Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the department was established following the resolutions taken at the Polokwane conference of 2007. In his state of the nation address, the President said:
We are building a performance-oriented state, by improving planning as well as performance monitoring and evaluation. We also need to integrate gender equity measures into the government's programme of action. This action will ensure that women, children and persons with disabilities can access developmental opportunities.
This came about after the realisation that the previous Office on the Status of Women, the Office on the Rights of the Child and the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons had not adequately provided strategic leadership and management of the issues affecting these groups. Thus, the new Ministry will ensure that the necessary authority engenders government programmes, including empowerment and the development of children and people with disabilities.
My focus area is on the Commission for Gender Equality. The Commission for Gender Equality is an independent statutory body established in terms of section 187(9) of the Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. In terms of the powers and functions of the Commission on Gender Equality Act, Act 39 of 1996, section 11(1) - I'm not going to dwell on all the functions but will mention just two - the commission "shall evaluate any Act of Parliament; any system of personal and family law or custom; any system of indigenous law, customs or practices; or any other law, in force at the commencement of this Act or any law proposed by Parliament or any other legislature after the commencement of this Act, affecting or likely to affect gender equality or the status of women and make recommendations to Parliament".
Secondly, the commission "shall monitor and evaluate policies and practices of organs of state at any level; statutory bodies or functionaries; public bodies and authorities; and private businesses, enterprises and institutions, in order to promote gender equality and may make any recommendations that the Commission deems necessary". These are some of the functions. I will not mention the other owing to time constraints.
This commission has since been placed under the women Ministry in terms of which the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities - which is already overloaded - will be required to perform oversight.
The amount of R48,3 million has been allocated to the Commission for Gender Equality under the women Ministry budget. Previously, the Commission for Gender Equality was funded by transfer payments from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development under its annual and associated service programmes for the period 2009-10. No explanation was provided as to why the commission's budget was allocated in this Ministry. When the department was asked, it also could not provide us with an answer.
The Commission for Gender Equality has been unstable for quite some time. Different chairpersons, chief executive officers and commissioners have come and gone, hence the difficulty of accountability as to who should be held responsible. They have not been able to present their annual reports for two consecutive years. These were only handed in this week, Wednesday, 14 April 2010, and have not been formally presented to the committee. As for the financial statements, they have received qualified reports and now they have received an adverse report.
During their interaction at a meeting with the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Scopa, to which the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities was invited, the commission could not adequately answer many questions put to them. It is evident from the response by the commission that they lack capacity and that there are no proper systems in place to enable them to meet their obligations. There seems to have been improper conduct, the misappropriation of funds and mismanagement by staff members at the commission. It is also not convincing as to why Treasury continues to allocate money to this commission when it continues to get the reports that it does from the Auditor-General.
The question is: How has the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development monitored the financial management and service delivery performance of the Commission for Gender Equality? Also, has the department ensured that this money was accounted for, as it should? No annual reports have been tabled for the commission against which to measure progress and expenditure.
It is not clear whether the Commission on Gender Equality has met its reporting obligations to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development over the past three years. It is not clear the extent to which the Commission on Gender Equality has delivered on its mandate over the past three years, particularly as a result of the lack of reporting. It also means that the commission did not submit their quarterly reports in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act.
The Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities still needs to get an explanation as to why and how the Commission on Gender Equality's budget was placed under this Ministry.
In conclusion, the lack of knowledge by the department concerning the CGE programmes, role and budgetary allocations leaves much to be desired, since the committee is concerned about the duplication between the CGE and the women's empowerment and gender equality programme. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Chairperson, firstly, I wish to welcome and express appreciation for the presence of the President of the Pan-African Women's Organisation. [Applause.]
I also welcome and appreciate the vibrant debate and the spirit of today's maiden Budget Vote debate. I also take note of the input by hon members on the programmes and projects of the department. I wish to state that the department intends to make a catalytic project of the closing of the gaps in the provision of services and also in terms of projects that would make an impact on the three sectors we are representing.
We have heard the concerns on the state of affairs facing the Commission on Gender Equality and, I think, one must emphasise that we will be and are engaging the CGE on measures to resolve the challenges of this important Chapter 9 institution.
I also wish to reassure this House that we will follow through with the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Scopa.
Irrespective of the challenges facing the CGE currently, the country cannot afford to lose an institution like this one. All of us need to work together, not just the department but also Parliament and civil society as a whole to ensure that we have a strengthened Commission of Gender Equality that has clarity about its mandate and that has the capacity to deliver on its mandate. [Applause.]
With regard to the limited resources given to the department, we note the concerns. But I want to reiterate what I said earlier in my opening input: that the amount allocated to the department and agreed to by Cabinet is limited as compared to the magnitude of the task of transforming our society for the benefit of women, children and people with disabilities. It is, however, the policy of our government to mainstream the programmes throughout government systems. So, on that issue, we have noted the concerns that have been raised by hon members.
On the question raised today as to whether we are better off now with the Ministry than before, I can say with confidence while standing here that indeed we are better off. [Applause.] Previously, we held offices called the Office on the Status of Women, the Office on the Rights of the Child and the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons and so on. Now we have a fully fledged Ministry and department that must drive transformation in our society to benefit the groupings that are represented. [Applause.] So, that is progress. That's progress we must appreciate.
The question is: How then do we build on this progress? How then do we do so collectively, all of us: the women of this country and our children who also have a voice and whose rights we must defend and advance, the people who are living with disabilities whose voice must be heard by all of us and whose interests must be advanced? We now have an institution in government that will help us to drive these processes. So, in my view, I stand here respectfully to say with the utmost confidence that we are indeed better off. [Applause.]
There is an article in the Mail & Guardian of today which raises issues about the severity of the underrepresentation of women in the private sector, which is a concern for all of us. Now, such a situation requires a political vehicle with which to tackle it. Therefore, in my view, the Ministry and the department are such a vehicle for transforming our society for the benefit of women, children and people with disabilities.
As women in this Parliament we will not wait another 30, 40 or 50 years for gender parity to occur. We will ensure that together, working with all the stakeholders in our country, we hasten the process of change for women and people with disabilities, focusing particularly on equity targets, amongst other things. We will certainly play our oversight role and ensure that the whole of government has programmes and funding benefiting women, children and people with disabilities.
The President has already stated a number of times that this Ministry has an oversight role. We have to ensure that that statement of the President is actualised. I think hon member Rwexana is mixing up issues by confusing the mandate of the Ministry with that of the portfolio committee. The hon member must refer to the statements made by the President, which give the complete mandate of why it was necessary for the ANC to establish the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities.
Furthermore, the provisions of our Constitution also assist in ensuring that the debate is taken forward, understanding that we need to move further in promoting and advancing the rights of women, children and people with disabilities.
Regarding the input by members about the mandate, I think I have said enough, but I want to acknowledge that there is indeed a difference between our expectations as women, children and people with disabilities and the legal documents that constitute the establishment of the department.
When the Ministry was established, there was a lot of debate on the merits of having a cluttered Ministry; on not having a single Ministry for women and so on. We have gone beyond that debate. We now have a Ministry that represents three groups in our society, and therefore we need to be concerned about how we strengthen the Ministry to meet the mandate and the expectations of the three groupings represented by this Ministry and department. [Applause.] So, I don't expect you to go back to that issue all the time. The Ministry has three groupings. That is the reality, and for the next five years we have to make the best of that reality in terms of ensuring that ... [Applause.]
I would like to reassure hon member Lebenya-Ntanzi of the IFP that we will not fail women, children and people with disabilities.