Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1) The following progress has been made regarding consequence management of:

(a) 5 812 public servants who fraudulently received Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants: In September 2022, Ms BJ Memela, the Chief Executive Officer of the SA Social Security Agency issued letters to Government Departments at National and Provincial levels advising them of the identification of civil servants on the Covid 19 SRD database and requested that consequence management be undertaken by those Government Departments.

No	Date of signing letter	Name of Department	Annexure
1	26/09/2022	Department of Basic Education	A
2	28/09/2022	Deed Office	B
3	26/09/2022	Department of Labour	C
4	26/09/2022	Department of Justice	D
5	09/11/2022	Department of Social Development	E
6	26/09/2022	Limpopo Provincial Department of Health	F
7	29/09/2022	South African Police Service	G
8	28/09/2022	Correctional Services	H

The indicated Departments are to be approached by SA Social Security Agency to establish progress with the execution of consequence management.

(b) 33 833 public servants who fraudulently received other social grants: This information is to be obtained from the SA Social Security Agency (Fraud and Compliance Department).

(2) Regarding investigations the following:

(a) The DPSA did not launch an investigation to determine whether the wrongful payments form part of a scheme to defraud the State, as the DPSA does not have a legal mandate to perform investigations.

(b) SA Social Security Agency launched an investigation. The details of the investigation are reflected under (1)(a) and is to be provided for (b).

End

Reply:

1. Five members of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) SOC Ltd board resigned and two have been retained into the current board. The former representative of the Department of Public Service and Administration was recalled by their Minister. Only three board members were dismissed in July 2023. This followed the Cabinet guidance to reprimand them after they had violated the SITA Memorandum of Incorporation and went against the Cabinet resolution that had already considered and approved the salary of the Managing Director.

2. Yes. The salary grade for the CEO upon assumption of duties in April 2023 up to the departure in December 2023 was above maximum Paterson Band F3.

Thank you

Reply:

I have been informed by the Department as follows:-a) 231

1. See table below
2. See table below

b) As of 1st January 2024, Broadband Infraco achieved 9 056 household connectivity and 231 community WiFi hotspots in various district municipalities as indicated below:

i) Province	ii) District Municipality	Total HH Connections	HH Connections Speeds Tested	Total WiFi Hotspot	HH Connections Speeds Tested
Eastern Cape	Joe Gqabi District	1284	5-10 Mbps	16	10-80 Mbps
	Sarah Baartman	400	5-10 Mbps	0	-
	Buffalo City	317	5-10 Mbps	0	-
Limpopo	Waterberg	1003	5-10 Mbps	3	10-80 Mbps
	Vhembe	101	5-10 Mbps	0	-
Free State	Fezile Dabi	398	5-10 Mbps	1	10-80 Mbps
	Xhariep	501	5-10 Mbps	19	10-80 Mbps
KwaZulu- Natal	Harry Gwala	1753	5-10 Mbps	67	10-80 Mbps
	Ugu	1512	5-10 Mbps	90	10-80 Mbps
North-West	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	0	-	0	-
	Dr Ruth S Mompati	0	-	0	-
Northern Cape	John Taolo Gaetsewe	0	-	0	-
	Namakwa	0	-	0	-
	ZF Mgcawu	0	-	0	-
Gauteng	Sedibeng	700	5-10 Mbps	0	-
	West Rand	1087	5-10 Mbps	35	10-80 Mbps
Western Cape	Overberg	0	-	0	-
	West Coast	0	-	0	-
Total Connections Achieved on BAF	9 056	-	231	-

Thank you

Reply:

The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024, which took place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from 15 to 19 January 2024, provided South Africa an opportunity to engage international investors and policy-makers.

I was accompanied by the Acting DDG Invest SA and two DTIC permanent representatives to Geneva. The department’s appropriated budget covered all expenses.

The engagements and activities included

• More than 15 separate sessions with investors in sectors such as beverages, transport-logistics, energy, steel, engineering and retail.
• Meetings with a number of trade and economic ministers from across the world, including Norway, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Netherlands and Oman and with government advisors from Nigeria
• A meeting with the European Union Vice President and Trade Commissioner on SA-EU trade matters and on the WTO
• A session with a US Senator, covering SA-US trade and investment relations
• Participating as a speaker in panels dealing with development and with SMME promotion in value-chains
• A ‘South Africa Investment’ session hosted by Bloomberg
• Separate meetings with the Director General of the WTO and with the Secretary General of the AfCFTA
• Participation in a number of briefing sessions on global policy matters, including by the Premier of China and the US Secretary of State
• A WTO session attended by officials.

I am advised the total cost was R802 000, made up of accommodation, air travel, and ground transportation, food, subsistence and travel costs.

-END-

Reply:

(aa) Qatar:

In May 2022, the state of Qatar donated food, equipment and other support for the victims of the April and May floods in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The donations were facilitated by the Departments of Cooperative Governance and Social Development. On Sunday 29 May 2022, the Province of KZN received the attached consignment as a donation from the State of Qatar. The equipment and goods were facilitated and distributed through designated provincial structures and mechanisms. Therefore, this donation was not presented to the (i) Minister of Cooperative and Traditional Affairs, (ii) the department or (iii) officials of the Department.

(bb) Iran:

Neither the (i) Minister of Cooperative and Traditional Affairs, (ii) the department nor (iii) officials of the Department received (a) sponsorships, (b) donations and (c) financial transfers provided for lawfare and/or any other purposes.

(cc) Russian:

In September 2023, during the BRICS meeting of Ministers responsible for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Minister of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) from the Russian Federation, Mr Aleksandr Kurenkov, presented to the Minister of COGTA, a bouquet of flowers and a vase from ERMERCOM.

End.

Reply:

(a) (b) (i) (aa) (bb) (ii)

The table below shows public facilities with permanent pharmacists, permanent pharmacist assistants and those facilities without pharmacists and Pharmacists assistants

Province	Public Clinics (a)	Public Facilities (Clinics & hospitals)	Public Facilities with Permanent Pharmacists(b) (i) (aa)	Public Facilities with Permanent Pharmacists Assistants(b) (i) (bb)	Public Clinics without permanent Pharmacist &Pharmacist Assistants (ii)
Eastern Cape	777	867	139	236	490
Free State	219	251	43	170	38
Gauteng	373	409	67	210	132
KwaZulu-Natal	608	678	93	412	173
Limpopo	477	518	78	89	351
Mpumalanga	295	327	75	159	93
Northern Cape	161	176	47	85	44
North West	309	330	49	60	248
Western Cape	255	307	123	94	90
Total	3474	3863	714	1515	1659

Facilities without pharmacists and pharmacists assistants are supported by district pharmacists for monitoring availability of medication while nurses with dispensing course are dispensing their own prescriptions. Nurses without dispensing course are given authorisation to dispense medication in accordance with the Primary Health Care Standard Treatment Guideline and Essential Medicine List as per section 56(6), 33 of 2005. of Nursing Act .

END.

Reply:

The National Lotteries Commission has furnished me with the attached response to the question.

-END-

Reply:

Find reply here

Reply:

1. (a) The National Department of Health has received 306 generators.

(b) 34 generators per province. In order to meet the minimum demand for each clinic, it’s going to be two generators per clinic. 6KW x 2 = 12KW. Therefore, it’s going to be 19 clinics earmarked for the generators.

2. (a) The National Department of Health is currently finalising the procurement process. The procurement process covers both the collection and installation of the generators directly to the main electrical distribution board of the clinics.

(b) (i) The details of the Service Providers will be provided after the completion of the procurement process.

(ii) the total cost will also be provided after the completion of the procurement process.

3. The National Department of Health will ensure that there is enough budget allocation for the fuel consumption of generators across the country. Currently, there is no fuel expenditure on these new generators.

4. (a) None installed yet.

(b) 306 to be installed.

END.

Reply:

Find reply here

Reply:

a) For the past five years, the CWP spent as follows:

Financial year	Budget	Expenditure	% Spent
2022/23	4,295,349,000	3,828,768,000	89%
2021/22	4,205,153,000	3,525,647,000	84%
2020/21	4,098,622,000	3,482,391,000	85%
2019/20	3,834,288,000	3,832,114,000	100%
2018/19	3,851,123,000	3,328,642,000	86%

b) From the past five years, the following number participants benefited from the programme:

1. 2023/24 - 255 000
2. 2022/23 - 254 700
3. 2021/22 - 252 018
4. 2020/21 - 259 065
5. 2019/20 - 250 011

c) The amount paid to Implementing Agents in the past five years is as follows:

2023/24 financial year - no advances paid as Implementing Agents (IAs) were not contracted in this financial year.

Contract period: 01 October 2021- 31 March 2023

IA	Advances Paid to IAs	Spent by IAs	Balance
South African Youth Movement	R83,062,750.42	-R83,062,750.42	R0.00
Insika Foundation	R54,164,282.00	-R53,037,310.64	R1,126,971.36
Thembalethu Development	R35,280,520.85	-R35,212,305.99	R68,214.86
Green Development Foundation	R41,396,955.81	-R41,092,516.53	R304,439.28
Seboka Training & Support Network	R14,833,467.93	-R14,833,467.93	R0.00
National Youth Development Agency	R59,313,545.94	-R59,313,545.94	R0.00
TOTAL	R288,051,522.95	-R286,551,897.45	R1,499,625.50

Contract period: 01 April 2018- 30 September 2021

IA	Advances Paid to IAs	Spent by IAs	Balance
Thembalethu Development	R473,211,793.24	-R474,067,031.15	-R855,237.91
Insika Foundation	R531,665,053.09	-R534,935,980.71	-R3,270,927.62
Joubert Park Outreach Project	R316,568,960.26	-R319,980,177.23	-R3,411,216.97
Seboka Training and Network	R253,661,457.61	-R254,973,285.13	-R1,311,827.52
3L Development	R158,656,284.02	-R156,384,027.27	R2,272,256.75
South African Youth Movement	R336,658,079.31	-R333,723,145.64	R2,934,933.67
Beaulah Africa	R164,197,948.80	-R161,169,692.62	R3,028,256.18
NPO Iketsetse	R97,661,360.80	-R89,662,377.24	R7,998,983.56
AIDS Foundation	R63,450,737.92	-R62,224,209.54	R1,226,528.38
Icembe Foundation	R18,797,125.66	-R15,396,762.22	R3,400,363.44
Out the Box	R9,867,722.77	-R8,545,572.57	R1,322,150.20
TOTAL	R2,424,396,523.48	-R2,411,062,261.32	R13,334,262.16

Total Advances Paid to IAs Over the Past 5 Years	Total Spent by IAs Over the Past 5 Years (Incl. Retention Fees Paid)
R2,769,827,247.96	R2,754,993,360.30

End.

Reply:

There were no sponsorships, donations or financial transfers provided to Minister or the Department officials from Qatari, Iranian or Russian organs of state in the period 1 January 2021 to date.

 

Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane P J Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

a) Any future fiscal allocation to the Land Bank will be subjected to the national budget process.

b) The Land Bank is currently in the process of implementing its revised business strategy that will focus on its operating and funding model for long term sustainability. National Treasury will continue to work with the Land Bank to ensure a viable long-term financial sustainable business model is implemented.

Further to this, it is anticipated that the Land Bank default position will be cured during FY2025 which will further assist the long-term financial sustainability of the Land Bank. The Land Bank has concluded partnerships with the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform to enhance its blended finance scheme, which will further assist the Land Bank with its D&T mandate.

R7 billion fiscal funding was made available to the Land Bank during the 2021 National Budget. This amount was allocated on the basis to cure the default position of the Land Bank and to re-establish its development and transformation (D&T) mandate. In addition, the fiscal funding was used to repay government guaranteed debt owed to the Land Bank, thereby reducing Government’s exposure to the Land Bank to R0. Currently, R5.6 billion has already been transferred to the Land Bank, with the remaining R1.4 billion used to settle guaranteed debt.

Reply:

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in particular the Directorate Program and Project Management as well as the Office of the CFO possess no knowledge regarding any sponsorship, donation and financial transfer provided for lawfare.

Reply:

(a) Additional budget of R3.7 billion has been allocated towards compensation of employees in the health sector for the financial year 2024/25 to address the wage bill increase and recruitment of additional staff including nurses and medical doctors.

Provincial Departments of Health had already advertised 823 since December 2023 and have reported projections of 1103 Medical Officer appointments by 1^st April 2024.

(b) The recruitment plan for the department is to appoint the Medical Doctors as Grade 1 Medical Officers on permanent basis.

END.

Reply:

a) Because an international agreement will be binding on South Africa, the country must be able to maintain its international obligations in terms of the Treaty to which it has acceded. In order to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty, it is necessary therefore to finalise amendments to the Copyright Act, Act 98 of 1978. The Copyright Amendment Bill that addresses these matters was passed by the National Assembly recently, for referral to the President for assent.

b) The Constitutional Court found Section 13 of the Copyright Act to be unconstitutional. In its order, the court read into the Copyright Act, 1978 an exception that allows persons who are blind and visually impaired to convert published works into accessible formats without the consent of the copyright holder. The judgment thus offered the blind and visually impaired remedies with immediate effect. This exception is valid for a period of 2 years until 20 September 2024 pending the approval of the Copyright Amendment Bill, to ensure that the rights of the blind and visually impaired are not compromised. Clause 19D of the Copyright Amendment Bill extends to persons with disabilities such as learning disabilities, dyslexia etc and not only for the blind and visually impaired.

-END-

Reply:

(1) NERSA has 176 licensed distributors, 12 of which are private distributors. The 164 municipal distributors submit tariff applications to NERSA annually, prior to the 1 July implementation date. Although some municipalities occasionally submit their applications late, NERSA always follows up with such municipalities in an effort to have the approvals finalised by 1 July.

(2) Subsequent to the tariff approvals, NERSA requests tariff schedules from municipalities and compares them with the approved tariffs to ensure that the correct tariffs are being charged to customers.

Further to this, NERSA conducts compliance audits on the licenced distributors annually. This is done to ensure compliance with NERSA’s licence conditions, which, among others, relates to verifying whether licenced distributors implement NERSA-approved tariffs.

It must be noted that NERSA does not analyse the minutes of the Council meeting to check whether the adopted electricity tariffs are the same as those that have been transferred to the NERSA form for tariff application, as NERSA believes that the submission for tariff applications is made and signed off by the highest officer of the municipality, which represents the decision of the Council.

NERSA, therefore, does not undertake to verify the decision made by the Council. This is also done to avoid the further lengthening of the tariff approval process.

Reply:

There are continuous engagements, at various levels, between the South African Government and the United States Government, as well as with Congress and various other domestic stakeholders. On 26 January 2024, Minister Pandor had a telecon with Secretary of State, Mr Antony Blinken, to discuss South Africa-US bilateral relations, with a specific focus on the state of global affairs, including a reflection on the genocide case between South Africa and Israel that is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague.

On 21 February 2024, President Ramaphosa engaged a bipartisan and bicameral Congressional delegation in Cape Town on the status and future of the bilateral relationship, as well as geopolitical issues, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and South Africa’s case at the ICJ involving Israel. The President used the opportunity to reinforce the importance of the bilateral relationship with the US, including in the areas of trade, investment, and health cooperation. The President further explained South Africa’s non-aligned position as a catalyst for peace and conflict-resolution and provided a briefing on the foundational values that inform South Africa’s foreign policy.

There are also ongoing engagements at the level of the South African Ambassador in Washington DC with the Administration, Congress, the private sector, and civil society organisations. In all the above engagements, both sides have emphasised the importance of refocussing attention on strengthening the bilateral relationship for mutual benefit and the need for respect and open dialogue on areas of divergence and common concern.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education have a number of ongoing strategies and programmes to curb violence in schools, including the following:

1.    National School Safety Framework
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Provincial Education Departments continue to implement the National School Safety Framework (NSSF), which is a guiding framework in addressing all forms of violent incidences in schools including drug abuse. The NSSF empowers schools to identify and manage all safety threats in schools, establish school safety committees comprising of stakeholders such as teachers, police officers, school governing body members and learner representative council members. Furthermore, The NSSF also empowers schools to develop incident reporting mechanisms, establish collaborations with external stakeholders such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Department of Social Development and civil society organisations, develop school safety plans and policies to respond to safety challenges of violence in schools for both learners and educators. Through the implementation of the NSSF, access control measures in schools are strengthened and awareness programmes on social ills by partner departments and civil society organisations are implemented in schools.

 By the end of December 2023, The following number of schools were physically trained on the NSSF: 1441 schools were trained in the North West, 3220 schools were trained in KZN, 229 schools were trained in Gauteng, 535 schools were trained in Northern Cape, 508 schools were trained in Mpumalanga, 1483 schools were trained in the Eastern Cape, 151 schools were trained in the Western Cape, 18 schools were trained in the Free State.

 The DBE together with its partner the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute further developed an NSSF digital training course for school communities, to enable access to the training anywhere in the country. The course has been accredited by the South African Council of Educators. As a result, educators will receive 15 Professional Development Points (PDP) for successfully completing the course. The DBE released a circular in September 2022, compelling all school based personnel and school safety committees to complete the digital training by 31 March 2023. To date, over 130 000 people have completed the course. 

2.    Partnership Protocol between the Department of Basic Education and the South African Police Service 
The Department also has an established Protocol with SAPS to address crime and violence in schools. The Protocol has enabled all schools to be linked to their local police stations, SAPS to conduct searches and seizures in schools and conduct crime awareness campaigns in schools. Regularly, schools work with SAPS and local community police forums and social workers to address violent incidents such as gangsterism, bullying, drug abuse and the carrying of dangerous weapons in schools. Searches and seizures of illegal drugs and dangerous weapons are also done in schools. However, these searches and seizures are only done if there is reasonable suspicion of violence in the school. 

3.    District Monitoring of School Safety Programmes
The Department further conducts annual monitoring of districts on the implementation of school safety programmes including the NSSF, the DBE and SAPS Protocol and the Prevention and Management of Bullying in Schools. In the monitoring sessions, the Department always encourages districts to conduct physical monitoring in schools, in order to determine if schools are implementing the above-mentioned school safety programmes and provide the necessary support. In the financial year of 2023-24: the Department has monitored 25 districts across nine provinces on all school safety programmes including bullying prevention in schools.

4.    Protocol to deal with Incidents of Corporal Punishment  
The Department developed and published a Protocol to Deal with Incidences of Corporal Punishment in schools to highlight the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools and to provide provinces, districts and schools with guidance on how to deal with issues of corporal punishment should such cases arise. The protocol foregrounds the following:
•   The steps to be taken by provincial, district, circuit and school SMT in reporting the incidents of corporal punishment in schools.
•   The complaints procedures are outlined and the measures to be taken at every level of the system are explicit and include the labour relations processes in response to perpetrators of corporal punishment as well as sexual abuse and harassment.
•   In line with the NSSF, the Protocol further supports schools in ensuring safe and supportive learning environments that use protective behaviour, positive discipline, restorative justice and positive behaviour intervention support systems.

The Protocol has been printed and distributed to provinces, districts and schools across the country. In complementing the Protocol, some Provincial Educational Department have trained schools on Alternatives to Corporal Punishment in schools. 

5.    Inter-Departmental Campaign on the prevention of Violence, Bullying, Corporal Punishment, Gender-Based Violence, Learner Pregnancy, Drugs and Substance Abuse
The Department and its partner Departments: Social Development, Health, Justice and Constitutional Development, Correctional Services, the South African Police Service, Home Affairs, The Presidency and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies have also embarked on an Inter-Departmental Campaign on Violence Prevention. This Campaign raises awareness on issues such as the prevention of bullying, corporal punishment, gender-based violence, learner pregnancy and drugs and substance abuse in schools. The Campaign has been championed by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education and is supported by other Deputy Ministers from the partner Departments. The Campaign has been targeting districts with high levels of crime and violence known as hot spots. The Campaign mobilizes school communities (educators, learners, School Governing Bodies, ward councillors, parents and civil society organisations) to fight crime and violence in schools, collectively. In addition, the Campaign further includes build up events that take groups of learners through priority content areas related to violence prevention; including prevention of bullying, corporal punishment, gender-based violence, drugs and substance abuse.

To date, the Campaign has been rolled out in six provinces: Gauteng (Gauteng West District), Limpopo (Sekhukhune East District), Mpumalanga (Nkangala District), North-West (Dr Kenneth Kaunda District), Eastern Cape (Nelson Mandela) and Kwa Zulu-Natal (Pinetown District). The Department further plans to roll out the Campaign in other provinces in new financial year. The community activations include aawareness raising of the steps to take as illustrated in the Protocol for the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in Schools.

Moreover, provincial education departments in partnership with partner departments and various civil society organisations regularly conduct awareness campaigns on social ills negatively impacting schools through school assembly talks, dialogues and debates.  

6.    School Codes of Conducts 
The Department requires all schools to develop learner codes of conduct in consultation with the school governing bodies and learner representative councils. The codes of conducts stipulate the rules of learner behaviour in schools and the disciplinary procedures to be undertaken after incidents of contravention are reported, and sanctions which will be undertaken against the perpetrators who are found guilty. This gives learners a sense of ownership over their school environment, and the safety of themselves and their fellow learners at school. 

7.    The National Strategy for the Prevention and Management of Alcohol and Drug Use Amongst Learners in Schools. 
The DBE and Provincial Education Departments continue to implement the National Strategy for the Prevention and Management of Alcohol and Drug Use Amongst Learners in Schools which aims to create an enabling environment for those learners who have become addicted to alcohol and drugs to access treatment, care and support services. Through the strategy, schools are empowered to conduct drug testing, and manage learners who have tested positive accordingly. By the end of 2023; the North-West has trained 1332 schools on drug testing, while the Western Cape trained 46 schools on drug testing. Creating drug-free school environments is a key component to providing learners with a safe learning environment free of violence. 

8.    The Prevention and Management of Bullying in schools

The Provincial Education Departments have continued to train schools on the Prevention and Management of Bullying in schools. The schools have been empowered to identify various forms of bullying, identify perpetrators and victims of bullying, develop reporting mechanisms of bullying in schools and develop anti-bullying policies which are aligned to code of conducts. By the end of 2023, at least 1441 schools were trained in the North-West.  

9.    Life Orientation Curriculum
The  Department continues to implement  the Life Skills and Life Orientation curriculum in classrooms, which is the main lever for preventing violence in schools amongst learners. The DBE implements this Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement annually and it covers the following violence related topics: bullying, drugs and substance abuse, gender-based violence and teenage pregnancy prevention.

10.    Online Safety and Cyberbullying Programme 
The Department of Basic Education partnered with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DC&DT) and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and conducted awareness sessions on cyber-safety and cyberbullying in schools. The awareness sessions took place in Harry Gwala District on 23-24 November 2023 in the following schools: 

a)    Ebuta Junior Secondary School
b)    Umzimkuku Junior Secondary School
c)    DRC Junior Secondary School
d)    Stranger’s Rest Junior Secondary School
 

A total of 132 learners were reached throughout the awareness sessions. The Department will continue to work with DC&DT and other partners including Google, Films and Publications Board, Media Monitoring Africa and Meta in implementing an effective programme on online safety and cyberbullying in schools across the country.

11.    Protocol For the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in schools. 
The Department developed a Protocol for the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in schools which provides schools, districts and provinces with standard operating procedures/guidelines when addressing allegations of sexual abuse and harassment, and to specifically detail how schools must respond to reports of sexual abuse and harassment perpetrated against learners & school staff. It serves to ensure a safe, caring and enabling environment for learning and teaching, both inside and outside of the classroom. 

This protocol sets out an approach that enables educators and employees of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to identify, intervene, report and provide support to all learners who are sexually abused or harassed in school, whilst providing an appropriate response to perpetrators of all forms of sexual abuse and harassment. It has been printed and distributed to provinces. 

Reply:

(1&2)

All one hundred (100) mobile offices have been delivered and are undergoing live capture systems’ installations and configurations and the process will be finalised by 31 March 2024. The minister will announce details of the distribution.

END

Reply:

1. a) The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD) and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) was not allocated emergency generators received from China.

b) Not applicable.

2. a) Not applicable

b) i) Not applicable

ii) Not applicable

3. Not applicable.

4. a) Not applicable

b) Not applicable.

Reply:

1. Subsequent to the tariff approvals, NERSA requests tariff schedules from municipalities and compares them with the approved tariffs to ensure that the correct tariffs are being charged to customers. Further to this, when municipal compliance audits are conducted, NERSA checks the approved tariffs against the implemented tariffs to ensure that there are no discrepancies. It must, however, be noted that municipalities charge surcharges in addition to the NERSA-approved tariffs. Such surcharges fall outside of NERSA’s regulatory mandate.

Reply:

It is not possible at this stage to provide conclusive details regarding the total Rand amount contributed by the Department in the litigation before the ICJ as it is an ongoing matter and all invoices have not yet been received. Notwithstanding, the Department has contributed to costs related to the following:

• Legal fees of Counsel;
• Transport (as per departmental policies);
• Accommodation (as per departmental policies);
• Foreign subsistence and travel allowances (as per departmental policies).

Reply:

The allocated budget of R848 billion for the Health sector is inclusive of the following obligations:

• Payment of current employees and the impact of wage bill agreement
• Provision of the health services in all facilities
• Medical equipment
• Maintenance and construction of new facilities

Included in the above budget is an additional budget of R3.7 billion has been allocated towards compensation of employees in the sector for the financial year 2024/25 to address the wage bill increase and recruitment of additional staff including nurses and medical doctors.

The department has been in constant communication with the representatives of and individual unemployed doctors since beginning of the year. Whilst interacting with the different lists submitted and comparing them with the Persal system, the following conclusion was deduced:

• 417 duplications from grand total of 1415
• 13 applicants still to complete their Community Service
• 2 registered as Internship
• 6 interested in Specialist Posts
• 860 completed Community Service in December 2023

a) Provincial Departments of Health have already advertised 823 since December 2023 and have reported projections of 1103 Medical Officer appointments by 1^st April 2024.

b) Consolidation of funded posts for Nurses will be confirmed by the 15^th March 2024.

END.

Reply:

(aa) QATAR

a) Sponsorships

No sponsorships were received by the Minister (i), her department (ii) and officials in her department.

b) Donations

• The Minister (i) did not receive any donation.

• The Department (ii) facilitated the following donations from the Embassy of the State of Qatar to South Africa:

1) On 29 May 2022 the Amir of Qatar donated blankets, pillows, travel beds, mosquito nets, respirators, generators, medical consumables, kids’ sportswear etc to the value of QR471,883 which is approximately R2,4 million for flood victims in Kwazulu-Natal;

2) Donation of seeds, food, blankets, water tanks, gardening equipment, deep freezer and two cows to the Mookgopong Centre;

3) Donation of blankets, and food to the elderly homes in Mamelodi together with the Moses Mabhida Foundation on 15 February 2023;

4) Donation of blankets and soccer balls to the youth at the Kayamandi project in Cape Town;

5) Donation of two vehicles, an ambulance vehicle, medical fridges, medical equipment, microwave ovens, washing machines and laptop computer together with Nelson Mandela Foundation in support of the Qunu Clinic in Eastern Cape Province;

6) Donation of 50 laptops to benefit schools in rural communities of Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces;

7) Donation of laptops to the Zinikelene Secondary school in Carolina, in the Mpumalanga Province;

8) Assistance in arranging repatriation flights for South Africans abroad during the Covid -19 pandemic in collaboration with Qatar Airways. Passengers, however, paid for their own repatriation tickets.

• There were no donations to any official/s (iii) in the department.

c) Financial Transfers

• There were no financial transfers to the Minister (i), her department and (iii) officials of her department.

(bb) IRAN

a) Sponsorships

(1) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran provided sponsorship for two officials from DIRCO to represent South Africa at the “Iran – BRICS Conference: Prospects for Partnership and Cooperation” on 08 August 2023, in Tehran, Iran. The sponsorship consisted of accommodation for the two officials, as well as economy class air fare for one official.

(2) The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran sponsored an official from DIRCO to participate in the 37th International Islamic Unity Conference, which was held in Tehran from 1-3 October 2023. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran provided a round-trip air ticket, as well as transport and accommodation for the duration of the conference.

b) Donations

• No donations were received by the Minister (i), her department (ii) or (iii) officials in her department.

c) Financial transfers

• No financial transfers were made to the Minister (i), her department (ii) and (iii) officials in her department.

(cc) RUSSIA

a) Sponsorships

• No sponsorship was received by the Minister (i), her department (ii) and (iii) officials in her department.

b) Donations

• No donation was received by the Minister (i), her department (ii), and (iii) officials in her department.

c) Financial transfers

• No financial transfers were received by the Minister (i), her department (ii) and (iii) officials in her department.

Reply:

a) The Department of Basic Education developed the Framework for the teaching and learning of languages (2013) as a means to strengthen all languages so that they can be used as media of instruction particularly for foundational learning. The DBE successfully piloted Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTBBE) in the Eastern Cape (EC) since 2012, where African languages  (IsiXhosa and Sesotho) were used as languages of teaching, learning and assessment (LoLTA) of Mathematics and Natural Science and Technology from Grades 4 in targeted Quintiles 1 – 3 schools.  The Department is now able to rollout MTBBE in the whole country, as a key finding of the National Rapid Assessment (2023) that the EC model is a reliable prototype.

b) On the 21 February 2024, on International Mother Language Day (IMLD), the Minister of Basic Education announced that in 2025, there will be a rollout in all provinces of the MTBBE strategy for Mathematics and Natural Science and Technology incrementally from Grade 4 in 2025, focusing on the nine previously marginalised official African languages (IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, IsiNdebele, Siswati, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga), to be used as languages of learning, teaching and assessment beyond Grade 3.  This is the space enjoyed currently by English and Afrikaans.  The rollout of the MTBBE is to ensure that the previously marginalised official African Languages enjoy the parity of esteem of all South African languages as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.  The MTBBE plan is being shared and presented to all the relevant stakeholders, it will be shared with Cabinet as well.

Reply:

a) The total costs that have been incurred since its opening in 2014 to transport patients to Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein for operations is estimated at R 58 152 804. This is calculated based on Uniform Patient Fee Schedule (UPFS) rates applicable for externally funded patients for 5514 cases (High risk patients including 1521 maternity patient transfers that were to be operated at Senorita Nhlabathi District Hospital) at a cost of R 9 484 763, 65 transported since 2014 to 2024.

b) Senorita Hospital is based in the rural area, classified as a small district hospital and offers a comprehensive district hospital package of services. Due to challenges associated with the rural nature of the District where the hospital is placed, the district hospital experience difficulties in attracting and retaining medical professionals thus affecting consistency of conducting operations at Senorita District hospital. See table below comparing the cost of transferring patients from Senorita District hospital to Pelonomi Hospital.

The department remains committed to improving the health of the population being served by the hospital. More than consideration of the costs the Department is concerned about saving the lives of the users. According to the referral pathway the hospital should refer high risk patients to Dihlabeng Regional Hospital which is 200 km but due to longer distance and very poor condition of the road, the hospital refer their high risk patients and maternity cases to Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital which is closer by 130 km away. Additionally contingency measures put in place are that all the elective operations from Senorita hospital will be conducted by mainly community service medical doctors appointed by Senorita Nhlabathi District hospital on a shift basis at Moroka District Hospital which is 70km away and Botshabelo District hospitals which is 100 km away from Senorita district hospital.

Patients Transferred 2014-2024	Cost of Transport 2014-2024	Job Title	Notch	Cost
X 3993 High risk patients	R48 668 040,35	X 3 medical Doctors	R906 540.00	R3 725 879
		X3 Theatre Nurse(PNB1)	R431 265.00	R1 772 499
X 1521 maternity patients	R9 484 763,65	X2 Professional Nurse (PNA2)	R293 670.00	R804 656
		X 3 Staff Nurse	R199 725.00	R820 870
		X 1 Porter	R147 036.00	R201 439
Total transferred 5514	R58 152 804	X 1 Cleaner	R125 373.00	R171 761
GRAND TOTAL	R58 152 804.00		R7 497 104 p/annum

END.

Reply:

South Africa currently exports around 63% of its vehicle production, making it imperative to consider global developments in the auto industry. Major export markets such as the EU and the UK have announced bans on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales by 2035, accompanied by incentives for electric vehicle (EV) adoption. This global shift towards environmentally friendly transportation is expected to reduce demand for vehicles manufactured in South Africa.

Following extensive work undertaken both with industry and within government, a White Paper was finalised by Cabinet, setting out the policy framework for the technology, production, export and domestic market adoption of electric vehicles, as well as a detailed roadmap and plan of action. The White Paper was publicly released in December 2023.

Subsequently, the Minister of Finance released details of tax benefits that will be available to the industry to facilitate the transition. In addition, discussions have been held with auto-producers not yet in the SA market to encourage new investment in the sector.

While existing policies like the Automotive Production Development Programme and the Automotive Investment Scheme provide a good framework for developing EV productive capacity, including in assembly and component manufacture, additional action will be required. The White Paper thus identifies 10 policy goals with a set of 16 specific and distinct policy actions to be implemented over specified timelines between 2023 and 2035 with 10 actions in support of the development of cost-competitive EV productive capacity in South Africa; and 6 actions in support of the development of a cost-effective local market for EVs.

A copy of the White Paper may be accessed at http://www.thedtic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/EV-White-Paper.pdf

-END-

Reply:

The Department has not received any. (a) Sponsorship (b) Donations (c) Financial transfers to the Minister nor its officials from (aa) Qatari (bb) Iranian and (cc) Russian organs of State, Organisations or residents.

Reply:

The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) will be fully funded, in line with the Conditional Grant Framework, which stipulates the minimum requirements of providing nutritious meals to learners in quintile 1 - 3 primary and secondary schools; as well as identified special schools on all school days.  This includes targeted learners in identified quintile 4 and 5 schools in line with available resources.

Reply:

Tracer dye is added to Illuminating Paraffin to enable its detection once it is mixed into diesel. The presence of the tracer dye can only be detected through laboratory testing or specialized mobile equipment. The Department collects fuel samples randomly at service stations to test for the presence of the tracer dye, amongst others.

It is precisely this random testing that led to the detection of adulteration when the presence of the tracer dye was detected at the laboratory.

Reply:

The implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) as a mechanism towards realizing universal health coverage (UHC) in South Africa is based on a structured, phased approach. A strategic part of the phased implementation includes proactive and ongoing engagements with various healthcare professional associations and groupings directed at providing them with clear information on the intentions of the policy and how the envisaged reforms are intended to contribute to overall health system sustainability.

The National Department of Health has undertaken study tours, including engaging with multilateral and bilateral partners, on the path that other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Thailand, Taiwan, and Canada, have taken towards implementing UHC reforms. Even in these countries there was anxiety among healthcare professionals concerned with changes around reimbursement mechanisms (i.e., changes from fee for service to capitation systems). To address such anxieties, it is specifically the reason why the Department is deliberately adopting a phased approach to the roll-out of NHI, as well as continuing to actively engage healthcare professionals through various channels and engagement platforms to provide all concerned stakeholders, not just healthcare professionals, with key information on the elements outlined in the NHI Bill and why they are important.

Emphasis is towards adopting a co-creation approach between the Department and stakeholders, including healthcare professionals. It is through this approach that the Department intends to address the perceived medical and specialist skills drain in the healthcare sector associated with the planned implementation of NHI.

END.

Reply:

To reduce dropping out before reaching Grade 12, the government's strategies are multi-pronged, focusing on mitigating poverty's effects and improving learning and teaching in the classroom. The following key initiatives contributed to past reductions in dropouts and are likely drivers of future improvements in this regard:

• The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). This intervention encourages children to attend school, and promotes learning by reducing levels of hunger and malnutrition, which inhibit successful learning.
• No fee schools. This longstanding intervention ensures that children and youths in poorer communities are not prevented from attending school due to the inability of the household to pay for school fees.
• Policies on teenage pregnancies. Government Notice 704 of 2021 formalised policy on the protection of the schooling of pregnant learners. Among females aged 16 to 18, around 10% did not attend school due to pregnancy, according to the 2019 GHS.
• Ongoing strengthening of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). A more focussed curriculum is one reason that has been put forward as a reason for past improvements in South Africa’s performance in international testing programmes – see the Department’s Action Plan to 2024.
• Efforts aimed at improving learning in the early grades. A key government priority is improving reading, and learning and teaching in general, in the early grades. Several interventions contribute towards this, including the shift in the responsibility for pre-schooling from the social development sector to basic education, the Early Grade Reading Study and associated teacher development innovations, and the introduction of the Systemic Evaluation.
• Special examination preparation support for Grade 12 learners. Activities here, aimed largely at ensuring that learners leave school with the NSC, include the so-called winter schools.
• The expansion of the learner-level enrolment and attendance monitoring systems. The Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS), the SA-SAMS school management system and the partnership-driven Data Driven Districts (DDD) initiative have all contributed to a more robust approach to monitoring exactly where in the country dropping out is occurring. These systems proved invaluable for providing information on, for instance, where children were not returning to school during the pandemic.

Reply:

1. Over the 2024 MTEF the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture will receive a total allocation of R18.3 billion of which R2.9 billion is allocated to recreation development and sport promotion; R1.2 billion for infrastructure programmes; R3.9 billion is allocated to cultural and creative industries; R4.2 billion for community library services and R4.2 billion for heritage promotion and preservation. Further detailed budget information can be obtained from the 2024 Estimates of National Expenditure, Vote 37: Sport, Arts and Culture.

2. The distribution of the budget is the responsibility of the Accounting Officer of the department as per PFMA section 38(2) which states that ‘the Accounting Officer is responsible for the effective, efficient, economical and transparent use of the resources of the department’. Therefore, the question on why the same organisations are repeatedly funded should be directed to the Accounting Officer of the department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

Reply:

(1) (a), (b), and (c)

1	2	3
Risk Category	(a) Minimum number of pumping units (fire trucks)	(b) Minimum manning levels (firefighters) per fire truck/appliance
A	2	5
B	2	4
C	1	4
D	1	4
E	As determined by individual risk assessment
NOTE: (c) Arrangements for vehicle fires, grass/bush and special services and the need additional specialist vehicles and equipment such as aerial appliances and water carriers are determined by local fire conditions and based upon the municipality’s pre-determined attendance (PDA) for each category of fire.

 

(2) (a) (i) The South African National Standard SANS: 10090: Community Protection against Fires, sets the following compliance requirements in terms of vehicle maintenance:

• • All emergency vehicles should be subjected to regular, documented maintenance carried out by competent persons.
  • When developing a maintenance programme, the vehicle manufacturer’s requirements and recommendations should be included.
  • Safety checks shall form an integral part of all maintenance programmes.
  • In fire departments which handle many incidents per vehicle all emergency vehicles should be serviced at least once every six months or sooner.
  • In addition to routine servicing at least one major service should be carried out on each vehicle annually.
  • At fire station level, emergency vehicles should be subjected to routine daily checks to ensure immediate serviceability for operational use.
  • Defects revealed during routine daily vehicle checks should be remedied immediately where possible.
  • Defects affecting an emergency vehicle’s operational ability should be referred to competent maintenance personnel.
  • Where fire pumps, aerial platforms or aerial ladders form part of an emergency vehicle or its equipment, the necessary maintenance, checks and tests, prescribed by the manufacturer, should be carried out and documented.
  • Unless the manufacturer’s directives require anything to the contrary all fire pumps, aerial platforms and aerial ladders should be checked and tested on initial acceptance, quarterly and on any other occasion should such a check or test be deemed necessary.
  • Additional annual tests and checks should be conducted to assess pump, aerial platform, or aerial ladder performance, where such assessments are not a compulsory part of the quarterly assessments.

(a) (ii) SANS: 10090 sets the following compliance requirements for skills development of staff:

• Fire services should, for the fire extinguishing function and in relation to the risk profile covered, have implemented the following as minimum recommendations:
• personnel selection, appointment and advancement criteria detailing qualifications and experience requirements for all posts;
• suitable provisions, planning and record keeping for initial, continuation, conversion and specialist training for fire-fighters and officers; and
• accurate records for all training attended and conducted by subject and staff members.
• The International Standard NFPA 1201 is applied for training requirements.
• The ability of municipalities to meet the attendance times to fires should be tested during exercises.
• A standard system of training is adopted throughout the fire service, and many municipalities have established Fire Services Training Academies where different municipalities can have their members trained.
• This ensures a greater measure of efficiency when neighbouring brigades collaborate in attacking large fires and when personnel are transferred from one brigade to another.
• All of the above should also be read in conjunction with the Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations which came into effect on 1 July 2022.
   

(a) (iii) SANS: 10090 sets the following compliance requirements for upgrading of equipment:

• Every fire service should regularly assess its equipment to determine whether such equipment is obsolete or unserviceable.
• Documented annual equipment replacement programmes should be developed to ensure that obsolete and unserviceable equipment is replaced systematically.
• All fire department equipment should be assessed regularly to ensure that the equipment is suitable for the changing and expanding fire-risks in the community and to keep abreast of developments. Where necessary additional equipment should be procured.

(2) (b) who is responsible for ensuring the specified compliance requirements:

• In terms of the Fire Brigade Services Act, (No 99 of 1987) a municipality appoints a person who possesses the prescribed qualifications and experience, as Chief Fire Officer to oversee its Fire Service.
• The Chief Fire Officer is responsible for ensuring the specified compliance of the municipal Fire Services requirements in terms of the SANS: 10090 and related municipal policies in this regard.

(c) When compliance related issues are detected by municipalities themselves, and corrective measures are required to be taken against the delegated officials:

• these are normally managed by Municipal Councils through the Local Government.
• Municipal Staff Regulations which came into effect on 1 July 2022; the various action steps against individual personnel members, if any, to address compliance related matters are based upon the merits of each case. 
• When compliance related issues are detected by either the Province or National Fire Services, during capacity assessments, a written report on the outcomes of the assessment is provided to the relevant Municipal Manager, with key recommendations on how to rectify the relevant compliance related matters;
• the various action steps against individual personnel members, if any, falls within the jurisdiction and competency and jurisdiction of each municipality, and is relative to the merits of each case.

End.

Reply:

a) All nurses whether undergraduate or post graduate students or qualified, are enjoy vicarious liability cover by working in public health establishments. Vicarious liability is a legal principle that holds employers responsible for the wrongful actions of their employees. This implies that when the employee commits a wrongful act whils acting withn the course of and scope of their employment, the employer can be held liable for damages caused by the employee. The nursing staff in training who performs duties for the state are therefore employees and they are not personally liable for any wrongful act committed whilst so employed as part of their training. The deciding factor is whether or not the individual acted in course of and within the scope of their employment.

b) While indemnity cover is not required as a pre-requisite for employment, nurses are advised to take indemnity cover to protect them in the event they are sued in their personal capacity. This can be obtained by way of associations, union and or private.

END.

Reply:

There are many testimonies from South Africans of excellent service received at both PHC facilities and hospitals, however there are pockets of incidents where our patients experience poor service delivery. The NDoH however takes every specific incident of poor service received seriously, and endeavour to provide redress and reduce such incidents in the future.

The Department is implementing various quality improvement interventions to ensure the provision of quality health care at health facilities which include the following:

• Ideal facility monitoring system which provides a platform for all health facilities to track the facility self-assessment progress, quality improvement interventions and the remedial actions taken to ensure compliance with standards.
• Implementation of Quality learning centres which is a cluster of facilities in a geographic area made up of hospitals, primary health care and private hospitals to facilitate an integrated approach to quality improvement through mentorship.
• Clinical Governance structures that are responsible and accountable for continuous improvement of the quality of care rendered at facilities and ensures best clinical outcomes for patient care.
• Patient waiting times are monitored and provinces support facilities to improve on waiting times.
• Patient safety incidence committees where adverse events are reported and analysed, and quality improvement plans are implemented.
• The National Department of Health has instituted a formal system of obtaining feedback on patients’ experience of care that they receive in public health establishments, through the patient experience of care surveys. Reports from these surveys guide continuous quality improvement of care.
• Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) which monitor and enforce compliance by health establishments with norms and standards prescribed by the Minister of Health.

END.

Reply:

Communities were and continue to be consulted in the North West. The consultation process took long to an extent that no school was merged or closed in 2023 pending the completion of the consultation process.

Reply:

The Ministry was established in March 2023, accordingly we advise that you refer the question to the Departmet of Public Enterprises as the legal manadte holder in this regard.

 

Reply:

1. The funding allocated to SAA was utilised to settle the obligations that arose from the business rescue processes. The settlement of the business rescue obligations is expected to be settled over several years.

2. One of the conditions attached to the funding provided to SAA was that government guarantees available to the airline would be reduced by the equivalent quantum. At present SAA does not have available government guarantees against which they can raise debt or other obligations. However, there is still a government guarantee exposure amounting to R91.5 million related to Unflown Ticket Liabilities and Letters of Credit. The airline is currently engaged in negotiations with lenders to provide a cash deposit in lieu of the guarantee. Once negotiations with lenders have been completed, these guarantees will then be cancelled, and government will therefore no longer have contingent liability exposure related to SAA.

3. SAA has and continues to submit monthly updates to National Treasury (NT) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). Moreover, a Guarantee Monitoring Task Team comprising officials from the NT, DPE as well as SAA management meets monthly to discuss amongst other issues financial performance and forecasts, financial position and other developments. DPE, as convenors and secretariat of the monthly monitoring meeting and shareholder will be best placed to provide the monthly records.

Reply:

	(i) Minister of Finance	(ii) National Treasury	(iii) National Treasury Officials
(a) Sponsorships	None	None	None
(b) Donations
(c) Financial transfers
(aa) Qatari	None	None	None
(bb) Iranian
(cc) Russian organ of state, organisation and/or resident

Reply:

(a)The Department of Basic Education (DBE) develops the National Catalogues, which list all Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSMs), and forward it to provinces for them to procure LTSMs for their respective schools.  These Catalogues are further uploaded on the DBE website.  Subsequently, the DBE develops a Sector plan for provinces to develop their aligned provincial management plans for procuring LTSMs for the ensuing year.  The Sector plan details the activities and timeframes to be observed when procuring LTSMs.  The Sector plan is attached as reference as to when provinces can start with the procurement processes.

(b) The provinces manage the entire logistics from ordering to delivery as per their management plans guided by the Sector plan.

Reply:

Based on the information at our disposal and in consultation with CWP sites in all provinces:

a) There were no cases of sexual harassment and gender-based violence reported.

b) Not applicable.

End.

Reply:

I have not received any sponsorships, donations or financial transfers from any of the mentioned States or their organs of state.

I am also informed that neither the department nor the department’s officials received any sponsorships, donations, or financial transfers from any of the mentioned organisations.

-END-

Reply:

a) Qualifying South Africans born abroad may apply for Smart IDs in the country, as there is no live capture solution at the embassies.

b) The Department commenced on 5 December 2023 with the pilot project of issuance of Smart ID Cards to naturalised citizens. This process involves the verification of the issued naturalisation certificates. Communication through email, WhatsApp, and letters have been sent to naturalised citizens to visit any DHA office.

END

Reply:

The evidence of the public health entities audit outcomes is contained in their 2022-23 Financial Year Annual Reports which were tabled in Parliament on 23 September 2023.

The following Public Health entities obtained Clean Audits:

a) South African Medical Research Council – refer to page 314 for the Auditor General’s report for the 2022/23 Financial Year

b) Office of Health Standards Compliance – refer to page 77 for the Auditor General’s report for the 2022/23 Financial Year

The following Public Health Entities obtained Unqualified Audits:

c) Council for Medical Schemes – refer to page 106 for the Auditor General’s report for the 2022/23 Financial Year

d) South African Health Products Regulatory Authority – refer to page 121 for the Auditor General’s report for the 2022/23 Financial Year

National Health Laboratory Service – refer to page 165 for the Independent Auditor’s report for the 2022/23 Financial Year

END.

Reply:

a) The VAT register has 951 716 Active VAT Vendors as at 16 February 2024. VAT vendors include Companies, Individuals, Trusts and other entities such as welfare organisations, municipalities etc. The below information therefore pertains to all VAT vendors.

b) 448 117 VAT refunds have been paid between 1 April 2023 and 16 February 2024. Of the 448 117 VAT Refunds paid, 336 608 (75.71%) were paid within 21 days. 128 513 VAT Refunds were stopped for verification. Of the 128 513 VAT Refunds that were stopped for verification, 55 373 were resolved and paid out within 21 days.

c) (i) Of the 128 513 VAT Refunds that were stopped for verification, 73 140 VAT Refunds were paid in more than 21 days.

(ii) There are many reasons that cause the delay of refund payments. The delays emanate from SARS as well as taxpayers. On the SARS side, these include amongst others, increased instances of impermissible VAT refund claims that put additional strain on SARS’ already constrained capacity. National Treasury has made funding available to SARS to secure additional temporary resources with effect from December 2023. Improvements in the finalisation of verifications are therefore being realised.

On the side of taxpayers, qualifying VAT refunds are not processed due to amongst others invalid banking details provided by taxpayers and outstanding returns. In the latter instance, the relevant provisions contained in the Value-Added Tax Act (No. 89 of 1991) read together with the Tax Administration Act (No.28 of 2011) provide for the withholding of refunds until such time that the vendor has submitted all outstanding returns.

SARS continues to engage taxpayers in these instances to attend to these issues.

Reply:

The Ministry was established in March 2023 and we can categorically confirm that neither the Minister, his Office nor his officials have received any sponsorships, donations and financial transfers provided for lawfare and/or any other purposes until the date of the submission of this reply.

 

 

Reply:

(1) Retrofitting in the automotive industry refers to the practice of replacing internal combustion engines (ICE) in vehicles with an electric motor and large storage batteries, making them electric vehicles (EVs). This practice thus means that an old or used vehicle is fitted with modified or new equipment for alternative propulsion than initially designed for.

In the case of retrofitting, the manufacturer of the original vehicle provides no warranty or assurance of its integrity as the fitment of non-original parts generally compromises the vehicle as it deviates from the original specifications for safety and other parameters.

The government focuses on supporting the mass production of new vehicles that can be distributed globally and meet stringent homologation requirements. Vehicle assemblers provide warranties on their originally-built vehicles and components thus giving consumers relative comfort and confidence that such vehicles are of acceptable and good standard.

 

a) In light of the above, government has collaborated with key stakeholders including vehicle assembler OEMs, Component Manufacturers and other stakeholders such as Research institutions in developing an EV White Paper that was published in December 2023. This White Paper seeks to create an environment supportive to investment for and production of electric vehicles and components in response to the global transition from ICE to EVs.

b) The National Treasury has announced through the Budget Speech on the 22 February 2024, the introduction of a tax support mechanism for EV production with effect from April 2026. Details of this tax support will be published in due course following the adoption of implementation guidelines.

c) EV manufacturing will in addition to the tax support also benefit from the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP). The APDP supports the manufacturing of vehicles on a completely knock-down basis and not retrofitting.

The objectives of the EV White Paper are to:

• Provide additional investment funding to attract investment in the local production of electric vehicles and components.

• Promote access for these locally produced vehicles to regional and global markets.

• Deepen the automotive value chain by promoting regional cooperation for the local beneficiation of critical minerals.

• Promote uptake of locally produced vehicles through fleets including government.

• Develop requisite skills to support the transition to electric vehicles through partnerships with industry and academic institutions.

(i) Ensuring safety standards is critical for the transition to EV production. Therefore, all EV vehicles will be homologated in line with applicable regulations of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS).

(ii) The vehicle component manufacturers represented by the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) are key stakeholders in the growth of the local automotive industry. Thus, they continued to be actively involved in the development of the framework for the transition to EVs. The component manufacturing industry accounts for the lion's share of jobs in the automotive industry, over 70% of the total employment in the automotive industry in 2022.

(iii) The success of the transition requires all stakeholders to continue to work collaboratively to navigate this challenging transition and transform it into an opportunity for growth, sustainability, and economic vitality. There is an established industry stakeholder engagement platform called the Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) to oversee the implementation of the SAAM 2035. Its mandate will be expanded to include overseeing the implementation of the EV White Paper. Therefore, there is a requirement for the active participation of additional stakeholders including those in Logistics (rail and electricity), technology developers (innovation, research, and technology commercialisation), EV support infrastructure (charging facilities providers, emergency services providers). It will also include those involved in marketing SA capabilities to position South Africa as a production and demand destination for EVs and related components.

(iv) Technology changes are at the core of this transition. This includes the introduction of new raw materials and components, while some ICE-specific components are expected to become obsolete over time. These changes in the supply chain are resulting in the re-organisation of the global value chain with the growing importance of locations that can supply EV-specific components.

(v) the dtic has collaborated with Research institutions and entities mainly as service providers during the development of the EV White paper which is the culmination of substantial research and engagement over the last number of years and follows the publication of a green paper in 2021, a process of receiving public comments, which have been integrated into the policy actions to be taken. This collaboration continues during the transition to EV production.

(2) The EV White Paper focusses on the manufacturing of electric vehicles and their components rather than on retrofitting used vehicles. This focus will mitigate potential job-losses due to the transition to e-mobility as EVs have fewer components and also ensure that South Africa remains a viable manufacturing location in the global setting.

The EV transition requires new certification programs and extensive reskilling to produce and use the associated new technologies. To this end, the industry has completed a Comprehensive Skills Gap Analysis that covers the Labour Market Analysis which gives the future occupations, and the Competency Analysis which gives the future competencies. To address the skills gaps, five roadmaps have been developed.

As part of the implementation of the roadmaps, MerSETA, the Department of Higher Education, and the automotive industry are developing the EV curriculum and certificate. The main beneficiaries will be young people with the automotive industry setting a target of 10 000 learnerships and apprenticeships by 2035.

-END-

Reply:

1. The Provincial Departments of Health had already advertised 823 since December 2023 and have reported projections of 1103 Medical Officer appointments by 1^st April 2024. In monitoring the progress and supporting the provinces, regular discussions are held between the National Department of Health and Provinces.

2. Additional budget of R3.7 billion has been allocated towards compensation of employees in the health sector for the financial year 2024/25 to address the wage bill increase and recruitment of additional staff including nurses and medical doctors.

END.