Question NW543 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
11 April 2024 - NW543
Siwisa, Ms AM to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What are the reasons that (a) students who are offering their services doing geographic information systems work at one of her Offices in Cape Town were made to sign a contract that stipulates that they will not be remunerated and (b) her department does not pay the students for working a full day, as some of them use transport and have to pay for their own accommodation since her department does not provide them with transport or accommodation?
Reply:
a) The students in question are not offering their services in the office in Cape Town but they are receiving training under the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programme offered, either in partial fulfilment of their academic qualifications and / or in meeting the requirements for registration with the South African Geomatics Council (SAGC). These conditions are explained to them prior to commencement of the training. There are no contracts signed with the students.
b) There is no provision to remunerate students who are neither bursary holders nor persons in the internship programme.