in the key performance indicators, which will bring about accountability. This will also address the lack of procurement of contracts to persons with disabilities. With such a directive, CGE would be able to monitor and where there is failure to adhere, consequences will follow.

Mr Sediko Rakolote, CGE Commissioner, said that the Commission acts as an oversight body, which invites institutions for investigative hearings, it follows up on findings and monitors if the recommendations are being implemented.

The Acting Chairperson mentioned that the response provided was general, and asked that he be specific on the recommendations provided on the three reports and what the role of the Commissioners is in providing oversight on the implementation of recommendations.

Ms Mathebula mentioned that the Commission subpoenas state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

On its oversight of recommendation implementation, Ms Moleko explained that work of the investigative hearings is Commissioner-led and is supported by the CGE legal unit. During the hearings, there are usually four to five Commissioners who conduct primary analysis of the universities, to get a sense of where the gaps are. The Commissioners also look at the equity plan of the institution, the transformative nature of equality and the safety policies. After the university hearings, the Commissioners are involved in the findings and recommendations. Once this process is complete, the Commission conducts a follow up with the institutions, which includes preliminary letters on the findings and recommendations, and a post-hearing.

The Acting Chairperson appreciated that CGE also focuses on TVET Colleges as many young women are enrolled in them.

Adv Nthabiseng Sepanya-Mogale, CGE Commissioner,  said that in the Free State the Commission addressed traditional leaders on how best to bring forth gender equality in their structures. The leaders raised the fact that the structures in the communities had fallen apart, especially the Community Policing Forums (CPFs). After hearing this, CGE then met with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and asked that CPFs be revived.

In the North West, CGE has initiated a similar programme. During this visit, the Commission met with the executive of the House of Traditional Leaders, where they took them through issues of customary law and marriages and GBV. Currently the Commission is awaiting an invitation from the other villages in the province, so that it can teach communities about gender equality, the recognition of customary marriages and GBV. So far, CGE has developed a tool on the recognition of customary marriages and it has been presented to traditional officials and requires their approval. The officials have been workshopped on the tool and it is ready to be implemented.

Ms Nomasonto Mazibuko, CGE Commissioner, said that there is a disability desk (there are also gender desks) in all higher education institutions, which works well with the disability organisations in the institutions. However, the visually deaf and the blind learners (particularly women) have been overlooked. UniZulu, the University of Free State and the University of Limpopo should be used as examples as they all have good practices. It is a priority for the Commission to assist students in universities and she encouraged all citizens to work hard to ensure that people with mental disabilities are provided for and feel comfortable to reveal their disability.

Ms Moleko committed to providing follow up responses, if required.

The Acting Chairperson thanked CGE for the presentations and input. She said that there are a number of Commission reports missing but the Committee will request them later in the year.

The Committee minutes of 7 December 2021 was adopted and the meeting adjourned.