National Assembly and
National Council of Provinces Parliament of
A Response to the
African Peer Review Mechanism Self-Assessment Questionnaire Synopsis
For a copy of the full report, please consult
Parliament’s website: http://www.parliament.gov.za
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Democracy
and Good Political Governance
Methodology
Limitations
Key
findings and recommendations
International Codes and Standards Objective 1: Prevention and reduction of
intra- and inter-state conflict
Objective 2: Constitutional democracy, including periodic political competition
and opportunity for choice, the rule of law, citizen rights and supremacy of
the Constitution
Objective 3: Promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights,
civil and political rights as enshrined in African and international human
instruments”
Objective 4: Uphold the separation of powers, including the protection of the
independence of the judiciary and of an effective legislature
Objective 5: Ensure accountable, efficient and effective public office holders
and civil servants
Objective 6: Fighting corruption in the political sphere 13
Objective 7: Promotion and protection of the rights of women” 14
Objective 8: Promotion and protection of the rights of children and young
persons
Objective 9: Promotion and protection of the rights of vulnerable persons,
including internally displaced persons and refugees
Economic Governance and Management Limitations and Challenges of the
Committee Key Findings and Recommendations
International codes and standards Objective 1: Promote macro-economic
policies that support sustainable development
Objective 2: Implement sound, transparent and predictable government economic
policies
Objective 3: Promote sound public finance management
Objective 4: Fight corruption and money laundering
Objective 5: Accelerate regional integration by participating in the harmonisation of monetary, trade and investment policies
Corporate Governance South Africa’s Enabling Environment and Regulatory Framework
Good Corporate Citizenship, Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
Key Focus Areas of SRI in South Africa
The impact of business on the environment 25 Labour
and the workplace 27 Disability and business 28 HIV/AIDS and the
workplace 28
Areas for further consideration
Socio-economic Development
International Codes and Standards
Objective 1: Promoting self-reliance in development and building capacity for self-sustainable
development in South Africa
Objective 2: Accelerating socio-economic development to achieve sustainable
development and poverty eradication in South Africa
Objective 3: Strengthening policies, delivery mechanism and outcomes in
healthcare in South Africa
Strengthening policies, delivery mechanism and outcomes in combating HIV and
AIDS in South Africa
Strengthening policies, delivery mechanism and outcomes in education in South
Africa
Objective 4: Ensuring Affordable Access to Water, Sanitation and Energy to
all citizens in South Africa, especially the rural poor
Ensuring affordable access to information communication and technology (ICT)
in South Africa
Ensuring affordable access to housing (shelter) and land in South Africa
Objective 5: Progress towards gender equality in all critical areas of 42 concern,
including equal access to education for girls at all levels in South Africa Objective
6: Encouraging broad-based participation in development by all stakeholders at
all levels in South Africa
Community Consultations Key Findings
Democracy & Good Political Governance
Economic Governance and Management
Corporate Governance
Socio-Economic Development
Social Assistance
Education
Healthcare
Conclusion
Foreword
The Joint Coordinating Committee on the African Peer Review Mechanism is proud
to table its final report as the culmination of an intensive parliamentary process.
The Self-Assessment process of the African Peer Review Mechanism is indeed a
useful tool to assist our nation to conduct an honest analytical reflection on
our progress as a developing democracy. Parliament takes this opportunity to
applaud the architects of this African initiative. In particular we acknowledge
the leading role played by our President, Thabo Mbeki
in the conceptualisation and furtherance of the ‘peer
review’ concept as a means for African States to work collectively towards our
common purpose of the development of our Continent and her peoples.
In engaging with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), it became evident
that the role of Parliaments in this continental mechanism was not adequately
elaborated. We believe that
Parliament established formal structures to participate in the country selfassessment and other processes of the APRM. In
determining Parliament’s approach to the country process, careful consideration
was given to avoiding duplication with the process driven by the Peer Review
Governing Council.
Parliament therefore considered the peer review questionnaire as a guideline to
focus on strategic issues where Parliament can add value. In particular, the
effectiveness and efficiency of Parliament as a democratic institution in
Parliament views our country’s peer review process as a beginning to an ongoing
assessment of our nation with a particular focus on democracy, good governance,
rights, freedoms and development. Parliament will have an ongoing role in
overseeing the implementation of the programme of
action that will emanate from the peer review mechanism.
During this first assessment, many critical issues were highlighted and many lessons
learnt. While Parliament placed great emphasis on engaging civil society organisations, corporate
Finally, we would like to thank the Chairpersons of the Joint Ad Hoc Committees
for their exceptional leadership, Members of the Joint Coordinating Committee
and Joint Ad Hoc Committees for their valuable participation and the
Parliamentary staff for their tireless assistance.
We are certain that the issues raised in this report will contribute
significantly and add value to the Country Self-Assessment Report and Programme of Action for the good of our country.
B Mbete MJ Mahlangu
Speaker of the NA Chairperson on the NCOP
Introduction
President Mbeki formally submitted
The APRM is an African-owned and driven initiative that seeks to improve governance
and national management. It is voluntarily acceded to by the Member States of
the African Union as an African self-monitoring mechanism.
The main purpose of the APRM is to encourage participating Member States to
ensure that their policies and practices conform to the agreed political, economic
and corporate governance values, codes and standards. It further seeks to
ensure that the mutually agreed objectives in socio-economic development
elaborated in the New Partnership for
The process of self-assessment and review is divided into five stages:
Developing a country Self-Assessment report and a draft Programme
of Action
Drafting an Issues Paper by the African Peer Review Team
Development of a Country Report and Programme of
Action by the African Peer Review Team
Consideration of the Country Report and Programme of
Action by the African Peer Review Panel and recommendations to the African Peer
Review Forum
Public Tabling of the Country Report and Programme of
Action The Country Self-Assessment for the African Peer Review Mechanism Questionnaire
forms the basis of South Africa’s peer review.
The questionnaire is divided into four sections containing specific objectives,
questions and indicators. The Sections of the questionnaire are:
a) Democracy & Good Political Governance
b) Economic Governance and Management
c) Corporate Governance
d) Socio-economic Development
Parliament has played an active and independent role in the country selfassessment and review. In engaging with the African
Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), it became evident that the role of Parliaments in
this continental mechanism has not been adequately elaborated.
Public participation in Parliament’s process was an obvious imperative.
Parliament is ideally placed to broaden public involvement in the peer review process
and stimulate public awareness and dialogue on the matters to be reviewed.
Given the timeframe for the completion of the review process, joint structures were
established to streamline Parliamentary processes:
A Joint Coordinating Committee co-chaired by the Presiding Officers.
The following Joint Ad-hoc Committees were established based on the four
sections of the questionnaire:
a) Joint Ad-hoc Committee on Democracy & Good Political Governance
b) Joint Ad-hoc Committee on Economic Governance & Management
c) Joint Ad-hoc Committee on Corporate Governance
d) Joint Ad-hoc Committee on Socio-economic Development
The ad hoc Committees solicited public views through hearings and written submissions.
The Committees also conducted independent research and received briefings from
identified stakeholders. Community consultations were conducted in municipalities
across the country.
The Report is organised into five chapters. The
chapters document the processes, findings and recommendations of each of the
Joint Ad Hoc Committees and the community consultations. The report does not
provide a complete account of the issues under the various sections of the questionnaire
due to the short timeframes and unavailability of participants/stakeholders due
primarily to the timing of the self-assessment process.
The section of the questionnaire on democracy and good political governance required
an assessment of Parliament. The Joint Coordinating Committee considered it
most appropriate that an independent panel conduct such assessment.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the unavailability of identified panellists at short notice, this assessment was not
possible for the purpose of Parliament’s APRM process. The role of Parliament
and Parliamentarians under the four thematic areas addressed by the Joint Ad Hoc
Committees has however been highlighted in each Section. An assessment of the
independence, efficiency and effectiveness of Parliament will however be
conducted as a priority project for Parliament during 2006.
Democracy and Good Political Governance
The mandate of the Committee derives from Section 1 of the APRM Questionnaire
containing the following objectives:
Prevention and reduction of intra-and inter-state conflicts
Constitutional Democracy, including periodic political competition and opportunity
for choice, the rule of law, citizens rights and supremacy of the Constitution
Promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights
Uphold separation of powers, including the protection of the independence of
the judiciary and of an effective legislature
Accountable, efficient and effective public office holders and civil servants
Fighting corruption in the political sphere
Promotion and protection of the rights of women
Promotion and protection of the rights of Children
Promotion and protection of the rights of vulnerable groups, including refugees
and internally displaced persons
Methodology
The Committee undertook a number of activities between October 2005 and January
2006 to give effect to its mandate. These include participating in an orientation
workshop; identifying focus areas to guide the Committee’s work;
conducting public hearings in three provinces; conducting an audit of all international
instruments and standards relating to democracy and good political governance
that have been signed, ratified and/or acceded to by South Africa; as well as
inviting written submissions on questions relating to the objectives of the
Committee’s focus areas.
Limitations
The Committee noted with concern various factors that limited its work,
such as tight timeframes; compromised public participation and unavailability
of stakeholders.
Key findings and Recommendations
The following comprises an overview of the main findings and recommendations
of the Committee.
International Codes and Standards
The Committee found that
Furthermore, various pieces of legislation have been passed to make human rights
obligations arising from these international instruments part of South African
law. These are discussed in the relevant sections below.
Recommendation
Parliament should develop mechanisms to proactively initiate signature and
ratification of all outstanding international instruments.
Objective 1: Prevention and Reduction of Intra and Inter-State Conflict
The Committee resolved that South Africa’s democracy is not currently under
threat from external forces, as the country is not in conflict with any country.
On the contrary,
The Committee further resolved that statistics used to describe poverty levels are
outdated, and thus do not necessarily constitute a true reflection of the poverty
situation in the country. Moreover, despite the fact that social grants are
available as a mechanism to alleviate poverty, many potential beneficiaries do
not access it, as they are not aware of its existence. In instances where they
are aware of such services, they do not know how to access it practically. Poverty
and underdevelopment may pose a potential source of internal conflict.
1 The South African National Defence Force has 1334
members deployed in the DRC, 6 in
Recommendations
The Department of Foreign Affairs should provide Parliament with regular
reports on South African missions deployed in foreign countries.
The Department of Social Development should provide Parliament with an
assessment report on the impact of its poverty alleviation mechanisms. This
report should evaluate the impact of such mechanisms, identify shortcomings and
introduce plans to address these.
Government departments, particularly the Department of Social Development, need
to intensify their community outreach campaigns to inform communities about
available services and to empower them to access such services.
Parliament should intensify its oversight function to ensure that the fight
against crime is successfully maintained by the departments in the criminal
justice sector.
Objective 2: Constitutional Democracy, including periodic political competition
and opportunity for choice, the rule of law, citizen rights and supremacy of
the Constitution
The Committee resolved that South Africa does have a functioning constitutional
democracy in which human rights are protected and the citizens of the country
can freely dialogue, participate in Parliamentary processes, as well as criticise and praise Government and State structures with
regard to the realisation of their rights.
Furthermore, the country has reached the stage where opposing views are not
only accommodated and tolerated, but are actively encouraged. There is general
acceptance of and respect for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of
law. Various features in the Constitution that promote democratic rule include
provisions protecting the Constitution from arbitrary amendment; public
participation in the processes of Government; the principle of cooperative
governance; decentralisation of powers to provinces;
a bill of rights containing specific human rights for individuals and groups;
an independent Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, as well as independent
bodies to ensure that rights are protected and respected. Public awareness of
Chapter 9 Institutions is still minimal.
Independent Constitutional bodies report poor feedback on Recommendations
contained in reports submitted to Parliament. As these bodies do not have enforcement
powers, a lack of feedback seriously compromises the effectiveness of their
work. Political parties have reached a level of maturity where they can
actively engage with each other without resorting to violence.
The Committee finally resolved that elections held in the country since 1994 can
be rated as free and fair.
Recommendations
All structures of Government, as well as Parliament, should work to maintain
public confidence in the democratic system of governance by promoting the
Constitutional principles of accountability, transparency and inclusivity.
Political parties are central to the promotion and entrenchment of democracy
and should thus take responsibility for promoting democratic rule in the
country.
Parliament should develop mechanisms to actively engage Chapter
9 Institutions.
The Electoral Commission should be encouraged to continue its election outreach
campaign, with a view to improving voter registration.
Objective 3: Promotion and Protection of Economic, social and cultural rights,
civil and political rights as enshrined in African and international human
instruments
The Committee resolved that the state of human rights in the country can be
rated as good to excellent at the level of policy, legislation and
institutional mechanisms. However, at the level of implementation, it can only
be rated as satisfactory, as several challenges remain.
Recommendations
Constitutional bodies should better inform the public of their services, including
access to these services.
The South African Human Rights Commission should educate the public,
particularly rural communities, about their human rights and responsibilities.
Such education programmes should be customised in terms of language and format to maximise access by identified target groups.
Objective 4: Uphold the Separation of Powers, including the protection of
the independence of the judiciary and of an effective Legislature
The Committee resolved that the separation of powers generally works well
in the country. The separation of powers has resulted in a strong sense of independence
in the execution of judicial functions. The Constitution emphasises
the need for the judiciary to broadly reflect the racial and gender composition
of
Recommendations
Parliament should monitor progress and the pace of transformation in the
judiciary.
Parliament should intensify its oversight role to ensure that the Executive is
held accountable for service delivery, ratification of international
instruments and reporting on progress with regard to obligations arising from
such instruments.
Parliament, the Judiciary and the Executive should respect, sustain and uphold
the separation of powers as entrenched in the Constitution by subjecting it to
ongoing scrutiny.
Parliament should initiate a debate on the separation of powers, with particular
reference to the relationship between Parliament and the Executive.
Objective 5: Ensure accountable, efficient and effective public office holders
and civil servants The Committee resolved that South Africa’s Public
Service operates in compliance with the constitutional values and principles of
Public Administration outlined in section 195 of the Constitution, as well as
the Constitutional requirement of cooperative governance.
Recommendations
Departments should focus more attention on integrated planning to ensure
coordinated, streamlined and holistic service delivery.
Government’s programme on public-private partnerships
for the improvement of service delivery should be accelerated and should include
civil society organisations.
Further attention should be given to raising awareness of Government’s programmes and policies to enable meaningful community
involvement. Similarly, the role of Parliamentarians in informing their
constituencies about government policies and programmes
should be accelerated.
Objective 6: Fighting corruption in the political sphere The Committee
resolved that corruption is one of the most serious crimes committed in the
country. However, the South African Government has made major strides in
undertaking various initiatives to curb corruption. There are perceptions that
exaggerate the true state of affairs with regard to the prevalence of
corruption in the country.
Recommendations
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development must expedite the finalisation and distribution of the Guideline Booklet on the
Prevention of Corruption and Corrupt Activities Act.
There is a need for improved coordination between the agencies responsible for
dealing with matters of corruption.
There is a need to build bigger and better anti-corruption capacity in the
country.
There is a need to improve cooperation with neighbouring
countries.
Objective 7: Promotion and Protection of the rights of women The
Committee resolved that the Government of South Africa has shown true commitment
to promoting and protecting the rights of women and entrenching gender equality
in the country at the levels of policy, legislation and institutional
mechanisms. In terms of the People’s Contract Policy, all major role-players,
including business, the religious community, and broader civil society, are
also required to promote, protect and enhance gender equality.
However, many challenges remain, including entrenched gender inequality and
patriarchy; violence against women; access to land; trafficking in girl children;
and gender mainstreaming.
Recommendations
Programmes to eradicate violence against women and
children should be reviewed in terms of appropriateness, access and capacity to
protect all vulnerable women and children.
Chapter 9 Institutions must take steps to form partnerships with organisations working in their focus areas to ensure that
information regarding human rights, and in particular women’s rights, filter
down to grassroots level.
The Commission on Gender Equality should develop mechanisms to ensure that the
activities of all relevant departments involved in the fight against violence
against women and inequality are conducted in a coordinated manner.
The Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) should intensify its development programmes in rural areas and ensure broad-based accessibility.
Objective 8: Promotion and Protection of the rights of children and young
persons The Committee resolved that the Constitution provides for the
protection and promotion of children’s rights.
However, certain challenges remain with regard to education; children in prison;
children living on the streets; child trafficking and sexual exploitation;
child-headed households; children with disabilities and crimes against children.
Recommendations
The Office on the Rights of Children (ORC) should conduct a review of all
Constitutional Court decisions favouring children’s
rights and report to Parliament on compliance with such decisions by government
Departments.
The ORC in the Presidency should facilitate and coordinate the establishment of
children’s rights focal points in all spheres of Government.
Children’s rights intervention mechanisms should include a focus on the family
unit.
Parliament should accelerate the passing of legislation that prohibits the
trafficking in children and young persons and impose sanctions against
traffickers. Furthermore, policies and programmes
need to be developed to provide support and assistance to victims of trafficking.
Parliament should devise mechanisms to increase public awareness around issues
of child trafficking and child pornography.
Objective 9: Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Vulnerable Persons,
including internally displaced persons and refugees The Committee resolved
that the Government of South Africa has achieved a great deal in trying to meet
its commitment towards all forms of migrants.
However, a number of challenges remain in the treatment of refugees and asylum
seekers. These include a lack of capacity and ineffective implementation of the
Refugees Act. The Committee notes efforts by the Government to address the
plight of internally displaced persons, including economically-induced and-
disaster induced displaced persons, such as several housing projects to
accommodate economically induced displaced persons.
Recommendations
The relevant Parliamentary Committees should include a focus on the realisation and protection of the rights of vulnerable
persons in their strategic plans.
Inter-departmental collaboration regarding facilities and services for refugees
should be improved, taking into account the requirements of the Promotion of
Administrative Justice Act and the Refugees Act.
The Department of Home Affairs should develop systems for the accurate
reporting of human migration for more effective policy development and planning.
Economic Governance and Management The mandate of the Committee derived
from Section 2 of the APRM
Questionnaire containing the following objectives:
Promote macroeconomic policies that support sustainable development
Implement sound, transparent and predictable government economic policies
Promote sound public finance management
Fight corruption and money laundering
Accelerate regional integration by participating in the harmonisation
of monetary, trade and investment policies
Limitations and Challenges of the Committee The Committee experienced a
number of challenges during its public hearings, such as the non-availability
of stakeholders; communication gaps between Parliament and civil society, which
affected the level of participation by civil society; shortened time frames;
and the lack of feedback from departments. As a result, the Committee
acknowledges that the report does not provide a complete picture of the issues
due to the narrow base of participation and time restrictions on potential
additional research.
Key Findings and Recommendations
The following comprises an overview of the main findings and recommendations
of the Committee under each objective.
International Codes And Standards The Committee resolved that
The report enumerates
Objective 1: Promote Macro-Economic Policies That Support Sustainable
Development The Committee resolved that South Africa’s macro-economic
policy is sound and supportive of sustainable development. However, key
challenges remain, including poverty, inequality and unemployment. This view
has been supported by an overview of the South African economy, including the
Growth Employment and Redistribution Policy (GEAR), as well as the present economic
environment, including the economic structure and performance, relationship
between Government and business, corporate performance, privatisation,
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and affirmative Action (AA), exchange controls
and the future economic outlook.
Recommendations
Government should investigate the feasibility of increasing the deficit to address
some of the service delivery backlogs. For several years, the fiscal deficit
has been projected lower than originally intended by Government due to
unanticipated overflows of revenue. Government should therefore improve its
methods for projecting revenue flows so that the projected deficit is attained.
This should be backed by a comprehensive strategy to ensure that there is
substantial capacity to spend the allocated funds. This is a particularly
important consideration, given the implementation challenges of the financial management
framework (particularly the Public Finance Management Act No. 1 of 1999 (PFMA),
as amended, and Municipal Finance Management Act No.56 of 2003 (MFMA) at
sub-national levels, particularly at Local Government level.
Government should clarify
Objective 2: Implement Sound, Transparent And Predictable Government
Economic Policies The Committee resolved that
Furthermore, the budget process needs more engagement as the budget is currently
presented without much room for changes from Parliament and other stakeholders.
The report further lists the pieces of legislation that have been passed to
improve transparency, the importance of public participation and the role of Parliament
in this regard (as well as related constitutional provisions), and the
parliamentary budget process.
Recommendations
The budget process needs to be further decentralised
to ensure the involvement of critical stakeholders, such as Parliament and
civil society. The Government should also facilitate greater public involvement
and understanding of the complex characteristics of
Parliament should effect the Constitutional requirement, in terms of Section 77
(2) of the Constitution, that allows for an Act of Parliament to enable
Parliament to amend money bills.
The credibility and reliability of statistics used for policy development and
planning should be improved.
The feasibility of StatsSA being independent of
Government should be considered.
Objective 3: Promote Sound Public Finance Management
The Committee resolved that
Recommendations
The accountability cycle needs to be further strengthened through improved
coordination and communication between all arms of government.
The implementation of policy and legislation should be monitored regularly to
ensure effective service delivery.
Government should address the capacity challenges and constraints evident at
Local Government level.
Objective 4: Fight Corruption and Money Laundering
The Committee resolved that corruption should be the focus in both the
public and private sectors. The protection of whistleblowers has not been as effective
as intended by legislation as in many instances whistleblowers feel vulnerable
and, therefore, feel discouraged. Furthermore, disciplinary procedures against
perpetrators are not satisfactory. There are also no statistics on corruption
and crime from Stats SA, making it difficult to measure precisely the levels of
implementation of legislation dealing with corruption.
Recommendations
Statistics South Africa should start collecting statistics on economic crime,
including corruption.
The protection of whistleblowers under the Protected Disclosures Act [Act 26 of
2000] should be improved and corrupt officials should receive appropriate
sanctions. In addition, the concept of “whistleblower” needs to be
defined and further clarified in the Act.
Corruption should be distinguished from financial mismanagement, such as
irregular expenditure. This is particularly important in quantifying the
incidence of corruption in the public sector.
Objective 5: Accelerate Regional Integration by Participating in the Harmonisation of Monetary, Trade and Investment Policies
The Committee resolved that while
Recommendations
Government should monitor the behaviour of South
African companies abroad to ensure that they abide by good business ethics.
Government, labour, business, civil society and other
relevant stakeholders should develop protocols governing business behaviour in foreign countries.
Government should investigate the unequal trade balances within the continent,
as this is not sustainable.
Corporate Governance
The mandate of the Committee derives from section three of the APRM Questionnaire
on Corporate Governance, which enquires exhaustively into:
Legal and administrative measures in place to facilitate corporate governance;
Modes of promoting of corporate good citizenship;
Codes of good business ethics; corporate fair relations with stakeholders,
including shareholders, employees, communities and suppliers; and
Provisions for accountability of corporations, directors and officers.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Corporate Governance has not attempted to answer the
detailed questionnaire contained in the APRM Mechanism document. The questions
cover every aspect of corporate governance in exhaustive detail and very
often-large amounts of technical and empirical information are required.
Instead we opted for a more strategic approach, which sought to highlight
critical matters related to corporate governance in
In particular, we chose to focus on how well businesses in
There is no doubt that a culture of good corporate governance has come a long
way since the heydays of the secretive, inward-looking, sanctionsbusting
apartheid era. Much of the necessary legislative and framework is in place and
the remainders are in the process of being instituted. In many instances
There is an on-going and lively public discourse on good governance aided by an
active and interested media. Several of our leading companies have taken a lead
in setting good standards for corporate governance. The business community has recognised, by and large, that one of the primary drivers
for good governance must be the social and economic transformation of the country
from an inequitable apartheid past. A recent review of the standards of
corporate governance in the banking sector reported that banks were committed
to high standards of corporate governance and that no serious breaches were
found to exist. (cf. The Myburgh Report) The
increasing number of successful prosecutions for insider trading, points to an
improving enforcement capability. Tax compliance has surged ahead in the wake
of a massive restructuring of our revenue collection systems, which has a
positive spin-off for inculcating a culture of good governance.
On the other hand
Much has been achieved, yet much still needs to be done.
One of the principal issues raised by the APRM
Mechanism is the extent to which there is an enabling environment and
appropriate regulatory framework to encourage and support good corporate
governance in
The King Report on Corporate Governance, issued after extensive consultation by
the
The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and the Municipal Finance Management
Act (MFMA) are applicable to all three spheres of government and all public
entities including State owned enterprises (SOEs).
Insofar as it incorporates some principles of corporate governance, it is a legal
codification of corporate governance principles often with criminal sanctions.
Some commentators were of the view that the corporate governance requirements
in the public sector were far more stringent than in the private sector;
The Companies Act, which is under review with particular attention to clauses
pertaining to corporate governance, which are inadequate and is presently under
review. Promulgated in 1926, it was last reviewed in 1973. The Department of
Trade and Industry is currently engaged in the much-needed comprehensive review
of the legislation prompted by the changed economic environment of the 21st
century, a new constitutional dispensation, and an obvious need for modernisation.
The Committee acknowledges and endorses this important process;
Common law, with rich and extensive case histories pertaining to corporate
governance. This section, and section 7, lists key legislation, which applies
to corporate governance in
There are still gaps and some contradictions between these different regimes.
For instance, State-Owned Enterprises fall under the PFMA and the Companies
Act without the necessary alignment have been done. The Companies Act has not
been reviewed since 1973; the face of business has changed dramatically since
then. Some commentators would prefer to have principles of corporate governance
not heavily incorporated into statute, but to have common law prevailing;
others feel otherwise.
Several commentators referred to the apparent incoherent system of corporate
governance in relation to state owned enterprises (SOE’s).
This manifests firstly in certain anomalies in the corporate governance
relationship between the state as a major stakeholder and the board of
directors/ managers of an enterprise; secondly it is found in the complex
relationship between the state, the regulator and the SOE. The role of
Parliament as a critical stakeholder is also not clearly defined. All this
leads to confusing arrangements.
On the question of the regulatory environment, it is to be noted that
There is still concern about the efficiency and effectiveness of our judicial system
to bring wrongdoers to book despite some good achievements such as an increase
in successful prosecutions relating to insider trading and the establishment of
special commercial crimes courts.
Finally a large number of businesses fall outside of formal compliance regimes,
in particular the SMME sector, often because these regimes are inappropriate
for the structures of these companies.
Recommendations
The Ad Hoc Committee is of the view that it is critically important that the
four cornerstones of good corporate governance viz. the King Report, the PFMA
and the MFMA, the Companies Act, and precedents set by common law be aligned
with one another to ensure a seamless environment for corporate governance. An
appropriate forum, inclusive of all relevant role-players, should be formed to
develop a common view on the overall architecture of corporate governance in
The review of the Companies Act is currently underway. The Ad Hoc Committee
welcomes this comprehensive review and urges a swift finalisation
of this matter and assurance that aspects of law dealing with corporate
governance will be aligned with other regimes.
Government must make a concerted attempt to refine the corporate governance
arrangements of SOEs.
The Ad hoc Committee wishes to reiterate the urgency of streamlining our
regulatory structures and ensuring that they are adequately resourced for
enforcement purposes.
The Ad Hoc Committee recommends that serious attention be given to further
improving our investigative and prosecutorial abilities to deal with
white-collar crime and corporate failures.
Those sectors falling outside of formal compliance regimes need to develop
standards for the observation of good business practices bearing in mind the
limited capacity for enforcement as well.
Good Corporate Citizenship, Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
As noted above the Ad Hoc Committee has chosen to focus on socially responsible
investment in
Moreover pension fund trustees are ill prepared to exercise their powers, which
could advance socially responsible investment in
R ecommendations
The Committee recommends a forum assembling crucial role-players from
government and the appropriate representatives from the field of regulators,
representative associations, labour and civil society
to examine strategies to bolster shareholder activism. Reference should be made
to the recommendations of the King report.
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) with its massive leverage as investors,
must be mandated to equip itself to become a champion of socially responsible
investment.
National Treasury and the Financial Services Board must examine mechanisms to
empower Trustees of Pension Funds.
Government should scrutinise its shareholder
responsibility with regard to SOE’s.
The Committee calls upon the Departments of Justice, of Public- Service and
Administration and the South African Human Rights Commission to address gaps in
legislation that focus on access to information, and to extend education programmes, formulate rules for the implementation of the
legislation and consider the relevance of the legislation for small enterprises.
Both government and business should embark on a comprehensive scrutiny of our
procurement practices to rid them of the flaws that encourage abuse of the
system. All three spheres of government must be engaged
Government must expedite the formulation of a policy to counteract the revolving
door phenomenon (restraint of trade or cooling off period) for senior civil
servants and politicians at ministerial level Business organisations must engage with the issue of CEO remuneration
in a much more vigorous way, and that shareholders become far more proactive on
this matter than in the past. The possibility of mandatory disclosure of voting
at board meetings should be considered
Key Focus Areas of SRI in South Africa
The Ad Hoc Committee decided to scrutinise four
key aspects of SRI, namely the practices of corporations as they impact on the
environment, labour and disabled people, and the
treatment of HIV/ AIDS at the work place. These are key social issues in
The Impact of Business on the Environment
Some corporations (such as Sasol) comply with the
requirements for good corporate governance and produce comprehensive
environmental reports.
Many, however, do not. Moreover, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
(DEAT) does not undertake monitoring of environmental performance reporting.
Recommendations
Local and Provincial government should investigate partnerships with civil
society which support the capacitation of the
environmental NGO sector and in particular affected communities in monitoring
and evaluation of the environmental governance of the corporate sector.
The power of the corporate sector needs to be balanced by an empowered, civil
society, aware of, and able to, exercise its environmental rights.
The environmental NGO sector and in particular, affected communities, should be
encouraged to engage in ‘shareholder activism’, in an attempt to make
corporations more accountable. Linkages need to be sought with other
like-minded shareholders.
The DEAT needs to ensure that its monitoring mechanisms (such as inspectorates)
are sufficiently capacitated (in terms of qualified staff, equipment and
financial resources) to effectively monitor and evaluate the environmental
performance of the corporate sector. Further, the DEAT must take the lead in
monitoring the environmental performance of the corporate sector and in
ensuring that they are held accountable for poor corporate governance and
committing environmental transgressions.
The DEAT should continue and indeed, bolster, its current initiatives to co-operate
with local and provincial authorities in achieving good environmental
governance by the corporate sector.
The DEAT needs to ensure that the punitive aspect of its monitoring mechanisms
(i.e. fines), are of such a nature, as to bring about compliance from the
corporate sector. In addition to fines, the principle of managerial
accountability should be upheld.
The DEAT needs to collaborate with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to ensure
that listed companies which are guilty of environmental transgressions, are
held to account.
Labour and the Workplace Only one trade
union federation gave evidence to the Committee viz. Cosatu.
It recognises the progressive nature of the post 1994
labour framework, introduced by the democratic
government that is intended to improve working conditions, reduce labour market inequalities, increase sustainable employment
and enhance the skills of working The presentation also highlighted the
legislation that has an impact on conditions of employment which needs
attention namely: the Insolvency Act, Companies Act, Protected Disclosures Act,
Immigration Act and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. The
flexibility of South African labour market has become
a major point of debate. This matter is presently under discussion.
Structural changes in the economy have had implications for the labour market with Cosatu arguing
that employers have responded by introducing greater casualisation,
informalisation and outsourcing. The restructuring of
the labour market has had implications for the
enforcement of basic labour rights and has undermined
the protection of basic labour rights as enshrined by
the legislative system. The Committee notes the relationship between improving competitiveness
and meeting basic labour standards.
Cosatu pointed out that
Recommendations
The Ad Committee calls for greater dialogue between trade unions, government
and the private sector on questions of labour market flexibility,
improved competitiveness and basic labour standards.
The Ad Hoc Committee calls on Government to indicate its intentions on
outstanding international conventions that have yet to be ratified
Disability and Business The invisibility, to the corporate world, of
people living with disabilities, both in the market, and in the workplace, is
still of great concern. People living with disabilities continue to experience
discrimination in procurement and employment.
The Disabled People South Africa (DPSA) held a workshop so as to prepare a submission
for the APRM process. The following points were submitted to the Committee,
which did not have the opportunity to engage the DPSA.
The DPSA notes:
The ARPM questionnaire assumes incorrectly that people with disabilities are
widely employed; the DPSA noted that trade unions do not have a policy or
support programme for unemployed people with disabilities
Companies are willing to invest socially in the development of people with
disabilities but do not procure goods and services from businesses owned by
people with disabilities.
People with disabilities continue to be discriminated against in the labour market and face major concerns as entrepreneurs.
Companies do not market their products in a manner that is accessible to people
with disabilities.
Most big companies do not employ people with disabilities and where they do,
they often do not make the necessary arrangements to facilitate employment.
Companies are obliged by legislation to report annually on their employment
equity status, but many of them fail to report on disability.
Recommendations
Representative business organisations must engage
with the challenges facing people with disabilities as enumerated above.
The monitoring and reporting of compliance with legislating relating to disability
should be strengthened.
The Disability Sector should lobby for the inclusion of a disability specific
provision in the current review process of the National Sustainability Strategy
to address some of these issues.
HIV/AIDS and the Workplace
HIV and AIDS in the workplace is increasingly having a social and economic impact.
Currently, many companies in
Mandatory HIV testing has been gradually phased out since the Employment Equity
Act (Act No. 55 of 1998) came into force and brought about the elimination of
unfair discrimination in employment.
Despite these positive developments, there are challenges in efforts to respond
to HIV and AIDS. Firstly, broader policy issues in
Recommendations
The Committee recommends that small, medium and large businesses must, as a
minimum, have in place workplace HIV and AIDS policies in accordance with the
principles set out in the Department of Labour’s Code
of Good Practice on HIV/AIDS.
Larger businesses should assist medium and smaller businesses in implementing
treatment programmes (including the provision of ARVs) to reduce the burden on the public health sector and
also assist in improving access to general health services for workers and
their families and surrounding communities.
The Committee recommends that social responsibility programmes
require greater investment in resources to improve the working and living
conditions, as well as educational and housing opportunities, for workers and
their families. In situations where workers live in hostels, programmes to assist surrounding communities should also be
implemented.
Areas for further consideration
The Ad Hoc Committee notes that there are several matters which are salient
for corporate governance but which the Committee did not have time to pursue,
but which merits further attention.
They are the following:
Several commentators alluded to the poor corporate governance in the sporting
sector in certain quarters.
The NGO sector does not have a code of corporate governance that is appropriate
for that sector. The same applies for the SMME sector.
Women and especially black women are completely under-represented on Boards.
There is a thin spread of directors generally in
Socio-economic Development
The inclusion of a section on the assessment of socio-economic development in
the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) demonstrates the strong commitment
that the leaders of the continent have taken to continuously improve the
well-being and standard of living of the people of the African continent.
The socio-economic development section in the APRM is intended to highlight efforts
and progress made by States in designing appropriate policies, legislative
frameworks and delivery mechanisms in key social development areas in order to
advance the conditions of the people of the continent. It also seeks to measure
the compliance of States with their international commitments and the manner in
which they construct their national legislation, policies and programmes in order to meet their international commitment.
The mandate of the Joint Ad-hoc Committee on Socio-Economic Development was
derived from the socio-economic section of the APRM Questionnaire encompassing
the following six objectives: Promoting self-reliance in development
and build capacity for selfsustaining development.
Accelerating social-economic development to achieve sustainable development and
poverty eradication.
Strengthening policies, delivery mechanisms and outcomes in key social areas,
including education and combating of HIV and AIDS and other communicable
diseases.
Ensuring affordable access to water, sanitation, energy, finance (including
micro-finance), markets, Information Communication Technology (ICT), shelter
and land to all citizens, especially the rural poor.
Progressing towards gender equality in all critical areas of concern, including
equal access to education for girls at all levels.
Encouraging broad-based participation in development by all stakeholders at all
levels.
The following are the key findings, observations and recommendations of the Committee
that were derived from inputs from civil society, communities leaders and
representatives, and research institutions:
International Codes and Standards
South Africa has signed and/or ratified or acceded to most of the relevant international
instruments highlighted in the APRM Questionnaire, and is generally compliant
with their reporting requirements. The country has also promulgated a number of
national legislation and created several
programmes and initiatives to give effect to
the obligations arising from these international commitments.
However, the country still has not submitted its report to the United Nations
on the state of children as required by the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child. Although this instrument obligates the State to ensure that every
child has access to benefit from social security, the Child Support Grant,
which is regarded by civil society as key in children’s survival in
Although the Convention of the Rights of the Child also obligates the State to take
measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out
rates, the country is still faced with a high drop-out rate of learners who
never reach their matriculation (the final stage of schooling in
Though
There is no apparent reason for the country’s failure to ratify the Covenant, because
it imposes no greater duties than the Constitution.
Recommendations
The government, particularly the Department of Social Development, should
investigate the social and economic implications of the extension of the Child
Support Grant to cover children under 18 years of age.
The government should investigate the economic implications of extending the
feeding scheme to benefit all poor learners at secondary level.
Parliament should develop mechanisms to proactively initiate signature and
ratification of key outstanding international instruments.
The government should put in place measures to eliminate the dropout of
learners, particularly poor learners from school.
Objective 1: Promoting Self-reliance in Development and Building Capacity
for Self-sustainable Development in
Since the country’s first democratic elections in
1994, the South African government has adopted a sustainable human development
approach to transforming and redressing the legacy of apartheid
underdevelopment.
Sustainable livelihoods in
In order to ensure the participation of local communities in development, the South
African government has established a system of Integrated Development Planning
(IDP). This new approach to Local Government is developmental, which aims to
overcome the poor planning of the past and foster more public involvement in
development, while also ensuring sustainable livelihoods. The country has also recognised that the viability and effectiveness of
livelihood strategies is dependent upon the availability and accessibility of
assets, services and opportunities, which can be positively enhanced or
adversely undermined by social structures, ecological factors or institutional
processes.
The major challenge that is facing sustainable development in
Recommendations
All constraints to vulnerable group’s access and benefit to development projects
should be removed.
The country’s approach to development and sustainable development should place
vulnerable groups at the forefront of development projects.
There is also a need to ensure the removal of all institutional and social constraints
to the participation of local communities in development structures and institutions,
particularly the IDP stakeholder forums.
There is a need for a renewed focus and resourcing of
the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy in order to ensure that
it achieves a broad range of developmental outcomes, particularly in empowering
disadvantaged groups such as women, rural communities, the youth and people
living with disabilities.
National and provincial line departments should build the capacity of municipalities
to be able to implement developmental initiatives.
Municipalities need to develop their capacity to implement development projects
in order to be able to outsource development in an effective manner, and
monitor the results.
Parliament needs to reinforce its oversight role on international commitments
and platforms such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as far as they
affect the country’s path to self-reliance in development and building capacity
for sustainable development.
Objective 2: Accelerating Socio-Economic Development to Achieve Sustainable
Development and Poverty Eradication in
The South African government has committed itself to
the reduction of poverty, low wages and salaries, and extreme inequalities in
wages and wealth generated by the apartheid system. The country has put in
place various mechanisms that are aimed at meeting the basic needs of the
people of
While a considerable effort has been made to improve the standard of living of the
poor, the major challenge that is still facing the country is the spatial distribution
of poverty that remains highly concentrated in three of the country’s nine
provinces:
There is also a considerable variation in poverty concentration between rural and
urban areas in
One of the main challenges of the government’s poverty eradication strategy is
the availability of capacity to implement projects. It takes a long time for departments
to spend the money they allocate for poverty initiatives. This is directly
related to the fact that departments are being asked to perform functions that
are not traditionally within the scope of their work, which means that they
have to develop a particular kind of capacity to deal with the allocations.
The
agencies tasked with the responsibility of assisting with the identification of
viable poverty projects, disbursing money to poverty projects, and providing a
monitoring and support service, such as the National Development Agency, are
facing problems with capacity.
Recommendations
The country
should gear itself to enhance poverty eradication programmes
whilst accelerating the completion of poverty relief projects.
There is a
need for reinforcing the implementation and expansion of Expanded Public Works Programmes, particularly at community level.
The
government and the private sector should explore innovative employment measures
such as job sharing, worker share ownership and local substitution initiatives.
The
government should restructure the current poverty alleviation programmes in order to ensure that they are strongly
integrated to Small and Micro Business Development initiatives.
Municipalities, in particular, should play a more aggressive role in eradicating
poverty in
Local
government should assume their legally enshrined implementation powers to
effectively implement poverty intervention measures.
Municipal
institutional capacity should be enhanced in order to ensure that they are able
to manage existing resources and to mobilise additional
resources in order to create self-sustainable projects that will empower local
communities.
Local
government must play a critical role in supporting the contribution of civil
society anti-poverty initiatives at local level in order to maximise
their impact. This can be done through funding, sponsorships, and facilitating
community involvement.
The
Departments of Education, Social Development, and Transport should have a co-ordinated approach to meeting the needs of learners with
disabilities. The tendency is that disabled children use their grants to pay
for transport to school and are required to have expensive devices that are key
for them to access education, which result in a cross subsidisation
by the three departments.
There is a
need to ensure that poverty interventions have long-term outcomes and are able
to create employment opportunities for the poor and the unemployed in order to
ensure that they are self-sustainable.
There is a
need for innovative approaches by civil society and the private sector to
empower communities to be sustainable.
Civil
society organisations, particularly Community-Based- Organisations should play an active role in development
projects, particularly in devising long-term term solutions to poverty, unemployment,
and under-development.
Objective 3: Strengthening Policies, Delivery Mechanism and Outcomes in
Healthcare in South Africa
The cornerstone of improving people’s access to health services in South Africa
and making it more accessible has been the issue of transforming the health
system from its fragmented and inequitable status to a health system that is
integrated, inclusive and responsive to the needs of all South Africans.
In the transformation of the country’s healthcare system, the government has promulgated
a number of pieces of legislation. The legislative framework also seeks to
ensure that the broader South African society has equal access to healthcare,
health services and facilities.
Whilst there have major achievements such as the establishment of a Unitary Public
Health System, with the District Health System as its backbone, based on a
primary healthcare approach, there still remain some challenges that inhibit
the country’s progress towards providing effect access to healthcare.
These challenges included the migration of healthcare expert professionals to developed
countries and the HIV and AIDS pandemic, which has posed more strain to the
transformation of healthcare in
The major challenges facing healthcare in
Despite several interventions by government, the socio-economic profile of infant
mortality in
Childhood mortality rates in
Recommendations
The country
should foster more public and private interactions in improving access to
quality healthcare in
The
Department of Health, in particular, should enhance its strategy of creating
more public-private healthcare initiatives, particularly in previously marginalised areas.
The
government should establish a strategy to co-ordinate the many different kinds
of community health workers that provide care and support regarding HIV and
AIDS and home-based care throughout the country.
The
government’s strategic interventions on the retention of South African health
scarce expertise should be modelled more towards finding
long-term solutions to the problem of scarce skills rather than on short-term
interventions. This should start at school level with the encouragement of more
learners to take science subjects and providing a comprehensive bursary scheme
to first year students who are taking health degrees.
There is a
need to ensure the implementation of funds that are allocated for upgrading
State and provincial hospitals to create an efficient and well-run alternative
healthcare system to the private sector.
The
government should ensure the equitable redistribution of healthcare resources
between urban and rural areas in order to provide rural communities access to
quality healthcare.
The
government should intensify the participation of health beneficiaries in
existing health governance structures such as hospital boards and health
committees.
There is a
need for engaging the private sector to ensure that poor people get a pro
rata discount to access private healthcare.
Medical
schemes should devise mechanisms to ensure that even those who earn less get
access to medical aid schemes.
Strengthening policies, delivery mechanism and outcomes in combating HIV and
AIDS in
Various government departments have also initiated various initiatives that directly
address the effects of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Parliament, in particularly,
has passed a number of laws that addresses public health issues posed by HIV
and AIDS.
However, studies on the impact of HIV and AIDS in various sector of the South
African society continue to highlight the ravaging impact of the pandemic in
the labour market, economy and healthcare. Within the
education system, students and educators continue to fall ill and die.
Learners, especially girls, are dropping out of school in increasing numbers to
take care of sick family members or to help support their families.
HIV and AIDS co-infection is leading to sharp increases in the incidence of tuberculosis
(TB). The number of reported cases of TB has consistently risen since inception
of the National TB Control Program (NTCP) that was launched in 1996.
Recommendations
There is a
need for the government, civil society and the private sector to create a
comprehensive ARV roll out literacy programme, particularly
in previously marginalised communities where there
are still negative perceptions about HIV treatment.
The
government should intensify prevention strategies in order to ensure that the
level of awareness about the disease translates into behavioural
change.
The
government should intensify its collaborative approach to the reduction of the
spread of HIV, and address the socio-economic burden of AIDS morbidity and
mortality, particularly between schools, churches and civil society in
addressing the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
There is a
need for a comprehensive approach focus on prevention, treatment and care when
dealing with the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Polymerase
Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to detect HIV in infants and young children must be
available at all treatment and referral sites.
HIV PCR testing should be included as part of the Integrated Management of
Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) and linked to immunisation
coverage. This way, children will not be lost to follow up and can be identified
easily.
The
government should undertake a situational analysis on the extent of the impact
of HIV and AIDS on pensioners.
Existing
government service providers such as social workers, teachers and nurses,
should be trained in addressing the needs and rights of children affected by
HIV and AIDS.
Education
and advocacy concerning the treatment of children with HIV and AIDS within the
medical profession must be improved so that children can benefit from the
implementation of the Operational Plan on a much wider scale.
More effort
is needed to strengthen the Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) programme, particularly in Provinces such as
There is a
need for more sites with HIV counselling and testing.
The
government should intensify programmes that are aimed
at ensuring that children who are infected by the disease have access to ARV’s.
The
Department of Health, in particular, should improve its health management
systems in recording causes of death in order for the government to create
appropriate responses to the pandemic.
Strengthening policies, delivery mechanism and outcomes in education in South
Africa
Since 1994, the education system in South Africa has undergone significant and
extensive restructuring aimed at redressing the long years of apartheid of unjust
policies in education. This is reflected in the new policy and legislative framework
that has been established to give effect to the goals and values that seek to
achieve greater access and equity in education, particularly by poor
communities. South Africa is also party to various international protocols that
commit the country to expanding access to education.
Education in South Africa is also regarded as one of the most crucial measures
to attaining economic and social development, particularly in redressing the
legacy of apartheid. It forms one of the cornerstones of government policies
such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme
(RDP) and the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) Strategy. Since
1994, the broad focus in South Africa has been to improve access, quality and
equity in education. Of the country’s over 12 million learners, more than 90%
are currently in school. Net primary enrolment rates have remained steady at
about 95.5% since 1995 and secondary participation rates are currently
approximately 85% indicating increases in about 15 percentage points since the
early 1990s. In addition, the male to female enrolment ratio is around 97%
indicating the higher overall participation rate.
This is a far high enrolment rate than in most other developing countries.
There is, however, an indication in some provinces that more money is still needed
to address the endemic backlogs left by 40 years of apartheid education, where
government resources were channelled into white
education at the expense of black schools. This has presented a major challenge
to the government’s efforts to rectify the imbalances in education in
The greatest challenge in redressing the legacy of apartheid lies in the poorer
and rural provinces like the
Recommendations
The
government should ensure the effective implementation of the laws and policies
that are aimed at removing barriers to education, including access to higher
education.
The
government should abolish school fees in all farm schools as a standard policy.
Farm
schools should be consolidated into larger and better-funded rural education centres, which will be able to draw on a broad range of teaching
talent and benefit from better resourcing and
economies of scale.
Adequate
transport services should be provided to farm schools and in areas where
learners have to walk long distances to and from school.
Provincial
departments of education should take a more active role in farm school
management and governance.
The Rural
Education Policy should focus on the education of farm children as a way of
transforming rural power relations and broadening social opportunities in farm labouring households.
The
government should set a target for eliminating illiteracy.
Objective 4: Ensuring Affordable Access to Water, Sanitation and Energy to
all citizens in
The welfare of poor communities with access to basic services in
Of outmost importance is that the major challenge that is facing basic services
in
Recommendations
The
allocation of powers and functions between
The
government should ensure the rationalisation of local
government financial framework in order to support sustainable service
provision, specifically with regard to the provision of free basic services and
implementing appropriate pricing for services.
The
government should promote the Water Service Development Planning Process,
within the framework of Integrated Development Plans, as the key instrument for
planning, monitoring and regulating waster services, with full community
involvement.
Service
provision should be demand-responsive rather than supply driven to ensure appropriate
choices of technology, lower costs, better uses of resources and more
sustainable services. The Water Service Development Plan should guide
strategies related the choice of service levels and technology implemented.
The
government should ensure the development of an appropriate regulatory framework
that ensures the effective, efficient, equitable and sustainable provision of
basic sanitation services to all people living in South Africa, and
cost-effective, reliable services to businesses and institutions.
The
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, in particular, should look at more
innovative water management mechanisms such as water-harvesting mechanisms by
communities and creating dams in areas that are constantly facing floods.
Ensuring affordable access to Information Communication and Technology (ICT)
in South Africa
Since 1994, South African has focused on the liberalisation
of telecommunications through a new regulatory framework that has been aimed at
ensuring affordable access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) for
the poor, particularly those in the rural areas. The country’s vision to improve
the quality of life of all South Africans by creating an information economy
and a knowledge-based society has ensured that many South Africans have access
to ICT’s. However, despite the legislative reform initiatives
since 1994, the telecommunications sector in South Africa continues to be characterised by relative inaccessibility due to high
retail prices, super profits, job losses, licensing delays and deadlocks, and
minimal new foreign investment in the sector. Internet access is a great area
of concern. Since 1994, it continues to increase by 6% to an estimated 1.1 million
dial up subscribers.
Recommendations
Free or subsidised telephone should be used as part of achieving universal
service and access by the poor and those in rural areas.
Effective
competition and regulation should be adopted as guiding principles for
achieving the strategic telecommunications policy objectives, including a
restructuring of the market to encourage effective competition and the entry of
new competitors and the empowerment of ICASA to execute its mandate in full.
ICASA
should investigate mechanisms to discourage profiteering through delaying
tactics and the manipulation of the legal system.
The local
communications loop should be unbundled and line disconnections should be
prohibited.
Communication operators should fulfil their line
roll-out obligations in under-serviced areas and this should be enforced by
ICASA.
ICASA
should urgently investigate the high telephone prices and put in place
mechanisms to regulate communication prices.
The
government should declare communication operators international gateways as
essential services, and, in so doing, lower the cost of international calls.
Emergency
telephone services should be regarded as a basic human right, and such, should
be freely extended to all subscribers.
ICASA
should ensure that there is continuous investment in upgrading the country’s
communication infrastructure by making it obligatory for all subscribers to
regularly review and upgrade their infrastructure in order to provide quality
services to the poor.
Ensuring affordable access to housing (shelter) and land in South Africa Access
to housing and land in South Africa is at the forefront of the national agenda
for settlement and social transformation. It is also an integral part of government’s
commitment to reduce poverty and improve the quality of people’s lives. In the
last ten years, government has made tremendous strides in ensuring that access
to land and housing becomes a reality to the people of
After the demise of the apartheid regime in 1994,
Although the new government inherited a critical housing shortage, with the 1996
Census reflecting a housing backlog of 2, 2 houses, since 1994, the State has
built 1,8 million housing units, providing more than 5 million people with
secure homes. Since 1994 to December 2002, the Department of Land Affairs has
redistributed 456 060 hectares (ha) of State land. This constitutes 68% of
targeted land (669 00 ha), and 23,8% of total redistributed land.
Through the tenure reform programme, a number of
pieces of legislation that begin to regulate people’s occupation of and
eviction from other people’s land.
Recommendations
The
government should ensure the empowerment of housing beneficiaries through the
process of intensification of housing delivery, particularly through fostering SMME’s and cooperatives.
The
Department of Housing, in particular, should develop a housing strategy for
rural communities and farm workers.
The
government should reduce policy incoherence and institutional fragmentation in
housing delivery and clarify the role of provinces and municipalities in
housing delivery.
Housing
delivery should take into account government’s commitment to social cohesion
and integrating communities.
The issue
of women’s access to land and property rights remains a critical impediment to
the furthering of women’s rights in
Customary practices that prohibit women from owning land should be abolished.
The
government should engage the private sector, particularly banks in eliminating
barriers to housing finance, particularly for people who do not qualify for the
government housing subsidy.
�� The
government should start building family houses that take into consideration
cultural sensitivities and the sizes of families in order to enhance social
cohesion.
Objective 5: Progress Towards Gender Equality in all Critical Areas of Concern,
including Equal Access to Education for Girls at all Levels in South Africa
South Africa stands out in Africa and, indeed, in the world in having succeeded
in bringing large numbers of women into formal politics since 1994. The
country’s commitment towards gender equality clearly demonstrates that it is
imperative that more women are elected into public office, in line with giving
substance to a culture of human rights.
South Africa's transition from apartheid and minority rule to democracy required
that all existing practices, institutions and values be reviewed and rethought
in terms of their fitness for ensuring equality for all the people of the country,
regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and social status.
The transformation of higher education in
Recommendations
Government
departments and entities should establish National Gender Policy Frameworks in
order to guide gender transformation in their staff composition. The purpose of
the frameworks would be to ensure the effective implementation of a gender
perspective into all aspects of planning, policy, legislation, development and transformation
activities within the government.
The
principles of equal opportunities and equal partnership between male and female
staff in government departments and entities should be reflected and promoted
through the adoption of gender codes. The codes should state explicitly the
government’s commitment to ensure equity.
The various
departments should provide detailed progress reports on their employment equity
plans and targets when reporting to Parliament.
The
Department of Education and higher education institutions need to mainstream
gender into all their human resources policies, programmes
and structures in order to ensure more education opportunities to women.
The Council
on Higher Education should establish a selection and recruitment policy that
will focus more on the recruitment of women professionals in the higher
education sector.
All
government departments and entities should use pro forma reporting tools
(percentages and numbers) in order to allow quantifiable scrutiny by Parliament
and the public, particularly civil society.
Objective 6: Encouraging Broad-based Participation in Development by all
Stakeholders at all Levels in South Africa
With increasing decentralisation of governance
responsibilities and decisionmaking in post apartheid
South Africa to lower-levels of government, local institutions, communities and
public participation have emerged as fundamental tenets in the promotion of
local governance in South Africa.
Since the demise of the apartheid regime in 1994,
Within the country’s evolving democratic culture, there are still challenges
that are confronting the effectiveness of the country’s measures to foster
broader participation, including poor communication, lack of information, and complicated
processes.
Recommendations
Municipalities, in particular, should enhance their programmes
of public participation in order to ensure constant interaction with
communities.
Municipalities should improve the content and structure of IDP’s
in order to enhance the involvement of vulnerable groups such as people with
disabilities, women, and the youth.
Provincial
governments should enhance their public participation measures.
Parliament
should launch a comprehensive awareness campaign explaining the various
protocols governing participation in parliamentary activities such as public
hearings and making submissions.
Parliament
should comprehensively restructure participation of and mass communication with
vulnerable and marginalised groups.
Parliament
should ensure a creative and effective resourcing as
well as utilisation of Parliamentary Constituency
Offices in order to ensure that they play a major role in interacting with and
educating communities about Parliament.
All
political parties should allocate sufficient constituency resources in order to
ensure that they constantly keep in touch with the people and are able to
inform the public about Parliamentary activities.
There is a
need for the usage of plain language in policy documents and laws in order to
ensure that ordinary people are able to comprehend them.
Where major
laws and policies are promulgated, comprehensive awareness campaigns should be
undertaken to inform communities about them.
Parliament and
government should give the public sufficient time to make submissions or
comments.
There is a
need to capacitate community representatives about the Integrated Development
Planning process to ensure that they are able to sufficiently educate communities
about their value in enhancing participation.
Parliament
should put in place a mechanism to respond and attend to formally public
queries.
Parliament
should enhance the integration of and participation of civil society in its
oversight work, particularly in initiatives that are aimed at taking Parliament
to the people.
Parliament
should ratify and implement the resolution taken by the 113th General Assembly
of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the importance of civil society in a
democracy.
Community Consultations
One of the primary objectives of Parliament’s involvement in
Key Findings The following is a synthesis of the responses received to
questions extrapolated from the four thematic sections of the APRM
questionnaire.
Democracy & Good Political Governance
Communities were engaged on the following questions:
1. Do you have access to justice, e.g. access to maintenance and domestic
violence protection orders for women? Do you have access to basic services such
as clean water and proper sanitation facilities?
3. Has your relationship with Parliament (or provincial legislature) changed
since 1994 in terms of access to Parliament and participation in the activities
of Parliament? Do you know who the Members of Parliament are in your province
and are you able to access them for assistance when needed? Accessibility of
courts emerged as a consistent challenge in municipalities across the
geographic and socio-economic spectrum. The factors that hinder accessibility
were more severe in semi-urban and rural communities. These included:
Distance to
courts
Transport
costs
Requirement
for multiple visits due to daily court rolls not being concluded
Safety and
security at courts particularly for women seeking redress against violence
The lack of basic services was a pervasive experience, particularly in rural communities.
These included:
Lack of or
erratic supply of potable water and water for irrigation
Inadequate
sanitation
Lack of
electrification
Sustainable
and affordable energy
Communities were largely unaware of the role of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures.
Communities were not knowledgeable about their political representatives at
provincial and national levels. Local Government representatives however
interacted with their local communities. Some communities suggested that this
situation could be obviated by the introduction of a constituency-based
electoral system.
The level and quality of service delivery was cited as an area for improvement.
Poor service delivery was compounded by negative attitudes and conduct of
certain public servants. This confirmed the need to infuse the Batho Pele principles throughout
the public service.
Economic Governance and Management
Communities were engaged on the following questions:
1. Do you think ordinary citizens are getting opportunities to generate an income,
whether short-term or long-term?
2. Do you think the government tells you enough about the budget and what it
intends to do with the taxes collected?
3. Do you think the budget is managed properly? Are you aware of the anti-corruption
forum and other anti-corruption initiatives in the country? Is this information
accessible at local level? If not, what can you recommend to make it more
accessible? What is the level of corruption in your own community? How can the
government and communities work together to fight corruption effectively? Income
generation with particular focus on youth was considered a priority across all
communities. This included:
Government
support of entrepreneurship
Access to
business finance, skills development and information on business management There
was a lack of awareness on the budget process and communities therefore
expressed the need for more active participation in the budget process.
Communities were unaware of government’s anti-corruption initiatives.
Communities reported that corruption at local government manifested mainly in:
Allocation
of RDP houses
Awarding of
tenders in municipalities
Nepotism in
the public sector
Inefficient
/ inappropriate management of social security grants Communities expressed the
need for improved public finance management to achieve targeted spending and
thereby minimize opportunities for corruption.
Corporate Governance
Communities were engaged on the following questions:
1. Do companies in
2. How do you think companies in
Communities cited environmental degradation and pollution as evidence that companies
were non-compliant with environmental regulations. Pollution impacted
negatively on the health of communities.
Communities articulated a lack of local investment by companies. This was compounded
by a lack of policy regarding employment of local communities and preferential
procurement from local small businesses.
Socio-Economic Development
Questions on social development were divided into three areas: Social
Assistance
1. How effective are government systems and programmes
that are aimed at protecting the poor?
2. What are the challenges faced and should be the role of Parliament in addressing
such challenges? Communities acknowledged social security as one of
government’s poverty alleviation mechanisms. Some concerns raised and
suggestions forwarded by communities included:
Grants not
reaching intended beneficiaries
Age and
gender disparity for access to old age pensions
More
effective poverty alleviation mechanism would be the replacement of cash grants
with food vouchers
Perceived
correlation between increased teenage pregnancies and the child support grant
Education.
Have the new laws in education improved access to education? What are the
challenges faced in the education sector in
Access to and quality of education was constrained by:
Unaffordability of school fees and uniforms
Lack of
integrated planning
Lack of
transport and roads infrastructure
High
learner : educator ratio, particularly in rural schools
Lack of
government-funded facilities for early childhood education Healthcare Is it becoming easier and
better for your community to access healthcare services? How should healthcare
be improved and what should be the role of Parliament in this? Access to basic
health care was cited as a challenge across all communities.
This included:
Inadequate
primary healthcare facilities, medical personnel, medicines and treatment
�� Poorly
managed healthcare facilities
Poor
working conditions and remuneration of healthcare professionals resulting in
low morale and poor service delivery
Lack of
infrastructure and facilities for the aged and people with disabilities
Lack of
nutritional support for people living with HIV
Conclusion
The report reflects the views and lived experiences of a cross-section of South
Africans. It would be important for Parliament, Government and civil society organisations to further investigate some of the issues
raised. It would appear that