Be part of the Experience. Don’t Remain Behind
21 – 26 August, 2018 DUBLIN, IRELAND
THEME: THE GOSPEL OF THE FAMILY, JOY FOR THE WORLD
The world meeting of families is an event for the entire family, held internationally, every three years.
It is a special event hosted by different countries to bring together families from across the world to celebrate, pray and reflect upon the importance of marriage and family as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and of the Church. It is promoted by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
DUBLIN in Ireland was personally chosen by Pope Francis to host the 2018 World Meeting of Families from 21 – 26 August.
THE MAIN EVENTS OF THE MEETING ARE AS FOLLOWS:
THREE-DAY CONGRESS: 22 – 24 AUGUST 2018
FESTIVAL OF FAMILIES: 25 AUGUST 2018
SOLEMN EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION: 26 AUGUST 2018
The aim of this letter is, therefore, to extend an invitation to as many families, from our Conference Region, as possible to take up this wonderful opportunity to participate in the event to go to Ireland..
The SACBC Marriage and Family Life Office, at Khanya House, will coordinate the INVITATION message and the families who would like to participate.
CO-ORDINATING COUPLE : Mr. Ali and Mrs. Ntsako Motiang
Contact details:
Mrs. Ntsako Motiang: 0780883799 (ntsako-m@hotmail.com)
Mr. Ali Motiang: 0824906346 (alimotiang@yahoo.com)
The reason for co-ordination is to ensure that our region enjoys togetherness as a family of the SACBC. It is in the interest of unity that our Bishops encourage us to attending as a group.
The event has its heart three main moments:
1. THREE-DAY CONGRESS: 22 – 24 AUGUST 2018
A joyful and reflective programme of presentations, break-up groups, talks and discussions and daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
There will be an opportunity for engaging in an exciting programme for young people as well as faith and fun activities for children.
2. FESTIVAL OF FAMILIES: 25 AUGUST 2018
A special concert style event, within a prayerful and joyful atmosphere, in which stories of
faith will be shared by families representing the continents of the world.
The Pope has over the years participated in this festival.
3. SOLEMN EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION: 26 AUGUST 2018
Thousands will be gathered from Ireland and around the world, to celebrate the event.
The Pope has always presided over the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families’.
Let us pray for the Holy Father and hope that he will be there.
Catechetical Preparatory Reflections available on line will help get participants
involved MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY and SPIRITUALLY.
Included amongst the activities will be:
Exhibitions; cultural events and musical performances; gestures of solidarity and much more ….
Congress details are available on the website; however, we are encouraged to do so through the SACBC co-ordinators. Please visit the event website at www.worldmeeting2018.ie
You can sign up for online newsletters: www.worldmeeting2018.ie/contact
The facebook account: www.facebook.com/wmof2018
The twitter account: www.twitter.com/wmof2018
+Bishop Zolile Mpambani
Jul 17
18
SACBC CPLO: The 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report
20 Years of Participating in Public Policy
Briefing Paper 436
July 2017
The 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report
1. Introduction
On 27th June, 2017, the American Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, released the US’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report. On that occasion he said:
“Human trafficking is one of the most tragic human rights issues in our time. It splinters families, distorts global markets, undermines the rule of law and spurs other transnational criminal activity. It threatens public safety and national security. But most of all the crime robs human beings of their freedom and dignity. That is why we must put an end to the scourge of human trafficking.”1
The UN and other experts estimate the total market value of illicit human trafficking at $32 billion, about $10 billion of which is derived from the initial “sale” of individuals, with the remainder representing the estimated profits from the activities or goods produced by the victims of this barbaric crime.2 It is estimated that approximately 27m people are in trafficked situations, with 12.7m of these in some form of bonded labour.
2. Assessing the Report
All reports of this nature run a great risk of being politically biased, and are open to statistics being manipulated or to being crafted to suit ideological ends. It goes with the territory. One of the commentators on this report, David Abramowitz of Humanity United, says of the USA, the sponsor of this report:
“If the Administration wants to end human trafficking and modern slavery it must put an end to the climate of fear where victims are afraid to report crimes and apply for trafficking protection for fear of deportation. It must commit to funding foreign aid that keeps countless people safe, and it must continue to invest in the enforcement of labour laws that keep people here and abroad safe.”
Humanity United also criticised the upgraded status given to Burma and Malaysia.3
Nonetheless, this report is widely acknowledged as being one of the best resources available for gauging the political will of governments to fight what Pope Francis has called a ‘shameful wound,’4 and of assessing the steps being taken to implement good practices around the world. Many NGOs and international organisations use it as a basis for deciding where resources, political pressure and advocacy are most needed. Some of the most useful information is the statistics for Africa, which show that prosecutions in this area increased from 272 in 2010 to 1 251 in 2016. For the same period there was an increase in convictions from 163 in 2010 to 1 119 in 2016. The number of victims identified rose from 9 626 in 2010 to 18 296 in 2016.5
The report analyses 190 nations, two more than in 2015, with the addition of Libya and Yemen. It highlights that 20 nations are doing better than in 2015, while 27 countries were downgraded according to the tier system used to assess the effectiveness of various nations’ actions in this regard. BP 436: The 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report 2
3. The Tier System
Tier 1 is a grade for those governments which fully comply with the minimum standards of the USA’s Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TVPA). This Act, and its grading of countries, is broadly constructed around the ‘three Ps’ of prosecution, protection and prevention.
Tier 2 is a grade for governments which do not fully comply but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. In our region, South Africa and Namibia are in this category.
The Tier 2 Watch List is a grade for governments which are making efforts to comply but where, in addition:
a) the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;
b) there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or
c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.6
If a country remains on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years it is automatically downgraded to Tier 3 unless the US Secretary of State specifically grants that country a reprieve. In our region Zimbabwe is on this list.
Tier 3 is the lowest grade and is for countries that do not comply and which show scant desire to do so. Swaziland is listed in this category.
Special Case countries are those that have particular current problems regarding human trafficking and are deemed to require special attention. Libya, Somalia and Yemen are categorised thus.
4. Southern Africa
4.1. South Africa
South Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. In particular, South African children are recruited from poor rural areas to urban centres, often as domestic workers, but also as part of the sex industry. There are reports of criminal syndicates from Russia, Bulgaria and Nigeria operating in this sector.
South Africa remains on Tier 2 despite the acknowledged strides made over the past few years to implement legislation, and despite identifying double the number of victims than in the year before and referring them all to care. Eleven traffickers were convicted, ten of whom received stringent sentences. The government established an anti-trafficking hotline as well as a programme to screen deportees for trafficking indicators prior to deportation. It also, together with churches and other NGOs, held vigorous information campaigns using traditional media such as radio and print, but also through social media. The government also took steps to provide consular and immigration officials with basic anti-trafficking training in order to screen for trafficking indicators among visa applicants and individuals entering the country.
Despite these steps, the report argues that,
“the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The government severely under-budgeted the funds required to implement the anti-trafficking law and consequently could not fully implement the law. The government did not comprehensively monitor or investigate forced child labour or the labour trafficking of adults in the agricultural, mining, construction, and fishing sectors. The government did not prosecute or convict any officials allegedly complicit in trafficking offenses, despite allegations of complicity involving immigration and law enforcement officials. The South Africa police service (SAPS) was widely criticized for not identifying victims, even after NGOs conducted preliminary identification screenings. Officials across the government had difficulty identifying labour trafficking victims and differentiating between trafficking and smuggling crimes.’7
As with many other areas of the South African reality, the policies and legislation are excellent but the follow up and the political will to implement legislation is seriously wanting. Again, as seems to be endemic in South Africa, the culture BP 436: The 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report 3
of corruption short-circuits proper investigations and bypasses officials who might be complicit in human trafficking offences. Despite any number of illegal border crossings, faked documentation, and failure by the police to follow up on reported offences, as well as anecdotal stories of police warning traffickers about imminent raids on premises, during the period under review no arrests of officials or enforcement officers were recorded.
A further problem is that there is as yet no national register of trafficking offenders, nor of the kinds and scope of help offered to victims. These are eminently avoidable lacunae in the fight against trafficking in persons. The report noted that, “while the majority of trafficking victims in South Africa are labour trafficking victims, the government did not prosecute or convict any labour traffickers in 2016.’8
It is also true that male labour trafficking victims seem to slip through many nets and are therefore not as likely to be tested for trafficking indicators. It has also been noted before in several quarters that the South African government has done very little, if anything, to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labour.
4.2. Other Regional Countries
Most of the countries in the region were either on Tier 2, such as South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Angola, Namibia and Malawi, or on Tier 2 Watch List, such as Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The reports for the countries in the region were predictably varied but also showed common features. In almost every report the question of lack of political will was evident in the routine failure to provide sufficient financial support to meaningfully implement policies, or in the failure to finalise legislation and co-ordinated national plans. The failure to systematically collect intelligence and data so as to better police criminal activity, and the lack of co-ordinated and coherent training of people at the forefront of this battle, also adds to the lack of success. On the other hand, most countries have a tradition of good campaigning and sharing of information in the public domain. Most have policies in place, even if they are not implemented, and most are signatories to various international conventions. In many countries there is a reliance on NGOs and international support for the work that is being done.
5. Recommendations
Amongst the recommendations was a strong emphasis on investigating employers who benefitted from trafficked workers and who often flew under the radar screen. It also called for greater stringency in investigating, prosecuting and punishing corrupt officials and law enforcement personnel. Despite policies that are avowedly victim centred, studies found that this was not necessarily so in practice and urged more sensitive and extensive training across the board for those who come into contact with victims. Practices in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape were deemed worthy of replication in the other provinces. There also seemed to be an uneven compliance with the requirement to examine sex workers, labourers and other vulnerable groups for trafficking indicators, and to follow up on the results of such tests.
6. Conclusion
Despite the progress made in combatting human trafficking, especially in the area of legislation; despite admirable training programs for law enforcement agents, social workers and immigration officials; and despite the herculean work being done by faith communities and NGOs, it is scandalous that more funding to implement the policies has not been forthcoming; that corruption bedevils our national life; and that a lack of political will unnecessarily hampers real progress in this regard. The words of Pope Francis ring true. He said human trafficking is “worsening” and that, in some instances, “evidence brings one to doubt the real commitment of some important players.”9 These words should be a challenge to real introspection as this form of modern slavery gains momentum, devastating the lives of millions irreparably and rending social cohesion for generations yet to come.
Peter-John Pearson
Director BP 436: The 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report 4
1 https://cl.usembassy.gov/remarks-2017-trafficking-persons-report/
2 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22009#.WVVwiulLc2w
3 https://humanityunited.org/humanity-united-response-2017-tip-report /
4 http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-tough-words-against-horrors-of-human-trafficking- 99070/
5 https://paei.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2017/271114.htm
6 http://www.knowyourcountry.com/humantraffic.html
7 https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/271344.pdf
8 https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/271344.pdf
9 http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/04/03/pope_%E2%80%98human_trafficking_worsening/1303041
This Briefing Paper, or parts thereof, may be reproduced with acknowledgement.
For further information, please contact the CPLO Office Administrator.
Jul 17
18
SACBC CPLO: Municipal Budgets – A Tool to Serve the People?
20 Years of Participating in Public Policy
Briefing Paper 435
June 2017
Municipal Budgets – A Tool to Serve the People?
“If basic principles of accountability built around a central theme of strong internal control and good governance are in place, municipalities should be well geared to live up to the expectations of the communities that they serve.” Kimi Makwetu, Auditor-General
1. Introduction
In South Africa’s constitutional democracy, with its three-tiered system of government, it is the basic unit, municipalities, which are tasked with delivering basic services and ensuring the development of the regions that they control. To fulfil this mandate, municipalities raise their own revenue through property rates and by charging for providing utilities such as water and electricity; they also receive grants from provincial and national government, and raise external loans.
The revenue raised must be used, according to the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, to deliver basic municipal services that are “necessary to ensure an acceptable and reasonable quality of life” and which, if not provided, “would endanger public health, safety, or the environment.”
This briefing paper will attempt to unpack what services municipalities are responsible for, how revenue is generated, and how budgets are prioritised.
2. Legislative Framework
The Municipal Systems Act defines what services municipalities are responsible for. The Act “determines specific duties and requirements for all municipalities which include: giving priority to the needs of the local community; promoting the development of the local community; and ensuring that all members of the local community have access to at least the minimum level of basic services.”1 The Municipal Systems Act, together with the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 and the Constitution,2 obliges municipalities to provide at least these basic services. These are:
Water supply
Electricity supply
Sewage collection and disposal
Refuse removal
Municipal health services
Municipal roads and storm water drainage
Street lighting
Municipal parks and recreation
To extend these services to communities, municipalities must act reasonably, using an Integrated Development Plan (IDP). The IDP is part of the local government financial management process which is guided by the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 56 of 2003. The MFMA has five underlying principles which encourage a better managed and more accountable local government. These principles are:3
promoting sound financial governance by clarifying roles
BP 435: Municipal Budgets – A Tool to Serve the People? 2
a more strategic approach to budgeting and financial management
modernisation of financial management
promoting co-operative government
promoting sustainability
3. Sources of Revenue
Municipalities must ensure that there will be adequate money to cover both their planned expenditure (operating budget), which includes delivery of basic services, and their capital budget, which includes long-term investment in assets like buildings, land, vehicles, etc. The budget can be financed through:
Municipal property rates – owners of fixed property in the municipal area are charged a yearly tax (property rates) based on the value of the property. The revenue generated through property rates is used by the municipality to pay for general services which cannot easily be apportioned to a specific service user as a ‘service charge’. Such general services include roads, pavements, parks, streetlights, and storm-water management.
Service charges – these are the tariffs municipalities charge for specific services that can be directly allocated to a house or business such as the provision of water and electricity or the approval of building plans.
Equitable share allocation – the Constitution stipulates that all revenue that is collected nationally must be divided fairly between the three spheres of government. The ‘equitable share’ that a municipality receives is determined by a number of factors such as the size of its low-income population, the cost of basic services, and its capacity to raise its own revenue.4 This allocation is meant to be used for basic services and operational costs.
Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) – this is a conditional grant that is used to maintain or extend the infrastructure for
the provision of basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation.5
External loans – municipalities can raise capital through loans from financial institutions.
Both the equitable share allocation and the MIG have weaknesses that are often exploited by municipalities. One of the weaknesses of the equitable share allocation is that it is an unconditional grant, which means that local government can spend the money on things other than basic services. The MIG, on the other hand, is often underspent, or not spent at all, due to lack of capacity and the mismanagement of funds.6
4. Budgetary Priorities
Irrespective of how municipalities raise their revenue, the way it is spent should have the needs of the communities at its core. In this regard, the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is of cardinal importance.
4.1. The IDP
The IDP is a plan that is drawn up every five years, and all municipalities are legally required to do so. It provides citizens with a strategic framework of their municipality’s goals and objectives for the next five years. The IDP includes a plan stating the vision and key priorities of the municipality; how money will be allocated and spent; how it will reflect the council’s development strategies and objectives for the elected term; and a framework that focuses on the development of social, economic, environmental, spatial and infrastructural areas.7
Its aim is to co-ordinate the work of local and other spheres of government in a coherent plan so as to improve the quality of life of everyone living in the municipality. The plan should take into account the existing conditions, problems and resources in the area. In this respect it is worth noting that part of the purpose of an IDP is to enable municipalities to correct imbalances created in the apartheid era, such as racially divided residential and business areas, or a lack of affordable modes of transport for poorer communities. Other imbalances left by apartheid, such as the difference in service delivery for rich and poor areas and the increasing population of informal settlements with little access to affordable service delivery, are also addressed by IDPs.8 BP 435: Municipal Budgets – A Tool to Serve the People? 3
An IDP should also look at economic and social development for a municipal area as a whole. It should put a framework in place that looks at how land should be used, what infrastructure and services are needed, and how the environment should be protected.9
The key stakeholders in the IDP are the municipality, councillors, communities, residents, and the national and provincial sector departments.
The IDP process plan is drawn up to ensure proper management of the planning process. This process plan should outline: 10
The structures that will manage the planning process
How the public can participate, and structures that will be created to ensure this participation
A time schedule of the planning process
Who is responsible for what
How the process will be monitored
The process involves five phases:
Analysis – information is collected on the existing conditions in the municipality and problems are identified. These problems are then prioritised in terms of their urgency.
Strategies – this phase allows the municipality to develop the necessary responses or solutions to the identified problems.
Projects – in this phase the municipality works on the design and content of projects identified during the strategizing phase.
Integration – projects are checked against the objectives set out in the strategizing phase and are then integrated, as part of the development plans, with the overall IDP.
Approval – the IDP is presented to the council for consideration and adoption.
4.2. The IDP fault lines
While the IDP can be a wonderful tool to prioritise the services that are needed communities, it is not without its problems. Chief among these is the fact that the process can be highly politicised and disengaged from the community. Political parties may prioritise services or projects that are not necessarily what a community needs. For example, the agreement between the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Johannesburg metro meant that the parties had to find a delicate balance between their respective (political) priorities and the delivery of services to their constituents. The EFF, for example, insisted that it would use the budget process to ensure that elements of its pro-poor policy, such as quality housing, are prioritised. They also insisted, before the finalisation of the current budget, that vacant municipal land should be expropriated for housing purposes.11 When the final budget was tabled, the EFF criticised it for not addressing the issue ‘correctly’. In addition, the EFF was unhappy with the City of Johannesburg’s plans “to remove the 6kl of free water to all residents, and to give free water only to indigent people.”12
4.3. Other weaknesses
In his latest municipal audit report,13 the Auditor-General has highlighted some of the problem areas municipalities need to remedy in order to serve their communities well. These are:
Leadership creating a culture of honesty, ethical business practices and good governance.
Proper record-keeping to ensure that complete, relevant and accurate information is accessible and available to support financial and performance reports.
Instilling basic controls to ensure the processing of transactions in an accurate, complete and timely manner.
Monitoring of compliance with legislation.
Filling of vacancies in critical areas such as municipal managers, chief financial officers, heads of supply chain management and chief information officers, and generally ensuring an appropriate level of financial management capacity in a municipality.
Instilling appropriate information technology controls, with emphasis on security management, user access management and business continuity.
1 Statistics South Africa (2016): The State of basic service delivery in South Africa: an in-depth analysis of the Community Survey 2016 data.
2 Act 108 of 1996. Section 156(1) refers to Part B of Schedule 4 and Part B of Schedule 5, which list a number of municipal services.
3 National Treasury (2004): Modernising Finance Governance: Implementing the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003
4 http://localgovernmentaction.org.dedi6.cpt3.host-h.net/activists-guide/key-processes/municipal_budget
5 See endnote 4
6 See endnote4
7 Cape Town’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) 2017-2022: http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/meet-the-city/our-vision-for-the-city/cape-towns-integrated-development-plan
8 Integrated Development Plan: http://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/localgov/webidp.html
9 Local Government Action: What is an Integrated Development Plan? http://www.localgovernmentaction.org/xh/content/integrated-development-plan
10 See endnote i
11 Dineo Bendile (2017): New coalition governments to be out to the test. Mail and Guardia Online, 19 January 2017.
12 Claudi Mailovich(2017): EFF and ANC voice their unhappiness over Joburg budget. Business Day Live, 25 May 2017
13 Auditor-General South Africa (2017): General Report on the Local Government Audit Outcomes 2015-16
5. Conclusion
Local government, which is the tier closest to the people, has a great responsibility to ensure that the spirit of the Constitution is realised. In order to do this, it must act with responsibility and integrity, and above all, rise above political affiliation to ensure that basic services are delivered to the communities it serves.
Kenny Pasensie
Researcher
Sondre Bailey
Research Intern BP 435: Municipal Budgets – A Tool to Serve the People? 5
This Briefing Paper, or parts thereof, may be reproduced with acknowledgement.
For further information, please contact the CPLO Office Administrator.
Jul 17
18
Together We, in the Diversity and Richness of Many Charisms, Spread the Good News.
Archbishop S. Brislin – SACBC President
In his homily during the opening of the Joint Witness Meeting, His Grace Archbishop Stephen Brislin, the President of SACBC emphasized the importance of unity in diversity in proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord. He said that diversity and richness of many charisms are the source of success in spreading the Good News.
Joint Witness is the meeting of Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life (LCCL) and the Bishops of Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). The meeting normally comes once in every three years. It is a platform whereby the two conferences discuss the issues affecting the local church and the society at large. The problems of Human Trafficking and Migrants and Refugees were some the topics on the top agenda of the discussions during the Joint Witness meeting 2017. Read the rest of Together We, in the Diversity and Richness of Many Charisms, Spread the Good News. »
Jul 17
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