The three ministers presented their briefings. Here follows a synopsis of the question and answer session that followed:

Media Questions for the Minister of Sport and Recreation:
- In your briefing, you stated that "There is a perception that among coaches, selectors and even players there is a reluctance to embrace transformation in sport and this is manifested in their approach especially to team selection. Such blatant racism by a small group will be eradicated as there is absolute no place for such individuals in sport." Should the sport teams not consist of players based on merit rather than race?
- Because of the agreement with regard to race composition in sports, our mens' hockey team has not been selected to participate in the Olympic Games in Sydney. Are you not depriving our country by not sending as many teams as possible to the Olympic Games.

Mr Ngconde Balfour: We are comfortable with the agreements signed in the sports confederation which ensure that players from disadvantaged communities are included. This does not mean that we are not satisfied. If there are not enough good players from the disadvantaged communities to fill the team, then the weaker players from the disadvantaged communities should be developed to fit the standards of the team. This is a method of speeding up the process of transformation in sport. Players going to the international squad will go on merit.

The Olympic Committee of South Africa has their own rules and regulations with regard to the selection of the teams. They are not bound by our selection criteria. This matter will have to be taken up with the Olympic Committee of South Africa.

Media Questions for the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology:
- How will the National Orchestra operate and function? Who is going to fund it?
- What is being done to extend the short opening hours of our National Libraries?

Dr Ben Ngubane: Funding dissipates quickly. We are consulting with various stakeholders with regard to its structure and funding. The National Orchestra will be a custodian of standards.

My Department is responsible only for the National Library in Cape Town and the State Library in Pretoria . There is a lot of merit in rationalisation, therefore we are rationalising these two libraries. Libraries in general are however given priority.

Media Questions for the Minister of Education
- Are you planning to move towards performance based teaching salaries?
- Are you considering closing down some of our historically Black Universities?
- How do you feel about the increased rate of South Africans opting for higher education at foreign universities?
- Why should South African Universities break ties with foreign Universities?
- How are you addressing the low matric pass rate?
- Have you thought of mobilising skilled teachers who have taken the retirement package?

Professor Kader Asmal: Yes, we are planning to move towards performance based teaching salaries! This discussion is on a central level, but there is no collective agreement that does not allow the Department to visit schools and access the teachers. We need to have a proper developmental approach to focus on the retraining and growth of teachers.

No, we are not considering closing down some of our historically Black Universities! These universities have an outstanding loan of R1.5b from pre 1994, and a current overdraft of R657m. Students owe the universities R700m. This is a bad way to run universities. The education sector is enormous, and education should be seen as a continuum. Students can be assured of receiving value for money out of Higher Education, especially at historically Black universities. Different rules do not apply to these universities. We have a Redress Fund to assist these higher education institutions with facilities. The University of Forte Hare and the University of Medunsa will benefit from this fund, and should itemise the areas that needs to be redressed.

The Constitution is our point of departure. Our constitution does not distinguish between private, public and foreign education. A higher degree of regulation is needed with regard to private and government institutions. The establishment of foreign universities here is a business venture, and not a cultural entity. The Higher Education Amendment Bill will strengthen the powers of the department, which will enable us to effectively regulate and distinguish between overseas and private bodies that operate in South Africa. Through this legislation, we can ensure inspection of syllabi and teaching methods. We must also ensure that private higher education bodies are consistent in their work. I therefore urge South African Universities to terminate relationships with private overseas universities, as this would be in the best interest of our nation. The students of these private universities enroll at a South African Universities for tuition, and benefit from our government subsidy. These foreign universities in turn pay the South African University for the tuition but do not reimburse the government for the subsidy these students receive.

We have investigated the problem of the high Matriculation failure rate and have found that this is often due to students being coerced into doing higher-grade subjects, even though they did not have the potential to cope. Further students were encouraged to sit for exams, even if they were beyond their capacity.

We should therefore target the worst-performing subjects and schools. We are exploring ideas of improving school performance by introducing National Teachers Awards. Science and Mathematics were found to be the problem subjects at schools and will be given more attention. We should attract young people to become teachers and not let it be a second-career choice. We are re-employing teachers who took the package. We employ them as volunteers or on a part-time basis. This is being done by the provinces.