Help: Profile search

About the Profile

Profile is a collection of brief biographies of the President, the Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Premiers and some parliamentary officials.

You can search for a specific profile, browse the list of profiles or print or download the complete document.

Search and browse: an overview

When you first access the Profile, you are presented with a brief description of the Profile and options to either browse or search the Profile database or print or download the complete document.

  • Browse: Profiles are listed according to portfolio. Browse profiles of the President and Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliament: Office Bearers and Premiers. You can access the profile of a person by clicking on the appropriate entry which appears on the screen. While browsing these categories you can download or print the specific profile page you accessed.
  • Search: Search through all the profiles, either by surname and/or first name, position and/or portfolio or you can search the text of the profile.
  • Print or download: The complete Profile document can be printed or downloaded.

Search profiles

You can perform only a name search or a portfolio search or a text search at one time.

Name search

To search for the profile of an official by name, type in the first name and/or surname in the relevant fields and click on the Search button for a list of relevant results. The search will return all entries containing all of the words in your query. Use a comma between search terms to search for more than one person.

Example:

  • manuel, mbeki in the Surname field will return all profiles with either manuel or mbeki or both (e.g. Thabo Mbeki and Trevor Manuel).

Portfolio search

You can find a profile by typing in the current position and/or portfolio in the relevant field and click on the Search button for a list of relevant results. The search will return all entries containing all of the words in your query. Use a comma between search terms to search for more than one position/portfolio.

Examples:

  • health, defence in the Current portfolio field will return all profiles of officials whose portfolios contain either the word health or the word defence or both (e.g. Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence as well as Minister and Deputy Minister of Health)
  • minister in the Current position field, together with education in the Current portfolio field will return the profiles of the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education.

Search the text within all profiles

To search for a profile containing specific text, type in one or more descriptive words and/or phrases you are looking for and click on the Search button for a list of relevant results. Use a comma between separate search terms and/or phrases. The search will return all profiles containing all of the words or phrases in your query.

Example:

  • codesa, constitution will return all profiles containing the word codesa, as well as all profiles containing the word constitution.
Case

Searches are not case sensitive.

Example:

  • John, JoHn and john will all return the same results.

Wildcard searches
You can search for part of a word by means of wildcards. You can effect a wildcard search by adding an asterisk (*) at the beginning, end or both ends of a search string. This means that the search may return results that do not exactly match your search string.

Examples:

  • tha* in the First name field will return all entries containing words starting with the letters tha e.g. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki and Jeffrey Thamsanqa Radebe
  • *dla* in the Surname field will return all entries containing words ending with the letters ana e.g. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Brigitte Mabandla and Membathisi Mdladlana.
  • *sport in the Portfolio field will return all entries containing the string sport e.g. Minister of Sport and Minister of Transport.
Empty the search field

To empty the search field or, in other words, clear the criteria you have specified, simply click on the Clear button next to the Search button.

Number of results per page

The default setting provides 10 results, which is the fastest. However, you can increase the number of results displayed per page to 20, 30, 40 or 50 results per page.


Results

Find an entry from the results list

In the event of more than 10 entries matching your search criteria or when the name of the official you are searching for does not appear on the first page, simply go to the following page until you find the listing.

Selecting results

Click on the selection box next to the result you want further information on. You can select more than one result by simply clicking on another selection box too. Deselect a result by clicking on the selection box again. After selecting the results you want, click on the Show Profile button to access the profile(s) requested.

Navigate result pages

The default setting for the number of results per page is 10. You can change that to 20, 30, 40 or 50 results per page on the search page. When the search returns more results than the default result setting per page, you can navigate between the results pages by clicking on Next 10 results or Previous 10 results. The number of results from the search is indicated at the top of the page Results 1 - 10 of 100. In this example the search returned 100 results.

Results listed alphabetically

The results from your search are listed alphabetically according to surnames.

Further searches from the results page

To start a new search from the results page, decide whether you just want to change the current search or if you want to do a new search. In case of changing the current search click on the Change current search button at the top or the bottom of the results page. In case of a new search click on the New search button at the top or the bottom of the results page.

FAQs

When I press Enter after having typed in a search request, my computer bleeps and the search is not initialised. Why? --- To start a search please click on the Search button.

How do I search for a name/surname when I do not know how the exact spelling thereof? - You can effect a wild card search by adding an asterisk (*) at the beginning, end or both ends e.g. *buda*, mabuda* or *fhasi to find mabudafhasi.

How are accented characters handled for searches? - The Profile does not provide for accented characters. When searching for an accented name, just omit the relevant accent, e.g. if you are looking for a person with the surname Fouché just type in fouche.

Why does my search take so long? - Response times for searches will always vary depending on the amount of network traffic, communication line speeds and design factors such as firewalls. Other factors that will affect response times include the number of matches to your search and the scope of your search (whether you searched only for John or whether you search for John and Smith).

When is the Profile updated? - Updates are implemented twice a day as the ministries and departments provide them to us. The entire Profile is checked/updated once a year.

How do I update our organisation's entry? - You can request an update by contacting Watson Kamanga. His contact details are
Tel: (012) 314 2377
Fax: (012) 325 6898
E-mail: watson@gcis.gov.za

How do I get a printed copy of the Profile? You can print the complete document, or print the various profiles from the browse pages or you can contact GCIS for a copy.
Tel: (012) 314 2377
Fax: (012) 325 6898
E-mail: watson@gcis.gov.za

How do I get an electronic version? - You can download the Profile or the various sections in the Profile from the browse pages.

What versions of Internet web browsers are supported; Why are the search results blank or indicate a script error ? - The online Profile database has been tested and confirmed to work with Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.x and above. If you are using an older version of this browser, or another product, we cannot guarantee that the online search function will work as expected. Check your version of web browser and if it is a lower version than that indicated above, you should upgrade. This will enable you to use the online search function on this website. For information about upgrading browsers visit Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Explaining the profile search results page

Each number is a link to that element's definition:

1. Change current search button
The button to click on when you want to change the current criteria of your search

2. New search button
The button to click on when you want to do a new or different search. All previous search criteria will be cleared.

3. Print this page
The button to click on when you want to print the results from your search without the navigation and banner of the website.

4. You searched for '  '
The criteria you searched for are indicated in single quotes.

5. Results 1 - 10 of 100
'1 - 10' indicates that the first 10 results from your search are displayed. The default result setting per page is 10. You can change that option to 20, 30, 40 or 50 per page on the search page. The 'of 100' indicates 100 results from your search were returned.

6. [1]
This is the result number.

7.
Click on this selection box if you want further information on this result. You can select more than one result - simply click on another selection box. Deselect a result by clicking on the selection box again.

8. Surname, First name, Title
The results from your search are listed alphabetically according to surnames.

9. Next 10 results AND Previous 10 results
The default result setting per page is 10. You can change that option to 20, 30, 40 or 50 per page on the search page. When there are more results than the result setting per page you have chosen, you can navigate the results pages by clicking on Next 10 results or Previous 10 results.

10. Show Profile button
After having selected the results and the options, click on the Show detail button to access the contact details requested.

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