Pretoria - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to provide an update to Parliament on Wednesday, on government’s efforts to improve the efficiency of key state-owned enterprises such as South African Airways, Eskom and the South African Post Office.
This will be during a sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Deputy President Ramaphosa was assigned by Cabinet in December 2014 to develop turnaround strategies for state-owned enterprises to enable them to play a meaningful role in contributing towards South Africa’s growth and development.
During the sitting, he will also brief members on his recent visit to Lesotho to hand over his Southern African Development Community (SADC) Facilitation Mission Report and to discuss the terms of reference for the SADC-led Commission of Inquiry with King Letsie III, the government of Lesotho, opposition political parties and other stakeholders.
He is SADC Facilitator to Lesotho for peace and stability in Lesotho.
Also included in the session will be a briefing on government’s efforts to improve the living conditions of farm workers and dwellers, especially in the Western Cape.
During the consultations with the farm workers and stakeholders in the Western Cape’s agricultural sector in November 2014, Deputy President Ramaphosa called on social partners to maintain dialogue on issues facing farm workers and to move towards a social compact in the sector that will address such issues as security of tenure, evictions and social ills affecting farming communities.
He expressed hope that such a compact would bring lasting peace and benefits to all stakeholders in the sector.
Among other responses in the NCOP, Deputy President Ramaphosa is also expected to address the question of the importance of gender parity for voters and candidates in the 2016 local government elections.
In this context, the Deputy President is expected to outline what South Africa is doing to meet gender parity targets in political decision making processes in line with the SADC Gender Protocol. – SAnews.gov.za
