Media Statement

25 January 2023

JOINT OVERSIGHT EXERCISE BY KZN AND GAUTENG PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature’s Public Works Portfolio Committee together with the Gauteng Legislature’s Infrastructure Development and Property Management Portfolio Committee this week visited King Dinuzulu Hospital in Durban and Tongaat Special School to conduct oversight as mandated by the constitution.

The Gauteng Legislature MPLs were in KwaZulu-Natal as part of the Inter-Provincial Legislature visit to exchange best practices on strengthening oversight and public participation within the legislative sector.

On Tuesday Gauteng MPLs joined KZN Legislature’s Public Works Portfolio Committee in Ixopo’s Peace Initiative Hall where the Public Works Committee had a Stakeholders Engagement with the people of Harry Gwala District.

Stakeholders Engagement is a legislature initiative which seeks to enable communities to actively participate in the governance of the province and to influence how resources are allocated and prioritised.

Officials from the Department of Public Works also attended the meeting and were able to report on the department’s projects in the province and also in the Harry Gwala District.

Dozens of people including councillors, traditional leaders, contractors and members of the community attended the stakeholders’ engagement.

During the visit to King Dinuzulu Hospital Public Works Department officials reported on frustrations experienced by the department as a result of business forums which disrupt developmental projects demanding to be appointed as service providers.

Honourable Mpho Modise, whp chairs Gauteng Legislature’s Infrastructure Development and Property Management Portfolio Committee, said this problem is not only experienced in KZN but is also prevalent in Gauteng.

“The painful thing about this is that these forums sometimes do not have the required skills and once they are given an opportunity to sub-contract, they sell that to a service provider who has required skills and attributes,” said Modise.

The two committees then proceeded to Tongaat Special School which has been rebuilt to do the walk-about and inspect the progress on the construction of the school.

Ends

SCHOOL FUNCTIONALITY AND MONITORING PROGRAMME

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker Honourable Nontembeko Boyce has postponed the Schools Functionality Monitoring Programme which was scheduled to take place between 25-27 January 2023 until further notice.

09 November 2022
Embargo: For Immediate Release
Attention: News/Assignment Editors, Political Reporters, Reporters

WAR-ROOMS FUNCTIONALITY MONITORING REVEAL UNRESOLVED CHALLENGES IN MOST WARDS

Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature this week (8-9 November) were deployed throughout the province to assess the functioning of War-Rooms which were established to facilitate a well-co-ordinated, collaborative and inclusive service delivery to communities.

This is part of the legislature’s mandate to ensure that service delivery indeed takes part in our province.

The legislature adopted the War Rooms Functionality Programme in 2018 as part of its constitutional mandate to exercise oversight over the executive arm of government.
Whilst a lot of good work was observed in a number of War-Rooms throughout the province Honourable Members also noted a number of challenges including the following:
• Lack of infrastructure such as office space, computers and other tools to support War- Rooms to function optimally.
• Lack of co-operation from a number of government departments who are almost always unavailable to attend War-Room meetings and report or listen to issues affecting communities in that specific ward.

• A need to improve working relationship between War-Rooms and institutions of traditional leadership especially in rural areas to tackle developmental issues and criminality including gender based violence.
The fact that almost all wards have War-Rooms was noted as a positive development from which the province needs to build on strengthen the work of War-Rooms.
Eleven teams were deployed in all districts and Ethekwini Metro to assess the work of the War-Rooms and each team visited about six war rooms in each district.
All spheres of government, national, provincial and local, as well as civil society players participate in war rooms to deal with issues affecting communities that need government intervention.
Ends

Issued by KZN Legislature Communications Unit

For more information please contact Wonder Hlongwa at 0829083532

31 October 2022
Media Advisory

As part of its Public Participation programme, KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, will engage the people of Harry Gwala District in a two-day sitting known as Taking Legislature to the People.

This programme is part of the institution’s efforts to facilitate participation of the public in the governance of the province.

The two-day sitting in the Greater Kokstad Municipality follows the multiparty visits by Members of the Legislature in July to all local municipalities under Harry Gwala District where they met with communities to listen to their service delivery issues which need government intervention.

The two-day sitting takes place as follows:

• Dates: 3 – 4 November 2022
• Venue: Bhongweni Youth Centre, Greater Kokstad Municipality, Harry Gwala District
• Time: 9h00

The media is invited to attend and cover the event or follow the proceedings on the KZN Legislature social media platforms.

Ends
Issued by KZN Legislature Communications Unit
For more information please contact Sina Nxumalo at 0829083532

The KZN Legislature Social Development Portfolio Committee invites the public and other relevant stakeholders to attend public hearings of the Children’s Amendment Bill (B18B-2020).

The Children’s Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Children’s Act, 2005, so as to amend and insert certain definitions; to extend the children’s court jurisdiction; to further provide for the care of abandoned or orphaned children and additional matters that may be regulated; to provide for additional matters relating to children in alternative care; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Details of the Public Hearings are as follows:

11 OCTOBER 2022
Mbazwane Multipurpose Centre UMkhanyakude District
10:00

18 OCTOBER 2022
Osizweni Community Hall
Amajuba District 10:00

19 OCTOBER 2022
Umkhumbane Community Hall
eThekwini Metro 10:00

21 OCTOBER 2022
Greytown Town Hall
UMzinyathi District 10:00

25 OCTOBER 2022
Kokstad City Hall
Harry Gwala District 10:00

The closing date for written submissions: 27 October 2022. Written submissions must be addressed to:

Mr Thembelani Ngubane
KwaZulu-Natal Legislature
P/Bag x 9112
PIETERMARITZBURG
3200

Or: – WhatsAPP Number 0605032194

Or: – post your comments to KZN Social Development Portfolio Committee Facebook page https://web.facebook.com/SocialDevelopmentCommittee

Copies of the Bill are available on the KZN Legislature’s website: https://kznlegislature.gov.za/acts-bills/ and all District Municipalities as well as eThekwini Metro: For further details, please contact Thembelani Ngubane on Tel: 033 3557087 or email: ngubanet@kznlegislature.gov.za

The 2022 Young Women’s Symposium was held at Sibusisiwe Hall, Mandeni Municipality on Friday 07 October 2022, under the theme : “Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on Young Women in KwaZulu-Natal”.

A panel discussion of young women from various professions facilitated by Ms Sunshine Myede which consisted of:
Hon. Kayanga Baroda who’s a Member of the Ugandan Parliament, Dr L Zwane from the KwaZulu-Natal Dept. of Health, Ms S Nzuza whom is an entrepreneur and owner of Eyesihlahla Farm, as well as Ms Z Mncube who’s an academic.

Together the ladies discussed the effects of Covid-19 and how it has negatively affected the various fields they’re in, with their subject matter consisting of :

1 – Covid-19 experiences as a young woman and how the continent can respond to the effects of pandemics in future.
2 – lived experience in dealing with the deadly virus as a young female doctor.
3 – The effects of Covid-19 on women entrepreneurs and lessons learned.
4 – Covid-19 academic experience.

Later the Speaker of the Legislature Hon. NN Boyce gave each of the ladies a token of appreciation for sharing their experiences of how the pandemic and hard lockdowns affected their day-to-day lives, and further encouraged young women to keep going no matter how hard or tough life gets, and although it is inevitable that they might stumble and fall along the way, but should gather their strength and pick themselves up and continue their walk in becoming empowering, strong, innovative, resourceful and diligent young women.

A special thanks to Ms Hlengiwe Mhlanga for her performance at the end of the event.

School Functionality Monitoring Programme Follow-up Visits Receive Feedback on Progress Made in the Implementation of Resolutions taken in January 2022.

In the year since the last visits, the Schools Functionality Monitoring Program (SFMP) has proven to have made a significant positive impact on the delivery of quality education in KZN in critical areas such as teaching and learning, school infrastructure, school management and governance , performance, discipline and stakeholder relations.

The SFMP follow-up programme is designed to track and monitor the implementation of resolutions taken at the beginning of the year, during the first academic term visits. It also accommodates, assesses and deals with new issues that might have transpired since the last visits.

The purpose of the follow-up programme is precisely to:
1 . Assess the extent to which the department addressed the challenges identified in January 2022;
2. Focus on areas in which the department managed to address challenges;
3. Focus on areas in which the department failed to address challenges;
4. Identify contributing factors for failure to attend to challenges by any department;
5. Ascertain commitment between different levels of the department on addressing challenges; and
6. Assess systematic challenges that hindered progress on implementation of the resolutions.

A Multiparty delegation of Members of the Legislature were deployed into 24 teams that visited 94 schools in all KZN Districts, and the Metro in January 2022 and the SFMP follow-up programme took place on 06 and 07 September 2022.

A report with findings indicating progress on implementation of the January 2022 resolutions, findings on new issues such as curriculum coverage and examination readiness, and new resolutions (Sept 2022) will compiled and adopted by the Education Portfolio Committee then debated and adopted in the House and referred to the department for implementation.

#kznmpls
#education

6 FEBRUARY 2022
TO ALL MEDIA
SUBJECT MPLs DEPLOYED TO MONITOR SCHOOL FUNCTIONALITY

Today, 6 September 2022 from 7:30am, Members of the Legislature are set to
monitor the functioning of schools across the province. The programme called School
Functionality Monitoring is a tool used by the legislature to conduct oversight over the
department of education, and it helps to assess service delivery in various areas in
schools. These areas include availability of educators versus learners, infrastructure
needs, community involvement in the running of schools, effectiveness of school
governing bodies, and other needs that may impact negatively on teaching and
learning.

During these oversight visits recommendations to improve teaching and learning are
generated and are based on two areas, namely, there are those that are at a level of
schools and those that require either the district or the department at a head office
levels to implement. The report is compiled, debated in the Legislature but ultimately
handed over to the department for implementation of the recommendations. The
legislature continues to monitor the implementation through its Education Portfolio
Committee.

“This programme is of great assistance to the Committee as it allows us to get a
sense of what is happening across many schools and gives us an idea of the
magnitude of challenges the department may be facing, and what needs to be done
to improve the situation, and this means that the work of the legislature as the
oversight arm of the state is fully enhanced”, the Chairperson of the Education
Portfolio Committee, Hon Sifiso Sonjica said.

End

For more information, contact:
Wesley Canham
KZN Legislature
0833767299
Media Liaison and PR