Cabinet has noted progress in the implementation of high-level intervention measures put in place in the Eastern Cape Education Department, spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said on Thursday.
Manyi said, following an ordinary meeting of Cabinet on Wednesday, that a task team comprising the Ministers of Justice, Basic Education, Finance, Higher Education and Public Service and Administration would continuously “interact” to ensure that the turnaround strategy was successfully implemented.
National government recently intervened in the province after the education system there was in tatters.
On another matter, Manyi said Cabinet had approved the implementation of the Management Performance Assessment.
This came after Cabinet in October last year approved that the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation “design and pilot” the project and report back to it.
Manyi said the “translation of management inputs into service delivery outputs through good management practices was important for improving service delivery.”
Cabinet had also approved South Africa’s hosting of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) Preparatory African Energy Minister’s summit between 15 and 16 September.
He said the country was party to both the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol; hence it had to participate in such conferences.
The UNFCCC set an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenges of climate change.
Manyi indicated that Cabinet had also given the nod to the 2009/10 annual report on the Research and Development Tax Incentive programme to be submitted to Parliament as part of the legislative requirement.
“The South African government offers tax incentives to encourage private sector investment in scientific and technological research and developmental activities in terms of section 11D of the Income Tax Act,” said Manyi.
He said Cabinet had noted the Department of Science and Technology’s initiatives to develop “the next generation of researchers” in response to the country’s need to produce increased numbers of skilled people in science, engineering and technology. – Francis Hweshe, BuaNews
