Reply:

(a) (i) In each of the nine provinces, a Provincial Coordinator and Assistant have been appointed and they are placed in provinces. The challenge for the Department of Military Veterans (DMV) is the reliance on the Department of Public Works (DPW) for the procurement of office space. Since 2013 the DMV has been engaging with the DPW on office space.

In the interim, the DMV has submitted requests to various entities for the provision of office space. At present, the provincial coordinators are housed in various venues.

• Eastern Cape: The Provincial Offices are currenlty housed at the East London City Hall
• Free State: Temporarily housed in the DoD sick bay at Tempe Military Base in Bloemfontein
• Gauteng: Temporarily housed at the DMV head office in Pretoria
• KwaZulu-Natal: The Provincial Coordinators are housed in a very small office at the sickbay in Pietermaritzburg
• Mpumalanga: Temporarily housed in an DoD military sick bay in Nelspruit
• Limpopo: Temporarily housed at the military base in Polokwane
• Northern Cape: Housed at the military base in Kimberley
• North West: Provincial Offices are temporarily in the old Premier’s Offices,  Mafikeng
• Western Cape: Office of the Director-General (10 floor, Parliament Towers, Plein Street, Cape Town)

The DPW has reported that office space has been now sourced and secured in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West Provinces. The DMV national Office will visit the spaces during April 2016 to assess compliance with the DMV specifications and to determine occupancy date. Once this has been established, the DMV will commence with providing additional human resources and required office resources at these offices. The DMV shall do the same in other provinces as space becomes available.

(b) The underspend on provincial offices in the 2014-15 financial year was a result of the lack of adequate capacity in provincial offices.

Reply:

1.  The three submarines are currently operational.

2. Not applicable

3. NO

Reply:

The MOU is a broad based document and is not limited to the Elands Bay area. A key output of the MOU is for the provision of work and other economic opportunities for military veterans through DAFF.

The Cedarberg Fishing Infrastructure Development and Management Project (CFIDMP) is a separate project of DAFF and does not include the DMV. The DMV is aware that the service provider to the DAFF on the CFIDMP has been used to facilitate payment of the stipends for the military veterans on the anti-poaching project in the Hermanus area.

(b)

(i) A list of names is provided (REFER TO APPENDIX A)

(ii) The name list shows the former forces to which the project participants belonged. Two members have passed on since the beginning of the project and another has resigned from the project. Three members are dependants of military veterans

(c) The project in question predated the establishment of the DMV. Subsequent to the establishment of the DMV, the office of the Deputy Director-General: Empowerment and Stakeholder Management was called in to a meeting on the project to discuss challenges in employment the military veterans. Since the initial intervention, the Acting DDG:ESM was instrumental in assisting in developing a Memorandum of Understanding between the DMV and DAFF. The office of the Provincial Coordinator in the Western Cape has also been represented at meetings through the Assistant Provincial Coordinator.

Therefore, to date, the DMV has been represented by the Acting DDG and the Assistant Provincial Coordinator.

During the engagements with the process, it came to light that the military veterans on the project were requesting to be employed in the DAFF. At one point there were around 8 positions available within DAFF with the entire group requesting absorption onto DAFF staff. The various DDGs who have managed the project have repeatedly indiacted that the project is an EPWP initiative and as such, has a defined timeframe. However, the group was advised to establish a co-operative which could be considered as a possible service provider to provide the very services in anti-poaching that they currently provide to DAFF.

(1) The team did establish a co-operative and the DMV also submitted a letter of support for this business entity. The process was submitted to DAFF to consider taking on the group as a preferred service provider. As part of service offering, the DMV enlisted the assistance of the Chief Operating Officer of SANMVA to assist in training the group and incubating them since she had been part of the initial meetings with the group when the DMV became involved in the project in June 2013. The intervention did not yield much fruit.

The recently appointed DDG (DAFF) had also initiated a committee that would map out a strategy which would have guided the transition process that would have resulted in the co-operative taking on the programme as a fully fledged service provider. A meeting with this committee has been scheduled for 08 April 2016 in Cape Town to discuss the extension of the project to other coastal provinces.

The current project phase has been extended to 31July 2016.

(2)

1. The group in the project come from various areas around the Cape Peninsula area including Hermanus, Langa and Bonteheuwel amongst others. DAFF has been providing transport for the team to get to work daily. None of the project members are from Elands Bay.

1. A request for database verification has been submitted to the DMV military veterans database unit.

1. It is noted that some of the group might not be bona fide military veterans. This matter has been constantly raised with the group. Therefore, the intention of the establishment of a cooperative was also to facilitate that whilst the military veterans would be catered for through the DMV support, those who are not military veterans could be retained as employees to the cooperative, to avoid depriving families of an income. This was noted because of the fact that the project had been initiated before the advent of the DMV and had been running for a while before the DMV was approached for assistance.

(3) The current employment has been extended to 31 July 2016 after discussions on the matter.

APPENDIX A (QUESTION 502)

NAMELIST FOR HERMANUS ANTI POACHING EMPLOYEES

MKMVA PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

No.	SURNAME	NAME	ID NUMBER	BIRTH DATE	ETHNIC GROUP	GENDER	CELL NO	FORCE NO
1	Daweti	Siyabulela (Deceased)	7101255524084	25/01/1971	Black	Male	0780050504	95071981PV
2	De Vos	John Paul	6906115791081	11/06/1969	Coloured	Male	0795523000	0746329/9
3	Fihlani	Makhaya Douglas	7111015321084	01/11/1971	Black	Male	0785375087	10871887
4	Genu	Siviwe Abner	6501295647086	29/01/1965	Black	Male	0736528408	94975844PE
5	Gobo	Lulamile Frederick	6506185664083	18/06/1965	Black	Male	0734039336
6	Lonzi	Simphiwe	6708315496085	31/08/1967	Black	Male	0715109160	94096674PF
7	Mamani	Vuyani Moses (Now with PRASA)	6803046225083	04/03/1968	Black	Male	0799822296	94672359
8	Mdlungu	Makhaselina	6504220711084	22/04/1965	Black	Female	0780294371	94075173P
9	Mvulana	Zongamele (Now with PRASA)	6806035817083	03/06/1968	Black	Male	0788888020	94069739
10	November Mettler	Venessa	6904240171089	24/04/1969	Coloured	Female	0846221903	96072368
11	Snyman	Bonakele Michael	6911185733088	18/11/1969	Black	Male	0730082342	97652309
	Sanqela	Patrick	6903076208080	07/03/1969	Black	Male	0736220313	98151822RFN
	Martin	Amanda Beatrice	7303210288081	21/03/1973	Coloured	Female	0782217812
	May	Ellen	7507040081082	04/07/1975	Coloured	Female	0796679223
	Mfengwana	Dumisa August	5910165806089	16/10/1959	Black	Male	0736541174
	Mkoko	Wankie Lesley	7610105632086	10/10/1976	Black	Male	0768899180
	Mtimkulu	Simphiwe	7311035610086	03/11/1973	Black	Male	0835836924
	Ndzabela	Lizo	7305245507088	24/05/1973	Black	Male	0733772601
	Ngcime	Simon	6612166092086	16/12/1966	Black	Male	0833330887
	Nokatywa	Nomonde	6311080300085	08/11/1963	Black	Female	0789389391
	Snyman	Bonakele Micheal	6911185733088	18/11/1969	Black	Male	0730082342
	Stofile	Howard	6509125388086	12/09/1965	Black	Male	0783866117
	Xaga	Jamangile	6603255773082	25/03/1966	Black	Male	0731239688
	Yola-Xundu	Nomalungisa	6405160675083	16/05/1964	Black	Female	0825364850
	Arendse	Christine Cheryl	6506120771084	12/06/1965	Coloured	Female	0846270153	No F NO
	Cader	Feroza	6907240081083	24/07/1969	Coloured	Female	0730256698
	Deniels	Joan	7207260191089	26/07/1972	Coloured	Female	0837285117
	Dayimani	Simon Mayibuye (MKMVA - Dependant)	8609076476086	07/09/1986	Black	Male	0732747611
	Dunga	Joy	6811201111089	20/11/1968	Black	Female	0824245710
	Fihlani	Makhaya Douglas	7111015321084	01/11/1971	Black	Male	0785375087	10871887
	Flotman	Simon	6501225304089	22/01/1965	Black	Male	0735785912
	Fransch	Donovan	7306125163083	12/06/1973	Coloured	Male	0736673403
	Jonkers	Lilian	6912160574083	16/12/1969	Coloured	Female	0832662647
	Kapa	Thabisa	7511260535082	26/11/1975	Black	Female	0837422401
	Le Roux	David	7212025856083	02/12/1972	Coloured	Male	0745271093
	Minnie	Mathews	6101245626080	24/01/1961	Black	Male	0833647122
	Maphuza	Michael Nkululeko (MKMVA -Dependant)	8102285414083	28/02/1981	Black	Male	0797658003

APLA MEMBERS

No.	SURNAME	NAME	ID NUMBER	BIRTH DATE	ETHNIC GROUP	GENDER	CELL NO	FORCE NO
1	Maduba	Siphiwo	6406235728089	23/06/1964	Black	Male	0732441041
2	Magwentshu	Nqaba (Dependant)	8008195620088	19/08/1980	Black	Male	0783617548
3	Ngqisha	Lindilekile (Has exited)	7011165955089	16/11/1966	Black	Male	0735823214
4	Ntlabathi	Desmond	7005055603080	05/05/1970	Black	Male	0793993723
5	Ntsila	Ndoda	7312085350082	08/12/1973	Black	Male	0781353000
6	Qashani	Witness	7011115412082	11/11/1970	Black	Male	0732794308
7	Sidina	Mzoxolo Arthur (Deceased)	7104175549081	17/04/1971	Black	Male	0731288548
	Smouse	Simon	6402095634087	09/02/1964	Black	Male	0785459964
	Williams	Mzwamadoda	7503305412088	30/03/1975	Black	Male	0736242200	96845599
	Madasi	Vuyisile	6911205896089	20/11/1969	Black	Male	0780782742	98001092

Reply:

The Department established a Task Team comprising relevant units of the department, the Airforce and Armscor to advise on the most viable and suitable acquisition option including cost implications thereof for this project.

The Task Team already issued public communication on the progress in this regard during a press briefing in November 2015.

Reply:

1. (a) (i-ii) The motivation is to honour our soldiers and to encourage the citizens on what the SANDF is made of and to promote patriotism.

(b,c and d) The budget cannot be compared but can be justified on economic benefits of the businesses around Port Elizabeth. The business community can indicate economic benefit out of Armed Forces Day.

(2) This is one greater priority that makes public awareness about the SANDF capability. The South African citizens deserve to know how their money is utilised.

Reply:

Programme classification	Goods and services	Payment for capital assets	Reasons for underspending on goods and services	Reasons for underspending on capital assets
Administration	94.3%	38.7%	The underspending was mainly because of billing not received from the Department of Public Works for infrastructure and property management	The department budgeted for furniture for the new employees but because of limited space capacity the process of purchasing the furniture was withheld.
Socio Economic Support	16.0%	29.3%	Dependency on other departments to roll out benefits	The department budgeted for furniture for the new employees but because of limited space capacity the process of purchasing the furniture was withheld.
Empowerment and Stakeholder Management	78.9%	100%	Dependency on other departments to roll out benefits	The programme spent its budget accordingly
TOTAL	51.8%	43.2%

Reply:

Armscor’s Strategy departs from the premises as indicated below and contains objectives as indicated.

1. The SANDF is Armscor’s client and as such Armscor must firstly focus on the SANDF’s requirements as defined and scheduled by them.
2. Armscor is, however, also sensitive to the greater socio-economic issues that come into play with defence expenditure. In this regard Armscor had studies conducted to assess the socio-economic impact of different types of acquisition programs related to the requirements of the Defence Review.  The insights from these studies are used to advise the SANDF, to try and position the local defence industry for optimal socio-economic impact in the RSA or to define the required characteristics of agreements with international suppliers where necessary, for example to protect the balance of payments and to transfer skills to the RSA.  
3. Armscor is also in consultation with the Departments of Science and Technology and Trade and Industry to optimize possible defence expenditure with their departmental initiatives.
4. Armscor is not the representative body for the local defence industry (AMD), but it is cooperating with the body to define and implement initiatives to strengthen the local defence industry.
5. In addition to existing support to marketing events such as the upcoming Africa Aerospace Defence (an international and continental) event, Armscor reacts to opportunities as they show themselves within the relevant oversight policies. The approach is not only reactive but also proactive as Armscor Research and Development is involved in forums that are aimed at optimizing the continent’s military output through improved logistic support and interoperability. Armscor Research and Development is also providing insights to the focusing of technology development to ensure an ability to react to opportunities.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

There are no frozen posts at the moment all posts are active and funded.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

Yes, all Ministers are subject to Performance Agreements with the President.

(a) The Performance Management Framework (MTSF) fpr 2014-2019, which is the first 5-year implementation plan of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. The performance targets and indicators are derived from 14 outcomes which government seeks to achieve.

These outcomes and targets constitute government’s Programme of Actio (POA), against which performance is tracked and reported at least on a quartely basis. POA reports are publicly available on the govenments web site.

(b) to (e) Cabinet closely monitors the implementation of the NDP 2030/MTSF 2014-2019 through POA reports. The reports are tabled before an Implementation Forum of a Cluster of Ministers collectively responsible for MTSF outcomes, and then submitted to Cabinet, where progress is noted, bottlenecks to implementation are discussed, and recommendations to address bottlenecks are considered and approved.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

During the indicated financial year, skills audit was not conducted due to capacity challenges however gaps were identified and all employees per branches were identified according to their placement, qualification, skills and knowledge.

Process is underway regarding the skills audit project. Therefore skills audit will be conducted before the end of the financial year 2016/17.

Reply:

The following is the total breakdown of employees per nature of appointment:

(i) Contract posts

The department has appointed 73 Contract workers, these contract workers are placed within the three branches at Head Office and Provinces for Health Care services, Education Support and database (National Military Veterans Database), Call Centre, Auxiliary component for cleaning services after the cancellation of the contract of the outsourced cleaning services , other contract workers are placed at Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the ICT environment is made up of 3 permanent posts on the approved establishment, this has created a daunting situation as a newly established department that needs to implement an ICT infrastructure. Contract posts are funded in the short term through virements from other funded but vacant posts in the Department.

(ii) Secondments

The department has 6 seconded staff members from State Information Technology (SITA). They are remunerated by SITA as per the signed SLA.

(iii) Internship

The department has appointed 24 interns that are placed at Education Support Section, Legal and Compliances, Health Care Services and Policy environment. These interns are remunerated from annual skills levy of 1% of the compensation of employees for skills development.

Reply:

Annual report 2014-15

The Minister appointed a Turnaround Support Initiative (TSI) team during September 2015 for a renewable period of six (6) months to address audit findings identified in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Auditor General South Africa reports and to assisting with implementation and/or operationalisation of the projects and programmes to complement the long term service delivery capacity challenges of the Department.

The TSI is characterized of a steering committee led by Convener Mr S Majombozi through a programme management office and the deputy programme manager, Mr T Nemahagala, and a resource panel.

Reply:

(a) (i) There are currently no approved changes to the burial support policy.

(ii)

In lieu of the current Act, there are no envisaged changes on the Healthcare Policy.

(c) Not applicable since there are no approved changes at present.

Reply:

(1) The South African National Military Veterans Association (SANMVA) has been established to function as an entity that will assist the Department to reach its goals in servicing military veterans. Its core function is to mobilise military veterans across all individual associations and to ensure that all military veterans are aware of all of the benefits that are provided by the Department of Military Veterans and other government Departments.

(2) The Department has not aborted the special purpose vehicle (SPV). At present, a process is underway to probe the best possible solution towards establishing an SPV that would function efffectively and make sure that it does provide the intended benefit to all military veterans. Explorations include probing whether or not the provision of funding to military veterans will be in the form of a grant or loan and what the criteria would be in each instance. The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is in full support of an SPV and has recommended that the Department continues to establish the SPV to give effect to a process that will be of benefit to military veterans to the extent that they necome self sufficient and are able to become less relaint on funding from the Department.

SANMVA has not assumed the role of an SPV. On the contrary, the Department is beginning to benefit from interventions wherein SANMVA engages with the private sector to open up business and employment opportunities for military veterans. Such opportunities are fed back to the Department for implementation. One such engagement has resulted in the Department beginning to pilot the training of military veterans in the installations of Set Top Boxes in conjunction with Ellies, one of the companies that has been awarded a contract to implement the Government’s Digital Migration programme under the Department of Communications. The roles are more complimentary rather than SANMVA assuming a role of the Department.

(3

(a) To give effect to its functions, SANMVA requests assistance in the form of transport and accommodation, where required.

(b) The Department covers all requests when funds are available.

(4)

(a) The Department does make a budget allocation for SANMVA activities under the Chief Directorate: Provincial Offices and Stakeholder Management.

(b) No funds have been transferred to SANMVA to date for personal managemrent by SANMVA. The mechanism for this has not yet been instituted.

(5) SANMVA has submitted one annual report to the office of the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, to date, since the establishment of SANMVA under the new Military Veterans Act, No 18, of 2011.

Reply:

The following are the members of the Appeals Board Members and their capacity:

Mr M Msimang (Chairperson)

Mr F Hartzenburg (Member)

Adv C.O Morolo (Member)

Ms N.E Mkhwanazi (Member)

Adv M.A Tshivhase (Member)

Reply:

The following are the members of the Advisory Council Members and their capacity:

Mr T. Magingxa (Chairperson)

Members

Dr P.P Dyantyi

Mr A. Apleni

Mr K. Bokala

Col (ret) P.M Kubu

Brig Gen (Ret) M. Fihla

Mr O. Mabena

Ms D. Phama

Mr M. Vena

Ms N. Khwezi

Dr S. Zikalala

Mr Mika Xayiya

Dr T. Ndlovu-Molokwane

Ms Vuyiswa Lieta

Dr A. Mahapa

Reply:

(1) According to Regulations in terms of the Military Veterans Act 18 of 2011, a bonafide registered military veteran must apply for all benefits of which healthcare is one of them. Upon application, DMV will issue a once off  authorization letter to the South African Military Healthcare Services (SAMHS) in order to capture the details of the approved military veteran. The military veteran will then have access to healthcare for life at SAMHS and SAMHS approved private facilities.

(2) A military veteran has accesss to health care as outlined in the Constitution of South Africa. Military Veterans are free to access healthcare at the public institution and military hospitals.

(3) The military veteran can access private medical practice only when authorised to do so either by DMV through  SAMHS and /or authorised directly by the SAMHS.

(4) NO. Section 5 benefits are provided to registered and/or verified military veterans.

Reply:

Questions (1) (a)	SAAF Response
What is the operating status of AFB Langebaanweg?	The main function of this base is to provide basic flying training to the SAAF pilots. The utilisation of the base as SAAF basic flying school is planned to continue for the foreseeable future.
Question (1) (b) (i and ii)
What are the medium and long term plans and objectives for using AFB Langebaanweg for both training and operational purpose?	To make SAAF combat ready.
Question (2)
Are there plans to commercialise the base?	The DOD (SAAF) has no intention or plans to commercialise the base.

Reply:

a. Ref Par 1 (a): The intention of the SANDF is not to have contracts for servicing of military vehicles and equipment.

b. Ref Par 1 (b): First and second line maintenance and repair tasks including limited depot repairs will be performed by internal capability.

c. Ref Par 1 (c): Through Project Thusano, internal capability and capacity the SANDF will do the internal work.

d. Ref Par 1 (d): It will save cost, military vehicles and equipment will be maintained and repaired as a far less cost as it will be done internally.

It is important that the SANDF becomes self-sustainable. We are not ruling out possibilities of working with the private sector on some of our projects. However, the SANDF must develop internal capacity to deal with such matters.

Reply:

Any question which relates to the capacity or capabilities within the defence force shall not be made available to the public and therefore we are not able to answer this question.

Reply:

The Department of Defence did not spend on any advertisement in the New Age newspaper during the above mentioned period.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

Question 1. Yes, Defence Intelligence is in the process of vetting the outstanding security clearance applications of members to be assigned as Senior Military Judges and Military Judges.

Question 2(a). The number of outstanding cases in military courts is 2 176.

Question 2(b). The reasons for the number of cases in arrears in the military courts are (i) unavailability of witnesses or accused and (ii) finalisation of specialised investigations. The vetting back log also causes delay. No military courts were conducted to date for the FY 2015/16.

Question 3. No.

Reply:

Due to security reasons, the response to this question can only be presented to the closed session of the JSC on Defence.

Reply:

(a) (i) 2012/13 - 260

(ii) 2013/14 – 252

(iii) 2014/15 – 224

(b) Garden tools, weed eater & extension cord, Water pump, Laptop, desktop, printer & TV, Electric cables, fencing poles, Sound system, cd case, till drawer, beers & shooters, Camouflage uniform and civilian clothes, Liquor, PlayStations, Mini HIFI system, home theatre system, Copper, Handbags, ID books, bankcards & cell phones, Bicycle/Golf Equip, Bicycles, Paint and thinners, Washing machine

(c) (i) (ii) and (iii) The monetary worth of such losses have not yet been determined by the SA National Defence Force

Reply:

Yes, the South African National Defence Force participated in the disaster relief operations from 01 January 2015 to the latest specified date.

(a) Relevant details:

i) Drought: Water supply in Smithfield in the Free State during period of 13–30 November 2015.

ii) Flood disaster: No flood disaster relief actions were conducted during this period.

(b) Cost: R504 845.34

The SANDF is always ready to give support and assist the communities in any disaster relief operations.

Reply:

I have already briefed the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans on the implementation plan for milestone 1 of the Defence Review on the 26th November 2015.

I have also undertaken to provide regular briefings to the Committee on the progress made at each stage of the implementation plan. I have similarly recently met with the Defence Service Commission and the Military Ombud.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 12 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

I do not engage suppliers. Armscor continually interacts with all suppliers on a range of projects with an aim to ensure that suppliers honour their contractual obligations at all times.

.

Reply:

a) Yes, Annual financial statements of the Special Defence Account (SDA) were always tabled with the Annual report of the Department of Defence as required by the Appropriations Act, and the last SDA Annual financial statements for the 2014/15 financial year were tabled in Parliament on 29 September 2015 with the tabling of the annual report of the Department of Defence.

b) The next Annual financial statement of the SDA will be for the financial year 2015/16, and the tabling thereof will be done with the tabling of the Annual Report after the financial statements have been completed and audited, which is usually around September/October each year

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 12 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

(a) The Department of Military Veterans still has a number of medals in stock to be awarded to members of the non-statutory force of uMkhonto we Sizwe for whom the first set of medals were designed and cast. At present the Department of Military Veterans has gone into negotiations with the former APLA for approval of designs of medals for their organisation.

(b) There have been no medal parades since 2012 to honour any military

Veterans.

(i) No medal parades were held nor planned to honour Statutory Forces.

(ii) The Department held three medal parades to award medals to uMkhonto we Sizwe non-statutory force.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

1. (a) During the 2014-15 financial periods the Department had planned to build 1000 houses for the benefit of Military Veterans through its partnership with the Department of Human Settlements.

(b) The R31.9 million top-up transfer to the Department of Human Settlement was in respect of the planned construction of 400 houses.

2. The Department of Human Settlements plans as agreed with the Department was for the building of 400 houses in the following provinces:

• Kwa-Zulu Natal
• Eastern Cape
• Free State and
• Mpumalanga3. 

3. Questions 3-5 must be redirected to the Department of Human Settlements as they have the constitutional mandate to address housing issues in the Republic of South Africa.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

Both Department’s Accounting Officers and Senior Officials responsible for housing portfolio for Military Veterans met to reconcile housing targets over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and agreed on delivering 2000 houses which is a realistic figure.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

(1) The reason why the target was not achieved is because the Department relies on the military veterans to approach the department with requests to update their records. It is assumed that those Military Veterans who are not updating their records, their personal details have not changed.

(2) As per the Act the listing of Military Veterans in the National Military Veterans database is a permanent function which is not expected to end as it caters for the transition of members of the defence force who exit service.

(3) The 21 322 updated files completed was not broken down as per former force, at the time of reporting, due to the nature of our system we may not be able to go back at the end of the reporting period to track the composition of the batch. With the current improvements on the system, we will make sure such a break-down is provided in future.

 

 

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

(1) A process of consultation with role players is underway.

(2) Depending on the outcome of the consultations, the department proposes to prioritise the former non-statutory force members who did not qualify for Special Pensions from 1996 and destitute World War military veterans in the provisioning of pension.

(a) In instances where the value of the Special Pensions is lower than the value of the military pension’s value, top-up is proposed.

(b) and (c) Special Pensions does not pay a standardized pension amount to the beneficiaries but utilizes a formula which considers the age of the beneficiary and the years spent in service.

(3) Whilst there are on-going consultations, the view of the Department is that any pension granted to Military Veterans may be offset against other benefits received from the State, such as the Special Pensions.

(4) During the 2014-15 financial periods, the department made contingency provisions to provide pension to 500 Military Veterans at an estimated cost of approximately R23 million.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

For 2014/15 financial report the department had met the 2% disability target. Female representation on SMS level has reached 42%, the deviation is caused by the number of vacant post at SMS level, where resignations of female SMS members had an impact on the focused target.

 

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

(1) (a) Advertisements have been placed and short listing is underway.

(b) VACANCY RATE AS AT 01 APRIL 2014 TO DATE

SN	POST TITLE	SALARY LEVEL	TOTAL COST
1	Personnel Officers x 2	5	R 264, 798
2	Senior personnel Officers x 3	6	R 476, 955
3	Admin Assistants x 3	7	R 588, 834
4	Admin Officer x 1	8	R 243, 747
5	Assistant Director x 1	10	R 361, 659
6	Deputy Director x 1	12	R 674, 979
7	Director x 1	13	R 864, 177
8	Chief Director x 2	14	R 2, 085, 000
9	DDG x 2	15	R 2, 535, 612
10	DG x 1	16	R 1, 656, 618
GRAND TOTAL	R 9, 752,379

(c) The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) in collaboration with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) developed its Service Delivery Model (SDM) which is fundamental to the design of the organogram. Discussions are underway to fine tune the first draft of the organogram.

 

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This question must be redirected to the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Performance, Monitoring, Evaluation and Administration. In addition the Minister is the current Chairperson of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC)

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The information required is classified and the response to the above questions can be provided in a closed session of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The Department of Defence was not involved in the travel arrangements for the diplomatic visit to the Republic of Cuba by the Deputy President, Mr C Ramaphosa, and his entourage during the month of October 2015.

Please refer your question to the Presidency.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This matter is currently the subject of litigation between the Department and the company concerned and as such any comments at this stage are likely to prejudice the Department’s case.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This matter is currently the subject of litigation between the Department and the company concerned and as such any comments at this stage are likely to prejudice the Department’s case.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The information can be processed through the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans in the new year, as the beneficiaries names are considered confidential.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

Due to the voluminous nature of the information requested, I would recommend that the member approaches the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans and request to have this information tabled in a meeting of the Portfolio Committee in one of their sessions in 2016

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The SANDF is not aware of any Military Shop in Pretoria that sells military medals. The SANDF remains the custodian of all the South African military medals.

 

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The information can be processed through the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans in the new year, as the beneficiaries names are considered confidential.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The information can be processed through the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans in the new year, as the beneficiaries names are considered confidential.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

Due to the voluminous nature of the information requested, I would recommend that the member approaches the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans and request to have this information tabled in a meeting of the Portfolio Committee in one of their sessions in 2016

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

The information can be processed through the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans in the new year, as the beneficiaries names are considered confidential.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

1. I am not going to provide security sensitive information about the movement of the President
2. No

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

1. (a) On 13 October 2015, I made the following appointments: Statutory Directors (Director Military Judges, Directory Military Prosecutions, Director Military Defence Counsel and Director Military Judicial Reviews); Reserve Force Military Judges (2 Senior Military Judges and 4 Military Judges).

(b) Regular Force Military Judges will be appointed as soon as their secret security clearances are in place.

(2) (a) As indicated above, I have appointed Statutory Directors and Reserve Force Military Judges to deal with cases in the military justice system.

(b) Once vetting is completed of Regular Force Military Judges these appointments will further alleviate pressure on the system.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

1. Yes
2. (a)(i) The process underway has been initiated by Armscor to test the market for information through the issuance of RFI (Request for Information).

At this stage Armscor has only done the RFI (Request for Information), depending on the findings from the RFI, the process can stop or be moved to the next step which will be a request for Offer (RFO).

(ii) Same as previous answer.

(b)(i) There is no specific amount allocated to the project, the request for information will assist in terms of the budget.

(ii) As above.

(c) This will dependent on whether we go ahead with the project in the first place. So far no such decision has been made.

3. The outcome of the findings will provide guidance on the way forward.

4. No statement will be made

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 07 DECEMBER 2015