Question NW1264 to the Deputy President

Reply:

(1) (a) What is the annual budget of the SA National Aids Council (SANAC),

The Annual budget of SANAC for the period 2017/18 was R66, 275,268

(b) what amount of the budget comes from

(i) international organisations?

Funding from International donors for the period 2017/18 was R22,324,975

(ii) the private sector in South Africa and

 

SANAC did not receive any funding from the private sector in South Africa for the year 2017/18

(c) (i) How is the budget spent

Budget is spent on programmes developed in line with the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, TB and STI’s  

      

(ii) does the SANAC audit its books;

SANAC books are audited by independent internal and external auditors appointed by the SANAC Board of Trustees.

(2) to what extent has (a) SANAC engaged mining companies to implement social labour plans to ease poverty, unemployed and determinants on health

The Chamber of Mines is represented on the Global Fund Country Co- ordinating Mechanism and the Plenary and their participation facilitates the alignment of their social labour plans with other investments in the country, from government and external donors.

The new Global Fund Request for Funding that is currently being developed aims to include an organisation that works with private sector companies to align their investments with the National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs, maximising the efficiency and effectiveness of their investment.   

The SANAC has developed a private sector strategy that includes building a platform for engagement with mining companies but this has not yet been implemented due to funding shortages.

and (b) SANAC helped District Aids Councils and Local Aids Councils to be effective;

In July 2015, SANAC Secretariat commissioned an assessment to look at the functionality of the Provincial Councils on AIDS and their sub-level structures (District and Local AIDS Councils). Overall, the assessment showed secretariats exists and are able to conduct most of the support functions related to day to day Council activities. The assessment further showed that the levels of functionality of the PCAs and that of their respective sub-levels were found to be variable.

Provincial Premiers’ leadership of the PCAs was found to be more visible than perceived. However, at district and local level the assessment found that in many instances the councils were non-existent and where they existed the functionality levels were low. There were however provinces where some districts and local level AIDS councils are functional.

Based on the findings and recommendations SANAC Secretariat put together an AIDS Councils Capacity Development initiative to strengthen the Provincial, Districts and Local AIDS Councils. This initiative has seen the development of a Capacity Development Strategy to guide the implementation of the Capacity Building initiative for the AIDS Councils. A toolkit for AIDS Councils Capacity Development has also been developed and to this end 4 Provinces and their districts have been trained (Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Free State). The remaining 5 provinces will be trained during this financial year. The capacity building will be followed by a mentorship programme to continually support the AIDS Councils to function optimally at all times.

SANAC through its Secretariat is also supporting the AIDS Councils to develop their Implementation Plans to reach the goals of the National Strategic Plan 2017-2018. To this end all the 9 provinces have their Provincial Implementation Plans being finalized while all the 44 Districts and 8 Metros have their Multi-Sectoral District Implementation Plans. However, successful implementation of these instruments will require that the Premiers and the Mayors take overall leadership of their AIDS Councils.

SANAC is also working with the United Nations Joint AIDS Program (UNAIDS) on a Fast Track Cities initiative to assist municipalities and cities with a high burden of HIV, TB and STI’s. This process seeks to support these Municipalities and Cities to fast track their HIV response to achieve the 90-90-90 targets by 2020 and their NSP targets by 2022.

(3) what innovative programmes is SANAC contemplating for reducing unplanned teenage pregnancies and HIV incidents amongst teenagers;

The SANAC secretariat co-ordinates the implementation of programmes targeting young women and girls under the umbrella of the She Conquers campaign launched by the previous SANAC chair. This includes programmes implemented by government, GIZ, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the DREAMS programme of PEPFAR. The Global Fund programme is also piloting a cash plus care programme in KZN and WC where conditional cash grants are provided together with a package of services that aims to empower women aged 19-24 years. All these programmes aim to reduce teenage pregnancies and HIV incidence.

(4) whether SANAC will intervene with regard to the poor attendance by the health representatives to Aids meetings at District Aids Councils and Local Aids Councils;

While it is SANAC’s mandate to coordinate the HIV, TB and STI’s response in the country, it however remains the role of the individual AIDS Councils leadership to encourage every stakeholder to be always represented and participate actively during the AIDS Councils meetings. Therefore, the Premiers and Mayors are encouraged to make sure that their AIDS Councils are well established, multi-sectoral, meet on a regular basis and report on their work.

SANAC is also developing a National Accountability Framework and scorecard as recommended in the National Strategic Plan 2017-2022. It is envisaged that once completed the Accountability Framework will improve accountability across all sectors on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan. This process will result in the Premiers and Mayors understanding their performance progress towards achieving the 8 goals of the National Strategic Plan.

(5) how is SANAC tracking its performance on planned activities and what measures are in place to achieve the implementation of its National Strategic Plan 2017-22?

SANAC has an Annual Performance Plan (APP) which tracks its performance on planned activities on a quarterly basis. The APP is reviewed on a quarterly basis and audited to track progress.

Through its provincial representation and broad multi-stakeholder consultation, on an annual basis SANAC compiles M&E progress reports on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP). 

The NSP 2017-22 implementation is also tracked through the compilation of provincial quarterly progress reports on key indicators. 

Going forward, quarterly factsheets will be compiled to depict progress in the implementation of the NSP will be develop. The intention of this will be to widely communicate progress. 

A Mid-Term Review is also planned to track progress to document progress and address identified implementation challenges.