executive summary 4 th annual economic & social rights report

executive summaryexecutive summary

44thth Annual Economic & Annual Economic & Social Rights ReportSocial Rights Report

4th Annual ESR Report

The Monitoring Process Key Achievements Key Challenges Conclusion

The Monitoring Process

The Monitoring Process The Protocols were designed to provide the

Commission with information on policy, legislative, budgetary and other measures adopted during the reporting period in order to realise the economic and social rights stipulated in the Constitution.

The Protocols have since been refined to include questions on areas such as vulnerable groups; problems experienced by organs of State in giving effect to economic and social rights and measures undertaken to address such problems; National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights; indicators; and budgetary allocations.

The Monitoring Process-contd

The Protocols initially focused only on the national and provincial spheres of government, but in this reporting cycle, the Commission has included Metropolitan Councils and Parastatals.

Through its Research and Documentation Department, the Commission began distributing the first batch of protocols to all the relevant national Departments in early February 2002.

In early March, the EC, FS, GP and KZN received their sets of protocols followed by MP, NC, Limpopo, NW, and WC

The Monitoring Process- contd

The Metropolitan Councils and Parastatals began receiving protocols from 7-20 March 2002.

The proposed due date for the submission of reports (responses to the Protocols) to the Commission by government departments was 30 April 2002, but only a few met the deadline. Extensions were granted following appeals made to the Commission by organs of State. Further extensions were granted until 30 June 2002.

Right to Housing

Key Achievements

Key Achievements - Housing

National Department of Housing (NDH)

Amendment to the Housing Subsidy Scheme to enable persons owning unsubsidised residential properties to access housing subsidies (2000/ 2001)

Environmentally Sound Low Cost Housing (2000/ 2001) Peoples Housing Process (2000/ 2001) Developer Driven Individual Subsidy Programme (2000/

2001) Savings linked subsidy scheme (2001/ 2002) Rental Housing Policy Framework (2001/ 2002) Programme for housing development in emergency

circumstances (2001/ 2002)

Key Challenges - Housing

Key Challenges - Housing

RESPONSE TO PROTOCOLS

National Sphere The reports provided by government departments still

indicate a lack of understanding of the significance of Commission’s economic and social rights monitoring process and the need for adequate reporting to the Commission. The response from the NDH indicated that a lot of effort was put into the compilation of the report. However, there were still some unexplained statements, phrases and acronyms used in the report that made understanding some issues difficult.

Key Challenges - Housing - contd

Provincial Sphere In general, provincial departments still provide

information that is incomplete, contradictory, repetitious and not relevant for the period under review. Some departments merely reported that the statistics are not kept for specific racial groups, without explaining the reasons thereof. For example, the Free State Department of Housing did not provide information for the entire budget section, and no explanation was provided for this omission.

Key Challenges - Housing - contd

Policies, Programmes and Projects Provincial Sphere

According to the requirements of the National Housing Subsidy Scheme, beneficiaries have to be over 21 years old and legally competent to enter into contracts in order to qualify for housing subsidies.

For that reason, none of the instituted policies or legislation adopted by the national government and the respective provincial housing departments paid attention to girl children and child-headed households.

This is so; notwithstanding the rapidly increasing number of orphans who lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS related conditions as well as other factors.

Key Challenges - Housing - contdBudgetary Measures

Provincial SphereProvincial housing departments identified the followingas accounting for under spending: 1. Under performance by developers and conveyancers.2. Section 118 of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, 2000,

which requires that all outstanding payments due to municipalities must be paid before clearance certificates are issued for property to be transferred or registered in the name of beneficiary.

3. In some instances the requirements of the National Environmental Management Act, has resulted in delays in the implementation of housing projects until a proper assessment is done.

4. Out of season rainfall.5. Lack of capacity of newly established local authorities to undertake

approvals and provide other services.

Right to Land

Key Achievements

Key Achievements -Land

Policies, Programmes and ProjectsNational Sphere

Restitution Great strides were made in the restitution programme.

The number of settled cases jumped from 8 000 in 2000 to 12 094 by March 2001.

By February 2002 this number has come to 32 389 settled claims. The only problem is that most of these claims (80%) were still urban based, with only 20% resolved in rural areas. Although there is a backlog of 35 restitution cases that are still before the court, research revealed that 95% of restitution cases were resolved through administrative measures.

Key Challenges –

Land

Key Challenges - LandRedistribution

The redistribution programme was still very slow. Since it had started, the programme has distributed only 2 % of land. The Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) which was introduced in 2001, redistributed 60 000ha of land to 2 681 applicants.

The LRAD needs more elaborate strategies to accelerate delivery

Key Challenges – Land -contd

Also, the ‘willing-seller, willing-buyer’ notion further discouraged buyers, as sellers sold land expensively.

It is for this slow pace that the DLA has postponed its date to redistribute 15 million hectares by 2005, and 30% of rural land in 15 years, instead of the 5 years goal the Department had set itself.

Right to Health Care

Key Achievements

Key AchievementsPolicies, Programmes and Projects

National Sphere

A survey of 445 clinics conducted by the Health Systems Trust found that there have been improvements since 1998 in areas as antenatal care, immunisation, family planning, home visits, turn around times for laboratory tests, availability of condoms, oral contraceptives and certain drugs such as penicillin in the provision of primary health care.

Key Achievements - Health - Contd

The NDH reported that progress had been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS:

220 million free condoms had been distributed interventions such as the syndromic management of

HIV/AIDS/STIs and TB have resulted in an increased number of health workers who provide treatment, counselling, and education.

home based and community care programmes have resulted in more people receiving care in their homes, which has resulted in freeing up hospital beds.

18 pilot sites in the nine provinces have been set up for the MTC programme where Nevirapine and formula milk has been made available to HIV positive mothers.

Key Challenges –

Health

Key Challenges – HealthPolicies, Programmes and Projects

National Sphere

The AIDS Policy does still not provide for universal access of ARVs to PLWA.

The NDH reported that the implementation of the PHC package face challenges relating to poor communication between management and health workers; resource constraints and high expectations placed on overburdened health workers and that

The VCT, MTCT, and PEP programmes lack trained counsellors and infrastructure especially in rural areas

Key Challenges – Health - contd

Provincial Sphere The most important challenge facing the health system

is to close the gap between policy initiatives and implementation. For example, in the PHC System there are serious shortfalls that include the unavailability of tests for HIV, pap smear, Rhesus and pregnancy.

There is also a lack of skills updating on TB and STD treatment, lack of piped water, telephones, electricity supply, basic equipment, incineration facilities for medical waste, certain drugs, and TB record keeping is poor.


Another important finding by the Health Systems Trust was the irregularity of feedback on reports submitted by PHC facilities.

Implementation of the plan is further hampered by the fact that the roles of DHS and the newly defined Metropolitan Councils have not been clearly defined as yet.

Lack of human resource and infrastructure capacity remains an on going problem which is exacerbated by trained health workers leaving the country

Home based and community based have serious capacity problems in that the most vulnerable members of society, children, women and people dying of AIDS are not adequately cared for.


Budgetary MeasuresProvincial Sphere

Insufficient funding or the inability to spend available resources also compounds the problem and impedes delivery of quality services.

Maladministration and corruption in some provinces such as the Eastern Cape remain challenges, which need to be addressed with urgency.

The FS identified problems in reproductive health sector and lack of trained personnel while Gauteng reported that it lacked systems to measure baseline information for monitoring and evaluation and also a shortage of specialist skills in public health and nutrition, managerial skills and planning.


KZN LO reported similar human resource, financial and infrastructure constraints. LO also reported low staff morale. The WC reported lack of training and lack of co-ordination of information flow and time constraints

Since 1998 there has been a real decline in real per capita spending on health

Gaps in comparable spending between provinces have grown wider

Per capita discretionary health spending shows similar trends. Gauteng and the Western Cape were above the average per capita measure (32 per cent and 25 per cent respectively)

For the period 2001/2002 the variation in the shares received by health across provinces retains the same pattern as outlined above.


The Eastern Cape is planning to cut its budget 2.3 percent per year which is a cause for concern, given that the Eastern Cape is one of the poorer provinces with huge problems in service delivery as well as maladministration and corruption

The fact that there are huge inequalities among the nine provinces with regard to the adjusted provincial expenditure on health means that delivery of PHC and other programmes is highly variable among provinces. By way of example, while the Gauteng Department of Health spent an average of R6 million in 2001 and 2002, the Limpopo Department of Health only spent an average of R2 million. There is also a wide gap in per capita allocation across provinces


Another factor is under-spending of allocated funds by some departments. The overall effect is that the goals of equity and access to care are indeed not within reach in the proposed time frames.

Right to Social Security

Key Achievements

Key Achievements –Social Security

Policies, Programmes and Projects National Sphere

The establishment of the Committee of Inquiry into a Comprehensive Social Security System (May 2000) to investigate and present options to Cabinet for a comprehensive and affordable system of social protection for South Africa and to consider gaps within the existing social security system

A Review on the Policy of Social Grants (2000/2001). This led to the review of social grants, assessment of Disability Grants, Care Dependency Grants, assets test and the calculation of benefits based on the regulations promulgated under the Social Assistance Act.

Key Achievements –Social Security - Contd

The National Norms and Standards for Social Assistance – This policy measured was aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of social assistance and ensuring that all beneficiaries have equitable access to social assistance irrespective of the provinces they reside in.

Key Achievements –Social Security -contd

SOCIAL SERVICES FOR CHILDRENPolicies, Programmes and Projects

National Sphere

National Integrated Strategy for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (Home Care/Community Based Care Programme – The programme focused on families and children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS and also identified orphans and vulnerable groups; facilitated access to social grants and material assistance such as food, clothing and shelter.

Key Achievements –Social Security -contd

The National Department of Social Development established six project sites in six provinces (Northern Cape, Limpopo, Free State, Eastern Cape, North West Province and Mpumalanga) for the Home Based/Community Based Care in 2000. By the end of 2001 the sites had expanded to 49 pilot sites.

The department further extended the programme to 185 sites by the end of March 2002.

Key Challenges –

Social Security

Key Challenges –Social Security

Policies, Programmes and Projects

The Transformation of the Child and Youth Care System was not effectively implemented because child offenders are still kept in prisons as awaiting trialists, as opposed to youth care centres;

The Norms and Standard policy was not been effectively implemented either, evident to this is the re-registration process that denied most beneficiaries access to social assistance grants and the fact that the majority of eligible beneficiaries for social assistance do not have access to social assistance grants;

Key Challenges –Social Security-contd

Child Support Grant - Eligible beneficiaries for the Child Support Grant (CSG) especially those in rural areas, found it difficult to access the grants due to documentation requirements, such as identity documents and birth certificates. There is minimal collaboration between the Department of Social Development and the Department of Home Affairs in this regard;

Children in child headed households have not been in a position to initiate the process of applying for child care grants because they do not have the assistance of adults;


Children living in the streets are denied access to most social services provided by the State, especially the Child Support Grant;

Refugee children are denied access to the CSG mainly because they are not citizens of South Africa and do not have the necessary documentation;

HIV/AIDS orphans are in most instances not provided with the traditional support and protection. These children engage themselves in income-generating activities to support their families and thus become vulnerable to exploitation and worst forms of child labour. A number of young girls are even forced into prostitution as a result. Many HIV/AIDS orphans are also unable to go to school because of their inability to afford school fees.


Lack of adequate co-ordination and collaboration between the national and provincial departments and amongst the provincial departments contributed to the implementation difficulties. The National Department of Social Development reported that the lack of co-ordination between the Provincial Health and Social Development departments at project level undermined the implementation of the Home Based/Community Based Care programme


Indicators

The National Department of Social Development reported that

1 208 105 beneficiaries were eligible for Disability Grants but 714 091 received the Disability Grant;

195 806 persons were denied access to the Old Age Pension Grant because only 1 936 553 of the 2 132 359 eligible persons received the grant.

Beneficiaries of the Old Age Pension Grant wait for an average period of two hours at payout points before receiving their grants.


Indicators- contd 68 percent of payout points have no access to water, 64

percent have no toilet facilities and 79 percent have no facilities for persons with disabilities.

14 374 817 persons received social security (social assistance);

3 421 107 households relied on social security (social assistance);

648 104 households had no source of income; 23 819 458 persons had no source of income; 3 741 603 households had an income below poverty line; 16 837 214 persons had an income below the poverty line;


Indicators- contd

1 574 927 children out of 3 308 467 eligible children received the Child Support Grant;

90 680 children out of 319 354 eligible children received the Foster Care Grant (FCG); and

42 474 children out of 276 776 eligible children received the Care Dependency Grants.

Right to Food

Key Achievements

Key Achievements – Food

Policies, Programmes and Projects Range of programmes to support food production (e.g.

Special programme for Food Security, Land Care programme, Poverty Alleviation Programme, Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development)

New policies relating to nutritional well-being (e.g. National Nutrition Guidelines for People living with TB, HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions, Integrated Nutrition Programme Stategic Plan 2001/02-2006/2007, Manuals for monitoring growth and Promotion)

School food programme reached 15 400 schools and 4.7 million learners in 2001/2002, included vitamin supplementation in some areas

Key Challenges - Food

Policies, Programmes and Projects Related measures on food security need to be

well-co-ordinated Need for a comprehensive review of food

related programmes (i.e. in Agriculture, Health and Education)

Need for a proper information system to monitor progress and solve problems

Food Security Bill may assist in addressing shortfalls of current programmes

Right to education

Key Achievements

Key Achievements – Education - contd

Policies, Programmes and ProjectsNational Sphere

South African National Literacy Initiative (SANLI) – This is a short-term volunteer-assisted initiative aimed at eradicating illiteracy in South Africa.

White Paper on Early Childhood Development (ECD) - The objective of this policy is the implementation of the pre-school Reception Year (grade R) for 5 year olds turning 6 in the year of admission.

The medium-term policy goal is to progressively realise the constitutional obligation to provide all learners with ten years of compulsory school education, including the Reception Year.


The government policy has 2010 as the target date for when all learners that enter grade 1 would participated in an accredited Reception Year Programme and also eventually create a system of provision that is 75 percent State-subsidised rather than the current estimated 25 percent State-subsidisation.

White Paper on Special Needs Education –The priority of the white paper is to bring to an end the apartheid-based organisation of special schools which used race and disability as criteria.


In terms of the apartheid policy, schools that accommodated white-disabled learners were well resourced whilst the few schools for black disabled learners were extremely under-resourced and rigidly applied categories were used to admit disabled learners to special schools.

The paper, amongst other things, seeks to undo the effects of apartheid policy through the inclusion of learners with mild to moderate disabilities in mainstream education whilst those with severe disabilities are accommodated in improved special schools.


National Policy on Whole-School Evaluation - This is intended to improve the overall quality of education in the country. According to this policy, the evaluation of schools should not be viewed as a punitive and judgmental process, but rather a process that is supportive of and development for educators.

The following are the key areas of evaluation: basic functionality of the school; leadership, management and communication; governance and relationships; quality of teaching and learning, and educator development; curriculum provision and resources; learner achievement; school safety, security and discipline; school infrastructure; and parents and community.


Manifesto on Values, Democracy and Education – The manifesto promotes the following six values through the education system, namely: equity, tolerance, multilingualism, openness, accountability and social honour.

Restructuring of the Higher Education System in South Africa - In April 2001 the Minister of Education established a National Working Group (NWG), which was mandated to advise on the restructuring of the institutional landscape of the higher education system, as per the National Plan for Higher Education that was released in March 2001.


The following are some of the significant recommendations the NWG made to the Ministry of Education on the restructuring of the higher education system: The reduction of the higher learning institutions from 36 to 21,

though the Ministry of Education ended up recommending 22; Programme collaboration and rationalisation in each region,

which has to be based on assessment of the programme profiles higher learning would have to submit to the Ministry of Education;

The enhancement of the quality of technikon programmes and the capacity of technikons to undertake research and to offer postgraduate programmes linked to their vocational and career-oriented mission and focus;


The incorporation of the College sector into the higher learning system, this had already happened by January 2001; and

The regulation of the unplanned proliferation of satellite campuses.

Key Challenges –

Education

Key Challenges - Education

Policies, Programmes and Projects (National and Provincial)

The National Department of Education reported that out of a total of 27 148: 10 723 schools have a shortage of classrooms. 13 204 schools are in short of textbooks. 10 859 schools are without electricity.

However, the National Department of Education did not indicate whether these schools are located in rural or urban areas.

Right to Sufficient Water

Key Achievements

Key Achievements – Water

National Sphere

Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) Free Basic Water (FBW) Policy - The primary intention of

the FBW policy is to alleviate poverty by ensuring that no one is denied access to basic water supply (about 6000 litres for each household per month).

White Paper on Basic Household Sanitation - Provides for the provision of a basic level of household sanitation to mainly rural communities and informal settlements; for adequate funding of sanitation improvement programmes and for implementation monitoring mechanisms.

Key Achievements – Water - contd

Working for Water Programme – Provides for techniques aimed at clearing or controlling the alien invasive vegetation, which poses threats to the country’s limited water resources. So far, the project has been successful taking into consideration that a total of 313 clearing projects have been undertaken, where fifteen wetlands have been rehabilitated, including the period under review.


Provincial Sphere National Cholera Strategy - Only the KwaZulu-Natal

Department of Traditional and Local Government Affairs reported on the above measure.

The department indicated that the measure was developed in response to the cholera outbreak in the province and was also in line with the National Cholera Strategy launched in 2001.

The department developed the Provincial Policy Framework Strategy in order to manage the cholera epidemic.


The policy was developed as part of the KwaZulu-Natal Cholera Management Project, whose main objective is to assist in the containment of cholera outbreaks, curtailing their spreading to other areas not yet affected and to prevent future outbreaks within the province.

The department’s achievement during the period under review was that cholera infections were less than 10 per cent as compared to the period 1999/2000.

Conclusion

Focus on Social Security

Critical Challenges

Migrant contract workers and employee benefits?

Social insurance and HIV/AIDS: scope of employee benefits

Job Creation and Job Retention Self reliance: encouraging savings and

private insurance Effective implementation of poverty

alleviation programmes Extending the Child Support Grant from 0-

18 Basic Income Grant?

Focus on Education

School Funding Norms Policy Thorough research is required to

ensure that funding and resource disparities are eliminated

Affordable access by the state to school uniforms and textbooks also needs research

Current efforts already underway need to be expedited

Early Childhood Development Programme

Delays in the procurement and distribution of LSMs to learning sites

Out of 6 354 sites of the ECD Programme in the Eastern Cape, only 550 had been reached in 2002

No budget for children under the age of 5 in KZN in 2002. Out of 250 000 Grade R learners, the programme only catered for 80 539

School Nutrition Programme

Most provinces did not provide information on this programme in the 4th reporting cycle

According to a recent DOE study the programme has problems in covering poorer schools

This is linked to organisational failure in poorer provinces and districts (e.g. KZN and EC had problems in 2002 and their coverage was reduced)

School level support for the programme is encouraging The key challenge is effective implementation of the

expanded programme in 2003 (i.e. budget increase of approx. R500 million)

HIV / AIDS Programme

Gauteng Department of Education reports a lack of dedicated and skilled life-skills teachers

Lack of financial management skills at school level to implement the programme

KZN, NW and the WC, reported that funding was transferred late in November 2000

ELSEN

FSDE – some learners struggled with school fees and their parents then transferred them to Public Ordinary Schools without any specialised interventions

Some provinces (e.g. LDE, MDE, NCDE, WCDE) had insufficient budget to increase the intake of disabled learners

Thank You:www. sahrc.org.za

executive summary 4 th annual economic & social rights report

Documents

housing development

peoples housing process

housing subsidy scheme

access housing subsidies

government departments

sets of protocols

batch of protocols

relevant national departments