Question NW1720 to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation

Reply:

Conditions of employment such as salaries and qualifications of staff are confidential.  Laws such as the Protection of Personal Information Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment, amongst others, protects the confidentiality of such information.

                                                                                                                       

(i)         I However, wish to indicate to the Honourable Member that posts in the Ministry have been filled as outlined in the Guide for Members of the Executive, otherwise commonly referred to as the Ministerial hand Book.

No	Designation/ Position
1.	Head of Ministerial Services
2.	Cabinet & Parliamentary Liaison Officer
3.	Chief Protocol Officer
4.	Private Secretary
5.	Director: Communications
6.	Stakeholder Relations Officer
7.	Assistant Private Secretary
8.	Appointments Secretary
9.	Office Manager to Head of Ministry
10.	Office Manager to Special Adviser
11.	Personal Assistant
12.	Ministerial Aide
13.	Assistant Stakeholder Relations Officer
14.	Driver/ Messenger
15.	Domestic Worker
16.	Domestic Worker

           

(ii)  I will preface my response to this question by providing background to the Ministerial National Rapid Response Task Team (NRRTT). As far back as 7 May 2015 during my Budget vote speech I said the following: 
 

“Communications and outreach programmes are part of our frontline services to ensure that the correct messages reach our people, in order to reduce the social distance referred to. I have decided to appoint a National Rapid Response Task Team that will help us communicate with our communities before implementing any policies, so that they understand the benefits, who would qualify and who would not, etc. This, we believe will lessen the tension that always arise when there is a development. This Task Team will also assist us understand where there is a problem and allow us to rapidly respond to problems as they arise”.

 The NRRTT has been in existence since the Fifth Administration when I was the Minister of Human Settlements. The Team did not only act as communicators and a consultation arm of the department but it is also in the frontline when there are emergencies in informal settlements. A case in point is the disaster which befell the community of Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay in 2017, where a large section of this area was devastated by fires. Another example is the delay that was caused to the implementation of the N2 Gateway Project in 2007 and 2008 where people who were due to benefit from the project refused to relocate.

Due to the enormity of the challenges facing the Department of Water and Sanitation, which I am now also responsible for, we replicated the model and appointed additional NRRTT members to assist with water and sanitation issues such as the protests in the Vaal and Butterworth areas.

Accordingly, the NRRTT consists of a Convenor, two Deputy Convenors, for Human Settlements and for Water & Sanitation, as well as eight members responsible for Human Settlements and eight members for Water & Sanitation.