REPORT OF THE JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF
LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN
January – April 2006
1.
NAME OF COMMITTEE:
Joint Monitoring Committee on
Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women.
Chairperson:
Mrs M R Morutoa
Deputy Chairperson: Mrs E S Mabe
2.
MANDATE OF THE COMMITTEE:
2.1 Mission: To monitor and evaluate progress
with regard to the improvement in the quality of life and status of women in
South Africa, with specific reference to the Government’s commitments -
(i) to the
(ii)
with regard to the implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; and
(iii)
to any other applicable international instruments
e.g. SADC Declaration on Gender and Development
2.2
Vision: Achieving
improved quality of life and status of women and gender equality across the
social and racial spectrum in
2.3
Objectives:
-
Monitor and ensure that gender sensitive policies and
programmes are implemented in all Ministries and departments
-
Monitor all legislation including the Budget for compliance
with the Beijing Platform for Action and Cedaw
-
Monitor all Ministries and departments in the
2.4
List of Entities reporting to the Committee
The
Office on the Status of Women in the President’s Office
3.
CHAIRPERSON’S OVERVIEW: -
3.1 Parliament’s oversight activities.
The Committee is pleased about Parliament’s
intensified focus on Budgetary oversight, and about
the Equality Review Campaign that was initiated by the Presiding officers of
both Houses. The focus of the Equality Review Campaign will be to:
·
Review progress or lack of it in the
implementation of all equality legislation
·
Inform and educate the public about
equality legislation;
·
Devise a mechanism of accelerating
the implementation of equality legislation where it is lacking
During monitoring visits and hearings at Parliament,
it became clear that ordinary people as well as government officials need much
more education about their rights and responsibilities in terms of post-1994
legislation. The committee has also noted complacency within some government
departments, both national and provincial, and therefore supports renewed
education projects about the Constitution and equality legislation aimed at
government officials and civil society.
The renewed collective monitoring focus of Parliament
will do much to lighten the burden of the Parliamentary monitoring committees
and to instil awareness of personal responsibility, as well as a culture of
accountability, among Government, government officials and the citizens of
3.2 Memorandum received about protecting women’s rights in relation to
gender-based violence (Attachment iii at the end of this report)
On 10 April 2006 the
following organizations handed a memorandum to the Committee titled: Protecting
women’s rights in relation to gender-based violence.): Aids Law Project;
the Black Sash; Childline SA; Centre for Applied
Legal Studies; Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation; Gender
Advocacy Project; KwaZulu-Natal Network on Violence Against Women; Masisikumene; NICRO; Nisaa
Institute for Women’s Development; People Opposing Woman Abuse; Port Elizabeth
Rape Crisis Centre; Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust; Resources Aimed at the
Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect; Sex Workers Education and Advocacy
Taskforce; Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Project; Tshwaranang
Legal Advocacy Centre; Western Cape Network on Violence against Women; Womensnet.
In
the memorandum the organizations call on the Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development, the Department of Safety and Security, to make the
Age of Hope a reality for women and children by undertaking the following:
1.
Releasing the draft Sexual Offences Bill to the public for
discussion and consultation;
2.
Finalising the contents of the Bill in accordance with the
outcomes of the public consultation;
3.
Maintaining and strengthening the specialist sexual offences
courts;
4.
Allocating resources to the Departments of Health and Social
Development, as well as the many non-governmental organisations that provide
for the care and management of rape survivors;
5.
Costing the effective implementation of the Sexual Offences
Bill and ensuring that an adequate budget is allocated towards the
implementation of this legislation;
6.
Translating the application forms for the protection order
in terms of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) into at least three other official
South African languages in addition to English and Afrikaans;
7.
Employing more maintenance investigators;
8.
Employing more clerks of the court to deal with applications
for maintenance;
9.
Employing more clerks of the court to deal with applications
for protection orders;
10.
Training all relevant government employees around the
contents and implementation of the Domestic Violence Act;
11.
Training all relevant government employees around the
contents and implementation of the Maintenance Act; and
12.
Ensuring that both the Independent Complaints Directorate
and the South African Police Service fulfil their statutory obligations in
terms of the DVA to submit reports every six months to Parliament around police
(non)compliance with their obligations in terms of the
Act. To date, the SAPS have not submitted a single report since the Act was operationalised in 1999 while the ICD has submitted only
two reports.
They
also call on the Department of Justice to provide the National Working Group on
the Sexual Offences Bill, by no later than 10 May, in writing, with the dates
by when they will release the draft Sexual Offences Bill for public comment;
the time frames they will allocate towards public consultation and discussion
of the Bill; and the date by when they propose to finalise the Bill.
3.3 Recommendations
about enhanced communication strategies and integrated data systems.
Delays in finalising key child care and protection legislation, i.e.
Children’s Bill (enactment of Section 75 and finalization of Section 76), the
Sexual Offences Bill, Compulsory HIV Testing of Alleged Sexual Offenders
legislation, the Child Justice Bill; have been of great concern. The Children’s
Bill deals with the issue of trafficking in children quite comprehensively.
The Committee has attached recommendations received at a hearing held on
24 March 2006 (see paragraph 12.2 of this report). The innovative and clear
recommendations brought by the participants were heartening.
This country has a wealth of dedicated, professional public servants and
civilians who can identify problems and come up with practical solutions. The
quality of the recommendations is encouraging, and highlights how Government
departments and civil society can work together to solve some very pressing
problems in this country and in the region. The recommendations demonstrate the
crucial responsibility of individuals in Government Departments and in civil
society to remain vigilant and focused throughout.
The
hearings were held because the JMC IQLSW had identified the need for:
·
Co-ordinating data and research
across disciplines to ascertain what violence costs the
·
Keeping track of SAPS case dockets
in view of the high incidence of destruction of these documents (refer to MRC
report on Intimate Femicide)
·
Statistics from SAPS, Department of
Health, Department of Social Development, the legal fraternity and the National
Prosecuting Authority etc.
·
Identifying abuse-related injuries
and costs across the board;
·
Consolidating official statistics on
violence (police dockets, emergency rooms - Department of Health, Justice
System, NGOs) to determine the cost of treatment and
to try to strategise for, and cost, prevention methodologies.
·
Communicating with people in rural areas to educate them about policies
and their rights
3.4 Delayed funding
approvals cause breakdown in committee’s functioning.
The
committee experiences such delays in funding approval that full delegations cannot
attend National Gender Machinery meetings. Members who do attend must claim for
expenses after returning to Parliament, and in most cases those attending must
leave the two-day meetings after having attended only one day.
The
delays have by now impacted to such an extent that members of the committee are
reluctant to commit to accompanying delegations of the Joint Monitoring
Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women, because other
committees have higher success rates in obtaining funding approval.
Practically
this means that members of the committee, who are expected to commit to
oversight visits two months in advance, are put in the unenviable position that
they only get confirmation at the last minute that they will indeed travel.
These members are expected to make a choice between waiting for such last
minute confirmations from the Joint Monitoring Committee secretariat, or
abandoning the Joint Monitoring Committee’s programme and rather throwing in
their efforts with other committees that have earlier successes in obtaining
funding.
The
impact is that members do not get exposure to the issues on the ground, because
they do not participate in committee activities, apart from attending committee
meetings on Friday mornings.
The reason for the delays in funding approval seems to
be the long bureaucratic chain that Joint Committees must follow. At present
the committee must obtain seven signatures, apart from those of the chairperson
and deputy chairperson, to spend money:
(i)
Control Committee Secretary, Cluster 2 – Social Services
(ii)
Chairperson of Committees, National Council of Provinces
(iii)
Chief Whip, National Council of Provinces
(iv)
Chairperson of National Council of Provinces
(v)
House Chairperson: Committees, National Assembly
(vi)
Section Manager: Committee Section
(vii)
Division Manager: Legislation and Proceedings
3.5 Research support for the JMCIQLSW
The Committee repeats its appeal for specialised
research assistance and requests clarification about the additional research
assistance that was offered at the beginning of 2005. We commend the staff of
Parliament’s Research Section for the sterling work they produce, mostly at
very short notice.
However the nature and magnitude of the committee’s
monitoring work is such that sustained failure by the institution to provide a
dedicated specialist for this Committee is hampering compliance with its
mandate. The scope and nature of the Committee’s oversight workload is immense,
because it includes national, bilateral and multilateral oversight. The
Committee cannot function satisfactorily without a dedicated researcher and
therefore we repeat our request for immediate dedicated research assistance.
3.6 Communication within
government departments
The committee is privileged to meet with every
government department, because it calls all departments to report on the state
of their gender focal points and other programmes. Because of the committee’s
unique perspective over all government departments, it has been able to compare
departments’ responses to requests from Parliament.
In many departments the committee’s requests for
information or presentations are communicated slowly and incompletely from the
point of reception to the desk of the person who is tasked with preparing the
department’s response. While this is not true for all government departments,
there appears to be a need for improving communication within government
departments.
Some departments do not comply with basic requests
from the Committee. The cause could be that the person who receives the request
does not communicate the entire content of letters to the staff member who has
to respond, or that departmental officials do not read documents well. This
Committee’s concern is that departmental officials read and implement national
Government policy. The Committee requests that directors general support and
encourage their staff to re-focus, to communicate effectively and to brush up
on Government policy, especially the National Gender Policy.
3.7 Non-attendance by members
Non-attendance of committee meetings impacts on the
Committee’s ability to function. Members of Parliament who do not attend
meetings cannot be aware of content discussed at those meetings. This
translates into weakened committee capacity. Members of the JMC IQLSW who do
not attend meetings are urged to participate in Committee activities so that
they will be able to inform civilians in especially their constituencies of
their rights and responsibilities.
Full-time members should not have other commitments on
Fridays, so that they will not be able to inform the Committee that they cannot
attend, because they also have full-time membership of other committees that
are meeting at the same time.
3.8 Recommendation for compulsory workshop for all MPs
At a meeting on 11 November 2005, the members of the
JMCIQLSW noted the urgent need for equipping all members of Parliament, as
public representatives, with using gender monitoring tools in the course of
their work. Members of Parliament must be able to talk about - and expect -
disaggregated data when they scrutinise reports from Departments.
The Committee therefore wrote to the Presiding
Officers with this request that a specialist in the field be commissioned to
run a three-day workshop for MPs, that attendance must be compulsory for all
MPs, and that the matter had to be raised in the Committee of Chairpersons.
The Committee recommends strongly that this training
be completed by all Members of Parliament in the course of 2006.
3.9 Meeting slots
The Committee finds it more difficult to find meeting
slots. This may be because of the current scheme of scheduling committee
meetings and the Parliamentary programme. Joint Committees may only meet on
Fridays, but has to compete with plenaries and
provincial business.
The JMCIQLSW could only meet on three occasions during
the first quarter, and aims to improve on the frequency of meetings during the
Second Quarter.
4
CORE OBJECTIVES:
The Joint Committee must -
(a)
monitor and evaluate progress with regard to the
improvement in the quality of life and status of women in
(i) to the
(ii)
with regard to the implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; and
(iii)
to any other applicable international instruments;
(b)
may make recommendations to both or either of the
Houses, or any joint or House committee, on any matter arising from paragraph
(a) or (b).
5. Committee activities
|
5.1 Committee meetings |
|
|
a) National Gender Machinery
meeting in b)
Referrals of documents to JMCIQLSW: i) The committee received referral of the Appropriation
Bill [B2 – 2006] (for consideration) in the ATC dated 6 March 2006. ii)
Memorandum on Vote No 1—‘‘The Presidency’’, Main Estimates, 2006-2007. (for
consideration) c)
Agenda for 17 March 2006 d)
Hearing on integrated data systems planned for 24 March 2006 |
10 March 2006 |
|
b)
Deliberations on State of the Nation Address (including
ASGISA) c)
Deliberations on Appropriation Bill |
17
March 2006 |
|
Hearing
on: A) Enhanced Communication Strategies in view
of the high incidence of violence against women and children in B) Integrated data systems and consolidated
statistics across governance clusters (for instance, for improved prosecution
and improved data on charge sheets (SAPS)) Presentations
by invited departments:
·
National Prosecuting Authority ( on
behalf of the National Task Team on Trafficking in Persons)
4.
Statistics SA
5.
SABC
6.
Department of Communications
·
Department of Public Service and Administration |
24
March 2006 |
|
5.3 Oversight/monitoring visit to provinces- Topic |
Places visited |
Date |
Members participating |
None
6. Consultants used by the committee:
·
Ms Debbie Budlender, specialist
researcher with the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (C A S E), a non-governmental organisation working in the area of
social policy research. Debbie has been the overall coordinator of
7.
Papers (International Agreements,
Protocols, Reports etc) referred to the Committee:-
7.1
Special
Report from the South African Women Entrepreneurs- A burgeoning force in our
economy for 2005 for consideration and report
7.1.1 Referred on 15 November 2005
7.1.2 Not yet considered. On
Committee programme for second quarter of 2006.
7.2 The relevant programmes of the
Memorandum: (a) Memorandum on Vote No 1—‘‘The Presidency’’, Main Estimates,
2006-2007
7.2.1 Referred 8 March 2006 for consideration
7.2.2 Not yet considered. On
Committee programme for second quarter of 2006.
7.3
Report and Financial Statements of the Commission for Gender
Equality (CGE) for 2004-2005, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
the Financial Statements for 2004-2005 [RP 120-2005].
7.3.1
Referred 1 November 2005 for consideration and report
7.3.2
Not yet considered. On Committee programme for second
quarter of 2006.
7.4
Appropriation Bill [B 2 – 2006]
7.4.1
Referred 6 March 2006 for Consideration
7.4.2
Not yet considered. On Committee programme for second
quarter of 2006.
8
Reports
published
Report
on monitoring visit to
9
oversight
visits and Gender Machinery Meetings
|
|
Date |
Venue |
Members participating |
|
Stakeholder
Consultation Session in preparation for the 50th session of the United
Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW). |
6
and 7 February 2006 (Monday and Tuesday). |
|
1)
Mrs M R Morutoa – ANC, NA 2)
.Mrs E |
9. APPEARANCES BEFORE COMMITTEE
9.1 Cabinet
/ Minister: 0
9.2 Officials
from Government Departments and other Bodies: 18
9.3 Parliamentary
Officials:8
9.4 International visitors: 0
9.5
Attending members of provincial
legislatures: visits by members of
Provincial legislatures: 1
9.6
Civil Society: 2
9.6
Statutory
Bodies: Commission on Gender
Equality 0
SALGA 0
9.8 Nongovernmental
organizations, individuals and groups: 6
10 FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS:
10.1 Budget
allocated to Committee: R 544 330,00
10.2 Expenditure:
Catering: R 20 724,70
Provincial Oversight Visits R 282 929,00
Overseas Trips R 0 ,00
Workshops Committee training including provinces R 9 120,00
Credit to Consolidated Fund R 134 680,00
10.3 Balance R 65 623,58
10.4 Expenditure
approved and incurred for 2005/2006
as at 06/02/2006 R
513 374,50
10.5
Balance as at 06/02/2006
R 30 955,50
11. OUTSTANDING MATTERS:
All
referred documents
12. Recommendations:
12.1 Committee recommendations:
That there be an instruction
that members of Parliament should report on what they saw on their campaign
trail during the run-up to the local government elections (2006).
The committee wishes to conscientise
the programming authorities that if a meeting similar to the Men’s Dialogue is
to be held during 2006, it should be held on a day when there is no other
committee sitting, so that the Dialogue would be well attended by the men of
Parliament.
That the status of the committee is imperiled because of its Friday meeting slot.
12.2 Recommendations from the JMCIQLSW’s
Hearings on Enhanced
Communication Strategies and Data Coordination (24 March 2006)
Terms of reference for the hearings:
Enhanced Communication Strategies in view of the high
incidence of violence against women and children in
Integrated data systems and
consolidated statistics across governance clusters (for instance, for improved
prosecution and improved data on charge sheets (SAPS))
12.2.1 Statistics SA recommendations:
·
Increased
cooperation between Statistics South Africa, SAPS, the Department of Transport,
and National Injury Mortuary Surveillance System (NIMSS) could improve knowledge about
unnatural deaths and unnatural death rates. Statistics
·
If SAPS could
fill in the circumstances of death (firearm, transport, burn, etc.) on the Death
Notification form, it would help in analysis of unnatural death rates. The
Inquests Act has been interpreted as barring those that fill out the Death
Notification forms from indicating the manner of death (intent). However, the
law does not bar recording the circumstances of the injury (firearm, sharp,
burn, etc.)
·
If a “best
opinion about apparent manner of death” item could be placed on the Death
Notification Form without legal weight (as on the NIMSS form), it would allow
calculation of unnatural death rates by intent from death registration data.
·
That the
provisions of the “Wet op Geregtelike Doodsondersoeke” (Inquests Act, Act No 58 of 1959) to be
reconsidered.
·
These improvements would help understanding of patterns of
violent death to women as well as many other important topics, including
transport deaths, pedestrian deaths, and the changing role of firearms.
12.2.2 National Prosecuting Authority recommendations:
·
Adopt a human rights approach to development of legislation,
policies and programmes
·
Child participation in development
·
Data-driven initiatives
·
Integrated response mechanisms
·
Standard operating procedures (based on minimum standards) –
reliability, consistency and dependability
·
A shift from crisis management to strategic management
strategy development must ensure prevention, reaction, support
·
Focused and appropriate messaging for public awareness and
education
·
Strong focus on education which blends cultural practices
with law enforcement.
12.2.3 Department of Communications recommendations:
The Department of
Communications and the Information and Communication Technology Sector (ICT
sector) can play a key role in addressing the high incidence of violence
against women and children in
(a) Emergency
call centres and help lines
·
There must be one national emergency
line where women and children can call during emergencies
·
Coordinate initiatives by
Government, the private sector and civil society – at present there is no
coordination, although various stakeholders from both the business community
and civil society have communications infrastructure that are strategically
positioned to deal with emergencies resulting from violence and abuse of women.
·
Service providers in the ICT sector
could run campaigns on their emergency lines so that the victims of violence
and abuse can call when they are in distress
·
Telephone penetration in all
communities must be moved up. At present there is low telephone penetration in
some communities.
·
Roll out of the national address
system in some communities (rural villages) to speed up turn-around time in
case of emergency. A process is under way to licence service providers in the
under-serviced areas to provide telecommunications services
(b)
Enhanced communication strategies
·
Utilising existing infrastructure
and processes for the communication strategies – e.g. 112 Call Centre,
Community Radio Stations, Multipurpose Community Centres (MPCCs
(e-cadres)), Public Information Terminals (PiTs),
SAPO Postcard Pledge
(c)
Integrated data systems and consolidated statistics
·
Create a portal where different
levels of intervention can be recorded - for example the number of emergency
calls logged, number of people who received medical attention, counselling
services, etc. This will assist in (a) determining trends and the areas where
violence and abuse is most prevalent and (b) will provide for strategic
intervention
(d)
Cyber dialogues
• Create a cyber platform where
information can be shared
12.2.4 Department of Public Service and Administration recommendations:
Integrated Data Systems and Consolidated Statistics
In the Public Service the types of
data currently available and collected are the rates in illness/injury or
incident reports, secondary data of disciplinary cases. There is no data on the
types of violence against women. The Department is not aware of any collated
crime and health statistics in Public Administration, except as may be done at
a country level by the SAHRC.
(a) Recommendations -
Violence in the Workplace
(i)
That the Public Service Employee Health and Wellness Policy
framework and Human Resource Planning policy section further research and
address costs as consequence of workplace violence.
(ii)
All departments and provincial administration must be
required to have systems in place to record incidents of violence against staff
and have published strategies to reduce frequency of such incidents.
(iii)
The Department of Public Service and Administration’s
employment and governance responsibilities are to address and recognize their
obligation to develop standards and guidelines to provide safe workplaces for
women and men.
(iv)
The Public Service must implement laws, policy and plans as
a first step in accomplishing the goal to eliminate or reduce workplace violence
- The Department for Public Service and Administration recommends a systemic
approach.
(v)
Adopt 'critical social policy', and begin
from a view of social policy that is underpinned by social inequality -
particularly the inequalities of class, race and gender, in reviewing Public
Service employment and governance regulations, policies and plans
(b) Recommendations –
E-governance
·
Give focus to ICT innovations to strengthen the public voice
to revitalize democratic processes, and refocus public management, structure
and monitoring of government that better serves the public interest, looking
beyond delivery of government services and information to the public using
electronic means, to the issue of e–governance.
c Recommendations on Integrated
Data Systems and Consolidated Statistics
(i)
That
attention should be given to abnormally high levels of absence on the grounds
of sickness, high levels of staff turnover and records of violent incidents.
Historically, the DPSA has not collected sex–disaggregated data in this
respect.
(ii)
That the Public Watch monitoring and evaluation system be
used to collect data on the types of violence against women, on the direct
costs of legal liabilities by departments, lost work and security
measures/installations.
(iii)
That data collection at national, provincial and local
levels be systematized, and integrated/collated through enhancing existing IS/IT
systems of Vulindlela, and the Public Watch
monitoring and evaluation system. The
Presidency’s monitoring and evaluation system could assist with the provision
of internationally accepted baseline indicators for sex disaggregated reporting
and evaluation.
(iv)
That current practices that top management are
mostly responsible for, or contribute to data collection be continued.
(v)
That DPSA promote increasing processes of dialogue,
consultation, negotiation and all forms of cooperation among levels of
government and between government departments, senior management and workers,
trade unions and professional bodies, specialists, advocacy groups and NGOs
active in the areas of workplace violence, health and safety, human rights and
gender promotion.
(vi)
That workplace violence be eliminated using a comprehensive
multi–dimensional approach/methodology with a mix of risk control measures,
adopting the risk–management approach, which consists in risk assessment, risk
control measures and review of strategies.
(vii)
That costs be addressed as a major negative impact of
workplace violence.
12.2.5 SABC Recommendations:
That the SABC:
·
As overall objective minimise the
level of violence and sex scenes in programmes.
·
Sustain comprehensive integrated
storytelling
·
Establish a panel of experts
·
Drive advocacy campaigns
·
Develop programmes that drive social
action
·
Become agents of change
·
Mobilise resources for consistent
and frequent messaging
·
Extend messages to sport programming
·
Ensure interaction with audiences
via programming and then ensure that the storytellers become change agents in
their communities
·
Aggressive training for
commissioning editors and film industry
·
Forge strategic partnerships.
12.2.6 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recommendations:
(i) That anti-human trafficking advertisements be used in
Specific focus must be put on the
development of information and awareness-raising materials and enhancing
cooperation and awareness-raising in the community and among practitioners
(police, social services, health etc). Awareness raising campaigns are
extremely important in the prevention of trafficking in human beings. Potential
victims are vulnerable also due to a lack of information,
therefore awareness raising campaigns in countries of origin must aim to
empower people to make informed choices about working opportunities abroad.
(ii)
Participation in UNODC anti-trafficking in persons projects in
·
a regional project in collaboration
with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to address problems related to the lack of proper national
anti-trafficking legislation and aimed at assisting in the adoption of a
regional strategy against trafficking in persons.
·
increasing the technical capacity of police and
prosecution agencies of the Southern African Police
Chief’s Cooperation Organization (SARPPCO) through a regional training course for police officers and prosecutors
focusing on identifying, investigating and prosecuting cases of
trafficking in persons in collaboration with
the NGO Molo Songololo, in
the Western Cape to raise awareness, and provide support to victims of
trafficking and those at risk.
12.2.7 Molo Songololo recommendations:
Trafficking in children
·
Engage civil societies and local communities in the various processes;
including child participation
·
Set in place a monitoring instrument within cabinet,
Parliament and the relevant departments to ensure the finalisation of the child
care and protection law reform process and identify a lead department or driver
for the process
·
Role-clarification and communication systems to monitor
effectiveness of the Chapter 9 institutions and the Offices in the Presidency
on the Status of Women and Children
·
Adopt a non-punitive approach to child victims
·
Provide social, medical, psychological and other support to
victims of commercial sexual exploitation
·
Facilitate the recovery and reintegration of child victims
in communities and families
·
Where institutionalisation of the child is necessary, ensure
that it is for the shortest possible period in accordance with the child’s best
interests
·
Facilitate for services and support for South African and
foreign children including repatriation strategies and programmes in the
child’s best interests
Intervention strategies
·
The Department of Social Services (national and provincial)
must be the lead department and provide direct social assistance to victims of
child sexual exploitation and their families.
·
The Department of Foreign Affairs should be mandated to take
measures to ensure that embassy and other diplomatic personnel abroad are
familiar with the laws of that country pertaining to support and assistance to
foreign victims of child trafficking
·
Inter-departmental cooperation between Departments of Social
Services, SAPS, Justice, Health, Labour, Education, Finance and Public Works,
is crucial.
·
SAPS and the Department of Justice and Constitutional
Development are to develop strategies and protocols for the investigation, data
collection, charging, prosecution and sentencing of offenders
13.
Submissions received:
During
hearings on 24 March 2006:
A United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNCDOC), UNCDOC’s work in the area of
trafficking in persons
B Unnatural
deaths among South African Women: Results and Thoughts for Data Improvement
from Statistics South Africa, Statistics SA (Dr. Heston Phillips)
C Report by the Department for Public
Service and Administration
D Department
of Communications presentation
E Department
of Communications report
F National
Prosecuting Authority report on enhanced communication strategies in
G Molo Songololo submission to JMC on IQLS of Women on enhanced
communication strategies and integrated data systems across governance
clusters.
H National Prosecuting Authority Powerpoint presentation on enhanced communication
strategies in
0n 10 April
2006:
Memorandum
about “Protecting women’s rights in relation to gender-based
violence”, received on
10 April 2006.
13. Attachments:
i.
Master attendance list
ii.
Copies of minutes of meetings
iii.
Memorandum about “Protecting women’s rights in relation
to gender-based violence”, received on 10 April 2006
14 SUPPORT STAFF:
Control Committee
Secretary: Mr J M Boltina
Committee Secretary: Ms M
Committee Assistant: Mr F Holliday
Secretary to Chairperson: Ms K Davids
Research Support: On request from the
Parliamentary Research Section
……………………………………………………………………………………
COMMITTEE
SECRETARY DATE
………………………………………………………………………………….
CONTROL
COMMITTEE SECRETARY DATE
………………………………………………………………………………….
COMMITTEE
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs M R Morutoa) DATE
………………………………………………………………………………….
COMMITTEE
DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON (Mrs E S Mabe) DATE
Attachment iii to JMCIQLSW Quarterly
Report January – April 2006
(PDF format available)
MEMORANDUM TO THE DEPARTMENTS OF
JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SAFETY AND SECURITY AND JOINT
MONITORING COMMITTEE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF
WOMEN
Date: 10 April 2006
From: Aids
Law Project; the Black Sash; Childline SA; Centre for
Applied Legal Studies; Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation;
Gender Advocacy Project; KwaZulu-Natal Network on Violence Against Women; Masisikumene; NICRO; Nisaa
Institute for Women’s Development; People Opposing Woman Abuse; Port Elizabeth
Rape Crisis Centre; Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust; Resources Aimed at the
Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect; Sex Workers Education and Advocacy
Taskforce; Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Project; Tshwaranang
Legal Advocacy Centre; Western Cape Network on Violence against Women; Womensnet.
To:
The Department of
Justice and Constitutional Development
The Department of Safety
and Security
Joint
Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of
Women
Re: Protecting women’s rights
in relation to gender-based violence
In
his 2006 State of the Nation address, President Mbeki declared that
We
therefore call on the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the
Department of Safety and Security, to make this Age of Hope a reality for women
and children by undertaking the following:
13.
Releasing the draft Sexual Offences Bill to the public for
discussion and consultation;
14.
Finalising the contents of the Bill in accordance with the
outcomes of the public consultation;
15.
Maintaining and strengthening the specialist sexual offences
courts;
16.
Allocating resources to the Departments of Health and Social
Development, as well as the many non-governmental organisations that provide
for the care and management of rape survivors;
17.
Costing the effective implementation of the Sexual Offences
Bill and ensuring that an adequate budget is allocated towards the
implementation of this legislation;
18.
Translating the application forms for the protection order
in terms of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) into at least three other official
South African languages in addition to English and Afrikaans;
19.
Employing more maintenance investigators;
20.
Employing more clerks of the court to deal with applications
for maintenance;
21.
Employing more clerks of the court to deal with applications
for protection orders;
22.
Training all relevant government employees around the
contents and implementation of the Domestic Violence Act;
23.
Training all relevant government employees around the
contents and implementation of the Maintenance Act; and
24.
Ensuring that both the Independent Complaints Directorate
and the South African Police Service fulfil their statutory obligations in
terms of the DVA to submit reports every six months to parliament around police
(non)compliance with their obligations in terms of the
Act. To date, the SAPS have not submitted a single report since the Act was operationalised in 1999 while the ICD has submitted only
two reports.
Finally,
we call on the Department of Justice to provide us by no later than 10 May, in
writing, with the dates by when they will release the draft Sexual Offences
Bill for public comment; the time frames they will allocate towards public
consultation and discussion of the Bill; and the date by when they propose to finalise the
Bill. This information may be forwarded to the National Working Group on the
Sexual Offences Bill, care of Lisa Vetten.
Yours
sincerely
Lisa
Vetten
On
behalf of the “Get on the Bus” campaign
Fax
number (011) 403-5650