Day: January 26, 2023

Minister Patricia De Lille hands over bursaries to matriculants enrolled for Built Environment courses at South African Universities

Ms Phindile Baleni, Director-General in the Presidency and Secretary of Cabinet.

Acting DDG from DPWI Nkosana Kubeka

DDG Lydia Bici

Prof: Mpine Makoe: Dean College of Education, University of South Africa

Prof Benita Zulch, Head of Department: Construction Economics, University of Pretoria

Prof: Ernest Nene Khalema, Dean and Head of School of Built Environment and Developmental Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal of KwaZulu-Natal

Prof. Daniel Mashao, Executive Dean: Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg

Ms. Portia Tau Sekati, CEO, Property Charter Council

Representatives from the SETA’s

DPWI Management

Buddy Programme Executives

School Principals

Former and new bursary recipients

Members of the media

Good morning, dumelang, molweni, goeie more

It gives me great pleasure to be here at one of my favourite and most inspiring annual events.

This time of the year comes after a long period of hard work and sacrifices for our recently matriculated pupils who are still celebrating their excellent matric results.

Today we are here to celebrate with all our matriculants and I want to congratulate you on your achievement of completing your school career.

There is no doubt that your last three years at school were challenging with the added factor of COVID 19 but today you can be proud of yourselves because you have reached this milestone.

Your education is one of the most important investments you can make into yourself to secure your future and be part of building our beautiful country.

I have seen some of your results and I want us all to applaud these young men and women for their fantastic results with some achieving between 90 and 100% for their matric final exams in Mathematics and Physics.

Achieving those results in those subjects is no easy feat and I want to congratulate you on a job well done.

You are here today because government has made an investment as you are receiving a bursary to study for a degree in a built environment course and I want to encourage you to grab this opportunity with both hands.

Continue to work hard now in your tertiary education so that you can become successful part of our country.

There are many students who also deserve this opportunity and you have been selected so be proud but understand how fortunate you are to get this opportunity.

Many of you have overcome difficult circumstances and adversity, you have risen above life’s obstacles and you must continue to build your work ethic as you go into this new chapter of your life.

As the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) we are proud that we can make this investment into the lives of our young people and future leaders.

The DPWI Bursary Programme forms part of the department’s Skills Pipeline Programme where pupils are encouraged at high school level to start considering careers in the built environment.

This programme by the department aims to bridge the gap with the skills we require in the public sector to deliver on our mandate of building quality infrastructure.

This programme is also an important part of our work of building a capable and ethical state as part of the seven key priorities of the 6th administration.

There is a lot of work to be done in our country and we need more skills in our country and we are starting with this investment in our young people.

This year we are awarding 72 Built Environment bursaries for the 2023 academic year.

The bursaries are being awarded to students who have been accepted at universities across the country for the following courses: Actuarial Science, Electrical Engineering, Construction Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, Civil Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Mechanical Engineering, Water Management and Maritime studies.

The total value of the bursaries being awarded this year is estimated at R165 000 per student per year.

Since 2014, the DPWI bursary programme has benefitted 452 students and with the 72 that are awarded today the number will be 524 beneficiaries.

This represents an overall investment into the education of our young people of R 180million over the past 9 years.

As we award the bursaries today, our recipients will also benefit from a University Readiness Workshop to equip the bursary recipients with basic knowledge and understanding of university life in order to set them up for the journey ahead and to ensure they make an easy transition from high school to university.

The Skills pipeline programme also sees bursary recipients being absorbed into the department once they have graduated where they receive valuable work experience and also complete the relevant professional candidate exams and processes.

Currently 177 former bursary recipients are working for the department either as a Professionals, Candidates or Interns.

Overall since the programme started, around 13% of former bursary recipients have gone on to work in the private sector and others are working in government inclusive of municipalities.

This year, the DPWI Professional Services Branch have also introduced a new programme (Built Environment Student Chapter) targeted at built environment and property students.

The Built Environment Student Chapter is platform intended to be a one stop shop for students to access topical information; industry development and innovation; researched articles and publications from various institutions. DPWI will further establish research desks which will focus on Innovative method on Infrastructure Acquisition, Delivery, Maintenance and Disposal.

The Student Chapter will further give students and professionals access to topics on professionalization of other built environment disciplines; reading and learning material or industry news.

The platform also provides information on internships or jobs advertisement and tips for applying, expert knowledge on aspects of targeted university course outcomes and articles on navigating the complexities of interdisciplinary research.

The Chapter will furthermore become a means for the department to keep in touch with the future economic contributors in the infrastructure sector.

The plan is to introduce the Student Chapter at all tertiary institutions offering built environment qualifications and enrol students for continuous engagements.

A website has been created where students are able to register and access the available information.

The Student Chapter has been successfully launched at the following institutions; University of Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand as well as the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Chapter has been well received by both students and built environment faculties at these institutions. Plans are underway to launch at the remaining institutions during the 2023 academic year.

Ladies and gentleman, DPWI’s Skills Pipeline Programme and the newly launched Student Chapter is a testament to the commitment by DPWI to seriously invest in our students who are pursuing careers in the built environment.

The careers in this sector are exciting and promising as testified by our former bursary recipients.

As mentioned earlier, there is so much more to do in the way of infrastructure development in our country and we need committed, hardworking professional to do the job.

I therefore appeal to the recipients to use this opportunity wisely and walk this journey with us to becoming one of the engineers or architects who one day soon will be part of building an important project for our country and our people.

In closing, I want to leave you with these words from one of nation’s greatest leaders, Tata Nelson Mandela who said: “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do”.

It really doesn’t matter where you come from, it matters where you are going to so I wish you all the best for the road ahead and remind you again of another famous quote by Tata Madiba who said: “Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible so that they can represent us well in the future as future leaders”.

Finally I want to thank some of our stakeholders and partners who have consistently supported the Schools Programme and Bursary Programme:

Prof Ramodungoane Tabane; School Director: Educational Studies: Contributing to Teacher Development in the Schools Programme; University Student Coaching and Counselling

Prof Awelani Mudau: Chair of Department: Science and Technology, Unisa: Contributing to Teacher Development in the Schools Programme

Mr. James Tlhabane: Project Coordinator, South African Agency for the Advancement of Science and Technology: Contributing to both Teacher and Learner Development in the Schools Programme; Promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) career awareness; enrolment of schools in the Science Olympiads

Mr. Segomotso Kelefetswe: Founder and CEO, Outlook Foundation for assisting with STEM Career Awareness in the Schools Programme; Providing a structured University student mentorship support to our bursary holders

University of Johannesburg – Dr. Murendeni Liphadzi; Lecturer in Facilities Management – who is spearheading the Student Chapter for DPWI with various holders and who was once DPWI Bursary recipient.

I also want to extend my thanks to DG in the Presidency, DG Baleni for her support and presence here today.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here today for this special occasion for our young leaders.

Thank you for all your work of investing in them and teaching them.

Students, make your families and mentors proud and go for gold.

Anything you want in life is within your reach if you are prepared to work hard.

You are in charge of your own destiny and today we have given you a helping hand which many other young people yearn for.

Put it to good use and I wish you all the best of luck with your studies.

Thank you and God Bless you all.

Source: Government of South Africa

GQEBERHA – A 50-year-old suspect was apprehended yesterday, 25 January 2023 by alert community members who spotted him walking on the R329 between Wolwefontein and Steyterville. The suspect was sought for the robbery and assault of a 65-year-old farmer on 22 January 2023.

It is alleged that on the mentioned date at about 20:30, the complainant who is staying alone on a farm in Steyterville heard his heard his dogs barking and did not go outside.

While he was still sitting in his living room, an unknown a male entered his house through the open back door. The suspect asked the complainant for assistance with diesel as he alleged that his vehicle was stranded about 5km from the farm. The complainant helped the suspect by collecting 2 litres of diesel from his garage and they drove to the place where the suspect’s was allegedly stranded. When they arrived at the place there was no vehicle. The complainant and the suspect then drove back to the farm house when the suspect asked the complainant to take him into town. The complainant agreed to help him and the suspect then asked complainant for a firearm as he was scared of being attacked in the location.

When the complainant refused, the suspect became angry and started to assault the complainant by hitting him with an ashtray and biltong slicer. The complainant eventually succumbed to his request and handed the suspect a 9mm short pistol. The complainant’s hands and feet were tied and his mouth gagged with his shirt. He was dragged into a room.

The suspect then fled with the complainant’s vehicle which was later found by police at the entrance to the farm.

The complainant managed to alert police and a relative who came to his assistance. He sustained numerous cuts and bruises and was treated at the scene.

His firearm and some cash (change) were taken.

On Wednesday, 25 January 2023 at about 12:30, residents in Steyterville spotted a man walking shirtless on the main road and stopped him. He had blood on his jeans. A photo was sent to the complainant and he recognised the man as well as the belt he was wearing which belonged to him. Police were informed and the man was arrested.

He is expected to appear in the Steyterville magistrate court today, 26 January 2023 on charges of house robbery and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Police are still searching for the firearm.

Source: South African Police Service

It’s “open season” for scammers – Department of Employment and Labour warns public to be vigilant

The Department of Employment and Labour has noted with concern of yet another scam titled “youth employment program” promising the unemployed heaven and earth.

South Africa is currently undergoing one of its tough economic phase with unemployment at an all-time high and scammers are also taking advantage of the situation. The Department wishes to warn the public to be cautious of newly-found messiah’s who promise members of the public ‘paradise’. The Department does not have a “youth employment program”.

In the latest scam the scammers are promising to reward participants in the so-called program with obscene stipends. But, before this could happen a potential participant in the program has to pay a deposit fee at one of retailers and also furnish personal details.

The latest scam follows a number of rackets in which members of public are asked to pay to receive payouts. The scammers also fraudulently use the Employment and Labour Minister T.W Nxesi and the Department’s social media accounts to swindle the public.

The Department of Employment and Labour has a Public Employment Services (PES) branch that assists companies and workers to adjust to changing labour market conditions.

PES offers a range of FREE public employment services. These services range from registering work seekers on Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) – an online job matching platform, employment counselling, providing subsidies/schemes to non-governmental organisations that assist in the employment of Persons with Disabilities.

It is illegal in South Africa to be asked to pay for a job.

Desist from paying so-called fully REFUNDABLE FEE(S) when looking for employment. Under any circumstances if unsure what action to take go to any of the Department’s more than 125 offices or labour centres and mobile service points that are spread throughout the country for more information.

Be alert and protect yourself. Do not part away with your hard earned cash and personal details. Do not pay for a job offer!!!

Source: Government of South Africa

This Council Speech by Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, was delivered on Thursday, 26 January 2023

Speaker,

City colleagues,

Members of the public and guests,

Members of the media,

Goodmorning, Molweni, Goeiemore, As salamu alaikum

As Council reconvenes, I wish you all a very blessed 2023.

As we mark the beginning of a new year, we also know that South Africa faces great and growing challenges – challenges that threaten our nation’s economy, the livelihoods of so many, and threaten our hopes for the future.

At times of great peril, anxiety and fear, it is perhaps important just to remind ourselves what it is that we are trying to do here, and how important our work is.

There are so many in our country only in public office for personal gain.

But in Cape Town our purpose in government is for the public’s gain.

Our purpose is simple to express: We want Cape Town to be a “city of hope” in South Africa. A place that shows that South Africa can work, despite all of the evidence to the contrary.

We aim to lift people out of poverty and into work.

We aim to make our city safer for every resident.

We aim to set the highest standards for basic service delivery in the whole country, to be honest when we do not live up to this standard, and do better.

We aim to drive out, and keep out, the pervasive sense of failure and decline that has crept in to the streets, homes and hearts of so much of our country.

We aim to show every resident – particularly the poorest residents – that they are cared for by a government committed to seeing their lives improve.

In Cape Town, we hope to show the difference that good governance makes, and to be that beacon of hope, so that in time, our country can thrive.

In that vein, today is an important day as we:

update residents and Council on the details of our three-phase procurement plan for load-shedding protection;

table the City’s over-arching spatial policy to drive meaningful economic growth and unstitch apartheid’s spatial legacy in our city; and

adopt Adjustment Budget shifts to make Cape Town more resilient in the face of unbridled national state failure

We also have the City’s 2021/22 Annual Report on the agenda.

I hope that Council will join me in celebrating the ‘Clean Audit’ opinion from the Auditor General.

My thanks go to every dedicated official who gets up every day to serve Capetonians with pride and integrity, as we build the City of Hope for all.

Improving the audit outcome to clean audit status is no easy task, and is not achieved in one year. It has been a multi-year project.

I wish to give special honourable mentions to Cllr Siseko Mbandezi, Ald Ian Neilson, Mayor Plato, Cllr Yagyah Adams, Cllr Siva Moodley, and the members of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee, as well the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Jacoby, and his entire budgets and audit team, the project management, contract management, engineering support and the procurement teams; and finally the City Manager, Mr Mbandazayo. They all deserve a round of applause.

Here in Cape Town, unlike in so many other places, the public can rest assured that their money is being well stewarded for broad public benefit, and particularly in service of the poorest residents. We will never allow the mismanagement and corruption that has brought South Africa to its knees to ever get a foothold here. Wherever we see it, we will cut it out without hesitation.

Make no mistake, a clean audit is not the beginning and the end of the work of government.

But excellence in governance and sound financial management is a pre-requisite for excellence in delivery for all. It is also a pre-requisite for growing public confidence in a government and in a city, province or country.

When people know that services are delivered to all, when money is well spent, they tend to vote with their feet, before voting with their pens.

The Financial Mail last week posed the question on its cover, “The great semigration: should you join the exodus to Cape Town?”

Of course we are aware of the record numbers of people that want to move their homes and their businesses to Cape Town. And we see it as a huge vote of confidence in our City.

It is fantastic that people are choosing to move here instead of emigrating to other countries. So we say: bring your skills and set up your businesses here. Help us to grow the local economy and create new jobs to help people into work and out of poverty over time.

We won’t accept as our destiny, the ubiquitous state failure we see every day – on policing, on rail, in the economy, on electricity, in our ports, in our post offices, and more.

But in this long litany of failure, the failure of our national government to ensure a reliable power supply is the most glaring, and the most devastating.

On Sunday, Eskom projected that South Africa will be placed on permanent stage 2 or 3 load shedding for the next two years.

Last week we hit stage 6 load-shedding – more than eight hours a day without power. Load-shedding is at its worst since rolling blackouts started in 2008, and we are still in the height of summer. Stage 8 has become a realistic prospect in the winter months ahead.

President Ramaphosa cancelled his trip to Davos apparently to deal with the crisis, but was unable to give South Africa any reassurance that there was a serious plan.

He did announce that he would bring back Eskom engineers who were pushed out years ago. But we have to ask: why were they pushed out in the first place?

He also announced that government would start importing power from neighbouring countries. What an embarrassment that it has come to that.

Otherwise, the President said, his hands are tied up in red tape: “When we are now supposed to do things, there is this regulation, law and processes. When Eskom has to buy a boiler, they have to go to Treasury and get permission, it is a long process.”

Of course he is correct. But he is also the President. He has the power to untangle this bureaucracy. Indeed, we have seen no meaningful achievements by the Red Tape Unit set up in the Presidency, and announced in February 2022.

Crucially, the President has retained an Energy Minister who has failed to advance new power generation procurement, and succeeded only in bullying the Eskom CEO out of his office.

Incredibly, Eskom has still not begun the recruitment process to replace Mr de Ruyter – despite having received his resignation in mid-December. This means Eskom will almost certainly be without a CEO from March, just as the colder months start to bite and the demand for power goes up.

I am afraid that the President’s lack of firm leadership does not bode well. And it pains me to say that he has utterly failed to confront the crisis with any sense of urgency.

Here in Cape Town, we will not go gently into that good night, as the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas famously wrote; we will rage, rage against the dying of the light.

We will not be forever wedded to Eskom’s dwindling supply alone. We will seek our own independent supply.

We will not be forever wedded to their crushing, hyper-inflationary increases, even as families struggle to make ends meet in this load-shedding-shattered economy.

We look forward to a future of cheaper renewable power meaning cheaper power for consumers.

Kwanele ngoEskom, sikhangela iinkampani ezino-kusithengi-sela umbane nge-xabiso eli-phantsi.

[Enough with Eskom, we are searching for companies who can sell us cheaper electricity.]

We will not accept thriving businesses going bust and laying off workers.

We will not accept powerless households struggling to keep their last food edible, their vital appliances from breaking, and their children prepared for school.

We won’t accept the damage to infrastructure – to sewer and water systems – nor the rising theft of state and private property under the cover of darkness.

We won’t accept that the billions looted from Eskom through state capture and cadre deployment – is the ball and chain that sinks us all. We won’t go gently into that dark night.

And so Speaker, it is with a sense of renewed determination, that I can update residents and Council on the detail of our three-phase procurement for Load-shedding Protection, with the goal of protecting residents from the first four stages of Eskom’s load-shedding.

Dit is ons doelwit om Kaapstad teen beurtkrag te beskerm totdat Eskom fase 5 bereik. Eers dan sal ons moontlik fase 1-beurtkrag hoef in te stel in gebiede waar die Stad krag voorsien. Ons beoog om beurtkrag mettertyd heeltemal af te skaf.

We have already made much progress on the first of our three-phase procurement for Load-shedding protection, with a 200MW procurement of renewable energy concluded last year.

Tenders are to be awarded in the coming months, with the procurement now in the evaluation phase of technical proposals received from IPPs.

I can also confirm that we are working with the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on grid integration studies to determine when and where these IPPs will feed power into Cape Town’s grid.

The second of the three-phase procurement for load-shedding protection takes the form of our Power Heroes programme.

The initiative is based on paying residents incentives for voluntary energy savings, which will entail automated remote switching off of power-intensive devices at peak times. The ‘demand response tender’ for this programme, launched in October last year, is currently in evaluation phase, and will also be awarded within the coming months.

Finally, the third phase of procurement will be launched this February. This will take the form of a Dispatchable Energy tender, expected to yield at least 500MW for our grid.

This tender will not only focus on renewable energy, as the first phase of our Load-shedding Protection Plan did, but will include all-important dispatchable technologies, such as battery storage and gas to power. These power sources need to generate power for a significant portion of the day to support our load-shedding protection efforts. Importantly, these dispatchable supply sources need not be located in a City-supply area.

We are expecting enough progress on this 3-Phase procurement – and our other deliverables – to provide at least four stages of load-shedding protection within three years.

Procuring 500MW will go a long way to ending load shedding over time, given that a single load-shedding stage requires the City to shutdown around 60MW.

We will add future phases to this plan in time, potentially including more renewables procurement and utility-scale battery storage.

Last February I first set out this plan to end load shedding over time.

Nearly a year on, two major tenders have been issued, have closed, and are in assessment phase; and the biggest one will be issued in a matter of weeks.

Spread the word: if you have a dispatchable power project, you better get ready to submit a bid to the City of Cape Town when our tender opens!

We are on track for the plan we set out last year.

We are also doing what we must to keep our municipal generation projects in good order, including an additional allocation today for the extra maintenance of Steenbras which is working overtime.

But we’re not only buying power from big utility-scale IPPs. We’re also buying power from every private resident who wants to sell it to us, and from every business, or school, who wants to sell it to us.

Last week we obtained an essential exemption from National Treasury allowing us to avoid the competitive bidding processes to buy power from households and businesses.

Now there is no obstacle in our way to actually paying customers for as much excess power as they can produce.

The message is clear: If you’ve got kilowatts to sell, we want ’em all. And if you want to be paid cash for your power, now you can be – just tell us if you want it by EFT, e-wallet, SnapScan, or Apple Pay.

But seriously, this is a first in South Africa, and demonstrates both our commitment to ending load shedding over time, and to being a centre of innovation on the continent.

Cash Payments to commercial customers will be possible before June and, within the year, for any Capetonian with the necessary City-approved generation capacity. We will also pay these customers an incentive over and above the NERSA-approved tariff.

This is a great time for Capetonians to go solar. This is what we mean when we say #PowertothePeople. And this is the difference: In one case, you pay higher prices and you get even less power and more load-shedding. And in the other case, we pay you for your power, and, together, we end load shedding over time.

Adjustment Budget

Speaker, today we table the adjustment budget, which takes a range of resilience measures to protect our city from national state failure.

The budget includes R117 million for fuel – driven by rising diesel costs and the need to constantly run generators to keep basic services infrastructure going.

We are further buying generators worth over R17m, as we steadily install back-up power at our critical facilities.

An amount of R20 million is set aside for additional maintenance at Steenbras to keep this load-shedding protection facility in tip-top shape.

There are several further items in the budget relating to security from theft and vandalism at City facilities, as well as at construction sites, to prevent the derailing of projects due to safety threats.

National government failure is not the only external factor impacting on the City, and we are also increasing our resilience to climate change, with R6.6m being invested in coastal infrastructure to protect the city against beach erosion, storm surges and sea level rise.

There is also provision for year-on-year growth in the budget for water infrastructure over 3 years as part of our New Water Programme to diversify supply sources.

Besides these resilience measures, there are several items to enhance services, including:

R33m for mowing requirements

R16m for top-up cleaning on main arterial routes and CBDs

R35m for the pothole repair programme, with R100m more to come in the main budget

The budget further reflects our ease of doing business agenda, with R10.8m more to improve the online Development applications system – known as DAMS.

Finally, it is of great encouragement to announce that this R32m writedown in capital spending – at just 0,19% of capex budget – is the smallest in history.

Importantly, the writedown results from technical changes in the timelines on bridging finance from national government to Urban Mobility, and not due to poor planning or execution of infrastructure delivery.

We said last year that capital budgets must be spent – it is the first job of a city to be constantly investing in critical infrastructure, and caring for that which we have.

MSDF

Speaker, on Council’s agenda today is the Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), the over-arching spatial policy of our city, alongside the various district spatial plans.

This is a major five-year update, and replaces the 2018 MSDF.

The MSDF and district plans – a result of extensive public participation – represent our policy efforts to deliver transit-oriented densification.

It also sets the framework for more affordable housing, close to economic activity, along public transport routes.

It encourages development in the urban core, and furthers our project of breaking down apartheid’s spatial legacy, which still casts such a long shadow.

This includes various important economic nodes, from the Inner City, Century City, Tygervalley, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Phillippi, Atlantis, Somerset West, and Cape Town’s second CBD and major public investment project, Bellville.

We are also pursuing the regeneration of underperforming inner-city business nodes such as Salt River, Maitland, Goodwood, Parow and Athlone.

In closing, we look forward to our second full year in office ahead.

We are determined to deliver on our priorities of ending load shedding over time,

making Cape Town safer,

cleaning up our waterways and public places,

releasing more land for affordable housing,

fighting for the control of rail,

doing the basics better and investing in infrastructure, and

working to grow the economy to help more people into jobs and out of poverty over time.

I thank you.

Source: City Of Cape Town

DWS to host public consultations on draft policy on services provision on privately owned land in Piketberg

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in the Western Cape invites members of the media to attend public consultations on the draft policy on Water and Sanitation provision on Privately Owned Land to be hosted on Tuesday, 31 January 2023 at Piketberg (West Coast)

The purpose of the consultations is to obtain inputs from all parties interested and affected by the provision of water and sanitation services provided on privately owned land.

The Draft Water and Sanitation Services on Privately-owned Land policy was gazetted recently following the decision of the court which directed that “persistent failure to provide the farm dwellers/occupiers and labour tenants who are residing within areas of their jurisdiction with access to basic sanitation, sufficient water and collection of refuse is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa”.

Source: Government of South Africa

UNU-INWEH released a report that summarizes the results of a first-ever assessment of water security in 54 countries in Africa. Water security of each country was evaluated in terms of 10 complementary and interdependent numerical measures mostly related to SDG6 indicators. These include access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, water availability, efficiency, quality, infrastructure, governance, water-related risks and variability. Water security of each country was scored on a scale from 1 to 100. The assessment revealed that levels of water security in Africa overall are unacceptably low. Not a single country or subregion has yet achieved the highest level of ‘model’ or even the reasonably high ‘effective’ stages of national water security. Except for Egypt, all country scores are lower than 70. Only 13 of 54 countries reached ‘modest’ levels of water security in recent years and over a third have the lowest levels of water security under even a reasonably generous lowest acceptable threshold score of 45 adopted in this assessment. Egypt, Botswana, Gabon, Mauritius and Tunisia make the top five most water-secure countries in Africa at present, yet with only modest absolute levels of water security achieved. Somalia, Chad and Niger appear to be the least water secure. The report also points that there has been little progress in water security in most African states over the past 5 years. The number of countries that made some progress (29) is close tto the number of those that made none (25).

This assessment aimed to create a quantitative starting point and a platform for subsequent discussions with national, regional and international agents. In this context, UNU-INWEH brought the key messages of the report to the attention of all water-centric ministries in all African countries, and the Institute is currently in the process of collecting the feedback. It is anticipated that as this quantitative tool develops further it will generate targeted policy recommendations and inform decision-making and public-private investments toward achieving higher water security in Africa. The assessment received significant global attention in printed and electronic media, such as The New York Times, Xinhuanet, U.K. Times, The Times – South Africa, Yahoo News, ReliefWeb, AllAfrica, and M.S.N. News, among others, with coverage in 8 languages and 34 countries along with over 220 stories and highlights in online news sites with potential online reach around 1.1 billion people.

Source: United Nations University

Remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, Sandton Convention Centre

Programme Director,

Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga,

Ministers and Deputy Ministers,

MECs and HODs,

Members of national and provincial legislatures,

Representatives of political parties,

Representatives of teacher unions,

Representatives of SGB Associations, higher education institutions, education organisations and civil society,

Representatives of business,

Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

It is good to be here again this year.

The Basic Education Sector Lekgotla is one of the most important events on our calendar.

It is here that officials, educators, teacher unions, policymakers, the private sector and civil society chart the course for basic education for the next twelve months and beyond.

Basic education is the foundation of a nation’s development, progress and prosperity.

The aspiration laid out in our Constitution, to establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and human rights, cannot be achieved without prioritising education.

Improving the quality of life of all citizens and freeing the potential of each person cannot be realised without education at the centre of our efforts.

If one can liken our nation to a sturdy tree that is strong enough to weather the worst conditions, basic education forms the roots that nourish the tree and enable it to grow and thrive.

The stronger and healthier the roots, the stronger and healthier the tree.

That is why, even though we have many challenges to overcome, we will continue to celebrate achievements in basic education.

Last year we recorded an 80.1 per cent matric pass rate.

This was a four percent improvement on the year before.

Despite the impact of lockdowns, school closures, learning disruption, curriculum trimming, rotational timetables and numerous hurdles, our learners excelled.

This year’s results, particularly in the performance of learners from poorer schools, show the deepening impact of education spending and the social wage more broadly.

We congratulate all the learners.

We also congratulate and thank all those who contributed towards this outcome.

We congratulate Minister Motshekga, the respective MECs and their teams.

We thank our parents and caregivers, school administrators and support staff, school governing bodies and the teaching assistants who were deployed to schools as part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus.

The biggest heroes are our educators.

Because of their dedication to their profession, our learners got the support they needed to sit these exams and to do well.

I speak here about the extra hours spent tutoring, the personal time taken to help redraft and amend timetables and curricula, the time spent being part of matric camps, and many other initiatives.

Many of our educators have their own families and children in school, and yet they provided an extended family to their learners.

The improved matric results must encourage us as stakeholders in basic education to redouble our efforts to address the extremely serious problem of learner dropout.

Every year thousands of high school learners leave before sitting their matric exams.

In many respects the problem of learner dropout makes the theme of this year’s Lekgotla even more relevant.

The theme, which focuses on equipping learners with knowledge and skills for a changing world, raises the important issue of whether all learners who enter the basic education system are able to follow the educational paths that best suit them and their aspirations.

If we can provide learners with more choices and better guidance, we should be able to reduce the proportion of learners that drop out.

The three-stream model is critical if we are to adapt and thrive as a country in the new world of work.

The skills that our country needs, the jobs that can grow our economy, and importantly, the avenues for entrepreneurship that are so sorely needed, can best be achieved by increasing learner access to technical and vocational subjects.

I am pleased to hear about the progress that we are making in institutionalising the three-stream model.

I understand that various Technical Vocational specialisations have already been introduced in more than 550 schools, and a growing number of schools are piloting the subjects in the Technical Occupational stream.

These subjects include Agriculture, Maritime and Nautical Science, Electrical, Civil and Mechanical Technologies, amongst others.

These are all vocations our economy sorely needs.

They are the kind of vocations that we need to promote and develop if we are to tackle unemployment.

The high numbers of unemployed young people is something no country can afford, but it is even worse if they are also not in education or training.

Inclusive growth and shared prosperity can only be achieved when more people are working.

A productive workforce cannot be achieved if we do not remake ourselves as a nation committed to lifelong learning in various forms.

If the economy is not creating enough jobs at scale to support the growing numbers of unemployed, we have to think creatively and innovatively.

We have to look beyond issues of labour absorption alone, and into what are the best ways to open up new pathways for employment and self-employment.

This starts with developing skills for a modern and dynamic workforce through basic education.

It cannot be emphasised enough that the greater the scope of basic education streams, the better our learners’ prospects are for securing employment and for self-employment after school.

By way of example, we will all be aware of the national effort to transition our economy along a low-carbon, climate change resilient pathway, and our move towards cleaner sources of energy.

Powering a clean energy revolution and pursuing sustainable development requires artisans, mechanics, green equipment manufacturers and operators, waste entrepreneurs, technicians, sustainable farming practitioners and a host of others.

Never has the imperative been greater for us to forge ahead with curricula that are responsive to the changing needs of our economy and society.

Beyond reflecting on the issues facing the basic education sector, our expectations are that the collective expertise at this lekgotla will help us consolidate what has been achieved so far to strengthen basic education outcomes into the future.

The learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic period will take some time to recoup.

We have to forge ahead with the comprehensive curriculum recovery plan.

We need to pay particular attention to the negative impact of the pandemic on early learning because of the serious consequences for learners later.

When learners have difficulty learning because they struggle to read and are not confident with basic numeracy, they are more likely to repeat classes.

This slows progress through the grades, places greater burdens on teachers and consumes resources which could have been directed to quality improvement.

We have to keep looking at concrete mechanisms to strengthen the use of technology to support curriculum delivery, particularly to learners from disadvantaged communities.

Care and Support for Teaching and Learning must be institutionalised as a tool to improve learner outcomes and retention rates.

It must mitigate against learner dropouts and contribute to the nation’s overall well-being by investing in young people’s emotional stability.

We know that education involves more than the skills needed to work; it is also about developing the capabilities needed to participate in a democratic society.

Our schools must become places that are free of corporal punishment, sexual abuse, gender-based violence, racism, substance abuse and other ills.

Our schools, like our country, must be alert to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19. As educators and stakeholders we must continue to encourage vaccination for those who are eligible.

Just as education fights inequality and poverty, improves a nation’s health outcomes, and contributes to economic growth, investment in quality education extends beyond learning itself.

We are working hard to ensure that learners are able to receive education in dignified conditions that support their health and well-being.

Through the Sanitation Appropriate for Education programme, known as SAFE, we have so far been able to construct 50,000 sanitation facilities at 2,388 schools.

A further 15,000 appropriate toilets were constructed at 1,047 schools as part of the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative – ASIDI.

The Department of Basic Education assures me that all remaining SAFE sanitation projects at approximately 1,000 schools are scheduled for completion in the next financial year.

We know that conditions of learning are seriously constrained in many of our schools by high learner-teacher ratios, amongst others. The burden of expectation on our educators to teach, do administration and meet the needs of their learners is stressful.

The introduction of learning assistants into our classrooms as part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus has been a blessing for many educators and schools.

The third cohort of participants will be starting early this year and will be providing this much-needed support to our educators.

This Lekgotla has a full and busy agenda, so let us get to work.

We have a lot to do and to achieve.

Building resilience and promoting success in basic education is a firm foundation for economic growth, social progress and tackling inequality.

I look forward to today’s deliberations and to the outcomes of the Lekgotla.

I thank you.

Source: Government of South Africa