Journal 3 of 2001

Table of headlines

1.Editorial

Change

2(a) Renewing Batho Pele - DG

2. The Bredell experience

3. Managers urged to be instrumental in WGF recommendations implementation

4.Middle managers acknowledged for completing culture and equity training

5. Managing change within the DLA

6. Inequalities cannot eliminate identical treatment of men and women

7.DLA offices take part in Batho Pele Road Show

8.New coat of arms marks a new South African government identity

9. No disagreements in Mutingati briefing

10.Northern Cape RLCC and PLRO join hands

Personalities 

11. New directors appointed

12. Fabric painting now occupies Riana's free time

13.Villas a face to destigmatise HIV/AIDS

14. Solly, a lively fellow

Sport

15. Finishing Comrades prestigious

16. "Amantombazana" fantastic at Megawatt

General

17. DLA criticised for delivering land

18. DLA efforts impress American teachers

19. Job Creation Trust Fund update

20. Distribution of MapTrix kits

21.The African publishing companion : a resource guide

22.Consolidation of loans on persal

23. DLA sets up an IMF publications centre

24. Hidebound buraucrats

Editorial

Sometimes when one sees public servants in their meek and humble nature, one can be compelled to believe that they are just a passive lot. This can be a grave mistake. Be patient and wait for them till they are in the criticising mood. I am tempted to suggest that in that game they are perfect.

I have sat and listened to them formally and informally in what I prefer to call one of their perfect crafts. This can be about some of their colleagues, politicians, their bosses or anybody else. One group that lately has become one of their victims is consultants. I have my own views about them and at this stage I just want to say poor souls.

In my travels to Johannesburg lately, with some of my colleagues, I met one guy who proclaimed to have been a public servant in the not so distant past. He contends that while he was still inside nobody heeded his voice. He adds that people from outside would be called in to ask him questions. Later all his ideas would be used, in sincere belief, as those of outsiders.

He still sounds like a public servant to me.

There is always an end to some of these things. He says he became fed up and decided to quit and work for himself. After only a few days his former colleagues came running after him. This is no exaggeration. They may have gone to him for sentimental reasons, I don't know. But, now they listen to him attentively like grandchildren listening to fables from the grand elders. Another strange twist about all this, is that now he goes inside and listen to people and then use their ideas as his.

There are a number of reasons that reminded me in Johannesburg about the Old DLA canteen. Over lunch around those tables in Parktown, not gossip but news would just spread around like veld fire. The other day, there was talk about this consultant who was invited to come and do a job. While still doing his thing, he decided to call one of his colleagues to come and do part of what he was doing. Another strange thing is that he did not pay the colleague, but a government department had to pay him. I am not exactly sure whether this is true or not. You know, government departments have these bureaucratic rules, which are supposed to be screening everything.

Some departments were described as having "resident consultants". To be blunt they were heavily criticised. It was even said they do absolutely nothing. Some were accused of buying expensive equipment and programmes that become obsolete before they benefit government Departments. I have no facts on this one, so, I could not dispute the existence of "resident consultants".

I remember the other day I tried to reason around those tables by mentioning specific cases where civil servants had been preferred over consultants. I further argued that these people are not a daily "bread" in our corridors and their presence complements what we are doing. When all odds are against you, even when you know you are right, there is a time to stop. Let's understand each other here. If one is interested in finding a mistake where it does not exist, one will surely get it.

May I also say, in an article in Sowetan, when talking about problems in the public service, Mazibuko Jara mentions one of them as "Primitive capital accumulation by an elite which plunders state assets through outsourcing, the extravagant use of consultants, contracting out, and corruption…." Does this "song" not sound familiar. I have my own suspicions. I am not exactly sure, but somewhere, it may have been in the old canteen, in hushed tones, I have heard it before.

Rest assured, the foregoing remarks were not influenced by what was recently said by Minister for Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi about consultants. In the same spirit we share the sentiments expressed by the Minister, that is, being against people who resign and take packages from the Public Service and the next day coming back as consultants to do the same work that they ran away from. Readers of this publication will remember well that Thaps said this as far back as 1998.

To those criticising us, we say thanks. This is what keeps us going. Without you, surely by now, we would be dead. But, please speak to us directly because your voices have a quality sound than those of your messengers. To those who just decide to let things pass by as if nothing is happening, in good spirit, please open your mouths, we depend on you.

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 Renewing Batho Pele - DG

For the renewal of Batho Pele, the DLA's Director-General, Dr Gilingwe Mayende, delivered the keynote address. This article is an abridged version of what he said on the day.

In June this year, the Minister for Public Service and Administration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, re-committed her Ministry and the Department of Public Service Administration (DPSA), to renewing the Batho Pele strategy in the interest of public service transformation.

She invited Ministers and the Heads of Departments to participate in Africa Public Service Day (23 June) and Public Service Week (25 – 28 September). She has proposed that Political Principals and Heads of Departments be directly involved in different activities that embody the principles of Batho Pele.

I would like to reflect on Africa Public Service Day first before moving to the significance of this week.

23 June was declared Africa Public Service Day. The main activity planned by the DPSA was an imbizo to be convened in each Department. The objective of the imbizo was to give public servants a platform to raise issues of concern that hinder service delivery in their respective working areas, directly with their DG or Political Head, and to suggest ways in which they see the problems being addressed.

Although an imbizo was not convened in the DLA because of time and capacity constraints, DLA staff were asked to answer a questionnaire, prepared by the Transformation Office, aimed at assisting staff to identify issues affecting them and proposing solutions. This questionnaire was dubbed the ‘imbizo questionnaire’. The Directorate: Human Resource Management distributed the imbizo questionnaires to all DLA offices via e-mail and collected the final inputs. Even though officials were given a week to respond, an overwhelming number of questionnaires from 65% of staff was received. This is attributed to the commitment and seriousness shown by Directors, Chief Directors and Heads of Components to take ‘action’ in improving service delivery.

General problems emerging from the questionnaires centred on issues such as:

• Office accommodation and buildings not being in a suitable condition
• Lack of ample parking facilities
• Maintenance and cleaning services that were not up to standard
• Inadequate security in certain offices
• Poor communication and dissemination of information to staff. Where communication was being received, the quality and timeousness of information was not desirable
• Support services from Financial Management was deemed unsatisfactory in certain areas and officials recommended that it be decentralised to improve efficiency
• Personnel services, particularly relating to the provision of information, was poor and certain functions should also be decentralised
• A number of problems relating to unfair asessments, lack of consistency in application and transparency was mentioned through the implementation of the Personnel Performance Management System (PPMS)
• Training opportunities for officials in lower levels is insufficient and lacks co-ordination across the different branches. Being centralised, it cannot effectively address the needs of staff in the provinces
• Many officials complained about the slow pace and support of change in their offices

In my view this feedback casts a negative view of Land Affairs’ services and has the effect of eroding morale within the Department. It is clear that we lack a customer-orientated approach to rendering our services and duties. It is therefore with great enthusiasm that I welcome the launch of the Batho Pele campaign in the DLA and I regard it as the primary driver of transforming our service delivery standards.

I have personally accepted responsibility for changing and resolving the problems identified by staff in the imbizo questionnaire. I therefore expect a greater display of commitment and responsibility from senior managers in identifying and driving solutions in the areas outlined in the imbizo questionnaire. I am taking this opportunity to request the CD: Corporate Services to co-ordinate the setting-up of a committee comprising corporate, financial and other relevant line managers to look into these issues and to submit recommendations to top management for consideration by end November. Hopefully the accommodation and building problem at National Office will be resolved soon by us relocating to more suitable premises in the City.

All managers are expected to make known the standards of the services and products they offer. As top management we agreed that each Directorate, Chief Directorate and Branch must have a Service Delivery Improvement Programme or SDIP detailing their service standards and other arrangements in order to comply with the 8 Batho Pele principles. The deadline for completing this was agreed to be the end of this week. The Transformation Office has been tasked with consolidating all SDIPs and using them as a basis to develop a ‘Guidelines document on Service Delivery Standards for the Department’. The first edition of this draft document on Service Delivery Standards will be made available in the first week of October. The Standards document will then serve as a reference in drawing a Customer Service Commitment Charter for Land Affairs before the end of October. I stress again the importance of commitment in meeting these deadlines so that the Department can honour the timelines set by the DPSA. I referred to this document as the first edition because, as you will appreciate, the evaluation of performance against standards and remedial actions taken to maintain standards or improve performance is a cyclical process. Hence, the Standards document will be reviewed annually.

Colleagues, this then brings me to the issue of today: Public Service Week.

The theme adopted by the DPSA to celebrate this week is "I’m proud to serve you". This theme brings into the culture and work place of civil servants a new way of doing the traditional activities of the Public Service. It is about positioning the Department to focus its activities towards putting people first. It is about changing the culture of "I don’t care" to "How can I serve you?" It is about responsiveness to people’s needs. It signals a readiness to change the way in which we discharge our responsibilities.

The issue of service delivery has long been a major focus of concern in the Department. When I assumed duty in the DLA last year, we found that delivery systems and internal transformation in the DLA faced the following challenges:

• Both the Restitution and Redistribution Programmes were not linked to development
• Technical functions like Deeds, Cadastral Surveys, Spatial Information and Survey & Mapping were not closely linked to land reform
• Spatial planning and spatial information functions were not developed to the level required, resulting in development planning only around land reform wherever possible, neglecting the other development needs of our country
• Support Services were highly centralised, bureaucratic, and characterised by excessive ‘red tape’
• The Land Reform function was centralised in Provincial Offices based in major cities, with very weak linkages to the local sphere
• The various functional components operated as silos in terms of their specific functions and structured in such a way that they were responsible for the management and delivery of support services within the silos, without linkages to other core business functions and
• Most serious was that line function Directorates found themselves with the double burden of having to manage support functions in addition to performing in line functions

Decentralisation, spearheaded by Project Mutingati, was seen as the vehicle to change systems and processes so as to enhance service delivery. A blue print to decentralise Corporate and Financial Services to the Pilot Shared Service Centre in KwaZulu-Natal has been produced and finalised. Officials identified to staff the SSC will migrate from the 4 Land Affairs components in KZN to the SSC on 01 October. They have already received training on HR related issues. For the first time, Surveys, Deeds, Restitution and Land Reform support functions will be performed by one office. This is more than collaboration – it is integration of services and goes a long way to eliminating the ‘silos’ between components of the DLA. In terms of Batho Pele, it relates to efficiently and effectively utilising resources. I must caution, however, that the setting-up of the SSC in KZN is not an end in itself. It is part of the broader process of improving intra-departmental excellence and bringing Land Affairs services closer to our clients and beneficiaries through the District Level Delivery process. This is the principal vehicle through which our Department will accomplish the promise for a better life to beneficiaries of land reform.

The restructuring process at senior management level is nearly complete. This very important process was aimed at re-aligning our functions and systems so that they are more amenable to service delivery. I again call on senior managers to drive this with vision, energy, resourcefulness and commitment.

An improved information management system is also underway through the data warehouse project being co-ordinated by our Directorate: IT.

The Directorate: M&E is also looking into improving the DLA’s capacity at generating statistics for our services and outputs.

An HR plan for the DLA is also nearly complete and as already mentioned, the Transformation Office is co-ordinating the finalisation of SDIPs for all DLA componets.

The vision for the Department is:

• An equitable and sustainable land dispensation that promotes social and economic development

The mission of the Department is:

• To provide access to land and to extend rights in land, with particular emphasis on the previously disadvantaged communities, within a well planned environment

Our vision is clear, simple, crisp and to the point. When scrutinising the mission statement, one sees that it covers all the functionaries of the Department.

One strategic objective being pursued by the Department, to realise the Vision and Mission, is the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) sub-programme. Through LRAD a mechanism has been created to provide grants to previously disadvantaged South African citizens to access land specifically for agricultural purposes. The strategic objectives of the sub-programme include:

(i) contributing to the redistribution of a substantial amount of the country’s agricultural land over 15 years

(ii) improving nutrition and incomes of the rural poor who want to farm on any scale

(iii) de-congesting over-crowded former homeland areas

(iv) and expanding opportunities for women and young people who stay in rural areas

The Restitution Programme has also committed itself to improving service delivery by setting the following objectives for this financial year:

• Speeding up the settlement of restitution claims
• Reviewing of the method of calculating monetary value for the settling of claims
• Finding ways to reduce administrative costs
• Fostering closer collaboration with other government departments
• Refocusing efforts in the settlement of rural claims
• Restructuring the restitution process to enable the speeding up of claims
• Speeding up the validation of all claims
• Improving communication with claimants regarding the status of their claims

Since March 2000, settled restitution claims moved from 3 916 to 12 150 by end March 2001.

A National Call Centre for Restitution has also been established. It is funded by the National Development Agency (NDA). The Toll Free Number is 0800 700 900 and has been operational since 3 September 2001. This number serves as a link between the Commission and the customer. I know that you will all agree that the Commission has made impressive steps to improve service delivery and link to its clients and customers, over a very short period.

The CD: Spatial Planning and Information is also working tirelessly to bring our services closer to Provinces and Districts through the formulation of Local, Provincial and National Spatial Development Frameworks (SDF). This is grounded in the important acknowledgement that unless and until our plans find spatial/land expression, we shall not be able to restructure our settlement patterns as desired. The Local Spatial Development Frameworks will be an integral part of the Integrated Development Plans as required by the Municipal Systems Act.

The Survey and Mapping component in Mowbray is also currently revising the Provincial Map series to depict the new local government boundaries. Each Province will be shown on a separate map sheet.

An Electronic Deeds Registration System has been proposed to accommodate an anticipated increase in land parcels from 6,5 million to approximately 20 million, and future diverse tenure types.

The electronic tracking system, already being piloted at the Pretoria Deeds Registry, involves bar coding documents. It will provide management information, give information to the public on the status of transactions and reduce the incidence of lost deeds.

The Chief Directorate: Cadastral Surveys is also looking into establishing SG offices in all 9 Provinces. This will bring their services closer to all the peoples of South Africa.

The achievements and plans that I’ve just outlined underscores the Department’s will to meet and exceed the demand of the customers. In pursuit of these objectives, we have to prioritize and strive for the achievement of a people centred Department which is characterised by equity, quality and a strong code of ethics.

This week we will celebrate our successes and reveal to the public the manner in which we have utilised resources to maximise delivery and enhance efficiency and effectiveness of our products and services. Activities have been planned for every Chief Directorate. The process, driven by our Transformation Unit, involved the setting-up of a Co-ordinating Committee to plan the campaign in the DLA. This Committee met 4 times in 3 weeks and has planned almost 60 activities across the DLA during the period 25 – 28 September. This is a remarkable achievement in a relatively short period – and I thank every member for his or her dedication and visible demonstration to transformation. The Public Service Week diary for the Department has been distributed to all managers and I would like to request them and their staff to diarise and support these activities so that we are all seen to be playing an active part in the campaign. More information can also be obtained from the Transformation Intranet site.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that our daily interaction with the public must be underpinned by the principles of Batho Pepele. In the DLA, we have committed ourselves to the implementation of these principles so that we are to meet the needs of all SA Citizens. The eight principle of Batho Pele are easy to understand and implement. If we are to do things right, we have to ensure that these principles underpin every interaction within the public. The starting point is to ensure that we know who our customers are, where they live and what their needs and aspirations are. Understanding internal and external customer needs is crucial for effective and efficient service delivery. Customers account for all our business activities and it is therefore important that we spend more time and effort in ensuring that we have satisfied customers. They are the people who keep us employed!

We need to consult with our customers on everything we do so that we can plan with them rather than for them. This will help to improve our service delivery.

Service standards focusing on output, targets and performance indicators should be developed and the customers informed so that they know what to expect. Thank you.

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Colleagues

We are holding this meeting under the backdrop of the Bredell land invasion saga. It is therefore important and necessary that we must begin our deliberations for the day by reflecting on this matter and how it has and will impact on our work in future.

We have on many occasions, before and since the Bredell invasion began about two weeks ago, reiterated the policy of the government that land invasions are not to be tolerated regardless of who executes, instigates or supports them. Apart from the obvious negative impact that land invasion can have on the economy, primarily by discouraging external investment and stifling job creation and economic growth, they distort, complicate, and can indeed derail the process of the orderly implementation of developmental government policies.

In so far as land reform policy is concerned, the negative consequences of land invasion are obvious. They lead to a situation where the invading group jumps the queue with the aim of "obtaining" land without going through the prescribed processes. Since land invasions involve a very small minority of potential beneficiaries, it places the government in a position where it has to choose between responding positively to the small group of illegal occupiers, while the majority who are law abiding citizens patiently wait their turn. The choice that the government has to make in this regard is very clear. Needless to say, because they are illegal, land invasions have to be dealt with primarily through the due process of the law.

But what lessons should we draw from the Bredell experience? Setting aside the political dynamics that have given this invasion a particular character, where the plight of the landless, homeless and poor are being capitalised upon for political gain, as the Minister has said, there is indeed a growing sentiment that the process of land delivery is slow and needs to be speeded up. Some have referred to this situation as a "wake up call" to the government.

Does Bredell represent a housing or a land reform problem? The answer, I believe, is that both programmes have interfaced in this case. Whilst the primary issue of concern in this case is for the provision of shelter, it is also quite clear that the need for land on which to provide that shelter is also at issue here. That our Minister and Department took the lead in the quest for ensuring that the rule of law prevailed in this case, must be understood as having been necessitated by the fact that land had been invaded, a significant proportion of which is owned by the state and is thus registered in the name of the Minister.

What is the nature of the challenge that we face in the wake of Bredell? Having carefully monitored the coverage of the invasion by the news media, one has noted the fact that it is not the content of the policies of the Department that are at issue. What is at issue, as repeated many times by the various commentators, is that the process of land delivery is slow. This is what concerns the people, as well as the range of interested parties, including political organisations. In other words, there is an acknowledgement, albeit grudgingly in some quarters, that the fundamentals of land reform policy are in place. This, I am sure you will agree, is quite encouraging.

Given this clear message to speed up land reform delivery, what should our response be? The question can be posed differently: what have we been doing as a Department to address this issue of slow delivery? As practitioners in land reform who are at the coalface of the process, we have been the first to acknowledge the problem of slow delivery. That is why, three months ago, long before the Bredell or any of the two other recent invasions took place, we set out to work on reducing our lengthy project cycles in the redistribution programme.

As decided with the Minister, the cycle for the implementation of an average redistribution project must be reduced to four moths. But is this possible practically? How is this to be achieved? I believe this is possible, especially if we move decisively away from some of the excessively legalistic elements of our procedure to a predominantly administrative approach. As all of us are aware, the spectacular turn around that has been realised in the restitution programme has come about precisley as the result of a change from a legalistic, court driven approach to an administrative approach. This is where the answer to slow delivery and to a possible proliferation of land invasions lies.

The task team appointed from within the Land Reform Branch to conduct research and make recommendations on this issue will present its preliminary report to this meeting. After this document has been discussed and refined, I will present it to the Minister to obtain her approval. One must emphasise the point that we cannot afford to drag our feet on this very important matter. I am therefore saying to the Department: the shortening of our project cycles is a matter of extremely high priority to which we must focus our attention and on which we must work at speed.

One must highlight the point that the Bredell case has also demonstrated the need for more effective co-ordination between our Department and the National and Provincial Departments of Housing, as well as with local municipalities. Our Directorate for Public State Land Support Services has developed a comprehensive computerised database of all state land in the country that is now available on our website. The Directorate is currently upgrading the database to include information pertaining to land use. The sharing of such information with other departments and spheres of government, is of crucial importance as it will enable our Minister to respond swiftly to requests by provincial and local governments for the vesting of particular portions of land. In actual fact, the vesting by our Minister of state land to other spheres of government is the least problematic of our functions and is carried out through a simple procedure.

As I conclude on this matter, I would like us always to bear in mind the fact that in March this year we adopted a Departmental Strategic Plan that sets out clear and measurable delivery targets that are linked to definite and realistic time frames. To a large extent, the delivery targets for land reform are premised upon an acceleration of the delivery process, which can only be achieved through shorter project cycles. Needless to say, we cannot afford to fail to effect a turn around in the Redistribution programme, as such a failure will indeed have serious consequences on our economy and society.

Let me now come to the opening remarks that I was going to make if there had been no Bredell issue…

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At the launch of the DLA's National Workplace Gender Forum(WGF) in Pretoria recently, Minister Thoko Didiza urged all top managers of the Department to be instrumental in implementing the recommendations of the forum. She said the implementation must not only end in departmental structures, but also in the implementation of land reform projects.

Minister Didiza also expressed her gratitude at strategies for the implementation of the Workplace Gender Forum that had been launched in Gauteng, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. She said it was her hope that other provincial offices would follow soon.

Amongst the achievements of the WGF, she mentioned its functionality and the fact that it is representative of all DLA branches. She said the WGF has developed strategic plans for the Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape offices.

Minister Didiza said several meetings/workshops have been held in the process of establishing and monitoring the functionality of the WGF. She said these meetings have always included participants from all DLA branches.

"The mandate of the WGF will be to promote linkages between the WGF and transformation processes, including to lobby and advocate for mainstreaming/integration of a gender perspective into Human Resource activities, land reform programmes, policies and implementation processes", she said.

"The WGF will liaise with departmental training and staff development components to ensure that courses and any other staff development initiatives offered are gender sensitive, participate in the departmental bargaining council, network with organisations in the public and private sectors dealing with gender issues, advise and support the Gender Unit and monitor and evaluate the implementation of the programmes", she added.

The Head of the DLA Gender Unit, Sarah Manthatha gave a background on the establishment of the DLA WGF. She said participants in a 1999 Gender Unit Workshop acknowledged that gender based violence is not the only critical issue in the Department which needs to be addressed.

"It was then decided that a structure/body comprised of all DLA branches, must be established, and that this body must identify all gender issues, which affect not only community beneficiaries, but staff members as well. The structure/body must then develop relevant strategies to deal with those issues", she said.

After a number of meetings and workshops, the WGF was established. Besides the national structure, the WGF also has provincial ones.

"It is important to indicate that the WGF structures differ from one province to another. Because you find that the DLA has one or two branches in one province, and all branches in another province. In other words the WGF structure in a province is made up of all DLA branches which exist in a province", Ms Manthatha said.

She added that WGF programmes have been reviewed in terms of their relevance to its objectives. Programmes chosen to achieve the objectives are:

• Human resource management
• Capacity building and training/staff development
• Economic empowerment of women
• Lobbying and advocacy
• Gender based violence and HIV/AIDS
• International women's days

Ms Manthatha told those present that, "… the establishment of a WGF which is representative of all DLA branches is a great achievement to us, because after its establishment we have been able to develop a plan collectively using an integrated approach, and that is one of the key principles in our land reform Gender Policy Framework. Through the implementation of this plan, the WGF will concentrate its efforts on addressing the gender- related needs of all the DLA branches and most importantly, the needs of community beneficiaries".

"We are positive that this structure will enable the Department of Land Affairs to make a constructive contribution towards the achievement of the national objective of gender equality. But, without the support of our management we will not be able to realise any of our objectives", she said.

Ms Zodidi Zonyane read the pledge on the recognition and commitment to the DLA WGF by the Department's senior management. In it, the Department's senior managers pledge to support the WGF and translate into action the provisions of all national, regional and international gender instruments aimed at the eradication of all forms of discrimination.

The pledge commits the managers to:

• Make time available for Workplace Gender Forum activities
• Recognize and reward the Workplace Gender Forum the activities performed by WGF representatives;
• Make funds available for Workplace Gender Forum activities both at local and national levels;
• Afford the Workplace Gender Forum representatives in the respective offices an opportunity to participate effectively in all departmental decision-making structures and strategic platforms both at local, provincial and national levels.

Choral music at the launch was rendered by choirs from the National and the Johannesburg Deeds offices. The Juvenile Club entertained guests with dance and the Moretheto Arts Project Group did a dramma having a gender message.

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By Rajesh Jock

During July and August 2001, members of senior management and the transformation office embarked on a road show to hand out resource kits and certificates to participants of the second phase of the Culture Change and Equity Project. Seven hundred middle managers and supervisors attended the project, which began in June 2000 and concluded in November 2000.

The purpose of the project can be summarised as follows:

• Equipping middle managers with a detailed understanding of the Employment Equity Act (EE Act), why it is necessary, its contents and its implications in the workplace.
• Transferring the necessary skills to allow middle managers to participate in the design and implementation of an Employment Equity Plan for their components.
• Equipping middle managers with the skills to manage the change process and any workplace conflict that implementation of the EE Act might precipitate.
• Giving middle managers the analytical skills to understand the nature and impact of organisational culture and to manage culture change.

Training was held each month in five central venues: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, East London, Pietermaritzburg and Pretoria. Middle managers and supervisors were trained on the content and implementation of the Employment Equity Act, change management skills and on the transformation of organisational culture.

Participants from the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Northern Province have already received their certificates and resource kits. A joint ceremony comprising participants from Gauteng, Northern Cape and North-West will be held soon.

Many positive reports were received from managers and supervisors who felt that this developmental style of capacity building had given them practical tools to deal with people issues and to approach the Employment Equity Act and affirmative action in particular. The resource kit is intended to be used as a working document to which participants can add other related material in developing their own handbook for managing transformation and change.

An Impact Assessment report from the Directorate: Monitoring and Evaluation has been released and will be workshopped to decide the future of this project.

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This paper will briefly shed some light on the importance to the study of organisations and management practices. For the better part of life people are faced with organisations. These organisations could be in the Public, Private, or NGO sector. They all play an essential part in the livelihood of mankind. Thus, in order for organisations to succeed and achieve the purpose for which they were meant, there is an urgent need to have a clear understanding of the direction that characterise them. The Department of Land Affairs as an organisation and its management practices will be referred to.

As part of the broader South African public service the Department of Land Affairs management has seen it proper to restructure. As it stands, it still has features of the old bureaucratic, rule-bound and extremely hierarchical organisations. At the same time the features of the new modern approach are emerging even though at a snail’s pace.

The post 1994 government instituted a new Department, that of Land Affairs. Unfortunately, the management adopted the old model of management, which has done harm towards effective delivery. The new Top Management is engaged in re-structuring the system, this process will at the same time take heed of a need to introduce a new culture or new structures and systems in order to transform the public service. Credible progress has been made in an attempt to transform the Department of Land Affairs, even though there is still a long way to go. Even after two years of transformation, one can safely say that the two theories of management and organisation that are predominant in the Department of Land Affairs are Modern Approaches and Bureaucracy. There are, of course, a number of areas where the influence of psychological schools, contingency approaches, human relations and, as well as systems and classical theories can also be identified. This paper will however strive to show the influence that Modern Approaches and Bureaucracy have to Management and the Organisation of the Department of Land Affairs with a bit of reference to the Public Service at large, as it is not an isolated entity. Thus, at some point reference will be made but mainly for conceptualisation purposes. Similarly, when and if necessary, reference might also be made to other theories, other than the two, if at all that will assist in clarifying the point under discussion or for comparison purposes.

The pioneer of bureaucracy i.e. Max Weber (Cole 1996, p. 24) felt that bureaucracy was indispensable for the needs of a large scale organisation and he stressed that there was no doubt that, this form of organisation has been adopted in one way or another by practically every enterprise of any size in the world over. Weber cited two most significant factors in the growth of bureaucracy form of organisation, which are complexity and size. These two clearly had a significant contribution to make in the growth of bureaucracy.

In the absence of other alternative forms of organisation it was clearly seen as the way to go. It is estimated that the South African public service employs about 1.3 million people. This makes it the largest single employer in the country. With a number of offices in every town and an institution in every village (school or hospital/clinic), the aspect of complexity is almost guaranteed. The Department of Land Affairs employs about 4000 employees, which makes it one of the smallest departments. However, as part of the bigger public service it had to adopt the same approach to organisation.

Weber emphasized the structural aspects of organisation. Some of the main features of his form of bureaucracy are (Cole 1996, p.24):

• Appointments to office made on grounds of technical competence
• Job holders have no rights to a particular position
• Rules, decisions and actions are formulated and recorded in writing
• A continuous organisation of functions bound by the rules
• Specified spheres of competence
• Hierarchical arrangement of office
• Separation of officials from ownership of the organisation

Most of these features are indeed visible within the Department of Land Affairs. Almost everything, for instance, that is done within the department is bound by a set of rules. Even though there has been an attempt to streamline and summarise the rules that have been governing the department prior to 1994, the Department is still governed by a set of rules. These rules are scattered all over in the form of regulations, circulars, and policies. As things currently stand, it is still difficult, if not impossible for employees to know all the rules. Thus, for most of the time the rules mean very little to the employees. Only a few of who take them serious anyway. It is only in instances when it is really relevant to clear certain misunderstandings or when charges have been laid to certain employees for having broken some of the rules that they are forced to face them.

The hierarchical arrangement features predominantly within our offices. There are currently 14 layers or broad bands that separate the Director-General from the lowest level employee in the organisation. It is obviously necessary to reduce these bands. These layers are also indicative of the gap that prevails in terms of wages. Moreover, to a large extent the level at which one finds oneself is also representative of the level of power or influence that one has. Decision-making within the organisation is also dependent on the layers. The decision-makers are always those at the top whereas the implementers are those below. Even the office size is still determined by the layers in the organisation : for example the difference between layers in the Provincial Office and the National Office. These are the remnants of the previous system, which remains firmly, entrenched in current organisation.

To a large extent even appointments are still made along these lines. Those in salary level 9 stand a better chance to be appointed to salary level 10 posts when compared to the lower salary levels. Competency does not play an important role, but the levels and the number of years' experience still form the core criteria for upward mobility in the hierarchy.

There are three types of bureaucracy identified by Weber (Cole 1996,p.26) i.e. punishment-centered, representative and mock bureaucracy. Mock bureaucracy seems to be the closest to the type of bureaucracy within the Department of Land Affairs. In this instance, rules are imposed by Head Office and for most of the time they are not clear either they are ignored or are merely paid lip service to by employees. It is obvious that certain policies are only written for the sake of writing, but most employees are not even aware of them, let alone following their provisions.

When the Minister of Land Affairs was appointed a number of key personnel at senior Management level, had left or was in the process of leaving. The post-1999 era has seen the appointment of new top level management, which took over the leadership of the Department of Land Affairs, they made genuine attempts to introduce Modern Approach to management. A concerted effort was put towards the formulation of vision, mission and values underpinning the existence of the department. Consequently, programmes were put in place to ensure that the mission of the department is achieved. In line with the modern approaches, a beautiful vision was spelt out: "The Department of Land Affairs will strive to become a representative and decentralised organisation which values diversity and is dedicated to the delivery and maintenance of high quality land services to all its clients." It is important to point that the current process of decentralisation is different from the previous one because of objectives and context that have changed due to the new developments that took place in the year 2000.The strategic directions on land issues determines that the department should work closely with the Council, District Municipality, and other Departments.

Reading from above it is obvious that there was a move to change the culture within the institution.

But it is mainly the values that reflect practices within the organisation i.e. client-centered services, representativeness, diversity, democratic practices, transparency, sound labour relations, best practices and ongoing learning, development, efficiency and effectiveness. It is very clear that, in order for those processes to succeed, management has to play a crucial role.

One of the key management issues expounded by the modern approaches is understanding/responding to the external environment. The vision of the Department is entirely aimed at addressing that, i.e. "strive for a labour market, which is conductive for economic growth." Another key issue is developing a culture and indeed values, i.e. recognising the need for accelerated implementation of affirmative action to achieve employment equity, to make DLA people service centered and orientated, to ensure that all managers and staff commit themselves to the transformation programme. Cultural transformation is characterised by people development, valuing diversity, respect service excellence and workplace democracy. The major aim of values is to instill a certain culture or way of doing things within the organisation. One of the values of the department is ongoing learning and development, which is definitely in line with the key management issue of developing and empowering employees.

The same applies to other key management issues such as creating a climate of excellence, managing change, applying new technology etc.

The adoption of concepts by the organisation does not mean that it has achieved what is required. The practices within the organisation determine whether success has been achieved in that regard. A lot of initiatives have been taken by management to achieve some of them. What is left is for managers to ensure the filtration of these issues to the shop floor level and be embraced by everybody within the organisation. However other areas such as change management and the application of new technology need to be complimented. Indeed the department has moved in terms of applying new technology and ensuring that computer equipment is accessible and available to almost each and every staff member. What remains is for the aggressive unleashing of the IT plan to ensure that services are completely integrated in a one-stop shop format.

Change is an ongoing part of any organization. The forceful nature in which change is being managed within the organisation is also compelling. Even though it was not without hurdles, but the entire management of the process as well as the output is indeed testimonial to the fact that there is an unequivocal commitment on the part of management and other role-players to transform the system of the past.

It is true that there isn’t a single theory that could be used which could cover all the areas in an organisation. Each of these theories has its strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, each of their features can be suited for one area within the organisation whilst they might be undesirable for the other. Put in simple terms, it means one should get the best from each theory, whilst having the context of the organisation as the major determining factor. Thus, in the discussion of the alternative theories to be utilised within the department, focus will be on four areas derived from various theories, which if used could improve both management and organisation within the Department of Land Affairs.

The identified theories or areas are:

• The human relations and psychological schools
• The scientific management theory
• Systems and approaches to management and organisation and
• Modern approaches to management theory

The following areas have been identified for further improvement by the Department of Land Affairs:

The values of the organisation, which anyway determine the culture within an institution, are available. However, there is a need to understand the rationale behind them. Effectively, it means the Department should have programmes in place to ensure that there is a monitoring mechanism. At the same time management practices should also be addressed through the programmes.

These are programmes that are supposedly expected to develop and empower employees within the department. The problem seems to be at the implementation stage. In the end, programmes only remain on paper but nothing concrete is being done to actualise them. It is essential that the skills plan considers all the aspects involved from the planning stage to the implementation and evaluation stage, if it is to become successful. In that way it will be easy to follow all the stages and guarantee the finalisation of the programme.

Change management is another area where the department can learn a lot. The lack of a comprehensive plan is another sore point that needs to be addressed. As a result the process is managed without due consideration of the key features and risk elements that should be handled with care. No wonder, in other instances the process will kick-off without the backing of the key role-players who in turn use dirty tricks to stifle the same process they are expected to drive.

It should be stressed that the vision, mission and goals as spelt out in the strategic plan of the Department are not meant for management only. Thus efforts should be made to ensure that there is ownership especially by those who are involved with the process of delivering services, at grass root level.

From the afore-going discussion, it is apparent that the study of theories of organisation and management is imperative in order to understand why organisations exist, how they evolve, the challenges they currently face etc. A clear understanding of all this will assist in the shaping of future organisations. The reflection on the Department of Land Affairs also sheds light on how the organisation evolved and the challenges faced as well as how to shape the future of the organisation.

It is obvious that there was visible change within the Department after the 1999 second democratic elections after a number of key personnel left the department with a view to uplift the morale and to point direction within the department. Two years down the line, the department is still engaged in such a process. No wonder it is still dominated by the bureaucratic pyramidal, hierarchical and rule-bound theory. However there is indeed a need to recognise the fact that credible progress has been made towards transforming the DLA. The strategic visions, mission and values bear testimony to this. Consolidation is necessary in order to sustain the gains and forge even forward.

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The Land Reform programme has the potential of consolidating and expanding South Africa’s fragile democratic gains. The systematic inequalities, resulting from centuries of injustice against women, cannot simply be eliminated by the identical treatment of men and women…(The land reform system has, until now, tried to accommodate some of the fundamental differences in the social experiences of women and men, and has instead imposed rules on women that are based on men's experiences).

The inequalities are embedded in and practised within the whole system of our society.

If women are to benefit from the public policies that aim to empower them they need to know and understand them. Women need to participate in all levels and stages of public policy processes: from the needs assessments to the adoption of the policies. They also need to give their input on how the policies are working in practice. We can use community hearings, case studies and interviews to make sure that different groups of women, with their different needs, have their say. The department policy implementers lack the capacity/ resources in that regard.

Data

As a department, we need a database that reflects women needs. These needs must be made invisible by data that distinguish between men and women. We need to collect, analyse and make available data that reflect women’s particular experiences (particularly rural women). This information can be an important instrument for policy makers/implementers etc.

What has to happen is to:

• Target the allocation of public expenditure to promote women’s economic opportunities to address women's basic needs, particularly those living in poverty
• Collect gender and age-desegregated data on poverty and all aspects of economic activities
• Strengthen rural women’s income generating potential by facilitating their equal access and control over reproductive resources, and credit development programmes and co-operative structures.
• Provide outreach programmes to inform low income and poor women, particularly in rural and remote areas of access to opportunities for market and technology
• Promote education, training and relevant information programmes for rural women through the use of affordable technologies
• Create social security systems wherever they do not exist

When it comes to land reform, women experience problems at three interrelated levels:

The following factors can be highlighted as far as the economy is concerned:

• Women do not enjoy full access to, and control over productive resources such as land, livestock, markets, credit, modern technology, formal employment, and a good quality of life in order to reduce the level of poverty among women

• Women working in the informal sector do not enjoy the necessary support and protection
• There has to be promotion and support of women’s self-employment projects coupled with a development of and a strengthening of women’s access to credit and capital on appropriate terms equal to those of men
• The participation of women entrepreneurs in advisory boards and other forums must be increased to enable them to contribute to policy formulation
• There has to be development programmes, for women, that provide training and retraining particularly in new technologies for product development

It is not clear how the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme will work towards gender equality. The focus is more to "gradually change the structure of South African agriculture by opening opportunities, thereby creating a significant number of black commercial farmers operating on medium and large scale". This programme, that is, (LRAD) if it is going to be a success, there is an urgent need for us to revisit the how part of "implementing gender equity in it".

It is an open secret that in many a times women are victims of violence in our societies. We therefore need to:

• Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence
• Promote gender mainstreaming in all areas
• Create, develop and find gender-sensitive training of legal personnel on gender based violence
• Eliminate and combat gender-based violence, which is a human rights violation
• Take urgent measures to prevent and deal with increasing levels of violence against women

There is a need to conscientise our rural communities on human rights. The level of literacy is very low, thus we need to concentrate our efforts more on educating women.

Culture, religion and tradition are some of the contributors in disadvantaging women. To curb that we have to:

• Ensure that there is gender equality in culture, religion and tradition.
• Take appropriate measures including legislation to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices, which constitute discrimination against women.
• Modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority of either sexes or stereotyped roles for men and women.

We may conclude that the real work to bring about effective equality for all has just started. For example, despite the undoubted commitment to equality, rural women have yet to taste the fruits of "equality". It is clear that until there is equality, and equality cannot be achieved until violence and threat of violence is eliminated from women’s lives. ‘Women must rise’ and break the barriers of culture and religion used to suppress or marginalise them.

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The Brits District Land Reform and the Gauteng and North-West RLCC offices were part of the government departments that took part in the Batho Pele Road Show that ran through Brits during the Public Service Week. The government departments that took part represented national, provincial and local spheres of government, thus, bringing to the occasion the spirit of co-operative governance.

The focal message for the road show was the following eight principles of Batho Pele:

• Consultation - you can tell us what you want from us
• Service standards - insist that our promises are kept
• Access - one and all should get their fair share
• Courtesy - don't accept insensitive treatment
• Information - you're entitled to full particulars
• Openness and transparency - administration must be an open book
• Redress - your complaints must spark positive action
• Value for money - your money should be employed wisely

The Executive Mayor of Madibeng, Raymond L. Matsepe in welcoming all who gathered there, on Batho Pele said people must not only talk about the concept, but must practise Batho Pele. He said the public has to cross-check what public servants are saying and make them accountable for their activities.

"Our contribution on Batho Pele must have a positive impact to the people we serve", he said.

Mr S. Mahlangu from the Public Service Commission said the day was meant for people to know where they can get their services. He urged those present to go and ask questions at the departmental stalls.

Mr Mahlangu said those who had received valuable information must share it with others in their communities. He said the Batho Pele road show would also make public servants aware of some of the problems related to their services since in the road show they would be directly dealing with the public in an information sharing exercise.

The DLA stall provided the public with all land reform literature in seTswana. The only document that seemed to be among those popular with the public and is not yet available in seTswana, is the LRAD one.

Suzanne Ramokoka, Monty Malebye and Muzi Mthembu were able to handle questions posed to them well, from both the young and the old. For a local councillor an appointment was arranged for another time in the Brits office, because his case needed a broad consultation that would involve his clients and office records.

Throughout the day, the Gabo Dancers entertained the crowds with different cultural dances. Radio Motsweding broadcasted live Messrs Motsepe's and Mahlangu's speeches.

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The dawn of the new democratic order has presented South Africa with a number of challenges. The national anthem and the South African flag were changed as part of the reconstruction of a new South African reality. On 27 April 2000 the new coat of arms replaced the old national emblem that has been in existence since 17 September 1910.

"The new coat of arms reflects a government collective to the public at large. It will streamline government programmes in the broader integrated approach to service delivery," says Patti McDonald, Director of Design and Print Production at GCIS who has been involved in the conceptualisation of the new national emblem.

McDonald says the value of the new corporate identity is to align government to a set of values and reflection of a new culture. It is aimed at strengthening government’s position of a nation at work for a better life for all. In the same vein, this will assist in facilitating how citizens access government resources to change their lives for the better.

It has been introduced with a view to portraying government that is visible and accessible to all people.

In 1994, many government departments developed individual logos that were reflected on their corporate materials like letterheads, business cards, cars, buildings etc. However, the big picture of building a government that is accessible and visible to the public was lost. McDonald says the new coat of arms is aimed at creating uniformity for the corporate identity of government.

"The introduction of the new coat of arms forms part of the bigger picture of the integrated approach to service delivery at all levels of government. In so doing, the government will be able to speak with one voice," McDonald explains.

The public will now be able to identify the government with ease. The Communications Task Team report, among others, noted that it is imperative to have an official logo that will make government identifiable and accessible.

"The public sees departments as one government. They do not see it as individual departments. As such, they need to know how to find the government bodies they are looking for," says McDonald.

The new national emblem is a symbolism of a new hope, a new style and a representation of the new century declared by President Thabo Mbeki as the African century.

The Latin words "ex unitate vires" in the erstwhile national emblem have been replaced by the motto !ke e: xarra //ke, written in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, literally translated as "diverse people unite." McDonald says that in a diverse society such as South Africa, it was necessary to rekindle the spirit of unity in diversity. It is against this background that the Khoisan language, which is facing the danger of being extinct, was harnessed to underpin a new South African government identity.

How is the new coat of arms going to be rolled out in government departments?

"The new coat of arms will be rolled out in earnest as soon as government departments have finished utilising their corporate materials which bears the stamp of their individual logos," McDonald points out.

A Coat of Arms and Batho Pele Corporate Identity Government Task Team was appointed to fastrack the process in an integrated approach. The task team comprises the Office of the Presidency, GCIS, Department of Public Service and Administration, South African Management Development Institute, Public Service Commission and Department of Public Works.

The roll out process will include among others, the appointment of branding specialists, assessment of the corporate identity audits undertaken by departmental representatives, design templates and align all websites, design a maters exhibition shell for use by national departments, and the compilation of a master corporate identity manual.

The attributes of a single corporate branding will give identity to government and help facilitate recognition and access. It helps drive a public image and perception. It will help government to streamline its activities. To that end, it will give personality and character to the government.

Consultations are well underway to bring constitutional bodies like the South African Human Rights Commission, Commission on Gender Equality and others to be part of the process to build a national identity. However, changing the face of government alone is not enough.

"All members of the civil service are urged to rededicate themselves in the spirit of Batho Pele to improve and accelerate service delivery. This means we need to put the interest of the people first before our own. We need to adopt a dedicated work ethic to translate the slogan of building a better life for all into reality," says McDonald.

The GCIS has created a website for the coat of arms and information is constantly being updated. It can be accessed on the Government on Line website, http://www.gov.za

When the TPO team made a staff briefing on Project Mutingati at the Mpumalanga PLRO, a rarity these days, there were no disagreements or points where people would resort to a consensus. Without singing praises for the presenters, they were eloquent in what they were doing.

Mention must be made here that the atmosphere that prevailed at the session was a relaxed one. There was no invisible line that could be described as separating management from staff.

In welcoming the TPO team, the Provincial Director, Alwyn vander Merwe said his office had gone a long way with decentralisation. He said they would like to learn from other experiences.

Project Mutingati is the name of the decentralisation process which is envisaged by the DLA. The name Mutingati is a Tshivhenda word meaning sharing responsibilities or pulling together.

The presentations began with Mr Hilgard Matthews giving out a background on Mutingati. He explained the structure and the objectives of the project.

Among others, the project has the following workstreams that will be directly liaising with people who will be affected by the decentralisation process:

• Business processes
• Human resources
• Location-infrastructure
• IT-Technology
• Budget - Finance
• Communications
• Stakeholder liaison

Hilgard also mentioned that piloting Mutingati will soon be implemented in KwaZulu-Natal simply because almost all the components of the DLA exist there. It is only Surveys and Mapping that is not available there and there is a belief that once the project is rolled out to other provinces many lessons will have been learnt from KZN.

Then Mr Duma Goniwe explained the concept of Shared Services Centres (SSC) and its cycle which is about to be implemented in the DLA. He told his audience that in an SSC corporate services are provided from one point and they include:

• Financial management
• Communications
• Human resources
• Information technology
• Procurement
• Legal services
• Logistics

In many a times the services are support services. As matters are now SSCs will be provincially based.

Reasons for adopting SSCs are that they:

• Allow operating units to focus on core business
• Improve quality and speed service
• Achieve economies of scale
• Eliminate redundant effort
• Eliminate duplicating/overlapping effort
• Standardise practices and systems
• Obtain consistent and comparable information across business units

Mr Jeff Sebape explained the envisaged decentralisation of core function activities from National and Provincial offices to district offices. He highlighted the following principles as guiding DLA decentralisation:

• Batho Pele (People First)
• Transformation
• Organisational efficiency and effectiveness
• Co-operative government
• Integrated development planning
• Sustainable local economic development
• Empowerment

He gave the following reasons for the move to districts:

* Taking DLA services directly to communities, the ultimate beneficiaries of DLA programmes

* Improve quality and speed up service

* Prioritisation and direct involvement in local development

* Fostering co-operative government

* Effective fulfillment of the DLA's constitutional and legislative mandate

Replying to one of the questions posed to him Jeff replied that with decentralisation we have to retain our identity while working with other stakeholders. He said most offices have district offices, but they do not have delegations.

"We are aware that HRM is working on delegations and that other provinces cannot operate fully because they have no authority", he said.

From time to time Mr vander Merwe and the other managers were chipping with their questions and comments and at a certain stage he remarked that introducing an office of a Surveyor-General in his province would not be cost-effective. He said they would like to have a Surveyor who would assist them from day to day.

Mr vander Merwe said somebody must take up the principle of getting the structures of the Department closer. This is in relation to the fact that components of the Department work away from each other and sometimes not knowing what other structures of the Department are doing.

"It would be ideal if all DLA offices could occupy one building", Duma responded.

On decentralisation Mr vander Merwe said they were told three years ago to wait for the process. He said people in district offices are waiting for delegations, but are told to wait for Mutingati and those ready to appoint staff are told to wait for decentralisation.

"We need more staff in this province and I do not think people will be moved from this office. People should feel at ease", he said.

He also suggested that decentralisation be done province by province rather than clustering provinces together. He also raised his concern on the notion that if Mutingati works perfectly in KZN, it will be good for all provinces.

In commending the idea of delegation of powers Mr vander Merwe made an example about the weaknesses of the present status quo by mentioning that when his office's switchboard operator is sick, he has to request permission for a temporary worker from a clerk in Pretoria that does not understand the problems of his office. He said if the Mutingati team can read their province's strategic plan, they can learn something from it.

"We have to build up our linkages with other government departments or stakeholders. We do not have to lose our legitimacy with our stakeholders", he said.

Mr Star Motswege said, "People do not have delegations in the provinces. We need to move faster on these issues. We already have district offices".

In thanking the TPO team Ms Mampho Malgas said in Mutingati the following must be observed:

• Monitoring
• Feedback
• Checklists
• Counseling

She said all concerns raised by the staff must be heeded.

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The Northern Cape RLCC and the Northern Cape PLRO joined hands in exhibiting land reform activities at the Northern Cape Legislature exhibition recently. The theme of the exhibition was "Know your government".

The event served as an introductory function in an attempt by the Legislature to make governmental departments known to the public. Questions asked by the public at the PLRO and RLCC stall, indicated clearly that the clients of the DLA in the Northern Cape do not know the Department or its services.

Amongst the projects that were showcased by the DLA in the exhibition were:

• The restitution settlement celebration of Schimidtsdrift I and II
• The Riemvasmaak Development project

Photos of the Schmidtdrift settlement celebrations, San people poster, Back to the land poster, Riemvasmaak Development Project, redistribution project in Ritchie were exhibited.

Phuti Makweya, Eugenie Snyders and Lorato Mainama answered questions from the public about Restitution and Redistribution respectively. Kelebogile Dire attended to the Tenure Reform questions.

Most frequently asked questions were around the following topics:

• Restitution lodgment – when and why was it closed
• How far is the Restitution process in the NC
• Land reform projects in general
• Redistribution – who qualifies
• Rights of labour tenants
• Does the Department operate provincially
• Where is the Office of the Department situated (address)

The DLA stall was visited by young and old. The visitors were a mixture of all South African races.

In evaluating the workshop it can be said:

• A co-ordinated effort by government departments was missing.
• An intense interaction with other government departments is necessary.
• Co-operative governance should not end with managers and or project leaders. It is imperative that all must know the services of other governmental departments.
• A permanent exhibition, which could be used during occasions like this, will be advisable.
• Road shows around the Northern Cape can serve an information purpose.
• There is a Communication Forum in the Northern Cape for Governmental departments. Communications personnel/officer will gain an understanding of the dynamics in the province by joining this forum.

Other participants in the exhibition included the following government departments:

• Health
• Safety and Security
• Provincial Library Services
• Transport
• Social Welfare
• Economic Affairs
• Agriculture
• Housing

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On 01 September two new directors assumed duties in the DLA following approval of their appointment by Minister Thoko Didiza. They are

Mr Mdu Shabane - Director: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Land Reform Office

Mr Tshuba Mogashoa - Director: Transformation Programme Office

These appointments are internal promotions. Journal congratulates both Messrs Shabane and Mogashoa on their appointments and wish them all the best in the new challenging positions.

Before this appointment, Mr Shabane was acting as the Provincial Director for the KwaZulu-Natal PLRO. He has been upfront in championing Project Mutingati in the province.

Mr Shabane's training includes both Public and Personnel Management. His studies in Land Management have been put in abeyance, but he has 18 credits and the title of his Project is "A Proposal for an Administrative Adjudication Framework to Facilitate Land Delivery of State Owned Land in South Africa".

He has been trained in financial management. He was also trained in fundraising.

Mr Shabane is married and has three children. Amongst his pastime loves, is soccer.

Mr Mogashoa has also been acting as the Director for the Transformation Programme Office (TPO) since the beginning of the year. Before that, he was the Deputy-Director for Human Resource Management and served in a number of committees of the TPO.

Mr Mogashoa's training surrounds human resource and teaching. One of his certificates includes legal and economic science courses.

His work experience is spread over a number of years, from working as a clerk in the Department of Justice. In those years he also taught for a year.

He is married and has two children.

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Riana says that at the time she began fabric painting, she was unemployed. In a way, this could be described as part of time-killing by her.

Riana admits that she has neither background, nor formal training on her art. She states that it was about two to three years ago when she noticed she had an interest in computer graphics and this prompted her to be creative on Publisher and PowerPoint.

"Because our Resource Centre is involved with Interdepartmental Vocational Association for Information and Library Personnel (IVAISLP) I am from time to time co-opted to do their graphic art", she says.

"It is strange that this started as a hobby, but now people tend to request me to do things for them. Even what I have created for my house tends to be taken away by my friends and relatives", she adds.

Riana states that during Entrepreneurial Days at the Resource Centre her ability to do art has brought excitement to people who come to display their wares or those visiting the centre. She says mostly, this is because people are not aware that she is involved in art.

"There is a lot of DLA talent that is being uncovered on these days", she says.

"When I start drawing, I normally do not have a specific object that I intend to come out with. In the course of what I am doing an idea crops up, and then I decide what to do. Mostly, the pictures that I draw are influenced by what my final product will be, for example, a shirt or a table cloth", she says.

Riana also mentions that there are patterns that are available and can be bought in many a shop. She says there are patterns that people can create themselves.

"I also paint on mugs, cups or porcelain for that matter. There are some mugs that I have decorated for the IVAISLP in the past", she proudly reminds the writer.

When asked about what inspires her in what she is doing she responds by indicating that the sight of good animal pictures really gives her the urge to paint. She concedes that at the same time, the pictures also turn her on to think more about coming up with beautiful creations.

"Springtime is a very inspirational period for me. The weather is fine. Everything just comes into full life", she says.

"I also like to paint ethnic stuff. African culture inspires me", she says.

Riana states that in her family there is no-one who does what she has adopted, with the exception of one of her late uncles. She agrees that there is a possibility that she may have taken after him.

Riana also mentions that two of her daughters now are also involved in painting as a hobby. She says whenever they visit her from high school they share ideas and come up with good pieces of art.

"Drawing or painting does not require a special talent. By trying to be creative, one's talent develops day by day", she says.

In motivating others to give painting a shot, Riana says if one has an interest and one makes the attempts, one will find that it is not as difficult as it seems. She says there are a number of schools around Pretoria that can assist one with technique.

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Colly Carey, the Co-ordinator for the HIV/AIDS programme in the DLA describes one of the roles of Villas Tyeku in the Department as putting a face to destigmatise the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Villas has recently been seconded for a 12 months period to the Department as a People With Aids Co-ordinator by the Department of Health.

Colly also mentioned the following responsibilities that will be attached to Villas during her presence at the DLA:

• Making presentations to staff
• Assisting with HIV/AIDS education
• Assisting with development and care support, like counselling to staff and family members

Externally, Villas will be initiating HIV/AIDS programmes with land reform beneficiaries. The goal of the DLA's external programme is to mobilise and support beneficiaries and its objectives are:

• To set up structures to facilitate working with beneficiaries
• To work with beneficiaries to plan activities
• To monitor progress and impact

Villas is a teacher by profession. She also has Certificates in Parental Skills and in General Training in Counseling.

Between May 1999 and February 2000 she was the Chairperson of the National Executive Board of the National Association of People Living With HIV/AIDS (NAPWA). She was an HIV/AIDS, STD and TB counsellor for NAPWA from the 02 December 1996 to 30 April 1999.

Since November 1999 she has been a NAPWA volunteer as Provincial Co-ordinator for the Western Cape. She has also been a positive speaker on the launch of HIV/AIDS life skills and workplace policies for the Western Cape Departments of Education and Lands respectively.

Journal had the chance to chat with Villas on her presence at the DLA and she added the following on her roles:

• To give support to government policies especially those related to HIV/AIDS
• To strengthen the DLA's HIV/AIDS programme

Villas told Journal that she has had orientation with the DLA's HIV/AIDS programme. In a brief analysis of the Department's HIV/AIDS she said, while it is holistic in approach it is three-legged and explained it as follows:

• There is an internal programme which is focussed on staff
• There is an external programme which targets land reform beneficiaries. She said this is the programme that she will be primarily engaged in, and added that there are already preparations to implement it in the Western Cape with a follow-up in KwaZulu-Natal.
• There is a Community Outreach programme and the DLA in this leg will adopt or give support to already existing programmes in communities.

"If you look at these programmes, they are interrelated because the staff of the Department lives in communities. The DLA's approach reaches all the sectors of the community", she said.

Talking about her background, Villas said she started counselling on HIV/AIDS as far back as 1996. She said her teaching experience has enabled her to interact with people.

Because she has been open about being HIV/AIDS positive, she believes that makes her eligible for the work she has started in the DLA. She said she lost her late husband in 1998 through the epidemic and she has a daughter who has been infected by the disease.

"Because I decided to talk about my status I have been able to touch many lives through counselling and giving nutritional advice. Having a positive attitude towards life has made me a step ahead of the virus", she said.

"It has not been easy, and for being open on my status, I have lost some of my best friends. At the same time I have gained quality friendship. Above all, I have been able to turn something negative to something positive", she said.

In an advisory gesture, Villas explained that because of the attitude of the community, the discrimination, the labelling and stigmatising of people with HIV/AIDS, they become angry. They hide their status and continue infecting others.

She said it is important for any community or workplace to adopt some kind of acceptance, accommodation or support for people who reveal their status. She said this will enable them to know that revealing their status is not the end of the world.

"Presently the support that is supposed to be there for HIV/AIDS positive people does not exist. This makes it difficult for them to reveal their status", she said.

When talking about medication she was emphatic that drugs for HIV/AIDS are very expensive and are for a limited life-span. She said doctors like to give people medication, simply because they want to see those infected living.

"What has to happen is that the matter must be approached holistically. Rather than giving those infected this medication, it would be better it would be to give them boosters for their immune systems in terms of vitamins" she added.

"People must be enlightened about drugs. Drugs have to be a choice and in the same spirit there have to be some options than drugs and death", she said.

Villas continued and stated that people should accept what they are going through as a result of their HIV/AIDS status. She said this has to be a matter of responsibility.

"No-one gives HIV/AIDS to someone, but one takes it from someone. Rape cases are an exception, and I feel sorry for them", she said sympathetically.

"When one reveals one's status, that must not be perceived as a loss. As a result of a revelation of one's status, healing and help for the next person comes forth", she added.

"Change has to start with us, people who are HIV/AIDS positive. Such change has to start with accepting responsibility and survival. I believe we are survivors. If we do not accept our status, the community cannot accept us", she said.

Villas also mentioned that diet is important to people who are HIV/AIDS positive. She said people must eat what they can afford, but accordingly.

She recommended the following as part of a correct diet:

* High fibre food

* Vitamins

* Fresh fruit

* Fresh vegetables (preferably raw)

"The most important meal is happiness. If one is happy, one will not have stress or depression. When one is under stress or depression, one is open to all opportunistic diseases", she said.

"Rather than excessively drinking, it is recommended that one should drink occasionally one or two glasses of wine", she advised.

She further advised against eating:

• Fatty foods
• Beer
• Red meat (but can be eaten moderately)  

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To those who knew him, Solly Mahlangu was a lively and a talkative fellow, not only in the confines of the Human Resource Management Directorate, but to the DLA National Office as a whole. But, unfortunately now, his voice will only be a memory for he is no more.

At his funeral, the DLA Director-General, Dr Gilingwe Mayende conceded that his time of working with Solly, was very limited because he (Dr Mayende) had only joined the DLA last year. He said he had been informed that Solly was working well with his colleagues and there had been no negative reports about his work performance.

Dr Mayende encouraged Solly's family to be strong and take forward the good work that Solly had been doing. He also challenged Solly's colleagues at the DLA to shoulder on with his perseverance to accomplish the objectives of the Department.

Dr Mayende was accompanied to the funeral by a substantial number of DLA officials. Among senior managers there was Ms Sarah Choane, Ms Jenny Jacobs and Ms Sarah Manthatha.

Solly was a member of the Public Servants' Association (PSA). Albert Badenhorst the Chairperson of the DLA PSA branch said they received the news of the passing away of Solly with a sense of sorrow.

"Solly never walked past anybody without greeting that person. I will always remember this. He always walked past my office on his way to the payment office and would greet me every time he walked past, be it 10 times a day. The attitude of Solly towards every official in the DLA must be used as an example by others. The memory of Solly will live on in the passages of DLA and the hearts of those who knew him", Albert said.

Meshack Mahlangu, a colleague, said Solly loved his work. He said this was manifested by the fact that he died at work.

He said Solly was not a person that liked to complain at his workplace. He said when given a task, Solly would perform it accordingly and come out with the desired results.

David Mgabane, an uncle, confirmed that Solly was a talkative person and some of his colleagues at a bank he works for in town were saying he talked like a radio. He said Solly was a straight talker and did not beat about the bush.

"Solly told me that he was not well. There are attempts that we made to cure him and it would seem all our efforts were in vain", he said.

Emmanuel Khumalo, a neighbour, said Solly loved teasing him and had given him the nickname of "Rasta". He said whenever Solly's voice could not be heard in the neighbourhood people would start asking about his whereabouts.

Pastor Piet Lusenge from the Zion Christian Church said before Solly died, he had joined his church. "It is good to hear that he was listening to those he worked with. I also hope that he was working well with his colleagues", he said.

"I am also glad to hear that he respected others. There are very few people who are like that", he said.

Another colleague, Nelly Magudulela said whenever there was a departmental party, Solly would urge all youngsters to cater for the elderly first, before eating. This was indicative of his respectful nature.

At the time of his death on 09 July 2001, Solly was a Senior Personnel Officer Grade II primarily doing, among others, the following duties:

• S & T claims with regard to relocation
• Finalisation of removal of personal effects on relocation
• Arranging driving schools for DLA staff
• Capturing leave on persal

Solly started working for the DLA as a General Assistant way back on the 28 September 1992. He rose through the ranks and had been promoted to the rank of Senior Personnel Officer Grade II by the 01 June 2000.

Solly was born and grew up at Knoppieslaagte. He leaves behind a mother, a brother and two children.

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While winning the Comrades Marathon is an honourable experience, finishing it with a medal enjoys its own prestige to the runners and lovers of running. This became apparent recently when two DLA runners, Nelson Dlowu and Martin Kgadintsi, did just that by earning Bronze Medals at their first attempt.

The warm reception received by the runners from their colleagues was no different from that of a hero's welcome. In welcoming them, the Chairperson of the DLA Runner's Club, Zukile Dube, described them as enthusiastic and focussed runners.

"It is very encouraging to have such people in our club. That also lifts the DLA's image even outside the South Block and the Old Building", he said.

They finished the 89 kilometre race as follows:

Nelson : 09 : 59

Martin : 10 : 07

The Treasurer of the Club, Karel Cotzee said he never doubted their ability to finish the race because of their talent and sheer determination during training. He said Martin and Nelson qualified for the race with the Loskop Marathon and their results were used to enter them for the Comrades.

Outlining the departmental contribution in enabling Nelson and Martin to participate in the race, Karel said, "The entry forms were sent with priority mail due to time constraints and I paid out of my pocket for entry fees, and claimed it back from Finance. Nelson and Martin obtained sponsorship through IT for transport and accommodation and I organised money for food, etc. via Finance".

Both Nelson and Martin work for the DLA IT . Nelson is an Administrative Officer and Martin is technician and are both married fathers.

Journal had the chance of listening them before they went for their deserved rests. This is how they poured their hearts out:

Martin : The race is tough, but if one loves something, one can endure whatever consequences. I really enjoyed myself. The race is partly entertainment. Along the way there is interaction between spectators and the runners. The spectators encourage and motivate one all the way.

Nelson : The good spirit of the race is reflected by the fact that people who are not officiating just get caught up in it. One sees them assisting officials and runners with whatever need. Some offer runners food at no cost.

There is a lot of good spirit among the runners too. I think that is why it is called the Comrades.

Martin : If you can compare running with other sports you can find that there is no aggression in running. Even if one falls, one is picked up by fellow runners.

Nelson : The overseas guys are very tough. The problem with us in South Africa is that we just run for fun. Runners overseas take running as a profession. There is nothing else they do.

Martin : There is no money for South African runners. Overseas, they pay you to train. Some companies just employ you as an athlete. You can have an office, but most of the time you will be training. To win the Comrades, you have to train hard. You can train two or three times a day. Training needs a lot of time.

It is very discouraging to find that the Club cannot sponsor us to the Comrades. It would be better if the Department's sports policy can be revisited so as to sponsor DLA sportsmen and sportswomen when they go for the big ones.

We also hope to run races like the Two Oceans. The snag is that there are no sponsors in some of the races.

We were running for the DLA and our country in that race. I am proud to say our Department is now known in that arena because of our participation.

I may as well say it is a pity that one of my best friends, Petrus Mashaba, past away after running the race. He contributed a lot in our preparations for the race.

Petrus was my hero. He stayed in my street. May his soul rest in peace.

Nelson : I was involved with soccer in the past. I decided to quit soccer because of the injuries that are prevalent in the game. I felt they would hamper my progress in running. Furthermore, running is individualistic. You rely on no-one. You depend on yourself. There are no team members to carry the burden with you.

Martin : I have been running since my days at Primary School. For a brief period I hibernated, but the running bug last year caught up with me and I began pounding the streets again. Running is expensive because of the sportswear that one has to use. When one has a sponsor it is easier.

Training needs good discipline and with it one can never fail in running. There has to be team spirit in training. One cannot train alone. There has to be someone motivating one. One also has to be careful with what one eats. One must have a balanced diet.

When we were preparing for the Comrades, we encountered no problems. We started training at the beginning of the year. But now that we know what is happening there, after a well deserved month's rest we will be preparing for 2002.

The first race that we want to use for qualifying for the 2002 Comrades is the City to City Marathon, run between Johannesburg and Pretoria, which will be run in August. We will also be taking part in the Soweto Marathon in November.

To the DLA staff I say even if one is not running, training keeps one healthy. One does not need to participate in a race or competition in order to train.

Nelson : I thank the IT staff for their support, spiritually and otherwise. People like Zuzette, Sandra, Peter and Karel have been great to us.

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"Amantombazana", the DLA women's soccer team, was fantastic in the soccer tournament at Megawatt Park recently. The team never got a chance to practise, but put up a brilliant performance against all teams. They drew their first game with DBSA, 0 - 0.

The second game was also a 0 - 0 draw. The third game was against the Department of Public Enterprise. The ladies were already a bit tired but they never gave up. They held up against this formidable team with a pool of players and experience, only to lose in the last five minutes by 2 - 0.

We had Lydia "Al die Hoekies" Ncongwane in the goals, The defence was made up of Rachel "16-V" Sebelebele (right back, No.2); Lindi " 90 Minutes No mistake" Magudulela (left back, No.3); Kgomotso "Mokoko" Mothate (no.4) and Girley " Slow" Mokwena (No.5) as the heart of the defence.

The mid-field was marshalled by Prudence "Midfield Maestro" Tshoane (Central mid-field, No.6); Lorraine "Scebhezane" Mashiane (right-wing, No.8); Jane "Kae-Kapa-Kae" Mabunda (left-wing, No.10).

Upfront in the striking department, we had Catherine "Oh Captain" Matamela (No.7); Mabel "10111" Moyane (No.9) and Jostina "Jomo" Katata (No.11). On the bench we had Mildred "Rescue 911" Lepheane.

Our team finished fourth overall, and were rewarded with the award for the best captain of tournament; through Catherine Matamela.

The spirit in the "Amantombazana" camp is high, and they co-operated very well with the coach. They say there is no turning back, and that after a few training sessions, they want a match against "Amagents".

"We will continue playing matches against all teams that were in the tournament and next year we want to take the trophy away from Public Enterprise. We appeal to more ladies to join the team to have a big squad", so said their captain Catherine.

"Let us support "Amantombazana" fully and give them some motivation to succeed. These ladies do not believe that a woman's place is in the kitchen" she concluded.

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In a strange twist of events here in Pretoria recently at the three day DLA/DANCED "Integration of environmental planning into land reform" course, the Department was criticised for delivering land. This criticism primarily came from officials of provincial government departments of agriculture Gauteng, Northern Province and Mpumalanga, who argued that the DLA only informs them when it has finalised deals with beneficiaries rather than involving them with projects at their initial stages so as to enable them to plan for such projects.

Mention may be made here that it was very interesting to hear some DLA officials also echoing the same sentiments. Not necessarily countering the views, but portraying the true facts, some DLA officials argued that it is the constitution that mandates the DLA to deliver land.

Some of the DLA land reform projects were described as unsustainable and not viable. But at the introduction of LRAD the criticism became milder and everyone was interested in obtaining a copy of the policy document.

Another interesting debate that came out was the criticism of the use of consultants by the Department. It was argued that some of the work that consultants are called for does not need them, because the training has been provided for DLA officials and if they do their work properly there will be no need for consultants.

The course included among its facilitators the following:

* Rick de Satge' from PLAAS

* Nontokozo Zwane from the Mpumalanga PLRO

* Rick Dillon from Danagro a/s

* Davina Piek from the Free State PLRO

* Reemal Sing from the Development Facilitation Directorate (National Office)

Among many of the Department's Directorates that sent people to the course were Monitoring and Evaluation, Communications, the Gender Unit and Organisational Development. Others came from provincial and local government departments.

The objectives of the course were:

• To familiarise key actors with guideline contents and explore ideas for their flexible adoption at provincial level
• To equip participants with knowledge on how the guidelines will change existing ways of

planning for land reform

• To examine the different stages at which environmental planning interventions will be integrated into existing cycles and planning procedures
• To introduce selected tools and methods including the Environmental Decision Support Tool (EDST) and provide the opportunity to test drive aspects
• To explore the institutional arrangements necessary for the effective implementation of guidelines

The course had the following outline:

• Orientation on how guidelines are structured
• The exploration of the policy context in which the guidelines have been drafted
• The examination of how the policy guiding land reform and development planning has shifted over the last years
• Highlighting key changes in the legislative environment and summarising how various laws have environmental implications for the planning of land reform projects

A brief background was provided on the concepts of:

• Environmental economies
• Integrated and participatory planning approaches
• Sustainable livelihoods

The guidelines while specifically meant for Land Reform Implementers, are a necessary tool to anyone who is involved with land reform and they can be a good orientation for any novice. They go to the extent of explaining all the cycles surrounding restitution, tenure reform and redistribution.

The guidelines even contain checklists for project cycles. Sustainability and co-operative governance kept coming up again and again during the deliberations of the course.

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A group of American teachers touring South Africa were impressed by efforts done by the DLA in speeding up land reform delivery in South Africa. This happened when they visited recently the office of the Chief Land Claims Commissioner, Advocate Wallace Mgoqi.

Their session began with Advocate Mgoqi explaining what land reform in South Africa entails. His explanation included the definitions of restitution, redistribution and tenure reform mentioning that restitution in South Africa is about balancing land rights under the rule of law.

Thereafter Annelize Roesch made a detailed presentation entitled Land Restitution in South Africa. It was structured in the following manner:

• Introduction
• Restitution - the promise of the constitution

• The three components of land reform in South Africa
• Overview of lodged claims
• Overview of major achievements
• 2001/02 Key strategic areas: Core business - The validation campaign
• 2001/02 Strategies for delivery
• Internal performance

• The challenge of an integrated service delivery

Integrated development : Examples of claims involving development

• Recent developments in restitution

• The role of local government in promoting, implementing and realising human rights at grassroots level in South Africa
• The strategic thrust in the processing of claims
• Land reform and the rule of law
• Land reform and the media

In answering different questions from the group Advocate Mgoqi said South Africa has learnt from Zimbabwe that our country cannot delay land reform because delay, results in people getting out of control. He said Zimbabweans can learn from the South African legislative framework and the constitution wherein there is provision for land reform. He said they can learn that the respect for the rule of law benefits everybody.

He told them that the South African restitution process does not provide for indigenous or aboriginal titles, because they have overlapping claims. He said they also promote ethnicity and added that in South Africa claims are handled individually and not as a group.

On the Alexandra urban claim, Advocate Mgoqi said land is no longer available for the claimant's re-occupation and people there were awarded financial compensation. He said it is one of the nodal areas identified by President Thabo Mbeki . He said President Mbeki has already announced a donation of R 1,5 billion to improve the quality of life in the area.

Advocate Mgoqi explained to the teachers that the removal of people on the banks of the Jukskei River in Alexandra is in the interests of the people being removed. He said many places there are inhabitable.

On land invasions near Kempton Park (Bredell), he said, "That is a seed for anarchy. It is like a child playing with matches next to a haystack. Even those who started it will not be able to stop it".

The organiser of the visit, Ms Barabara van der Merwe described it as part of the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program, which is an annual event. She said it is sponsored by the USA Department of Education and administered by the Africa-American Institute in Washington DC.

"This year we were asked to expose the group to the delicate issue of land restitution/reform, the government's current policy and approach and of course the progress made to date with the process", Barbara said.

"As teachers, the group will use their visits in South Africa to develop curriculum modules on the country, address interested groups from their home states on South Africa and even compare our country's progress in various common areas of concern to those of the USA and other emerging countries as part of the history/social studies subjects in their education system", she continued.

Speaking about the teacher's impressions on South African land reform, Barbara said from their questions during the session and their comments afterwards, it is obvious that they found it interesting and most useful. She said they would have liked to have had more time with the Department.

"Generally, they seemed to agree with the government's approach to the subject, especially the fact that it was trying to create a win-win situation for all parties concerned. They also applauded the fact that the Government has transparently acknowledged both the weaknesses within the system and the need for faster delivery. I know that many of them compare what is happening during our transformation in South Africa with their own history in relation to land rights, language, education, culture, etc. of the Red Indians, the Mexicans and other Hispanic groups and of course their African-American population", she said.

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Today the trustees of the Job Creation Trust fund are very happy to announce that about 20 projects, worth R3,926,266 countrywide have been approved for funding. The beneficiaries have not yet been contacted, since the legal contracts are still being developed. Contracts will be signed between beneficiaries and trustees, but will indicate that the bank is the implementing agency. The contract will reflect all conditions applying to that particular project.

The trust has R84,318,860.14 in its investment account. There are 3,307 applications, worth about R4.5 billion captured in the JCT database. All provinces are represented with the Northern Province at 1,284 having the highest representation. The appraisal and approval stage, is ongoing and is time consuming as the trustees had instructed DBSA that the project appraisal should include a physical visit before a final recommendation can be made. Trustees are now meeting on a monthly basis to facilitate approval of projects. Many projects will have to be turned down due to financial constraints.

An evaluation model based on the trust deed criteria was used to sift through projects. This evaluation model also assures consistency and transparency for projects to be recommended for approval by the trustees. The model measures:

* How much a project complies with JCT criteria

* Sustainability of a project and ownership a of project by a group, cooperative, community etc.

* The number of permanent jobs to be created per amount requested

* The multiplier effect as measured by potential forward and backward linkages of projects

* The environmental and socio-economic impact

Trustees further agreed that:

• There is to be regional bias towards provinces with deepest poverty and highest unemployment
• Expensive projects that are requesting for over R5million will be considered if they have huge economies of scale and their impact is very large
• Grants are for non-profit making ventures like village based HIV/AIDS programmes and projects that have an income-generating component will receive a soft loan. The exact rate of the interest is still to be finalised by the trustees

For ease of implementation, monitoring, and evaluation and to avoid duplication, projects from the same area will be integrated and partnership/links with other funders including government initiatives will be facilitated.

Preferred projects should be those with the largest permanent jobs creation potential, meaning that socially desirable projects like schools and bridges cannot be prioritised. Communities that utilised government facilities to process through their proposals can be funded. Trustees also decided that projects that do not fall within the criteria must be informed immediately so that they can start looking for alternative funding.

For more information please contact Patrick Craven or Moloto Mothapo at 082-821-7456 or (011) 339-4911 or write to Patrick at: patrick@cosatu.org.za .

Distribution of MapTrix kits

By Lorraine Innes

In October 2000, the Chief Directorate: Surveys and Mapping celebrated their 80^th Anniversary of serving South Africa as the National Mapping Organisation. Part of the celebrations included the presentation of 2 000 MapTrix Kits to the Minister of Education, Kader Asmal, as a gift to the nation. Each kit contains a self-instruction programme for topographic map reading that can be used by an individual learner or by a class of up to forty at a time to improve their map use performance.

Ten percent or 200 of these MapTrix Kits were made available as prizes in a competition carried in The Teacher newspaper. Winning schools were advised by post and Juta Education, the publishers of MapTrix, distributed the prizes. All entries were acknowledged and schools supplied with MapAware promotional information.

The reasons that the Chief Directorate: Surveys and Mapping requires the names of schools to which the MapTrix Kits have been allocated are:

• a survey is to be conducted of the geography educators’ and learners’ opinions of the existing support material for topographic map reading and
• development and trialing of a companion kit, for map analysis and interpretation, is to be done in consultation with educators who have used MapTrix.

Just over half the MapTrix Kits have already been allocated. In many cases the kits are already in classrooms and educators have been trained to use them. In the provinces with the largest number of schools, the process has been a little slower. Some provincial departments are purchasing extra MapTrix Kits so that more schools will receive the learner support materials simultaneously.

The MapAware Project was launched to promote map literacy. Close co-operation between this project and the provincial Departments of Education continues. Help with educator training has been given in the Western Cape; both KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are currently negotiating similar assistance.

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The African Publishing Companion, to be published both in a print version and in electronic format, and containing over a thousand E-mail addresses and links to Web sites and Internet documents, is a collection of concise yet detailed information about many aspects of African publishing. The new reference resource from Hans Zell Publishing Consultants, is due for publication in November 2001.

It is intended as a one-stop reference source that will facilitate access to a wide array of up-to-date information relating to African publishing, and to serve as a desktop companion for quick answers to questions about the African book industries and the various players, organisations, and publications involved. Additionally, it will provide an extensive bibliographic survey of the literature on the key issues and topics that dominate African publishing today, with an emphasis on the most recent literature published over the past five years.

More details, and complete contents, can be found at http://www.hanszell.co.uk/apclink2.htm

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Consolidation of loans on persal

By Maud Kitching

Currently only two types of deductions are allowed on Persal in respect of micro loans, namely-

• Runoff of existing loans( Registered loans)
• Consolidation of existing loans( Consolidation loans)

A registered loan means a loan in respect of which loan deductions were registered on Persal as at 30 August 2000 and which is permitted, in terms of the 2000 Payroll Deduction Regulation.

A consolidated loan means the single loa