National Consumer Commission on its third quarter 2013 performance; Minister of Trade and Industry on Department's achievements from 2009-2014

Meeting report

Opening Remarks by Chairperson
The Chairperson welcomed Members, the Minister of Trade and Industry and the officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and the National Lotteries Board (NLB). She commented that this was almost the last meeting of the Committee before the rising of Parliament and the schedule was becoming more and more tight.

The Chairperson acknowledged apologies from Mr X Mabasa (ANC). She noted that Dr M Oriani-Ambrosini (IFP) was still on medical leave.

The Chairperson, in particular, noted the particular presence of the Director-General (DG) of the DTI, Mr Lionel October and the Deputy Director-General (DDG), Ms Zodwa Ntuli.

Adoption of Agenda
The Chairperson presented the agenda to the Committee and called for its adoption. Mr G Selau (ANC) moved for the adoption of the agenda. This motion was seconded by Mr Z Wayile (ANC).

The Chairperson noted that the Committee was going to start with the briefing by the NNC which was going to be led by its Commissioner, Mr Ebrahim Mohamed. The Committee wanted to hear some of the challenges it faced, ways to overcome the challenges and the achievements of the Commission.

Presentation by the National Consumer Commission
Mr Ebrahim Mohamed,  Commissioner, NNC, said the presentation comprised of an overview of the 3rd Quarter Report, achievements against planned targets, a presentation on financial management, progress against the findings of the Auditor-General and key challenges.

Overview of 3^rd Quarter Report
Mr Mohamed told the Committee that the new Deputy Commissioner, Ms Thezi Mabuza, commenced duties in February 2014. The NCC was extremely grateful for the additional funds it had been allocated as from 2014/15 onwards. Disciplinary proceedings had commenced against the Chief Financial Officer of the NCC and one other senior employee. Progress in the management of risks and the vast majority of findings by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) had continued and applications for condonation of certain irregular transactions that took place in previous financial years were underway. The finances of the NCC had been properly accounted for and the financial records of the NCC had improved dramatically and were reliable. The cost containment measures introduced by the National Treasury had been implemented in their entirety.

The Committee was told that the contact centre, email and telephone system had been functioning without any disruption, albeit minor sporadic hiccups. Complaints backlog were no longer a challenge with the vast majority (73%) being dealt with. This would not have been possible without the assistance rendered by Alternate Dispute Resolution Agents within key industries that were committed to working closely with the NCC. Attorneys had been engaged to recover fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred in previous years.
Finance service providers had also been engaged for a period of 6 months to assist with processes, asset management and supply chain processes. The internal audit and the audit committee had been functional.

Achievement against planned targets
Mr Mohamed told the Committee that in terms of Annual Performance Plan, there were 12 targets to be achieved. A meat investigation report was used to inform labelling requirements published by the DTI. Two out of 12 targets were not met. 44% of complaints were resolved in 80 days as opposed to 60%. Three investigations were finalised and approved by Commissioner as per the quarterly milestone instead of six. In addition, thirteen investigations and inspections were finalised and the reports drafted.

The Committee was presented with the achievements against planned targets in terms of performance indicators, third quarter milestones, actual achievement, reasons for variance and the corrective action taken in each case.

Financial Management
The Committee was told that applications for condonation of certain irregular transactions that took place in the previous financial years were underway. The finances of the NCC had been properly accounted for.
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the sum of R26 418 was incurred in the previous financial year. The case was closed this year. This related to SARS penalty and interest and was deemed recoverable.
Non recurring irregular expenditure amounted to R 795 337.00 while recurring irregular expenditure amounted to R 4 132 333.00.

Grants received from the DTI amounted to R44 516 000.00 as approved by National Treasury.
Additional R961 824.27 was received from the SWEEEP Fund for IT infrastructure. Transfers of assets received from the DTI amounted to R20 270. Interest received on current account based on the available balance from the bank amounted to R270 168. Employee related costs were R20 412 929 and this comprised of salary and social contributions which included medical aid, pension fund, PAYE and housing allowance. Operating expenditure stood at R11 453 579 and constituted fixed cost, office rental, printer, security and cleaning expense and other administrative expense such as audit committee, internal and external audit, publication, stationery, postage and courier, consultant cost and legal cost. In terms of depreciation, the NCC purchased assets, software and licenses which previously did not exist from SWEEP funds. Assets were purchased based on priority needs linked to available budget.

The Committee was presented with explanations to the variances in the financial performance.

Progress on Auditor-Generals’ findings
There had been full, open and transparent cooperation with the Auditor General of South Africa. All previous findings of the Auditor General had been tracked and genuine progress has been made against all findings. These findings related to the absence of policies, revision of internal processes in supply chain management, finance, asset management, recruitment of personnel, leave management and travel. Action plans had been drafted and the vast majority had been implemented.

Key Challenges
Mr Mohamed told the Committee that the key challenges faced by the NNC related to capacity and HR. 182 positions were approved but only 71 positions had been filled. This meant 111 positions were vacant in the establishment. 28 positions had been advertised and several positions would be abandoned shortly. Skills were lacking at the NCC and internal training had been made compulsory on a weekly basis.

Discussion
The Chairperson called on the Committee Members to pose any questions and comments which they had. She cautioned Members to only focus on the content and scope of the presentation.

Mr D Swanepoel (ANC) said the presentation did not provide a sense of the complaints which the NNC was receiving. A sense of the complaints would provide a good context for the work which needed to be done. On the other hand, how many complaints were being resolved in favour of the consumer and how many had been resolved in favour of the suppliers. He said he realised that all the exact statistics could not be immediately available so he requested only a sense of the work done.
In terms of the staffing of the NNC, there was clearly a problem if more than half of the posts were unfilled. Were the unfilled posts funded?

Dr W James (DA) said the purpose of the NCC was to serve and protect the consumer against shoddy services. It was important to establish how well the NCC was doing given the amount of taxpayers’ money they were spending.
Ms S Shope-Sithole (ANC) asked for a report of the NCC’s audit committee. How independent was the audit committee?

The Chairperson said there were ten questions to the NCC which were in writing and the NCC was going to respond to them and email them back to the Committee before the end of the day. She said the reason why the committee was on “acceleration mode” was because the Committee was closing and it wanted to cover all the issues before it. She called on Mr Mohamed to respond to the questions which had been posed by the Members.

Mr Mohamed requested the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Thezi Mabuza to respond to the questions.

Ms Mabuza said in terms of the sense of the complaints which the NCC was receiving and how they were resolved, the NCC did not really have a sense as to state of the complaints because a trends analysis had not yet been done. This was one of the backlog areas. The NCC was trying to protect the consumers by looking at the categories of complaints which were being received, recording it by provinces and looking at indicators which were to be tracked. These indicators included the areas where the complaints came from, the nature of the complaints, the gender and race of the complainants and the type of industries which they were complaining about. Moving forward, the NCC was going to have a proactive way of categorising the complaints.
On the complaints received, the NCC had not filtered them. When complaints were received, the NCC did not establish what type of complaints they were and if it had the jurisdiction over the complaint. Because this was not done, all complaints had to be received before being sent further for analysis. Currently, the NCC had developed a complaints template which will ease and filter complaints.

Mr Mohamed said before the current commissioner taking over, there was no audit committee but these functions were currently in place.

Ms Mabuza said with regards to staffing and the filling of positions, the NCC had internship positions which were not proper positions. The NCC had now advertised jobs within the complaints resolution department and the interns were going to be moved to advertised positions with clear roles and functions. The internal training was done by senior managers who were part of the drafting of the Act and understood all the processes.

The Chairperson said the NCC was going to provide detailed responses to the questions asked by Members and those submitted in writing. She said she was going to go straight to the presentation by the Minister as the Committee was running out of time.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies said the NCC had been bombarded with a multitude of complaints and in some cases, compliance orders were issued. The NCC had tried to build relationships with industry bodies and most of this work had been done in the automotive and telecommunications industries. The NNC could come back with some very useful examples of the work which was being done. The NCC also had to find synergy with the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS). It had been noticed that the NRCS was intercepting the distribution of paraffin stoves which caught fire when they fall over. These stoves were instead supposed to go out when they fall over instead of catching fire. These lamps were sold in squatter communities and they were actually illegal. The NCC was supposed to be working these kinds of synergies.

The Chairperson said the input from the Minister was very valuable and it was important that the next Committee should take on board the point which had been made as well as the written responses from the NCC. The Committee was also concerned about the need to work with the provinces. She noted that the NCC had addressed the backlogs and that was to be commended. The Committee appreciated working with the NCC Commissioner and his team and she thanked them.

Briefing on the DTIs achievements for 2009/10 – 2013/14
The Chairperson welcomed the Minister, the DG and the other officials from the DTI. She said the Minister was going to be allowed to complete his presentation. Members could note their questions, if there were any and ask them after the presentation. She handed over to the Minister.

The presentation by the Minister outlined the economic context since 2009, priority interventions and achievements and the IPAP 2014/15 indicative directions.

Economic Context since 2009
Minister Rob Davies outlined the global economic context within which the DTI operated and said the sub-prime mortgage crisis in US and fall of Lehman Brothers triggered Global Financial Crisis which engulfed the globe.
While impacts were uneven across countries and regions, practically all countries experienced fall in business and consumer confidence, fall in investment rates, fall in international trade, fall in GDP, and rising unemployment. New dimensions to the crisis had emerged and necessitated new measures.
Some effects of the crisis and the resulting ‘Great Recession’ were still visible and the rapid v-shaped recovery which many analysts predicted had been elusive. South Africa had slipped into recession and GDP had still not returned to pre-crisis levels. Commodity prices slumped up to 60% in platinum and export demand crashed. Imports rose as other countries sought markets for their excess production.

Industrialisation
The IPAP was aligned with the vision of the NDP and the growth drivers of the NGP. IPAP sought to restructure the economy and reverse the threat of deindustrialisation, placing it on a more value-adding, labour-intensive and environmentally sustainable growth path, especially in globally competitive, non-traditional tradable goods & services. This was premised on the principle that the manufacturing sector had the highest economic and employment multipliers and was the principal driver of innovation and technology with multiple spill over effects.  IPAP sought to build systematic, employment-creating linkages to the other primary productive and service sectors of the economy; with a focus on historically disadvantaged people and regions of SA. In so doing to contribute towards industrial development in Africa, focussed on infrastructure, productive capacity and regional integration. IPAP was predicated on the state supporting, nurturing and defending these objectives where it sought to assert state leadership by ‘steering but not rowing.’ Thus IPAP identified a complex range of complementary, interlocking policies that required alignment, and in some cases subordination to industrial policy, such as aspects of macro policy, trade policy and financing. It was increasingly predicated on stronger developmental conditionalities and reciprocal obligations from beneficiaries of state support in areas such as competitiveness and exports; employment retention and creation and investment.

In terms of achievement highlights in transversal areas, Minister Davies outlined the DTIs achievements in relation to industrial financing and incentives, the manufacturing competitiveness enhancement programme, 12i tax incentives, manufacturing investment programmes, cooperatives incentives scheme and film incentive. He outlined to the Committee the work done in relation to customs fraud, trade measures, competition policy, industrial development zones and special economic zones.

On sectoral achievements, Minister Davies listed the successes in the automotive sector, clothing and textiles, green industries, business process services, agro-processing, metals fabrication, capital and rail transport requirement.

In terms of industrial development challenges, Minister Davies listed the following challenges to the Committee:

Protracted recession and decreased demand for SA exports in SA’s traditional export markets in the US and Euro Zone. Difficulties associated with changing export paradigm.
Weakened domestic demand as the credit-fueled boom of 2005-2007 continues to prove unsustainable.
Financial market failure: requiring a more strategically focused set of investment instruments and incentives across all DFIs and Departments.
Monopolistic pricing of privately-owned key intermediate inputs into the manufacturing sector.
Continuing currency volatility.
Sharply escalating and ‘bunched up’ administered prices - most notably double-digit electricity municipal price increases,
Weaknesses in intra-governmental coordination
Possible negative consequences for productive economy if environmental regulations are not calibrated and phased-in to allow necessary breathing space for manufacturers to reach full compliance 
Continuing high port charges  and freight and logistics inefficiencies for export of value-added goods
Continuing skills deficits and mismatches across the economy – an especially critical problem for the new growth sectors
Continuing labour relations volatility

In terms of opportunities, Minister Davies outlined opportunities in the areas of local procurement and supplier development, beneficiation, focused and conditional support, infrastructure development, natural and shale gas, regional industrial integration and new export markets and BRICS. South Africa’s participation in the BRICS provided important opportunities to build its domestic manufacturing base, enhance value-added exports, promote technology sharing, support small business development and expand trade and investment opportunities. Development of complementarities and integrated value chains should be underpinned by an overall approach that puts industrialisation at the core of the engagement.

Broadening Economic Participation
Minister Davies told the Committee that the DTI, through the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) had to date established a network of 43 branches, 18 mobile units and 50 information kiosks.
In terms of SMME development, the SMME Payment Assistance Hotline facilitated R2 998 657.87 worth of late payments to small enterprises from July 2013 till December 2013. The Integrated SMME and Co-ops Framework and the action had been approved by MinMec. The operational plan was completed and was presented and approved by the Technical MinMec on 15 November 2013. The National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy had been developed and will be officially launched on 14 March 2014. The Red Tape Reduction Guidelines for Municipalities had been launched and national workshops and information sessions were underway.
The President had assented to the Co-operatives Amendment Act, 2013.  The Act had been published in the government gazette No. 36729 (Notice No. 558) of 05 August 2013.

The incubation support programme was officially launched on 16 September 2012. The objective of the programme was to encourage private sector partnerships with government to support incubators in order to develop and nurture SMME’s into sustainable enterprises that can provide employment and contribute to economic growth. The incubation support was available on a cost sharing basis between the government and private sector partners. The ratio was 50:50 for large business and 40:60 for SMEs, capped at R10 million per financial year over a 3 year period.

In terms of women and gender empowerment, the Technogirl Entrepreneurship Programme was initiated in 2006 and this year it celebrates 7 years of operation. It had been implemented in all Provinces, exposing 1,210 girl learners to the world of business and technology.
The B’avumile Skills Development programme was a DTI initiative that provided formal training for women to enhance their expertise in production of high quality competitive goods and creation of formal enterprises in the creative and clothing and textiles industry. Over the last 5 years, 434 women from all 9 provinces had been trained successfully on the B’avumile programme and had been encouraged to formalise their businesses in order to participate in the relevant economic sectors.
The Isivande Women’s Fund was aimed at providing affordable finance in all sectors of the economy with particular emphasis on rural enterprises. To date, a total 33 projects had been approved to the value of more than R22 million since 2012/13.

Minister Davies told the Committee that in terms of B-BBEE, the Presidential Council recommendations formulated, developed, tabled in Cabinet, resulting in reorientation of B-BBEE and alignment to broader government priorities (IPAP and NGP). Work-plan and subcommittees for the Council had been approved. PPPFA regulations had been aligned to the B-BBEE Act and came into effect on 7 December 2011. The National B-BBEE Summit was successfully hosted on 3-4 October 2013 which unveiled the amended Codes and B-BBEE second baseline study. The Minister gazetted the amended Codes of Good Practice on 11 October 2013. The B-BBEE Amendment Act had been ascended by the President. The DTI had, in conjunction with University of South Africa (UNISA) and University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) developed and launched a B-BBEE Management Development Programme (MDP).

The Minister told the Committee that the Youth Enterprise Development Strategy (YEDS) had been finalised, approved and signed off by the DTI. The YEDS was the DTIs contribution to Commitment 5 of the Youth Accord, which specified that Youth Entrepreneurship and Youth Cooperatives should be promoted. The Youth Enterprise Development Strategy was launched successfully by the Minister on 11 November 2013. The official launch of the Itukise Programme took place on 4 March 2014. This involved the Internships for Unemployed Graduates programme which aimed to place 1,200 unemployed graduates in private companies over the next two years, thereby equipping them with the relevant work experience to improve their employability.

Strategic use of trade and investment instruments
In terms of trade policy, the major tariff policy initiatives arising from industrial policy had been to lower tariffs for formerly protected upstream, capital-intensive industries which produced inputs that were important cost items for downstream industries. The DTI had also co-ordinated steps to crack down on under-invoicing and illegal imports as growing evidence suggested that this had become pervasive. The global crisis had highlighted the importance of strengthening intra-regional cooperation and SA remained committed to deepening regional integration in Sub-Saharan Africa through a Tri-partite Free Trade Agreement with existing regional trading areas such as Comesa, the EAC and SADC. This will create large regional markets as a base for industrialisation, mutually beneficial infrastructure development, and regional value-chain development to build productive sectors.

During the tenure of the current Administration, SA was invited to join BRICS. In 2013, SA hosted the 3rd BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting ahead of the Fifth BRICS Summit and the department led the process of developing the Trade and Investment Co-operation Framework that placed the work programme on trade and investment co-operation in a longer-term strategic perspective. This included efforts to strengthen co-operation in multilateral fora where trade and investment matters arise, notably in the WTO, and to explore BRICS partnerships that supported Africa’s development agenda. A key outcome included the BRICS Trade and Investment Co-operation Framework.

Minister Davies outlined the achievements of the DTI in terms of investments, manufacturing, resource-based projects, green economy and services. He also outlined the achievements made in terms of exports and listed the trade activities undertaken by the department.

Providing an appropriate regulatory environment for economic development
According to Minister Davies, industrial policy required a supportive regulatory environment to foster more competitive and dynamic industries and businesses, and prevent harmful market domination and abuse, and the exploitation of consumers. In recognition of the apartheid legacy of high levels of corporate and industrial monopolies in the economy, a far more robust Competition Act that informed the establishment of the Competition Commission and Tribunal was introduced in 1998. During this Administration’s tenure, Amendments to strengthen the Competition Act were developed by the DTI.

SA’s Competition Policy framework was robust by international standards, includes innovative elements such as the inclusion of a public interest clause to protect vulnerable workers, and its institutions had won global acclaim for the technical quality and nuance of their decisions.

Key pieces of legislation such as the Companies Act and Consumer Protection Act were implemented in the last 4 years. The new Companies Act introduced a framework to facilitate the rescue of businesses that were in financial distress to ensure that potentially viable (in the long-term) firms did not have to close if there was an alternative. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission had grown in stature over the last 2 years and the time required to register a business with CIPC is comparable to international averages.

Minister Davies listed the DTI’s incentive achievements in numbers and outlined the IPAP 2014/15 – 2016/17 indicative directions. In terms of regional industrial integration and new export markets, sustained and concerted regional growth was arguably the biggest stimulus to long-term growth in South Africa. In the short to medium term regional integration offered continuous opportunities for SA to grow its exports base.
A number of ongoing and scaled-up interventions were in the pipeline. These included: planning cross-border infrastructure, effective articulation of up- and down-stream linkages in resource exploitation; and the realisation of massive construction opportunities.

With regards to BRICS, South Africa’s participation in the BRICS provided important opportunities to build its domestic manufacturing base, enhance value-added exports, promote technology sharing, support small business development and expand trade and investment opportunities. Development of complementarities and integrated value chains should be underpinned by an overall approach that put industrialisation at the core of the engagement.

Recommendations
Moving forward, Minister Davies listed the following recommendations:
Strengthen transversal and sector specific interventions including with 'deep dive', granular industry and firm level research to identify and support dynamic firms;
Greater emphasis on focused export promotion strategy;
Greater emphasis on science, innovation and technology; interface with DST and 'new machine age'';
Stronger leveraging of public procurement and securing support from private sector for localization;
Scope and review of industrial financing and incentives to support this emphasis;
Beneficiation inclusive of strategic roadmap for optimal use of large natural and shale gas deposits in South and Southern Africa.

The Minister told the Committee that he had tried his best to go through the presentation as quickly as he could and he thanked the Committee Members for their attention and the opportunity to make the presentation.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and said the presentation was quite succinct.
Discussion
The Chairperson encouraged Members to make any comments which were necessary as there were not going to be any further chances.

Mr G McIntosh (COPE) thanked the Minister for the presentation. He appreciated the Minister for always being on top of his game and it was always good to see a professional doing a good job.

Mr B Radebe (ANC) said that this was not only a good presentation but it was a compelling presentation and a good story to tell. The Minister seemed too modest in outlining the achievements of the Department. The comprehensive nature of the presentation showed the extent of the work which had been done over the last five years. It came as no surprise that the DTI was declared as one of the best run department by the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation. The outcomes of the presentation were evidence to the good work of the Department.

Mr Z Wayile (ANC) said he seconded the other Members in appreciating the presentation and the work done by the Department.

The Chairperson said she was impressed by the general performance of the DTI and particularly the programme relating to internships and higher education. However, it was not clear how long the internships in the DTI were. She said much had been done in terms of opportunities during the current tenure. A lot had been done in terms of localisation through procurement. However, there was still a long way to go.
The DTI had done quite some work in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill and the Committee was going to emphasise the need to continue this work in its legacy report.

Minister Davies said he appreciated the way the Committee had created space for engagement with the Department and the DTI always welcomed and interaction with Parliament because Parliament did not only do oversight but it was an important forum for discussing many crucial issues. He believed that there was still much discussion to be had in terms of industrialisation. South Africa still required massive industrialisation and the input of the Committee had been and continues to be very valuable.

The Committee gave a round of applause to the Minister and his delegation.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and all the officials from the Department.

Adoption of Committee Minutes
Minutes of 18 February 2014
The Chairperson told Members that before the Committee proceeded to receive the presentation from the National Lotteries Board (NLB), the Committee could adopt the minutes of the 18 February 2014. She took the Committee through a page-by-page consideration of the minutes and tabled the minutes to the Committee for adoption.

Mr Radebe moved for the adoption of the minutes without amendments. This motion was seconded by Mr N Gcwabaza (ANC).

Minutes of 20 February 2014
The Chairperson took the Committee through a page-by-page consideration of the minutes. She then tabled the minutes to the Committee for adoption.

Mr Wayile moved for the adoption of the minutes without amendments. This motion was seconded by Ms Shope-Sithole.

Minutes of 21 February 2014
The Chairperson took the Committee through a page-by-page consideration of the minutes. She then tabled the minutes to the Committee for adoption.

Mr G Selau (ANC) moved for the adoption of the minutes without amendments. This motion was seconded by Mr Gcwabaza.

Minutes of 26 February 2014
The Chairperson took the Committee through a page-by-page consideration of the minutes. She then tabled the minutes to the Committee for adoption.

Mr Radebe moved for the adoption of the minutes without amendments. This motion was seconded by Mr Wayile.

Minutes of 5 March 2014
The Chairperson took the Committee through a page-by-page consideration of the minutes. She noted that the minutes had to do with the briefing on the draft national policy on intellectual property. Members were encouraged to do something about the policy during the constituency period. This was a very serious issue. She then tabled the minutes to the Committee for adoption.

Mr Selau moved for the adoption of the minutes without amendments. This motion was seconded by Mr Gcwabaza.

Presentation by the National Lotteries Board
The Chairperson apologised to the Chairperson of the NLB on behalf of the Committee for having to schedule the presentation at the very end of the meeting with very little time left. She said the NLB was one of the first things the Committee dealt with at the beginning of its tenure. The Committee had given birth to the NLB so it was its responsibility to nurture the NLB. It was however very sad that there was little time left for the day. She asked the Chairperson of the NLB to briefly provide the challenges and where the NLB wished to go in the next five years.

Prof Ntshengedzeni Nevhutanda, Chairperson of the NLB, thanked the Committee for the opportunity to present and introduced the members of his delegation.

After outlining the vision, mission, values and strategic objectives of the NLB, Prof Nevhutanda told the Committee that the NLB had made strides in ascertaining the implementation of the five year strategy and the Annual Performance Plan as endorsed by Parliament and approved by the Minister. The key achievements included; the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Management Team; improved risk management; rollout of fraud awareness campaigns; improved performance and financial reporting; enhanced controls ensuring compliance with the state legislation. He outlined the enhanced controls taken by the NLB and the key strategic focus for 2013/14.

Prof Nevhutanda presented to the Committee the 3^rd quarter income summary, grant application and allocation status.

The Chairperson thanked the Chairperson of the NLB and his delegation for the presentation. She told Members that the meeting was going to come to an end as the Committee was out of time and Members had other engagements to attend.

The meeting was adjourned.