Question NW2515 to the Minister of Energy
23 October 2018 - NW2515
Davids, Ms S to ask the Minister of Energy
(1)With reference to his apology to the Portfolio Committee on Energy for the absence of his department from the meeting of 14 August 2018 where the fuel price would have been discussed, what is the (a) name and (b) position of the person in his department who is being held responsible for the alleged miscommunication; (2) Whether any disciplinary action has been instituted against the specified person; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) (a) what are the terms of reference of the technical team established to look into the high cost of fuel, (b) what is the total number of meetings that the technical team has held, (c) what is the name of each official who is a member of the technical team and (d) by what date is the technical team expected to complete its work?
Reply:
1. (a) Mr Lungisile Pakati
(b) Parliamentary Officer
2. Yes, disciplinary action has been instituted against the employee. The disciplinary hearing was on 06 September 2018 and finalised o 18 September 2018. The department awaits the outcome of the disciplinary process from the Presiding Officer.
3. (a)The main purpose of the task team is to come up with short, medium and long term strategies to alleviate the problem of high fuel prices.
As a result, both the DDG of the Tax and Financial Sector Policy of the NT and the DDG of Petroleum and Petroleum Products Regulation Branch of the DoE are leading a task team to analyse fuel prices and fuel taxes so there is a better understanding of the distributive impacts of fuel price increases on the economy, business and consumers. This will help with crafting ideas on ways to alleviate the impact of the fuel price increases on the various stakeholders.
The other team members other than other than officials from DOE and NT involved with administering the collection of fuel levies and tariffs are NERSA, SARS and CEF.
(b) To date 2 plenary meetings have been held. Work continues in the various work streams.
(c) Mr. Ismail Momoniat: DDG of the Tax and Financial Sector Policy at the National Treasury and Mr Tseliso Maqubela: DDG of Petroleum and Petroleum Products Regulation Branch at the Department of Energy; supported by officials in their respective Programmes. Officials from NERSA, SARS and CEF are also providing support to the team.
(d) The initial report was expected at the end of September 2018, however, more work is still required before the report is finalised. It is anticipated that the work would be completed by the end of November 2018.