About 68 000 grade 12 learners from schools across Gauteng have started the Secondary School Intervention Programme (SSIP) classes which aim to improve the matric pass rate in the province.

Gauteng Education Department (GED) on Thursday said the holiday classes commenced today and will continue until 1 April.

The department said learners are attending tuition in 164 sites in gateway subjects including Mathematics, Science, Physical Science, Life Sciences, Accounting, Geography and Accounting.

“Tuition takes place during Saturdays and school holidays, with Matric camps being held in October to ensure readiness for the final examinations. Holiday sessions offer tuition in ten subjects-- the gateway subjects plus History, Business Studies and English First Additional Language (FAL),” GED said.

GED MEC Panyaza Lesufi has urged all learners to take advantage of this programme, as it will assist them to improve their results at the end of the year.

“I also appeal to all parents to encourage, motivate and monitor learner attendance as the programme is specifically designed to address challenging topics that learners struggle with,” said MEC Lesufi.

SSIP is an intervention programme which operates across all the 15 Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) districts, involving about 450 priority schools that have performed under the provincial average.

The department said these are schools that would have obtained less than 84% pass rate in the National Senior Certificate (NSC).

“This 2014 United Nations Public Service Award winning project has been a major factor for the significant improvement of the matric pass rate in Gauteng since 2010.

“It has helped achieve a 15% improvement in the provincial pass rate, with the most significant improvements taking place in priority schools serving disadvantaged communities,” GED said. - SAnews.gov.za

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The Mpumalanga Department of Education has been allocated the largest share of the province’s budget at R16.8 billion.

“Included in this allocation is R128 million for the artisans training programme, R166 million towards the commencement of the construction of a new boarding school in the Nkangala District … and R202 million for provision of 2013 sanitation units at schools,” MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Sikhumbuzo Kholwane said.

Delivering the Provincial Budget in Nelspruit on Tuesday, the MEC said the province’s biggest share of its budget will be allocated to the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development.

The departments will receive more than R28 billion, which is inclusive of conditional grants that amount to 73% of this amount.

“Of this amount, 44% goes to Education, Health receives 26% and Social Development takes 3%,” MEC Kholwane said.

He said the Department of Social Development will receive R1.2 billion, which includes an allocation of R27 million for the absorption of social worker graduates and R24.4 million for additional support to the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) sector.

The Department of Health has been allocated R9.9 billion of which R330.9 million is earmarked for funding of 1 571 critical posts, with the special focus on the appointment and retention of suitably qualified and experienced health professionals.

The allocation of the remaining 27% of the total budget included the Office of the Premier getting R237.7 million.

“This allocation includes funding for the establishment of a commission to look at the conditions of farm dwellers and also the appointment of transactional advisors to assist the province with the rollout out of broadband infrastructure,” MEC Kholwane said.

The Provincial Legislature has been allocated R294.9 million to enhance its oversight work.

The Department of Finance will receive R287.5 million, which includes funding towards staff verification in three votes and the development of a revenue enhancement strategy, among others.

“A budget amounting to R443.8 million [has been] set aside for the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to strengthen support to municipalities and the Institution of Traditional Leadership,” MEC Kholwane said.

The Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs has been allocated R1 billion, which includes R82.6 million to establish and strengthen agricultural cooperatives, while R102.9 million is for the expanded implementation of Masibuyele emasimini.

The Department of Economic Development and Tourism has been allocated R743 million to enhance economic planning, coordination and accelerate the implementation of the Mpumalanga Economic Growth and Development Path.

The Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport will receive R4.3 billion to roll out the provincial infrastructure development programme, of which R1.2 billion is for provincial roads maintenance.

“R1 billion [has been] provided to the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison to complete the construction of a traffic college to ensure that the people of Mpumalanga are safe,” MEC Kholwane said.

The Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation will get R454.9 million to promote social cohesion through culture, sports and information service to the people of Mpumalanga. – SAnews.gov.za

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Government and other relevant institutions will be exploring viable economic opportunities in the waste management sector.

“We need to rise to the challenge and develop innovative ideas on how we can improve waste management systems in the country to drive the recycling economy,” Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said.

She was speaking during the three-day National Waste Management Summit, which was convened under the theme ‘War on Waste: Driving the recycling economy in South Africa’, held in Mpumalanga since Monday.

The waste recycling economy would positively contribute to the growth and development of South Africa’s economy.

“It is through this economic ingenuity that the Department of Environmental Affairs will also contribute to sustainable development and inclusive green economic growth by facilitating employment creation, infrastructure, skills development and strengthening Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the waste management sector,” Department of Environmental Affairs spokesperson Albi Modise said.

He said more than 500 government representatives, waste management practitioners, academia and civil society gathered at the summit to devise means to accelerate the notion of the recycling economy by eliminating bottlenecks in the waste management sector.

The summit provided a platform for robust, constructive and technical engagements on waste management priorities for the country.

“The waste management sector has viable economic opportunities that the summit acknowledged still need to be unlocked. It is for this reason that government and other relevant institutions are exploring the notion of recycling economy.

“In 2011, Cabinet approved the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS), which paves the way for exploration of recycling economy as a mechanism to improve socio-economic conditions in South Africa,” Minister Modise said. – SAnews.gov.za

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) is to host the Black Industrialists Indaba in Midrand, Gauteng.

The indaba, which will be held from 25 - 26 March, seeks to advance government’s key developmental objectives of industrialisation, skills development, job creation, localisation and supplier development.

This is to help create and develop black industrialists and entrepreneurs.

Dti Deputy Minister Mzwandile Masina, who launched the Black Industrialists Development Programme last year, said the purpose of the indaba is to engage and generate dialogue between the public sector and key private sector stakeholders on black industrialisation.

The indaba will also look at the progress that has been made by the dti on transforming the economy through promotion of industrial development, investment, competitiveness and employment creation in order to achieve inclusive growth.

“The indaba is key to creating and advancing transformation by building on the synergies between the public and private sectors and also creating an environment, whereby there will be economic development activities over two days with participants and entrepreneurs from all nine provinces having exhibition stands to showcase their products and services,” said Deputy Minister Masina.

The Black Industrialists Development Programme is an initiative of the dti, which is intended to promote the participation of black industrialists as manufacturers for the key sectors identified in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and other related sectors that will have a huge impact on driving economic growth and development. This includes the infrastructure components required by the various built projects within the country.

Deputy Minister Masina said the indaba will pave the way in the finalisation of the policy framework as well as the criteria and application process.

“The recommendations from and outcomes of the indaba will further provide government with a more accurate base of developing products and services that seek to advance sustainable and economically viable black industrialists,” he said.

The indaba will be held at Gallagher Convention Centre. - SAnews.gov.za

The Limpopo Department of Education received the biggest portion of the 2015/16 provincial budget tabled by MEC Alfred Phala at the legislature in Lebowakgomo on Tuesday.

The department received a whopping R25.3 billion of which R1.5 billion goes to administration; R2.9 billion for public ordinary schools education; R118.5 million for independent schools subsidies; R404.6 million for public special schools education; R164.8 million for early childhood development (ECD); R805 million for infrastructure development and R341.6 million for examination and education related services.

These allocations include conditional grants such as the Primary School Nutritional Programme; Education and Infrastructure Grants; Maths, Science and Technology Grant and the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Incentive Grant.

MEC Phala said during the financial years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18, they will target patterns of under-expenditure, non-essential items and all uncommitted resources.

“This is a period of far reaching belt-tightening, doing more with less, reducing inefficiency and waste, enhancing cost-containment plans and reinforcing the austerity measures. During this period, budgets will be cut to the bone and no additional funds will be provided for anything,” he said.

The total budget for the province is R52.73 billion in the financial year 2015/16. This is a 4.2% increase from the 2014/15 original budget of R50.95 billion. The budget will further increase by 6.2% to R55.99 billion in 2016/17 and it will increase to R59 billion in 2017/18.

The provincial equitable share allocation has been revised down by R311.6 million and R467.4 million in the 2015/16 and the 2016/17 financial years respectively.

This is consequent to the census results of 2011, which indicated a reduction in the population of the province.

The R52.73 billion for this year is composed of R45.34 billion equitable share, R6.74 billion in conditional grants and R976 million in own revenue.

“We have allocated R40.04 billion to education and health, R5.03 billion to fund infrastructure in roads, human settlements, schools, health institutions, bridges and libraries and R4.52 billion towards economic development of the province,” said MEC Phala.

The provincial 2015/16 medium term expenditure framework budget allocations are as follows:

· Governance and Administration cluster: R1 billion
· Economic cluster: R7.45 billion
· Social cluster: R44.23 billion
· Office of the Premier: R352.2 million
· Provincial Legislature: R262.7 million
· Agriculture: R1.7 billion
· Health: R14.75 billion
· Transport: R1.83 billion
· Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure: R2.75 billion
· Safety, Security and Liaison: R90.3 million
· Co-operative Governance: R2.27 billion
· Social Development: R1.54 billion
· Sport, Arts and Culture: R345.3 million
· Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET): R1.16 billion
· Provincial Treasury: R385.2 million

Infrastructure allocation

An amount of R5.03 billion has been allocated across departments for infrastructure development in 2015/16 as listed below:

· Department of Education: R805.1 million
· Department of Health: R324.6 million
· Department of Transport: R89.3 million
· Department of LEDET: R62.7 million
· Department of COGHSTA: R1.29 billion
· Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure: R2.17 billion
· Department of Agriculture: R185.9 million
· Department of Sport, Arts and Culture: R43 million
· Department of Social Development: R63.9 million

- SAnews.gov.za