BRIEFING THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE THE STATE OF READINESS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE USE OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT AND THE PLAN FOR.

BRIEFING THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE

THE STATE OF READINESS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE USE OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT AND THE PLAN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN

LANGUAGE PRACTITIONERS COUNCIL ACT

Presented by: Department of Arts and Culture

Date: 28 October 2014

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PART 1: The Use of the Official Languages Act

STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION

Part 1: The Use of Official Languages Act, 2012 (Act No. 12 of 2012)1.1 Background1.2 Progress made by DAC 1.3 DAC Language Policy1.4 Institutions applied for exemption from establishing language units1.4.1 Progress made by other stakeholders1.5 Monitoring of and reporting on the Use of Official Languages

Part 2: South African Languages Practitioners’ Council Act (Act No. 8 of 2014)2.1 Background2.2 Business Case of SALPC2.3 Drafting of the Regulations of SALPC Act2.4 Funding of SAPLC2.5 MTEF Bid to Treasury

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1.1 Background

Section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa regulates languages Section 6(4) obliges the national government and provincial governments to regulate

and monitor their use of official languages by legislative and other measures It is in the context of the constitutional obligation to use legislative measures to

regulate and monitor the use of official languages, that the Use of Official Languages Act, 2012 (Act No. 12 of 2012) was promulgated

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Background Cont…

The Use of Official Languages Act, 2012 (Act No. 12 of 2012) was promulgated on 2 May 2013.

The Act was adopted to regulate the use of official languages by national government. Section (4)(1) requires all national departments, national public entities and national public enterprises to adopt official language policies within 18 months of commencement of the Act. This means that the final date for adoption of national language policies is 2 November 2014

The Act establishes a legislative framework for national government departments, national public entities and national public enterprises to regulate and monitor their use of the official languages; draft their language policies and establish their language units

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Background Cont…

The Regulations for the Use of Official Languages Act were finalised and gazetted on 28 February 2014

The Regulations give guidance to institutions on how to draft language policies

They inform the institutions about the timeframes for establishing language units and applying for exemption from establishing a language unit

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1.2 Progress made by DAC on the implementation of the Act

After the President assented to the Act, DAC convened a National Language Forum on 07 February 2013 to workshop all relevant stakeholders to the Act and its draft Regulations, and to further inform them of what is required from the institutions

4 September 2013: DAC convened a stakeholders’ workshop to ─

• workshop them on the Use of Official Languages Act and its draft Regulations

• give stakeholders a platform to input on the draft Regulations

26 - 27 June 2014: DAC convened a two-day National Language Forum for stakeholders to report progress on the development of their language policies

14 August 2014: DAC through Department of Communication (GCIS) circulated a notice reminding stakeholders about the deadline for adopting language policies

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Progress made by DAC on the implementation of the Act Cont…

12 September 2014: DAC sent a notice through Mail & Guardian requesting DGs and CEOs/Heads of all national government departments, national public entities and national public enterprises to report to DAC by 30 September 2014 on the progress made by their institutions on the implementation of the Act

14 September 2014: DAC sent the same notice through Sunday Times and City Press requesting DGs and CEOs/Heads of all national government departments, national public entities and national public enterprises to report to DAC by 30 September 2014 on the progress made by their institutions on the implementation of the Act

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1.3 DAC LANGUAGE POLICY

•27 March 2014: DAC internal consultative workshop was held. Subsequent to the workshop, questionnaires were distributed to DAC staff and feedback was received and incorporated

•30 June 2014: DAC Language Policy was finalised

•12 August 2014: DAC Language Policy was adopted by the Executive Management Team

• 30 September 2014: DAC Language Policy was gazetted for public comments

DAC is on track to meet the deadline of 2 November 2014 to adopt its policy.

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1.4 Institutions applied for exemption from establishing language units

NAME OF THE INSTITUTION REASONS PROVIDED FOR EXEMPTION

1. The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA)

The OPFA requested an exemption from establish a language unit on the grounds that it is a relatively small organisation with no less than 55 employees and has limited funding. If exempted the OPFA is going to assign a senior person in its employment to perform language functions as it would have been performed by the language unit.

2. The Playhouse Company The Playhouse Company is a small organisation with a staff compliment of 86 permanent employees. If exempted the Playhouse Company is going to assign a senior person in its employment to perform language functions as it would have been performed by the language unit and use the services of the KZN Provincial Language Services unit

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1.4.1 Progress made by other stakeholders

Following the publication of a notice on 12 September 2014 through (Mail & Guardian) and 14 September 2014 through (City Press and Sunday Times), requesting the Directors-General of national departments and Chief Executive Officers/Heads of national public entities and national public enterprises to report on the progress made by their institutions to finalise language policies and their state of readiness to establish language units, DAC received reports from the following institutions:

• War Museum of the Boer Republics: drafted a language policy which was

tabled before the museum’s accounting officer on 30 September 2014.

Proposed languages for the Museum are Sesotho, English and IsiZulu

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Progress made by other stakeholders (Cont…)

• Department of Public Works: drafted a language policy which is still going to be

tabled to EXCO during this financial year

• National Heritage Council: reported that they will be applying for exemption

and it does not have a language policy

• National Credit Regulator (NCR): development of its policy is underway and three languages will be adopted namely: English, IsiZulu and Setswana

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Progress made by other stakeholders (Cont…)

MINTEK: has a language policy which was approved by MINTEK Board on 30 May 2014. Implementation of the policy will be rolled out before 2 November 2014 to prepare for the establishment of a language unit

The Council of Freedom Park: adopted its language policy and they will use three official languages namely: English, Setswana and IsiZulu. However on specific request, Freedom Park will also strive to provide services in the other official languages including South African Sign Language

Department of Economic Development: has not yet adopted a language policy. The stated reason is that they are a new Department, but they are going to comply

The Commission for Conciliation and Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA): adopted its language policy in 1997

Land Bank: has a draft language policy and will be requesting extension from the Minster for adopting the policy

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1.5 Monitoring of and reporting on use of official languages

According to section 9 of the Use of the Official Languages Act:

(1)The Minister is responsible for monitoring the use of official languages by the national government for government purpose.

(2)Every national department, national public entity and national public enterprise must submit a report to the Minister and the Pan South African Language Board annually on:

(a) the activities of its language unit;

(b) the implementation of its language policy;

(c) any complaints received regarding its use of official languages and the manner

in which these complaints were dealt with; and

(d) any other matter that the Minister may prescribe.

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PART 2: SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGE PRACTITIONERS COUNCIL ACT (SALPC ACT)

2.1 BACKGROUND

Section 6 of the Constitution provides the principal legal framework for multilingualismThe Use of Official Languages Act was enacted in October 2012 to regulate and monitor the use of official languages in government The Act provides for the adoption of language policies and the establishment of national language units in national departments of government, national public enterprises and entitiesThere is a great need for language practitioners who will work in the language units. However, there is no legislative instrument nor a service delivery vehicle to deliver services relating to the accreditation of language practitionersTherefore it was envisaged that the South African Practitioners’ Council (SALPC) Act would prescribe rules governing the conduct of language professionals and procedures for compliance, monitoring and enforcement

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2.2 BUSINESS CASE FOR THE SALPC ACT

In August 2009 DAC developed a business case for the establishment of a Council for language practitioners to be known as the “South African Language Practitioners’ Council” (SALPC).

The business case give guidelines on the establishment and the implementation of SALPC

SALPC will be established to professionalise and regulate language practice.

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BUSINESS CASE (Cont): IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Work programme divided into 3 phases as follows:

– Interim Phase: Appointment of a suitably qualified person or persons to administer the process of establishing the SALPC as a legal entity

– Establishment Phase: Recruitment and appointment of the SALPC, the CEO, senior management, staff and also the establishment of IT systems

– Operationalization phase: The final phase concerns the induction of staff and the approval of internal operating processes and procedures by Council in consultation with Minister

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BUSINESS CASE (Cont): Alternatives to Implementation Plan

The business case suggests alternatives to a stand alone council structure which can be expensive because of resources such as buildings; IT facilities, etc.

Regardless of the elected structure, the Minister would still be responsible for tabling the entity’s annual financial statements and annual reports in Parliament, and would be accountable to Parliament for the functioning of the council

The Regulations will give guidance on the best implementation option regarding the establishment of the Council

Model Options Advantages Disadvantages

1. Established as an independent entity

• Independence• Ease of revenue collection

• Potentially high costs with regard to overheads and compliance although there are possibilities with regard to sharing resources with other entities

2. Establishment within PanSALB • Possible cost saving with regard overheads and compliance

• Speed of implementation

• Governance challenges & instability at PanSALB

3. Establishment as a function within DAC

• Possible cost saving with regard overheads and compliance

• Speed of implementation

• Complexity of revenue collection• Lack of independence from

government

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Expected timeframes for implementation

Subject to the allocation of resources, the following broad timeframes have bene developed for the implementation of the Act

Phase Activity Timeframe

Interim Phase • Drafting of the regulations and identification of best model

31 March 2015

Establishment Phase • Appointment of the Council 30 September 2015

• Appointment of staff • Establishment of systems and

processes

31 March 2016

Operational Phase • Call for registrations• Accreditation processes• Database maintenance

1 July 2016

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2.3 DRAFTING OF REGULATIONS: SALPC ACT

The President of the Republic of South Africa assented to the South African Language Practitioners’ Council Act No. 8 of 2014 on 19 May 2014

According to section 41 of the SALPC Act, 2014, the Minister, in consultation the Board, other relevant institution and by notice in the Gazette, may make regulations regarding —

(a) the training of language practitioners;

(b) control over the accreditation and registration of language practitioners; or

(c) in general, any ancillary or incidental matter that is necessary to prescribe for the

proper implementation or administration of this Act Regulations for the SALPC Act to be drafted and finalised by 31 March 2015 A broad plan of implementing the SALPC Act will be determined in the regulations

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2.4 FUNDING OF THE SALPC

The Council will be funded with the budget appropriated by Parliament supplemented with revenue generated from registrations, accreditation and other activities

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2.5 MTEF BIDS TO TREASURY

The DAC has engaged Treasury on the proposed budget for the establishment of the Council.

The proposed budget is as follows: Appointment of Council and Operational budget: R25m

Establishment expenditure: cost related to capital expenditure

items such as computers, office equipment from DAC for capital

expenditure R25m.

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Challenge

Budget is not yet approved, DAC still awaiting feedback from Treasury

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THANK YOU