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The Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development wrapped up its oversight visit programme in Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province yesterday.

The Communal Property Associations (CPAs) in South Africa are currently facing several challenges, including poor governance, corruption, and internal conflicts. As of 2024, there are approximately 1,743 registered CPAs, with only 207 being fully compliant and 124 partially compliant.

The Communal Property Associations Amendment Act, signed into law in October 2024, aims to address these issues by establishing a CPA Office and appoint a Registrar to oversee the associations. The new law also clarifies that land will be owned by residents who are members of associations, rather than the committees.

This is expected to improve protection of community rights and prevent abuse of power by committee members. The committee found that some of the key challenges facing CPAs include poor governance as internal conflicts, corruption, and mismanagement of funds are crippling some of these associations.

The committee found that there is a lack of oversight and limited monitoring and support from the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development (DLRRD) to the CPAs in the Northern Cape. It expressed its concern that Northern Cape is the only province which it visited where comprehensive CPAs were not submitted to it by the DLRRD.

The committee has also noted that the Kurees CPA and Katlani Mazelfontein CPA have been successful in confirming the number of beneficiaries that are sustainable and have been paying out dividends to their households.

However, there are some CPAs who have appealed to the committee to intervene as they have received land but without the necessary support from the DLRRD regarding finance, skills, infrastructure and equipment support.

Whilst there were a number of concerned groups and individuals who informed the committee about alleged fraud and corruption, the Chairperson of the committee, Mr Albert Mncwango, informed the meeting that the complainants must request an investigation and engage the Minister of the DLRRD. The committee undertook to engage the Minister on the matter at its next meeting and requested the department to submit a report to it.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

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Parliament's joint oversight delegation visiting flood-damaged areas in Mpumalanga on Thursday warned that without sustained investment in building resilient infrastructure, such as stormwater drainage systems and effective flood-risk mitigation, many vulnerable communities in the Ehlanzeni district will continue to bear the brunt of severe weather events.

The Portfolio Committee and the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA)'s visit forms part of Parliament's oversight responsibility to monitor government's response to the recent disasters and to assess recovery and mitigation plans in affected communities. The delegation visited flood-damaged areas in Shatale and Ward 12 (Sidlamakhosi) in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.

In a settlement in Shatale, damage to an access road and bridge highlighted how inadequate stormwater systems and backlogs in infrastructure maintenance can exacerbate the impact of extreme weather events. The recent floods caused widespread damage to infrastructure and, in several areas, washed away roads, leaving some communities stranded temporarily. Shatale is one of the communities that were hit hardest.

The joint delegation was informed that severe erosion during heavy rains hampered access for the surrounding communities. Members heard that there are about 5 070 kilometres of road network in Bushbuckridge, and only about 1 070 kilometres are tarred. The rest are gravel roads, which means that erosion is a recurring problem across the municipality, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall. Members were advised that addressing these issues would require both immediate repair interventions and longer-term planning to reduce erosion and improve resilience.

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize, raised concerns about the underlying causes of the damage and stressed the need for more decisive and forward-looking interventions. He said officials' explanation highlighted deeper structural issues that require urgent attention. “There is a deeper issue here,” he said. “What was visible on-site pointed to longstanding problems rather than a once-off incident. Somebody should have figured this out earlier,” he said.

Dr Mkhize questioned the sustainability of simply restoring the road in its current form and cautioned against short-term fixes that fail to address future risks. “If you are saying it is going to happen again in the next five or six years, then you must anticipate that now,” he said.

The Chairperson stressed that climate patterns and rainfall intensity are changing, and this now requires a shift in how infrastructure is designed and repaired. “You cannot plan the same way as before when things have changed. He stressed the importance of oversight and professional supervision in infrastructure projects. “Somebody must be able to oversee and supervise this properly,” he said. He warned that limited capacity cannot be used as a justification for recurring failures. “Your capacity must not limit the quality of what is created. That is the problem.”

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on COGTA, Mr Mxolisi Kaunda, also identified a critical planning error. “The problem is that this is not a stream, it is a river,” he said. “When it was planned, it was treated as a stream, but a river behaves differently.” He said this misclassification has implications for how structures should be designed to withstand future flood events.

Mr Kaunda called for stronger intergovernmental and technical partnerships to address this issue and urged local authorities to collaborate with relevant authorities to complement engineering capacity. “Work with the provincial Department of Transport and SANRAL to improve engineering capacity.” The Chairperson warned against relying on emergency funding as a substitute for proper design. “This is where the problem is,” he said. “You cannot keep building infrastructure that is not resilient and then expect disaster funds to fix it every time.”

At another site in Ward 12 (Sidlamakhosi), the delegation found water streaming down a street. Municipal officials told members that this was because of natural groundwater tables or subsoil conditions, but this was refuted when Dr Mkhize found that it was an unattended burst water pipe. He demanded accountability. The delegation expressed serious concern that a basic infrastructure failure had gone undetected for what appeared to be an extended period. The water meter also appeared new, which raised questions about monitoring water leaks and maintenance. The joint delegation raised concerns about whether the situation constituted a disaster or an infrastructure maintenance issue, which is a normal municipal responsibility.

The Chairpersons stressed that these issues are not theoretical but have real consequences for communities and public expenditure. They warned that, without clarity on technical issues, it is difficult to justify interventions, calculate costs and prevent damage from recurring. “These are the aspects that must be addressed if we are to do proper oversight,” said Dr Mkhize. He said that oversight is not only about response, but also about the quality and sustainability of reconstruction efforts. “We are here to look at how we manage disasters, how they recover and process and how the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure is done to prevent it from recurring. “This is important to ensure that communities are not left vulnerable when similar events occur again.

The joint delegation will conclude its oversight in Louieville in the Nkomazi Local Municipality today.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

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The Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) delays in scrapping outdated qualifications in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) risks leaving students with irrelevant skills and qualifications that do not meet labour market conditions, says the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education.

The committee yesterday visited the Qhayiya Campus of the Port Elizabeth College. Committee Chairperson Mr Tebogo Letsie said South Africa cannot afford to continue spending public funds training young people for jobs that no longer exist or are no longer in demand. The department is phasing out N4 to N6 programmes. These programmes consist of 18 months theoretical studies and another 18 months of practical experience.

The committee is concerned about oversubscribed courses in TVET colleges, such as office management and technology and marketing, that do not align with current conditions and should be phase out immediately.

“There must be a clear and urgent plan to deal with these issues, as every oversight we are confronted with the same issues in the TVET sector, where courses are not aligned with national priorities. It's unfair to students and quite frankly it could qualify as a wasteful expenditure,” Mr Letsie said.

Committee members called for improved coordination between DHET and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to ensure that programmes offered by colleges respond to labour market needs. “The planning within the system must improve. Poor coordination is contributing to many of the challenges we are seeing on the ground. Colleges cannot be left alone to interpret and implement national policy without clear direction and support from the mother body, which is DHET,” the Chairperson said.

Furthermore, at the campus, the committee was met by protesting students who said that in 2025, a module that cost R1 700 was increased to R6 000 without prior notice. Students also had concerns about the lack of online learning options, saying this disadvantages those who cannot afford daily transport to campus.

The committee also noted that infrastructure at the Port Elizabeth College must never be allowed to deteriorate to a point where repairs become more expensive than regular maintenance. Management must take pride in their institutions, ensure routine upkeep and allocate proper budgets for maintenance, Mr Letsie said.

Lastly, the committee was particularly concerned that the campus does not have security cameras, which poses a safety risk to students, staff and college property. Mr Letsie urged management to urgently strengthen campus security measures.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

Emirates (www.Emirates.com) has announced the expansion of its operations to Tokyo Narita with the introduction of a second daily service from 1 May, operated by the airline's retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER.

The additional flight, EK320, will depart Dubai at 22:30hrs and arrive in Tokyo Narita at 13:30hrs the following day. The return service, EK321, will depart Tokyo Narita at 21:30hrs and arrive in Dubai at 03:50hrs the following day. All times are local.

The second daily flight will provide travellers with greater choice and enhanced opportunities for multi-destination itineraries, including the convenience of a stopover in Dubai.

Eastbound passengers on the additional Narita service will arrive in the afternoon, supporting stronger domestic connectivity and shorter connection times from key European and Middle Eastern markets. Westbound travellers departing from Tokyo Narita will benefit from an early-morning arrival in Dubai, enabling seamless onward connections to major destinations across Africa, Europe, and South America, including South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Brazil.

With the deployment of a refurbished Boeing 777-300ER on flights EK320/321 to Tokyo Narita, Emirates doubles down on its commitment to offer a consistent travel experience for its customers in Japan. The four-class aircraft features upgraded interiors with new design elements, including modern colour palettes, specially designed Ghaf Tree motifs, and wood finishes across all cabins. Travellers will have access to 260 of the latest-generation Economy seats, 24 Premium Economy seats, 40 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, and eight First Class Suites.

The onboard experience is rounded off with a regionally-inspired cuisine featuring Japanese dishes such as Kaiseki meal tray. Travellers across all cabins will also enjoy more than 6,500 channels of on-demand content on Emirates' award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, featuring movies, TV series, podcasts, music, documentaries, and more, with a selection of Japanese content.  

Tickets can be booked on www.Emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents, as well as Emirates' retail stores.

Emirates in Japan

Emirates has been serving Japan since 2002 and currently operates three daily flights to Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, and Osaka, with all services offering the airline's Premium Economy product on a mix of Boeing 777s and A380s.

From 1 May, Emirates will offer more than 22,500 weekly seats to and from Japan across 28 weekly flights serving three gateways. On a weekly basis, the airline will be able to carry 1,240 tonnes of cargo in and out of the country, providing extensive capacity for local businesses to transport their products to key trade markets in the GCC, Europe, and Africa.

The airline has also enhanced its offering for premium customers in Narita with the introduction of its world-class Chauffeur-drive service earlier this month. The service will also be extended to premium customers in Osaka from 1 March.

Emirates offers expanded domestic connectivity through partnerships with Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways, serving 36 destinations, including 26 domestic and 10 regional points. The additional frequency to Narita further provides travellers from South Africa and other African destinations with greater flexibility and more convenient connection options to these points and beyond.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Emirates Group.

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