Appropriation Bill and Budget 2007 Analysis: briefing by Community Agency for Social Enquiry
Monitoring Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women
23 February 2007
Meeting Summary
A summary of this committee meeting is not yet available.
Meeting report
JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON IMPROVEMENT OF
THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN
23 February 2007
APPROPRIATION BILL AND BUDGET 2007 ANALYSIS: BRIEFING BY COMMUNITY AGENCY FOR
SOCIAL ENQUIRY
Chairperson: Ms
M Morutoa (ANC)
Documents handed out:
Appropriation
Bill 2006 Powerpoint presentation
Estimates
of National Expenditure 2007 see:
- Vote 33: Justice and Constitutional
Development
- Vote 17 Social Development
- Programme 3: Public Works Programme
- Court Services
Draft Committee Report on Appropriate Bill (available at Tabled Committee Reports
once adopted)
Draft Committee Report on Budget Vote 1 (available at Tabled Committee Reports
once adopted)
Audio Recording of the
Meeting
SUMMARY
The Community Agency for Social Enquiry facilitated a workshop discussion
between members of the Joint Committee and members of provincial legislatures.
It was noted that it was difficult to isolate Women’s issues in the budget
speech, that they should have appeared strongly under certain programmes, yet generally did not, and there seemed to be
disappointing lack of focus on several important areas. The Appropriation Bill
was studied in relation to various areas, and comments made. The meeting then
divided into two workshop groups that made recommendations on the items that
should be emphasized in the final Report. The suggestions would be incorporated
into the discussion that the Committee would have with Departments as well as
being incorporated into the final Report. .
Members expressed their dissatisfaction with the current state of the Office of
the Status of Women. They noted that strong and urgent action was required to
try to increase the focus on women’s programmes.
MINUTES
Budget Speech: Discussion
The Chairperson asked Members if they had any comments upon the Budget Speech
and how it had covered the issue of women.
Ms A Qikane (UDM) noted that
the recommendations were that each Ministry should have a budget on women. If
this was not reflected on the Treasury Budget, she asked how each Minister
could ensure that a special budget was set in the programmes
of the departments. Nothing had been said on women specifically, not even in
relation to the Expanded Public Works Programmes
(EPWP). The Committee would clearly have to monitor what was happening within
the Departments.
Ms D Morobi (ANC) said that there was no clarity how
much had been allocated. There were many issues that were not clear, and this
lack of clarity, and the fact that women were not taken seriously, was an issue
for the Committee.
Ms N Hoosain (E. Cape Provincial Legislature) said
that the Province did not have copies of the Appropriation Bill. They could not
give any analytical input at this stage but were hoping to be exposed to the
workshop and then engage further. A major concern in Eastern Cape was that they
were outside the formal processes of the budget. Their finance committee had
tried to find a slot for the women’s caucus to engage with the budget processes
but the formalities of the cycle made no provision for participation of provinces,
outside of provincial cabinet deliberations. That was a key concern.
Ms Qikani said that it was most important that there
should be an opportunity for Members to be able to listen to and comment on the
speeches.
Ms J Semple (DA) said that she also had not had a
chance to analyse the appropriation in depth.
Positive matters were the increases for salaries and training of teachers and
nurses, because this not only affected those (mainly women) who were working,
but had a direct impact upon the children of the nation. The increase for HIV
was welcome. However, the Minister did not specifically mention increase of
money for implementation of matters such as Domestic Violence Act and more
shelters for abused children.
The Chairperson agreed that these were important questions. It was unclear how
the government would attend to gender mainstreaming.
Ms B Dlamini (Staff, KZN Legislature) stated that she
would support the previous comments. She was also concerned about low pensions
for older people which often left such people, the majority being women,
struggling to pay for basics..
Ms C Zikalala (ANC) said that each Ministry should
have budgeted amounts, but the question was how to ensure that they did so.
The Chairperson noted that yesterday she had asked where the budget for women
would lie, and the answer that it was scattered all over, but was difficult to
identify
Ms Semple said that since no individual or body had
been assigned the responsibility, no one would assume responsibility. Nothing
would happen until there was a direct responsibility line.
Ms Morobi noted that when the money was scattered,
there was no proper focus on women.
Ms N Moerane (Member, E Cape Provincial Legislature)
said the Eastern Cape had expected a quantification of the different categories
and progress in gender balance. To say that a certain amount had been allocated
to “HIV and AIDS” was not enough. Specifics were required. She noted that most
of the child carers were women, both in rural and
urban areas. Budget was
a tool to explain the policies to the populace and if this was
not done nobody could understand.
Ms Zikalala was concerned that due regard and
consideration were not being given to women.
The Chairperson noted that there existed an Office of the Status of Women (OSW)
in the Presidency. Everything being mentioned here should fall under that
office as a focal point. There were numerous discrepancies and she knew that
this was not being addressed properly. Some Committees had been long
established and it should have been far easier to identify where the budget lay
and where it addressed women in particular. Women on the ground were suffering
from lack of implementation.
Mr F Maserumule said that
without proper monitoring the matter would go no further, so unless there was
an independent budget and physical and practical involvement there would be no
improvement.
Appropriations Bill 2007: Briefing by Community Agency for Social Enquiry
Ms Debbie Budlender, Community Agency for Social
Enquiry indicated that she would be facilitating a discussion on what had come
out of the Budget speech and Appropriations Bill. Her organisation
had been working with women since 1995, when it had first set up this budget
exercise. She did not believe that there should be a separate budget for women,
but it was necessary that the budget must discuss how the allocations were
reaching out to the genders, as there were different needs, and what would help
women, for instance those caring for HIV patients. Government was not doing
well on its reporting. The Committee needed to have better information that was
not contradictory. There was a special responsibility on the Committee to
report on OSW. The budget vote had simply lumped the
OSW under Gender, Disability and Children, where it was lost. In planning the
way forward the Committee had to consider how it would fill in the gaps.
The objective of this session was to prepare the Committee to report mid year
on the Appropriations Bill. The fact that both the national and provincial
representatives were here was welcomed as it allowed for reporting on policy as
well as delivery and for each Province to compare its work against other
Provinces. The group sessions would be asked to focus upon what needed to be
changed in the draft report that was being tabled, what should be added, what
questions should be asked of national and provincial departments and what
progress had been made on the memorandum that was delivered by a group of NGOs,
calling for listed matters to be given priority.
Ms Budlender stated that the report for discussion
focused on the traditional areas of poverty, gender based violence and HIV/
Aids. Specific suggestions were included under each of the relevant Votes that was most pertinent to the work of the Committee and
therefore each of the Votes should be considered in the light of their
assistance towards the empowerment of women and sensitivity to women’s
issues.
Discussion
Mr N Hantisa (Member, North
West Provincial Legislature) said that in terns of coordination one should not
forget about the municipalities.
Ms Qakani was concerned that at local level there had
been very little improvement. The theme of the State of the Nation address was
the struggle against poverty and women should champion that struggle. If there
was not be a separate budget, or at least a certain percentage set aside
specifically for women’s issues, little would not be achieved.
Ms X Makasi (ANC) reiterated that there should be a
person responsible for women's issues. The OSW had no real power and gave no
real direction.
Ms Y Makume (Member, North West Provincial
Legislature) said that the Department did not take Chairpersons of Committees
on board. The portfolio on women was set up as a national competency but should
perhaps be at provincial level. In North West there were no funds for running
the national Women’s Day. Women were not empowered in a real way.
The Chairperson said the National Gender Policy Framework did say that the OSW
must be set up under the Office of the Presidency.
Ms Budlender agreed that this was an issue,
especially if there was no specific budget for OSW. The experience in other
countries, even where a ministry had been set up for women’s issues, was
regrettably not much better. The mere establishment of a Ministry could not
solve the problems, it was about how it was empowered
to become effective.
In regard to municipalities she agreed that there needed be gender responsive
budgets at all levels. This would not help with matters like justice, which was
a national competency, nor education at a provincial level. All three should be
used to work together
Ms Budlender noted that there should have been a 60%
quota for women empowerment in EPWP. The Minister said the majority of jobs
were jobs for women in rural areas. The Department of Public Works said that
there was only 40% of female involvement. These were two completely different
figures emanating from government.
Draft Committee Report (not for publication)
The Draft Report was tabled as a suggestion of the matters which would
probably appear in the final report of the Committee. The report covered some
indicators of the ongoing nature of poverty and crime. The most recently
released statistics highlighted serious problems in gender based violence. Rape
was a prime example, being directed (in its current definition) only against
women and girl children. Although the economy had grown at 4.9%, and there was
an increase in the formal sector, more needed to be done to improve the health
and growth rate of the economy.
The role of National Government lay in policy, coordination and oversight.
There seemed to be lack of targets by departments and lack of information
provided. There could be a closer link between the Annual Reports and budgets.
The Votes on Public Works, Education, Health, Social Development and Justice
and Constitutional Development were discussed in the Draft, which noted both
the pleasing areas and those in which there had been insufficient mention,
contradictory figures, or no mention at all of women’s issues, despite the fact
that the projects may have formed part of the Annual Report. The Committee
wished to know the extent to which funds were directed at gender-relevant
matters.
Discussion
Ms Hoosain noted that this had been a useful
exercise. She wondered if the Draft should also not include comments on the
gender machinery, which would in turn push forward these gender issues. This
Committee also reflected provincial interests and perhaps this profiling should
be clarified.
The Chairperson suggested that trafficking was another important area that
could be added.
Ms N Bata (Staff, Eastern. Cape Provincial legislature) asked where the report
would go, and whether it would be fully debated in the House. She asked if it
was possible to mainstream the report in the Cabinet Clusters.
Mr Maserumule suggested
that there should not be comparisons to any other country. South Africa was
highly resourceful, in terms of both humans and materials. There was nothing
that the President had said that was new. The same things were being said
thirteen years down the line. He asked whether South Africans were really
committed to the country, and cited the issue of Community Development Workers,
where one department would try to pass responsibility to another.
Mr D Mabena sought clarity
on some of the figures.
Ms Budlender said that the budget document had given
no delivery figures. These had been extracted from the Annual Report. They
should have been included in the Budget to give a proper indication of what had
been done and what was planned. Contradictory figures were a problem.
Ms R Chabalkwa (Gauteng Provincial
Legislature) expressed her appreciation for the excellent summary. She was
concerned about the allocations to the NGOs and suggested that the Provinces
should examine this closely. She felt there had been developments and noted
that there was greater sensitivity and very progressive legislation.
Ms Moerance noted that underperformance of
departments should be noted, so that their role in nation building and service
delivery could be interrogated. This was also an opportunity to reflect on
.millennium development goals
Ms Budlender noted that the underperformance and
under delivery came mostly at provincial level.
Ms Moerane took the point but noted that certain
national departments also tended to delay matters unduly. She felt that the
Child Justice Bill and Sexual Offences Bill were prime examples.
Workshop Discussions
Members broke into two groups and discussed the draft and other issues.
Ms Moerane reported that her group had focused on
the Public Works aspects, and therefore suggested that the Committee should
check compliance and performance against standards. Particular issues
identified by her group as relevant included Community Based Public Works. If
EPWP had been intended as a replacement there was no indication of how it had
been allocated over the cycle. There were queries whether provinces had
complied with requirements. No details were given on gender performance. There was no indication of the implications
in terms of demographics. There was no indication of the tools developed by
National Departments that were perhaps made available to provinces. The
monitoring was unclear and it was not explained how the figures would be
refined. On the economic compensation of employees, the group was concerned
that there was no indication whether the declining figures were part of natural attrition and there
was no accounting for expanded public works programmes. Focus should be placed on participation and
performance in public works and social development, and national strategy must
be known. There should be a gender focused statement in the budget.
Ms Makume reported back on behalf of the second
group, which had focused on the justice and constitutional affairs matters.
This group was concerned that the budget and training facilities of the Family
Advocate needed to be improved and that women should be educated about their
constitutional role and rights. Women should be empowered, especially at
Clusters and there should be more budget to educate on constitutional rights
such as customary marriages. There should be impartiality irrespective of
gender. Civil unions and the effect of dissolution on children must be
considered. Questions to be asked to national and provincial departments should
include the progress of implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, the
increase of family courts in all provinces, and safety and security issues.
There was concern of the bias of legal representation especially in rape cases.
There needed to be a mechanism to prevent killing by men. Further concerns
included secondary victimisation of women and
children in Court and the need to report on the progress of the Sexual Offences
Bill. Certain programmes had not filtered to all
courts. Investigating officers needed to be capacitated. The Thutuzela Places of Safety needed further examination and
there was the need to increase the numbers. The progress of halting trafficking
was to be examined. . Governments should assist NGOs with funding and they must
be more visible, whilst there should also be visible monitoring and evaluation
of them.
The Chairperson indicated that the report could not be finalized at this stage
but the workshop had helped to identify the main issues. More issues would be
added after the Committee had interacted with Departments.
A further report was tabled, but not discussed, on Vote 1. Members were asked
to study this report themselves. The issues raised would also be discussed by
the Committee during the course of their interaction with Departments and
relevant matters would be referred back to the Provinces.
Each of the Provinces indicated that they believed this intervention had been timeous, and that the draft reports were extremely useful.
Eastern Cape would have liked to receive the NGO memorandum, to know what would
be the role of the NGOs with Government. There needed to be a sharpening of
focus.
KwaZulu Natal pleaded with the Committee that if
there was a problem with OSW, the Committee should attempt in all ways to sort
it out. Kwazulu Natal looked at the OSW as the
vehicle for all provinces If it was falling apart,
then the problems in the provinces would be exacerbated as there would be no
official mouthpiece.
Gauteng endorsed these sentiments and hoped that similar interaction could be
taken interprovincially.
The Chairperson noted that not all provincial legislature committees and staff
had attended. She was worried that sometimes institutional memory did not last.
There was a national gender focal point, but each legislature had a committee.
It was unfortunate that there was some fragmentation because there were aspects
that were not touched upon at national level.
The meeting was adjourned.
Audio
No related
Documents
No related documents
Present
- We don't have attendance info for this committee meeting
Download as PDF
You can download this page as a PDF using your browser's print functionality. Click on the "Print" button below and select the "PDF" option under destinations/printers.
See detailed instructions for your browser here.