User Rating: 0 / 5

Members of the Executive Council

Heads of Department

Ladies and gentlemen

The Provincial Command Council sat for its bi-weekly meeting recently and reflected on lockdown level 2 and our progress made in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The move from Alert level 3 to Alert level 2 of the National lockdown with effect from about mid-August 2020 has resulted in the relaxation of a number of restrictions on some of the socio-economic activities. We welcome this move as the further opening of the tourism and hospitality sector will enable job creation and growing the economy.

As Government we are continuously mindful of the ‘second wave’ of infections experienced by other countries and therefore we are still working tirelessly with our Districts and civil society to ensure that this does not happen. We can only achieve this with the cooperation of each and every citizen of this growing province. Regrettably we have observed with shock and disappointment the reckless behaviour of some of our citizens since the easing of the Lockdown regulations. This recklessness and stubborn ignorance goes against all the achievements we have recorded and I appeal to everyone to take responsibility for your own health and that of others. We can only overcome if we all work together and share and also buy into the efforts of containing the spread of the Virus.

It is noted that the number of people testing positive each day continues on an upward trajectory, averaging 150-250 new case each day. This is expected to continue until we reach the peak during September. The South African Covid-19 Modeling Consortium had previously projected that by the 6th of September The Province will have 11 929 cases - the actual total reported cases was 11 914 which shows a close correlation with the modeling. We are hopeful that once we reach the peak, the number of new positives will start to fall away until early December when we should have very few new positive cases each day.

During a pandemic of this type, the surge towards a peak and the falling off afterwards is inevitable. But the actual number of people who get infected each day is not inevitable and can be reduced. This remains in our hands and requires increasing vigilance in observing all health and safety protocols in terms of social distancing, wearing of face masks, and regular hand washing or sanitizing.

During the surge the Hospitals will limit all surgical and other admissions to urgent and emergency care and we therefore appeal to the public to assist us with this. We remain confident that we have enough bed capacity in the province for all patients who need to be admitted with COVID-19 complications.

As at 8th September the Province had a total of 12 222 cases, with a total recovery of 8 956 cases and 3 114 active cases. Regrettably 150 people have succumbed to the virus and we extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the bereaved.

By the 8th September a total number of 86 672 people had been tested and 2 977 526 screenings had been done, including repeat screenings, as we continue to wage war against this pandemic.

Government will continue to use screening not simply for screening but also to constantly educate our people about which symptoms to look for and where to seek medical assistance.

The Province notes that a total number of 454 Health Care workers have tested positive so far, of which 352 have recovered Unfortunately 9 of our Health Department personnel have lost their lives to the pandemic.

Of concern also is the number of about 542 infections amongst SAPS officials, with 217 recoveries and a total number of 9 deaths. We reserve our sincerest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and thank them for being at the frontline of the fight against Covid-19. These frontline members lost their lives whilst fighting an invisible enemy and deserve our respect and we regret the loss of life.

As we continue to wage war against this pandemic, we will continue to provide our frontline workers with key Personal Protective Equipment. Over the past few months, contributions from our social partners made the provision of this much-needed equipment possible. One such contribution was through the shared value approach by the Mines, where mines in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District and the SIOC-cdt joined to assist the Provincial Government with a contribution of R100 million in kind towards the fight in Covid-19. It should be noted that this contribution was non-financial and was made in the form of Personal Protective Equipment, Medical equipment and water infrastructure that will be utilized in the healthcare facilities in the JTG District. We are very grateful for this donation that goes a long way in our fight against the pandemic. We can give the reassurance that we have enough PPE in all our healthcare facilities.

I am pleased to announce that we have welcomed back all the grades to our schools in August and I can report that as a Provincial Government supported by the Provincial Command Council we are pleased with the manner in which our education system handled the return of all grades to school. The members of the Provincial Command Council conducted visits to several schools across the Province to ensure that all health and hygiene protocols are in place and that learning and teaching can take place in a safe environment. The Department of Education has ensured that all schools were supplied with the appropriate PPE and Hygiene packs.

The Department appointed 645 Cleaners in substantive vacant posts in schools. A total of 2,100 Screeners were appointed in schools through the EPWP Incentive Grant to ensure that all learners, educators and support staff are screened daily. All schools were disinfected prior to the re-opening of schools and all School Management Teams, educators and learners were taken through COVID-19 orientation processes. All Cleaners and Screeners were trained on Covid-19 protocols with the assistance of the Department of Health.

As an added precautionary measure we ensured that schools are linked to the nearest clinic to respond to emergencies in double time should such be required. The Department of Education also partnered with the Department of Social Development to extend the services of Social workers to schools to address the psychosocial challenges relating to Lockdown and COVID19. Schools implemented differentiated timetables to ensure reduced numbers of learners on the schools premises daily and have staggered the breaks to ensure social distancing is maintained at all times.

All schools were issued with the Standard Operating Procedures to address all COVID-19 related matters.  When schools report positive cases, the schools are properly decontaminated with disinfectant in line with the Standard Operating Procedures. Through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), the Department of Education continues to provide daily nutritious meal to 267 427 learners. Worth noting is that this programme provided more then 70 000 learners with daily food packs during the lockdown. This goes a long way in improving and boosting the children’s immune system and affords them a greater chance of avoiding contracting COVID-19.

A partnership has been established comprising our Department of Education, the University of Stellenbosch and the Department of Science and Innovation, to provide laptops to 40 Grade 12 Top-Achieving Mathematics and Science learners and 40 tablets to Grade 11 Top-Achieving Mathematics and Science learners.

These devices will be loaded monthly with a 10gig of day-time data and a 20gig of night-time data in order for learners to access the virtual platforms of curriculum material. The University of Stellenbosch is also broadcasting real-time lessons to these devices and providing videos on all the content of Mathematics and Physical Sciences to these learners.

The Northern Cape Department of Education received a total of 2044 applications from educators with co-morbidities. To date 1110 applications were approved for educators to work from home. The profiles of these educators are spread across the curriculum and cover a wide range of subjects. The Department is taking into consideration the need to accommodate the teachers with co-morbidities in critical subjects and the fact that all grades have returned to schools resulting in a large shortfall of teachers. However, given the huge cost implications linked to substitute educators, the sector is exploring the idea of appointing Education Assistants to assist teachers who received approval to work from home. The Assistants will be paid a stipend not a full salary.

On the readiness of Early Childhood Centres I can report that an assessment has been conducted to determine the state of readiness of each ECD based on the Guidelines issued by the Minister.  R 4, 4 million has been set aside for the procurement of PPEs for ECDs. This process is currently underway and will be closely monitored to ensure transparency and compliance. All private funded ECDs are currently open accounting for +/- 5 000 children. The Department is currently working with the Government-funded ECDs in terms of readiness to open and once the procurement process has been finalized they will be to about 15 000 children.

In terms of Food Security, the Department of Social Development has 143 Feeding Scheme Projects, to date 81 facilities have been approved for funding with the remaining 62 to be approved in the next two weeks based on readiness assessments currently being conducted by the Department in partnership with local municipalities. All 143 of these projects will be trained during next week in terms of safety protocols. Tender issued for PPEs have been published and we are inviting people to apply for them. We are therefore anticipating opening by end of October. An amount of R20 million has been set aside for food provision in areas where the Department currently has no footprint in terms of food provision.

Now that we have moved to lockdown Level 2, the South African Police Service will continue to ensure that the Disaster Regulations are adhered to, particularly compliance by liquor traders as it relates to trading hours and also compliance with the curfew.

Zero tolerance has been adopted in the province as part of fighting gender based violence and all efforts will be employed to ensure that our women and children are safe. Although we have noticed a decrease in Gender Based Violence from 2019 to 2020 as reported in our Crime Statistics, Gender Based Violence cannot be tolerated and we call on our communities to assist us in this fight by speaking out against the occurrence of such cases.

We have noted recent reports in the media and outcries from the public alleging fraud and corruption in the procurement process of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). To address these allegations of corruption in the procurement of all COVID-19 material, we have taken the initiative to publish a comprehensive list of all companies awarded contract to supply PPEs since the outbreak. We have however gone a step further and set up a committee at Treasury to speed up the work of the internal audit around these procurements, look at matters such as verification of the status of service providers, pricing and to look at remedial action on issues raised by the Auditor General. This is to ensure that there is complete transparency around this process and as pointed out before; where we pick up discrepancies or elements of misconduct or criminality, such information will be referred to law enforcement agencies and state money will be recovered from those individuals. This committee is meeting this afternoon to develop their operational and implementation plans. It is anticipated that this process will commence this coming Monday and conclude its work in a month’s time.

We have noted in the AG’s report that the prices were escalated by 12% more than what was prescribed. According to National Treasury’s norm a variance of 10% based on locality is allowed. This then means that our variance is only 2% above, which is the least as compared to other provinces.

Table (See addendum)

In a matter totally unrelated to Covid-19 procurement but I thought that I should also reflect on as per my commitment of total transparency; is the subject of alleged irregular payments by the Head of Department of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for the cancelled Human Rights day event. When the matter was raised by NEHAWU last week in a national strike, I immediately sort a report to familiarize myself with the details around the allegation. This year would have seen us host the National Human Rights day event in Colesberg. As per the norm with these events companies were invited to submit quotations for the successful rollout of the event. Only one company submitted a quotation for the event and an order was issued based on the value of R 4 million that was committed by the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture with the Province having to cover an amount of R 265 650-00 for the payment of volunteers that were responsible for mobilizing. Covid-19 then struck and on the 13th March the service provider was requested to halt all procurement, whilst awaiting the announcement that was made by the President on the 15th March that specifically National Human Rights Day had to be cancelled to avoid an outbreak of Covid-19, given the large crowds that would be present at the event.

The service providers then indicated expenses incurred on their part, given that work had already unfolded in preparation for the event and this case was presented to National DSAC. After thorough assessment it was then agreed that the volunteers would be paid, who still needed to do work to inform members of the public of the cancelled event. Two payments were thus made to the events company i.e R 265 650-00 on the 23rd March 2020 and an amount of R 1, 065 million on the 12th May 2020 based on bank statements provided by the service provider. Further investigations will be made in this regard to ensure that money paid was for actual expenses.

I conclude with the commitment that the Provincial Command Council remains as resolute as ever to doubling our efforts in ensuring that we contain infections and save lives. We once more call on residents to note that although lockdown levels are relaxed, the virus is still part of us and very alive and people should continue to wear their masks, practice social distancing and continue to wash hands with water and soap or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. It becomes increasingly important for citizens to play their part to protect themselves and others against Coronavirus

Issued by the Provincial Command Council

User Rating: 1 / 5

Speech by the Acting Premier of the Northern Cape Province, Ms Grizelda Cjiekella on the occation of the launch of the techno girl Project, 20 AUGUST 2012, SAVOY HOTEL, KIMBERLEY.

Programme Director
Executive Mayor of Sol Plaatje Municipality, Ald Agnes Ntlangula
Our Private Sector partners
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is indeed a great honour for us as the Provincial Government to be involved in this massive skills investment programme in young people, namely the Techno Girl Programme.

This is a significant programme because it is aimed at encouraging young school girls to pursue different career paths in various sectors of the economy, especially those that have been previously male-dominated.

This programme is a milestone development that will go a long way to expose the girl child to the real world of work, allow them to make informed career choices as well as to gain much valuable practical skills.

As we collectively seek to build a new society that is based on the principles of gender equality, we must consciously put in place mechanisms that strive to empower women and girl children.

We are gathered here today to make a bold statement that investing in the future of the girl child is investment in the future development of our country.

We would like to see that young women play a significant and meaningful role in the country’s economic development and growth by becoming creators of wealth and job opportunities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this programme will also equip the girl child with various skills including theoretical and practical knowledge to become responsible citizens of the country, while assisting in the fight against poverty and unemployment.

The National Minister of Children, Women and People with Disabilities Ms Lulu Xingwana’s said during the national launch of the programme and I quote “As we launch the Techno Girl project today, we are also making a firm and unequivocal statement that the continued discrimination of women and perpetuation of patriarchy have no place in a free and democratic society such as ours.

Through this project, we are determined to change the face the South African market where there is lack of significant representation of women in the professional and scientific profession.”

We are thus confident as the government in collaboration with the private sector that this programme will serve as a catalyst to allow more and more of our girl children to pursue fields in Science, Maths, Engineering and Technology where women have historically been under-represented.

Through this intervention, our girl children will no longer see the fields of science and technology as intimidating. This will auger well for the economic development of our country.

Programme director, our democratic government remains steadfast to the goal of women empowerment. Promoting access to educational opportunities and skills development is key to addressing the socio-economic conditions of women in the long-term.

We are collectively as a nation taking proactive measures to address the factors preventing women from participating in politics and public life.

These include lack of access to quality education and health care violence, poverty, the double burden of paid and unpaid work.

Social inclusion and the participation in skills development programmes will ensure that girls have time and space to become active citizens and develop social networks and life skills.

Girls achieving their full potential will bring growth for the society as a whole.

We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the private sector for responding directly and practically to the challenges addressing the real challenges that confront us as we strive to build a representative and productive nation. To date 101 girls were placed for job shadowing during the June/ July holiday period in the province.

Furthermore, this programme will instil confidence in young women and can set a strong foundation to nurture future leadership skills in women. Skills development is central to improving productivity.

In turn, productivity is an important source of improved living standards and growth.

Effective skills development systems – which connect education to technical training, technical training to labour market entry and labour market entry to workplace and lifelong learning – can help countries sustain productivity growth and translate that growth into more and better jobs.

Experience shows that all countries that have succeeded in linking skills with productivity need to build up capabilities and knowledge systems within the economy and society which induce and maintain a sustainable process of economic and social development.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as we celebrate women’s month, we reaffirm our commitment to work tirelessly for a South Africa that promotes and monitors the realisation of the rights of women, children and people with disabilities.

At the core of our struggle for liberation was a determination to ensure that all our people are liberated from a life of indignity, discrimination and oppression.

We are celebrating a century of heroic struggles by the women of our country, such as Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophie de Bruyn, Albertina Sisulu, Ruth Mompati, Dorothy Nyembe, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who are an embodiment of hundred years of a relentless forward march to total emancipation, equality, justice and democracy. Unarmed and defenceless, they challenged the might and brutality of successive oppressive regimes in order to ensure that future generations live in a South Africa that truly belongs to all.

We are grateful for their sacrifices and inspired by their courage, and will carry the baton towards equality, employment and poverty eradication.

It is because of their inspirational role that we want to ensure that everyone have the chance to reach their full potential; that is our objective to overcome discrimination and the political and social barriers to gender equality.

We want to see women choose and ensure that their place in society and their capacity to lead is recognised by everyone.

Programme Director, Minister Trevor Manuel, Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, pointed out during the handing over of the National Planning Commission Report to the President that “It is a plan for a better future – a future in which no person lives in poverty, where no one goes hungry, where there is work for all, a nation united in the vision of our constitution… It is a plan for our collective future. [And] it is up to all of us to make it work,” he said.

He further said it is a plan “To unite all South Africans around a common purpose: Manuel warned this would be a “hollow call” unless the lives of young black people improved.

This pillar recognises that the effectiveness of “redress measures” such as black economic empowerment and employment equity must improve.

It is a plan for our collective future. It is up to all of us to make it work. We speak of a future with expanding opportunities.

We speak of a future we must shape, because we care and because we cannot miss the opportunity to do so, he emphasised.

Building on our history and our collective achievements since 1994, our challenge is to build a future fit for our children, a future that our people deserve.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this plan enjoins all of us to invest in the future of our children especially our girl child to ensure that we build an inclusive and equal society with equal opportunities.

To the young school girls, I wish you every possible success and we will stand beside you every step of the Way.

I Thank You

User Rating: 0 / 5

Members of the Executive Council
Heads of Department
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen

The Provincial Command Council met yesterday and reflected on the current lockdown level 2 regulations as well as our efforts in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. I will just highlight some points and then allow the Departments of Health and Education to make brief presentations on the COVID-19 cases as well as our response in mitigating the spread of the virus.

During the past few weeks, the Province reported the highest incidence of new cases of COVID-19 in the country. Our learners in schools have also not been immune to these infections and where we experienced spikes in cases, we have observed school closures. We therefore welcome the pronouncement by the President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, to adjust the Lockdown levels to Level 2. However, with the current developments in the Province, we wish to send a word of caution to our members of the public, that if we are not able to work together to limit the spread of the virus, we could be moving to higher lock down levels sooner than anticipated.

The higher numbers are an indication that we are moving closer to the Third Wave as a country and it will place a higher demand on health services. It could also result in the same disruptions to families and the economy as experienced in 2020.

The Province has 171 cases per 100 000 people, followed by the Free State with 105 cases per 100 000, and Gauteng with 71 cases per 100 000 persons.
Over the past few weeks, we have also greatly improved our testing capacity and in the last 7 days we have tested over 12 000 people for COVID-19 in the Province. This is an 8% increase compared to 11 000 in the previous week. This includes 2 668 close contacts of infected people who were newly listed for monitoring and testing.

It is important to note that the Province has been able to maintain its ramped up testing and this is proven by the fact that the Northern Cape has a testing rate of 905 persons per 100 000. The province with the next best testing rate is the Western Cape and the lowest in the country is Limpopo with 82 persons per 100 000.
Improved case management, whereby individuals and communities are more aware of the symptoms and when to seek health care assistance, has resulted in an increase in hospital admissions over the past two weeks. The current admissions to hospital have remained stable compared to the previous week, despite a slight increase in intensive care admissions. This is putting increased pressure on the high and intensive care facilities and the hospitals are actively seeking additional specialised nurses, including recruitment from agency staff providers.

One of the matters that are critical in the pandemic is our oxygen supplies in our key health facilities and we can report that out of 20 key facilities, we have completed the upgrading as well as installation in 15 of these key health facilities. The remaining health facilities will be completed in due course.

This intervention will ensure that patients can receive life-saving oxygen treatment at facilities closer to them instead of having to travel long distances.

We can also report that the Department of Health is maintaining the availability of PPE within the acceptable norms between 80% and 95%. This ensures that we have sufficient stock to keep our staff safe.

We would like to thank our staff members at the Department of Health who are so dedicated to their work and who are going the extra mile to ensure that all aspects of the fight against the pandemic are maintained.

Although the provincial mortality rate remains one of the lowest in the country, at 22 per 1 000 people infected it is still too high and we extend our sincerest condolences to everyone affected by COVID-19 related deaths.

To date, the Province has recorded 1 100 deaths due to COVID-19 since March 2020, with 555 of these occurring since January 2021. Sixty four percent (64%) of people who passed on were in the age group 60 years and older. Seventy nine percent (79%) of people who passed on had underlying co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.

For this reason, we want to emphasise our need to urgently adhere and support the safety protocols. We urge all community members to continue implementing all non-pharmaceutical interventions, including wearing of face masks, sanitizing and washing of hands, physical distancing of at least 1.5m and abstaining from group gatherings such as parties, funerals and the like.

I also want to encourage those eligible for vaccination to register and await the opportunity to get vaccinated. Vaccination of people in the province against COVID-19 is the lasting solution for combatting this pandemic.

We are anticipating additional deliveries of vaccine from the national suppliers over the coming days. This will allow us to continue opening additional vaccination sites in Springbok, Calvinia and De Aar to complement the sites in Kimberley, Kuruman and Upington.

Currently we are vaccinating around 800 people per day on average but as more sites come online and more of our 60 plus community members register, we will be able to build towards our target of 118 000 of this age group. As at yesterday we have vaccinated 15 666 persons. Out of this figure 9 640 are health care workers and 6 026 seniors 60 years and older.

We have recorded 27 038 registrations for vaccination of our 60 plus age group and we are calling on our communities to assist their family members, colleagues and friends to encourage and register for their vaccination. By getting vaccinated you are protecting yourself and those around you. People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 must keep taking precautions such a wearing a mask, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces and washing or sanitising your hands often.

Before I allow the Departments of Health and Education to give us more detail, I just want to reflect on our safety response. Now that the country has been moved to adjusted alert level 2, the SAPS will focus on increased police visibility, stop and searches and visits to key points to monitor compliance in terms of the Disaster Management Act.

In relation to compliance to the Regulations, numerous arrests were affected for burglaries at schools and malicious damage to property where school premises were vandalised. Non-compliance for not wearing masks in public spaces is also being monitored. Police visibility has been enhanced and increased in the vicinity of schools, churches, shopping complexes and government buildings.

In conjunction with the Northern Cape Liquor Board, designated Police Officers regularly conduct visits to liquor outlets both on-site and off-site premises to ensure compliance to closing times. Compliance to the curfew is addressed during vehicle patrols and stop and search actions.

Awareness programmes such as the Safer Schools Programme and Human Trafficking specifically focusing on gender based violence where women and children are victims, are conducted at high schools and primary schools in the province. Community outreach programmes are conducted to create and educate the broader public on the COVID 19 regulations and protocols.

It is also sad to note that the Province has the high number of SAPS and Health Care personnel testing positive for COVID 19. In SAPS 1317 tested positive and 24 succumbed to the virus since we started with Covid. At the Department of Health 1 863 positive cases of whom 37 sadly succumbed to the virus. I want to pass our heartfelt condolences to the families of those members. I also want to encourage all public servants to strictly comply with the COVID- 19 protocols.
Let me now allow the Departments to take us through some detail pertaining to their areas of specialisation.

Issued by the Office of the Premier