*Find the audio of Ms van der Merwe’s remarks here.
Monday, 3 March 2025
Members of the Media present
Chairperson of this Briefing - Mr Mothapo and your Team
Fellow chairpersons of Portfolio Committees
Members of Parliament present
Parliamentary staff -
Good morning to everyone -
- INTRODUCTION
Thank you very much for the opportunity to engage with you this morning.
I thought it important, at the outset, to start by giving you an overview of the mandate of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. The Committee oversees the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the National Youth Development Agency and the Commission for Gender Equality.
The first thing to note is that the department we oversee is not a service delivery department. The Department is responsible for providing strategic leadership and oversight over government departments and the country at large, as it pertains to mainstreaming and empowerment programmes, for women, youth and persons with disabilities.
To execute this vast scope of work, the department only has a limited budget. While the Department has an overall budget of just over R1 billion, the largest proportion of this goes towards transfer payments to the NYDA and the CGE. The Department in effect has an operational budget of only R206m, the bulk of which is spent on staff salaries and other operational costs.
It is against this background that there has always been this mismatch with regards to what the Department sets out as its goals, what it actually achieves, versus what the society wants it to achieve given its important mandate.
That being said, allow me to take you through the Portfolio Committee’s key focus areas for this quarter.
- DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN, YOUTH AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
2.1 SANITARY DIGNITY PROGRAMME
The Sanitary Dignity Programme is a core focus area for the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
The Portfolio Committee remains concerned that the programme is not reaching all its intended beneficiaries. We are also concerned that millions are allocated but often not spent. When it is spent, delivery is erratic. Some provinces pay millions on logistics only. While there are disparities in the pricing of these products. Which leads us to believe that more must be done to ensure a standardised, more effective approach.
Hence, the Committee intends engaging with National and Provincial Treasuries in this regard.
2.2 GBVF AND THE NSP
With regards to our fight against Gender Based Violence, the Portfolio Committee will soon embark on a process to identify members of civil society to serve on our first National Council on Gender Based Violence and Femicide.
Questions remain about how effective South Africa’s National Strategic Plan against Gender-Based Violence is, and whether the various role-players in government are effectively implementing all pillars.
Again, this area of work requires heightened oversight.
- NYDA
As we know, youth unemployment in South Africa is a national crisis. It remains one of the biggest threats to South Africa’s democracy, future progress, and the nation’s collective growth.
To that end, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is one of the most important public entities. The current board's term lapsed in November last year and the President appointed an interim Board.
The Portfolio Committee has just completed the interview process, to identify new candidates, to serve on the new Board. On behalf of the Portfolio Committee, I would like to thank all candidates for making themselves available for the interviews. We will, within this week, finalise the deliberations on this process.
On behalf of the Portfolio Committee, I want to say again, that we remain absolutely committed to finding the very best, most passionate, most patriotic, best skilled, most dynamic young people to take the NYDA to its next level. We want to see a robust NYDA that speaks to the vast challenges facing young people and implements lasting solutions that will alleviate youth unemployment.
- CGE
Our very first meeting for this first term was held with the leadership of the Commission for Gender Equality.
The Portfolio Committee remains concerned that CGE as a Chapter 9 institution lacks the necessary teeth to deal decisively with gender equality matters in South Africa. Of concern is the fact that at present, it doesn’t have powers to litigate.
Currently, we are informed that their matter with the Legal Practice Council is being addressed through an amendment of the Act.
In addition, the Committee has noted that their research findings and recommendations do not carry the same weight as that of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). Their recommendations are often ignored and not enforced, and we believe that should change.
4.1 LEARNER PREGNANCIES
The Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities invited the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) to brief us on their research report on learner pregnancy, as we believe learner pregnancies - of which some amount to statutory rape - is a national crisis.
The Portfolio Committee has subsequently engaged the Department of Education and their provincial MECs. We will soon meet with the Department of Social Development and their provincial delegations.
The fact that some learners are allegedly forced to drop out of school, because of pressure from schools, is an infringement on the rights of these learners, and will not be tolerated.
The learner pregnancy crisis points to serious failures and gaps where it comes to the system meant to protect our young women.
- EXCLUSION OF LEARNERS WITH DISABILITIES FROM THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
The Committee became aware of a shadow report specifically focused on Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which relates to education. This shadow report, along with other research and a report by the Auditor-General, estimated that between 450 000 and 600 000 learners with disabilities were not receiving education in South Africa.
To that end, the Portfolio Committee engaged with the Department of Basic Education and five provincial departments with regards to the immense challenges faced by learners with disabilities either trying to access education, receiving good quality education and in the end being able to access tertiary or post-school opportunities.
In addition, other challenges remain: for example, funding allocated for full-service or special schools is not spent, and there are vacancies, in particular, professional support staff.
- BILLS
We remain concerned that several bills championed by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities remain outstanding. Some as far back as the fifth Parliament.
The Committee has resolved that these should be revived and expedited. In particular, the Disability Bill is of urgency.
We know that people with disabilities remain marginalised, excluded from opportunities and the economy. This cannot remain the status quo.
Disability rights will be a key focus area for this committee in this term.
- PLANNED OVERSIGHT
The Portfolio Committee will in March embark on an oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal that pertains to the aforementioned issues, namely the implementation of the Sanitary Dignity Programme, teen pregnancy, exclusion of children with disabilities from the education system and GBVF. The Committee will also seek to interact with the Executive Authority, civil society and other key role-players.
- CONCLUSION
Gender mainstreaming and transformation, as well as youth and disability mainstreaming, require ongoing focus, attention, and oversight.
As Members of Parliament serving on the Portfolio Committee, we remain concerned that many government departments are not meeting the minimum 2% employment target for persons with disabilities.
We remain concerned with the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of the programmes of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the CGE and NYDA.
We want to ensure that during this 7th administration, we double our efforts to ensure that what is presented to us in committee translates to real change and real progress for the most marginalised of our people.
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