Question NW242 to the Minister of Trade and Industry
05 August 2019 - NW242
Lotriet, Prof A to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
(1)(a) Whether, with regard to the testing of electrical equipment by the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS), the high voltage laboratory is functional, (b) what number of tests on individual electoral equipment has SABS conducted over the past seven years, (c) what income has been generated from the tests, (d) what number of persons work on the electoral equipment testing facility and (e) what is the annual cost of running the unit; (2) whether any equipment in the unit needs to be (a) repaired and/or (b) replaced; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (i) which equipment in each case and (ii) what is the estimated cost in each case?
Reply:
I am advised by the SABS as follows:
The high voltage laboratory is currently functional, though with capabilities principally in alternating current testing.
The number of test reports conducted by the facility for the past seven years is provided in the following table:
|
Financial year |
Number of reports |
|
2012/13 |
149 |
|
2013/14 |
108 |
|
2014/15 |
110 |
|
2015/16 |
80 |
|
2016/17 |
76 |
|
2017/18 |
47 |
|
2018/19 |
50 |
The income generated from the tests is provided in the following table:
|
Financial Year |
Revenue |
|
2012/13 |
R8 893 421 |
|
2013/14 |
R9 467 604 |
|
2014/15 |
R13 070 036 |
|
2015/16 |
R10 456 255 |
|
2016/17 |
R10 023 898 |
|
2017/18 |
R6 739 603 |
|
2018/19 |
R6 433 130 |
Between 4 and 7 employees have worked at the facility at any time. The annual running cost of the laboratory is provided in the table below:
|
Financial Year |
Annual running costs (expenditure) |
|
2012/13 |
R7 019 826 |
|
2013/14 |
R7 650 153 |
|
2014/15 |
R9 776 543 |
|
2015/16 |
R7 730 499 |
|
2016/17 |
R6 244 888 |
|
2017/18 |
R4 369 121 |
|
2018/19 |
R5 352 030 |
A number of equipment items need to be repaired, at an estimated cost of R23 million, while equipment items that need to be replaced have an estimated cost of R32.2 million, both sums inclusive of equipment and the linked engineering, project management and operational alignment services.
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