Statement on the Cabinet Meeting, 15 June 2010

Cabinet held its ordinary meeting in Pretoria on 15 June 2010.

Cabinet is extremely satisfied with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fans have braved the cold and have come out in large numbers to watch the games. All the matches have lived up to the occasion.

Cabinet congratulates all those who were involved in the organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Opening Ceremony that took place on Friday 11 June. The eyes of more than 500 million citizens from around the world were focused on Soweto's 95 000-seater Soccer City stadium. Millions of viewers were watching a story from Africa and for a change; the story was a celebration of an achievement, namely, the hosting of the biggest sporting event in the world. This ceremony demonstrated South Africa's ability to organise world-class events and will go along way towards challenging afro-pessimism that still exists in many parts of the world.

Cabinet would like to congratulate Bafana Bafana, on behalf of the whole nation, for their performance in the opening game against Mexico. We certainly hope that the team will get stronger and perform even better in the next two games of the group stage.

Government calls on host cities to do their best to give information to the public about logistics for the games. Arrangements for parking areas must be well communicated and more marshals must be deployed especially in the parking facilities. We appeal to motorists to also obey instructions from the marshals at these parks and ride areas.

We appeal to all football fans to refrain from using their private cars to the stadiums as this is causing the huge traffic congestions on our roads. Please use public transport such as buses and trains as these will get you to the games quicker and more efficiently.

The South African Police and other security agencies are ready to deal with any situation of unruly and criminal behaviour from anyone. The police are also available to assist the local organising committee (LOC) and FIFA in any situation that may arise, such as the impromptu strike by the security guards at the Cape Town's Green point stadium.

The Department of Rural Development arranged a total of 45 public viewing areas in rural areas around the country that are enabling more than 500 000 villagers around the country to watch the games.

Cabinet also congratulated the pensioners in the Limpopo province who are participating in their own version of the World Cup. Their football games are a demonstration of just how excited South Africans of all races; ages, sexes and religions are about South Africa's hosting the first FIFA World Cup on African soil.

Cabinet approved the relocation of the functions of the Adult Basic and Training Act of 2000 and the Further Education and Training Colleges Act of 2006 from provincial administrations to the Minister of Higher Education and Training. The advantages of making this national competence include:

• improving planning and articulation with universities and the skills development sector
• the Minister will be in a better position to give a national focus to the education and training needs of young adults.
• The relocation will require the amendment of Schedule 4 of the Constitution. Cabinet noted that this decision enjoys the support by the Council of Education Ministers, a forum consisting of the National Minister and the MECs from the nine provinces.

Cabinet approved the conditional lifting of the ban on commercial wild abalone harvesting. The lifting of the ban will be subject to strict law enforcement to ensure compliance by rights holders. Right holders who contravene the Act will have their permits or licences withdrawn. The Minister will monitor the situation and table progress reports to Cabinet every six months. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will brief the media shortly on how this decision will implemented.

Cabinet approved the Broadband Policy for South Africa. The objective of the policy is, among other things, to facilitate the provision of affordable, accessible, universal access to broadband infrastructure to citizens, business and three spheres of government; highlight the role of government on investment in infrastructure and identify state owned entities (SOEs) as key players in this investment; and set targets with regard to broadband penetration. The policy introduces a Broadband Inter-Governmental Implementation Committee to ensure that various Broadband initiatives in the three spheres of government are coordinated to reduce duplication.

Cabinet approved the policy on the benefits, services, eligibility and institutional structures to support military veterans as contained in the report of the Ministerial Task Team on Military Veterans. The objective of the policy include to: recognise and honour the veterans; ensure a smooth and seamless transition from active service to civilian life; improve the quality of life of veterans and their dependants; contribute towards reconciliation and nation building; and enable government to address the plight of military veterans who were members of the liberation armies who are largely destitute.

The new benefits will include: pension benefits for the destitute; housing for those who cannot house themselves; access to counselling services; compensation for the loss of life or limb; access to training and development; facilitation of access to employment; access to public transport. An amount of R80 million has been budgeted to cater for the new benefits.

Cabinet noted that President Jacob Zuma will host a Summit of Heads of State of the South African Custom Union (SACU) Summit on 15 - 16 July 2010 The Summit will discuss the challenges facing the Union.

Cabinet note that President Jacob Zuma will be attending the G20 summit that is scheduled to take place in Canada on 26 – 27 June 2010.

The mid-year Cabinet Lekgotla will take place on 22-24 July 2010 in Pretoria.

The following appointments were approved

• Prof. Richard Levin's contract as the Director-General in the Department of Economic Development was extended for a five year period
• Ms Neva Makgetla was appointed to the post of Deputy Director-General in the Department of Economic Development.
• Dr NP Siswana and Ms LT Khumalo were appointed as non-executive Directors to the Board of Sentech for a period of three (3) years with effect from June 2010.

The following bills were approved for submission to Parliament:

• Sectional Titles Schemes Management Bill, 2010

The main aim of the Bill is to give effect to Cabinet's strategy to bring all human settlements-related legislation currently administered by other Departments under the administration of the Department of Human Settlements.

• Community Schemes Ombud Service Bill, 2010

The main aim of the Bill is to establish a Community Schemes Ombud Service, a national public entity to provide a dispute resolution service for all community schemes, including sectional titles schemes, share-block companies, homeowners associations and housing schemes for retired persons) in which there is governance by the community involved, shared financial responsibility and land facilities used in common. It will further give effect to Government's strategy to bring the administration of all human settlements-related legislation under the administration of the Department of Human Settlements.

• Magistrate's Courts Amendment Bill, 2010

The Bill is to amend the Magistrates' Courts Act, 1994 (Act No. 32 of 1944) in order to regulate new the qualifications required for the appointment of a person as a magistrate, additional magistrate and magistrate of a regional division; to further regulate the inclusion of magistrates of regional divisions on the list of magistrates who may adjudicate on civil disputes and authorize the Minister to further regulate the conditions relating to the authorisation of a person to serve process of court or other documents on behalf of a Public Body.

• Civilian Secretariat for Police Bill

The civilian Secretariat for Police Bill responds to the constitutional imperative that obliges the Minister of Police to establish a civilian secretariat for the police. The civilian secretariat for the police will conduct civilian oversight over the police by monitoring, assessing and evaluation performance of the police, in addition to providing the Minister of Police with advice and support in the exercise of its powers and functions. It will be structured to function independently from the South African Police Service.

• Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill, 2010

This bill will establish the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to investigate any alleged misconduct or offence committed by a member of the Police Service. The Bill seeks to provide the Directorate with the necessary powers and functions to exercise its constitutional mandate and repeal the provisions relating to the Independent Complaints Directorate in the South African Police Service Act, 1995. Amongst other things, this bill seeks to change the name of the current Independent Complaints Directorate to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. The rationale behind the name change is to brand the Directorate as a body which functions independently from the police service and that its focus is to conduct investigations of offences by a police member, rather than merely receiving complaints. The work of the Directorate will contribute towards ensuring that the police service becomes a professional police service that operates within the spirit of our constitutional norms and standards and in an ethos that is non-militaristic.

• Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) Amendment Bill 2010 was approved for pubic consultation

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act, 2000,in order to change the position of the Chief Executive Officer to Chief Operations Officer and to differentiate between the functions of the Council and the Chief Operations Officer. The ICASA bill aims to ensure that the turn-around times of some of the responsibilities of the Authority are improved. Furthermore, it seeks to change the composition of the council to
include both executive and non-executive councillors. It proposes the creation of Tariff Advisory Council. The amendment of the Act will strengthen the capacity of the regulator to regulate the information and communications technology (ICT) sector to ensure that the sector contributes to the growth of the South African economy.

Enquiries:

Themba Maseko

Cell: 083 645 0810        

Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
15 June 2010