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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