Questions and Replies

Reply:

(i) Ministry	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
a) Catering	0.00	0.00	0.00
b) Accommodation	332,786.78	0.00	0.00
c) Entertainment	0.00	0.00	0.00
(ii) Deputy Minister
a. Catering	0.00	0.00	0.00
b. Accommodation	514,163.56	40,843.43	179,559.59
c. Entertainment	0.00	0.00	0.00
(iii) Official of his department
a. Catering	140,637.33	60,205.34	37,312.53
b. Accommodation	2,877,798.90	349,562.74	600,764.83
c. Entertainment	0.00	0.00	949.00

Reply:

In responding to the Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development developed the National Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy (Annexure A) which was subsequently approved by Cabinet.

The Policy aims, amongst other things, to achieve the following:

• Provide a uniform, fair, credible and transparent process and criteria for the selection of beneficiaries for land allocation or leasing of state properties by:

• Establishing independent Beneficiary Selection Land Allocation panels to preside over the selection of suitable candidates for land allocation;
• Implementing a standardised national on-line land application system to ensure a fair and transparent process of beneficiary selection and the rationing of resources; and
• Creating a land application register for potential beneficiaries of land allocation.

• Ensure qualified, suitable and deserving candidates gain access to land on an equitable basis and that the selected beneficiaries have the appropriate skills and capacity to optimally utilise state properties.
• Ensure that special target groups of land reform beneficiaries (as outlined in the Policy) have access to land for purposes of agricultural production.
• To give effect to these controls, an on-line land allocation system has been developed. The system has a clearly define automated qualifying criteria through which the beneficiary selection must pass.

Reply:

1. Reporting of jobs created and maintained by a respective financial Intermediary is furnished by the Financial Intermediary through capturing such information on the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) Intermediary portal. The legal agreement between the sefa and the financial Intermediaries requires the financial Intermediaries to have supporting documents to support their developmental information (such as, application forms, FICA documents and signed contractual agreement between SMME and the Financial Intermediary) for verification by sefa and its external auditors.

The information is captured, verified and approved by the respective financial Intermediary before sefa authorises it on the system. It is therefore the Intermediary’s responsibility to ensure that correct and reliable information is shared with sefa

2. sefa has not picked up any inaccurate financial reports nor a claim or complaint of such that could have required intervention. sefa hereby confirms that the said financial Intermediary has repaid the facility in full, both Capital and Interest advanced under the agreement. The last payment received was on 12 October 2020. The relationship between sefa and the financial Intermediary ended when the loan was fully amortised.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

The expenditure on catering and entertainment relates to amounts incurred on refreshments for Departmental conferences, workshops, indabas, courses, forums, recruitment interviews, training sessions, hearings and management meetings. The amounts for catering in 2019/20 financial year was for external stakeholder meetings during the pre-Covid19 period.

The entertainment expenditure is for luncheon meetings held with colleagues, foreign delegations and/or other individuals from within or outside the public sector including dinner for meetings that go into late afternoon and evening.

The accommodation expenditure is for official trips, namely, domestic and international. These trips are to attend conferences, parliament briefings, bilateral meetings, visits to offices and for border deployment of officials to borderlines during festive/ Easter periods

The total amounts, in Rands, that have been spent on the following items since 01 April 2019 to 18 March 2022 are;

a)

CATERING	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
(i) Minister	R5 000	R0	R0
(ii) Deputy Minister	R0	R0	R0
(iii) Departmental	R1 904 427	R653 146	R569 386

b)
ENTERTAINMENT	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
(i) Minister	R30 565	R36 182	R15 342
(ii) Deputy Minister	R7 831	R3 927	R0
(iii) Department	R137 483	R48 046	R56 513
c)
ACCOMMODATION	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
(i) Minister	R987 411	R43 526	R200 525
(ii) Deputy Minister	R1 016 343	R582 630	R873 683
(ii) Department	R68 125 806	R28 414 197	R45 386 791

END

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Yes, the non-payment of leases by farmers due to lack of post settlement support is partially correct. However, there are other reasons listed below, which the Department is trying to address:

• non-availability of lease agreements has resulted to some extent, in farmers not paying rentals;
• there has been a culture of non-payment from some of the farmers, despite having received post settlement support;
• farmers were incorrectly categorised as 1 and 2 instead of Category 3; according to the State Land Lease and Disposal Policy (SLLDP), Categories 1 and 2 are not required to pay rental, only Category 3;

In order to correct, this situation the Department has embarked on the following actions:

• when the land development support implementation manual was revised, a condition to force farmers to have valid signed lease agreements was included to ensure that there is a legal contract in place to deal with non-paying farmers;
• the process of making sure that all farmers have valid signed lease agreements is underway;
• when farmers are provided with land development support, their categorisation is confirmed and if it is not category 3, the process to correct this is undertaken;
• review and alignment of the SLLDP with other Departmental policies is also paramount in dealing with this matter and other issues, and is expected to commence in the 2022/23 financial year; and
• as the officials conduct site visits to farmers who have received land development support, the latter are encouraged to pay their rental, since this money will assist in expanding the support to other farmers who are still awaiting development support.

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Yes, Mr. Classen was indeed in the farm on the joint venture arrangement known to the Department. Recently the relationship between the two parties has deteriorated and to that extent the department served Mr Classen with the eviction letter signed on the 1st of February 2022 whilst on the other hand the lessee has taken this matter to court.

In order to assist black farmers, the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development is using the policy and the condition stipulated in the lease agreement to ensure that farmers do not enter into any partnership without the consent of the Department. This is to ensure that any relationship that will be establish with anyone is fair and non-exploitive.

Paragraph 5.7 of the State Land Lease and Disposal Policy makes provision that “The Lessee shall utilise the Farm in line with standard farming practices and may not deviate there from substantially without the prior written consent of the Lessor, who shall exercise this discretion taking into account prevailing agricultural and business conditions”.

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In terms of section 160(d) of the Constitution, it is the mandate of the municipal council whether or not to approve borrowing. The National Treasury’s responsibility when a municipality decides to incur borrowing is set out in Section 46 of the Municipal Finance Management Act. In terms of that section, the National Treasury must submit written comments or representations in respect of the proposed borrowing. The National Treasury looks at a number of issues, including affordability, when providing written comments to municipalities. The National Treasury does not support instances where the borrowing is unaffordable for the municipality. Therefore, the municipality must have financial stability, and the planned borrowing must have been budgeted for before considering any borrowing.

Also, as emphasised in the Original Borrowing Policy framework passed by Cabinet in 2000, financiers/lenders are encouraged to perform their own due diligence assessments to ascertain a municipality’s creditworthiness. Financiers/lenders whose capital is at risk have both the incentive and the means to limit or deny credit if they doubt the sustainability of a proposed borrowing.

a) Project finance is part of the many funding mechanisms that have been identified in the 2017 Updated Policy Framework for Municipal Borrowing as mechanisms that are permissible within our current legislative framework. Municipalities can utilise project-based financing to fast-track infrastructure development; however, such a financing choice should be solely based on the strength of the municipality’s finances or the credibility of the assumptions and arrangements that inform the project package. Besides borrowing, municipalities may consider other funding mechanisms such as public-private partnerships to enable them to finance projects. In these types of transactions, the private party assumes the financial responsibility, amongst others, for the implementation of projects.

It is important to note that the updated policy emphasises that only creditworthy municipalities should borrow based on the strength of their balance sheets whilst encouraging responsible borrowing and lending. Therefore, municipalities deemed non-creditworthy (lack fiscal discipline and sustainable financial management; have no resources or capacity to repay the debt) should not borrow. This is further cemented by the principle of non-guarantee of municipal debt by neither provincial nor national government, as reflected in the updated policy and in section 51 of the Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA). Incurring a loan when a municipality is not in the financial position to repay the loan will add to a municipality’s financial problems.

Municipalities have not pursued project loan financing but rather use general loans to finance various projects. This is mainly due to the capability of these municipalities in preparing bankable projects that would attract financing and the financial support required for project preparation activities. To assist metropolitan municipalities with funding for project preparation, the Programme and Project Preparation Support Grant was established in 2021 to institutionalise an effective and efficient system of developing a pipeline of investment projects that would be financed by an array of financing instruments, including project-based loans. To this end, National Treasury will allocate R1.1 billion to metropolitan municipalities over the 2022 MTEF to support project preparation.

b) In addition, to assist some of the municipalities facing financial difficulties, National Treasury has institutionalised the Municipal Financial Recovery Services with the core objective of identifying and resolving financial challenges, with the City of Tshwane and Mangaung being part of the programme. Through the success of the Municipal Financial Recovery Service and other initiatives around revenue management, National Treasury hopes to achieve strengthened operating performance for some metropolitan municipalities, thus allowing them to access the market and pursue mechanisms such as project-based loan financing.

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The Republic of South Africa has no exposure to the Russian Federation in respect of a loans, grants, donations and other forms of support.

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The Republic of South Africa has no exposure to the Russian Federation in terms of a loans, grants, donations and other forms of support.

Reply:

1(a) Mr. Mogajane, speaking at a post-Budget event said the following:

“We have to remind our leaders – and I’m speaking as a South African – who are in government, in public service and politicians to get off your high horse and do what we have to do to ensure we create access and a conducive environment for people’s lives to change.

If that’s not going to be a motivating factor, we can start calling SA a failing state because the things that define a failing state are beginning to show, where we don’t care about the poor and improving their lives.”

Mr. Mogajane was expressing his personal view on the corrosive impact that corruption has had on the state’s capacity to deliver basic services and warning of the consequences if our leaders fail to take action.

A failed state is a widely understood to be one that has disintegrated to a point where a sovereign government no longer functions properly and therefore cannot execute its basic responsibilities and deliver a minimum standard of living.

Whilst there is no formal framework that the government uses to test whether it is a failing state or not, the state’s ability to perform its basic functions and deliver the requisite level of services to its citizens is monitored, evaluated and regularly commented on, as is the case in many democracies. Examples include the Auditor-General’s annual reports as well as the recent reports from the Zondo Commission.

(b) Unfortunately, no details of this were attached to the submission. Could the Honourable member please resubmit the question with the relevant information to enable us to respond.

2 The National Treasury reviews the economy's outlook and associated risks as quarterly GDP statistics are made available by the relevant authorities. The economic outlook is made publicly available twice a year in the Budget Review and MTBPS. Risks to the outlook are closely monitored and subsequent developments considered in future economic outlook updates. As noted in Chapter 2 of the 2022 Budget Review, emerging geopolitical risks contribute to elevated uncertainty over the medium term.

With respect to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the potential adverse effects to the South African real economy are likely to be fairly contained and mostly indirect if the conflict is not protracted. Historically, South Africa has recorded positive real GDP growth during periods when both Russia and Ukraine faced economic recessions, with the exception of global recession periods.[1] This suggests that the correlation between South Africa’s growth and Russia’s and Ukraine’s is not as strong, particularly during periods where economic movements are dominated by country-specific factors.

With the situation still developing and so much uncertainty, it is relatively difficult at this stage to quantify the potential impact with precision and confidence. However, South Africa’s trade statistics point to a very weak trade intensity between South Africa and Russia and Ukraine on aggregate. Less than 1 per cent of South Africa’s exported goods are destined for Russia and Ukraine combined. A similar number is reflected on inbound goods that are from both these countries. However, within certain industries, the trade exposure is more significant – such as exports of citrus, apples and pears products – where Russia is an important destination market.[2]

Despite relatively limited direct trade exposure to Russia and Ukraine, risks to the real economy could manifest through the import and export price channels given the importance of both countries in key energy and agricultural commodity markets. The persistent higher levels in these prices as suggested by the futures contracts[3] introduces renewed upside risks to the global and domestic inflation and interest rate outlook.

There are risks to the current assessment regarding the impact the conflict may have on South Africa. The risks largely depend on how long the conflict persists for.

1. For example, during the post-soviet market periods from 1994 to 1999 and during the Russia’s invasion of Crimea period, from 2014 to 2015. ↑

2. The diversion of volumes to other export markets or the domestic market could place downward pressure on prices and export earnings from the agriculture sector in 2022 following solid growth in the past two years. See: https://www.agbiz.co.za/content/open/14-march-2022-agri-market-viewpoint ↑

3. A futures contract is a standardised legal agreement to buy or sell something at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future. ↑

Reply:

The National Treasury are not custodians of the commercial contracts between South Africa and other countries. If and should there be any goods and services contracts entered by the SA government it will be with suppliers in Russia, and that level of detail is not available in National Treasury but in the departments doing business with such suppliers in Russia.

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The total amount in Rand that has been spent on (a) catering, (b) entertainment and (c) accommodation for (i) Minister, (ii) the Deputy Minister and (iii) officials of the department since 29 May 2019 to 16 March 2022 is R12 328 894.17

The breakdown is as follows:

a) Catering

1. Minister : R9 425.50
2. Deputy Minister : R2 311.05
3. Department : R1 091 326.99

Total : R1 103 063.54

b) Entertainment

1. Minister : R1 339.60
2. Deputy Minister : R0.00
3. Department : R0.00

Total : R1 339.60

c) Accommodation

1. Minister : R536 132.09
2. Deputy Minister : R489 473.23
3. Department : R10 198 885.71

Total : R11 224 491.03

Reply:

The applications from the SMMEs are funded from the University Technology Fund (UTF) a joint venture between University of Cape Town (UCT) and Stellenbosch University (SU). Although funded through UTF, they are managed by Stocks and Strauss. All the clients that they currently have, are leads from the university and none of them are from the townships. Using the SMMEs CK documents, Stocks and Strauss can pick up the location/address of the clients.

• Stocks and Strauss collects all the documents submitted when applicants apply for funding including the proof of addresses.
• A point of noting is that all the SMMEs funded under UTF are graduates or students of either UCT or SU.
• The criteria are that applicants must be registered or have been with these universities. This means that the University has all the information of the applicants. The Legal agreement stipulates that the identity of the students and applicants be protected.
• According to the legal agreement between sefa, UTF and other funders, the SMMEs should have an idea of the technology to be funded to qualify for funds.
• The idea is then conceptualised on paper at the pre-seed funding stage where sefa does not participate but only the SMME.
• Once the idea is approved for implementation, sefa then starts investing by paying for the legal costs to register the technology and investing in the venture/project. When conducting such exercise all the documents stated above are requested and protected for security reasons in line with the agreement.

The location of ventures/projects of such nature is therefore based on commercial viability and attraction.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

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(a) The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities spent R 994 955.80 on advertising for the 2020-21 financial year;

(b) The National Youth Development Agency spent R 1 891 696 on advertising for the 2020-21 financial year.

Reply:

(a), Government’s gross borrowing requirement is financed through the issuance of domestic short and long-term loans, foreign currency long-term loans and the use of cash balances. Domestic short (Treasury bills) and long-term loans (bonds) are issued to market participants in the primary market (primary dealers and other financial institutions) through weekly auctions. The market participants buy these bonds on behalf of their clients which include pension funds, foreign investors, insurers, monetary institutions, other financial institutions, and individuals to name a few.

Gross loan debt has increased from R2.5 trillion in 2017/18 to R4.3 trillion in 2021/22. Government has therefore borrowed an additional R1.8 trillion from both domestic and international investors.

Table 1. Domestic and foreign loans for the period 2017/18 – 2021/22

Figure 1 shows the ownership distribution of domestic long-term loans. The share of domestic bonds held by foreign investors declined to a 10-year low of 28.2 per cent by December 2021. Although these investors remain the largest category of domestic bondholders, risk aversion is rising due to global and domestic events. Other financial institutions and pension funds increased their holdings from 17.6 per cent and 22.4 per cent in 2020 to 20.1 per cent and 23.5 per cent in 2021 respectively. South African banks have been holding significantly more government debt because of weak demand for private credit and relatively high interest rates on government debt.

Figure 1. Ownership distribution of domestic long-term loans

Foreign currency long-term loans are raised through the combination of marketable loans - raised in the international capital markets - these foreign bonds are mostly bought by foreign institutions and are traded on the secondary market on the Luxembourg exchange. Non-marketable loans - concessional financing - includes borrowing from multilateral development banks (MDBs) and International Financing Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank, new development bank, African development bank and the International Monetary fund

Some of the loans from multilateral development banks includes but not limited to the following, which can be found in Table 7.5 of the Budget Review 2022.

(b), Detailed information about outstanding bonds, redemption dates, redemption amounts, and coupon rates can be found on the National Treasury's investor website.

Retail investors who purchase directly from the National Treasury take up the remainder of the loans. They consist of both individuals and co-operatives registered with the Co-operatives Banks Development Agency (CBDA). The terms and conditions of retail bonds are available on the retail bonds website https://secure.rsaretailbonds.gov.za/Home.aspx. Additional information about issued loans can be found in the annual debt management report on http://investor.treasury.gov.za/Publications/Forms/AllItems.aspx.

Reply:

No cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault were reported during the afore-mentioned period.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

1. A Financial Recovery Plan (FRP) is currently in place at Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The municipality adopted a voluntary FRP in July 2018 but unfortunately there was no evidence that the implementation of the FRP translated into any meaningful improvements on any of the key focus areas. Subsequently, a new FRP was developed following the Section 139(5)(a) and (c) mandatory intervention invoked in December 2019 by the Free State Provincial Government. The mandatory FRP was implemented in 2020.

2. The municipality’s collection rate remained below the treasury norm of 95 per cent throughout the period of FRP implementation with an average of 86 per cent achieved for the 2020/21 audited financial year. Whilst the collection rate is still below the norm there has been a slight improvement from the 60-70 per cent collection rate reported previously. This indicates that the targets on the FRP to improve the collection rate is not fully yielding the desired results.

In the main, overtime expenditure is a challenge as the municipality is failing to properly plan, manage and control overtime payments and therefore the municipality is continuously overspending on this item. The municipality still has arrear debt with BloemWater amounting to R747 million and there is a revised settlement agreement in place that the municipality needs to align with the FRP targets. In addition, the provincial government owes the Municipality an amount of R1.9 billion for rates and taxes.

The Mangaung Metro is one of 43 municipalities in the country that have been identified to be in financial and service delivery crisis necessitating a mandatory intervention. Since the Mangaung Metro is already subject to a mandatory S139(5) intervention by the Province, measures are being considered to escalate the intervention into a National S139(7) intervention. Preparations are already underway to commence with a Ministerial visit to the municipality in the 1st week of April 2022. This will also be followed with a special induction session for the municipal council in early April 2022.

Reply:

a) According to the reconciliation received from the SA Post Office, (SAPO) a total of 328 477 beneficiaries have yet to collect their grant from the first cycle which ended on 30 April 2021 and 442 602 from the second cycle which covers the period from August 2021 to March 2022. Approval has recently been provided to SAPO, in line with the Directions published on 10 February 2022, for beneficiaries from the first cycle to be paid their funds, should they report to the post office.

b) The access channels provided to beneficiaries of the R350 social relief of distress grant include bank ATMs where the beneficiaries request payment directly into their personal bank accounts, as well as through the post office. Currently, of the 10 563 123 approved beneficiaries, 42% collect their grants through the post office while 58% receive the grant in their own personal bank accounts.

In order to improve access to the grants distributed by the post office, additional channels through the retailers have been opened. The retailers currently participating are Pick & Pay, Boxer, Checker, Shoprite and Usave. Negotiations with the Spar group to also allow access to the relief grant are at an advanced stage and further announcements will be made shortly.

SASSA is also finalising the contracting with banks, to allow for the payment to be made to mobile phones. This channel will be available for the extension of the grant from April 2022 to March 2023.

These channels have all contributed to the significant improvement in reducing the queues at post offices, and provide a range of options for approved beneficiaries to be able to access their grants conveniently.

Reply:

a) The following tables reflects the (a) number of (i) calls, (ii) SMSs and (iii) USSDs received in each province,

TICKETS LOGGED AND REFERRED

PROVINCE	GBV	NON - GBV	REFERRED
Eastern Cape	287	383	37
Free State	204	261	25
Gauteng	2 654	3 049	318
KwaZulu - Natal	736	913	105
Limpopo	363	545	52
Mpumalanga	312	375	44
North West	245	304	34
Northern Cape	66	71	10
Western Cape	501	469	65
TOTAL	5 368	6 370	691

The statistics cited in the above table represent the number of tickets/files opened on the GBV Command Centre Information System.

(b)

GBV cases:

Abandoned Children, Abduction/Kidnapping, Assault, Bullying, Child Neglect, Child Pornography, Elderly Neglect, Emotional Abuse, Forced Initiation, Forced Prostitution, Hate Speech, Human Trafficking, Incest, Indecent Assault, Molestation, Physical Violence, Rape, Sexual Harassment, Stalking, Verbal Abuse Or Intimidation

Non-GBV cases:

Anger Management, Behavioural Problems, Child Adoption, Child Custody/Visitation, Child Maintenance, Counselling Death, Counselling Depression, Counselling Marriage & Relationships, COVID – 19, Economic/Financial Abuse, Funding, Home Affairs Related, Labour Dispute, Legal Advice, Matric, SASSA Grants, Substance Abuse, Other type of Incident

(c)

Number of individuals referred to:

1. Social Workers: 691
2. SA Police Service: 642

(d)

The Centre presently employs 48 Social Work Agents, 8 Social Work Supervisors, 2 Quality Assurers and 1 Centre Manager to operate and offer services to victims of Gender Based Violence.

(e)

	Baseline R'000	Compensation	Goods and services
GBV Comm Center	26 145	17 676	8 469

Reply:

(i) number of whole day downtime has been experienced by SASSA offices nationally over the past two years

The Socpen system downtime experienced started in May 2021 and the hours downtime was measured from September 2021. The system downtime was never more than three (3) hours per system incident or on any given day. Where it was longer than three (3) hours, it was linked to other contributing factors such as load shedding, electricity failures, network or server malfunction etc. The table below illustrates the downtime incidents per month as a consequence of the Socpen system. In each instance, the downtime did not exceed four to six (4 - 6) hours downtime per incident.

Month	Total Incidents
May	15
June	2
July	6
August	10
September	15
October	17
November	17
December	4
January	11
February	13
March	9
Total	119

(ii) are the causes of most of the downtimes

Some of the downtime can be linked to when verification of transactions using the Biometric solution was rolled out nationally. We are however, continuously monitoring the system to identify if there could be other causes.

Some of the downtime is attributed to other causes such as power failures, network or server malfunction.

(iii) What is being done to reduce and/or eradicate downtime

Currently Software AG and IBM who are respectively the product owners of the Mainframe Technology and MQ (Messaging and Queuing middleware) on which SOCPEN is running have been requested by SITA to assist with the investigation and resolution of the intermittent system downtimes.

In order to further eliminate some of the possible causes, on 15 March 2022 a system change was done on the Mainframe. Since its implementation, no downtime has been recorded. The implemented change is still being monitored on an ongoing basis until we are certain the problem has been resolved.

(iv) how old is the Socpen system?

The Socpen system is about 25 years old.

The Agency has a five (5) year target to replace the legacy systems, including SOCPEN. The implementation of new technology such as the online application and the SRD R350 systems, is a step towards achieving this target. This will amongst other opportunities, enable ease of integration and interface with other new technology systems.

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The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG), through the Municipal Infrastructure Support agent (MISA) is already supporting Msunduzi Local Municipality (MLM) through the deployment of professionally registered technical professionals, a Civil Engineering young graduate, as well as a Town Planning young graduate in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM), to ensure that internal capacity is created with time for optimal delivery of basic services infrastructure.

The MLM is also a beneficiary of two Presidential Economic Stimulus (PES) programmes that MISA is implementing viz the Labour-Intensive Construction (LIC) and the Innovative Solid Waste Management (ISWM). The LIC programme aims to instutionalise LIC methodology and training of municipal officials in an effort maximise creation of work opportunities during project implementation as well as operation and maintenance. The involvement of the local community in infrastructure development contributes, among other things, towards asset ownership, less vandalism and improvement in service reliability. The ISWM programme includes the following activities:

• • Waste Collection & transportation by appointed Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs):
  • Clearing and cleaning of illegal dumping sites:
  • Recycling and separation of waste at source:
  • Ward specific clean up campaigns:
  • 1000 participants working under the ISWM programme.

The above support to MLM is in terms of section 154 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 which provides that “the national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions.”

According to MLM, there is further support provided by government and public institutions. The KwaZulu Natal (KZN) COGTA support includes the deployment of several technical experts for infrastructure delivery, financial management, disaster management and for the revision of the Local Economic Development (LED) Plan. Eskom entered into a partnership agreement with MLM whereby Eskom committed to provide project management and training support to MLM. Umngeni Water also entered into an agreement with MLM regarding the Darvill sewer outfall pipe that requires urgent major repairs. The planning of the works is at an advanced stage.

Government has also taken other steps to support local government including MLM. DCOG together with MISA, all provincial departments responsible for local government and provincial treasury departments, under the leadership of the Minister of COGTA, prepared the State of Local Government (SOLG) report that was tabled and considered by Cabinet in June 2021. Cabinet’s resolutions on the SOLG report included that COGTA and National Treasury should lead the process of the development of the Municipal Support and Intervention Plans (MSIPs) in collaboration with sector departments, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), provinces and municipalities. MSIPs, including that of MLM, have since been prepared.

The implementation of MSIPs will be done in accordance with the DDM approach. The DDM approach includes the whole of government and all other interested and affected parties to plan, implement and monitor developmental work in all 52 district spaces that cover the whole country.

MLM is allocated infrastructure grant funding annually by national government that includes the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) to fund the implementation of basic services.

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I would like to inform the Honourable Member that recruitment and deployment of Environmental Health Officers are employed by the Department of Health (DOH) and local municipalities.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is an integrated service delivered by different departments and the roles and responsibilities thereof are clearly outlined in the National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy approved by Cabinet in 2015.

Reply:

1. (a) The number of municipal entities is 64.

(b) Municipal entities do not report to the Minister; however, the entities account to their respective parent Municipalities.

2. (a) and (b). The details of municipal entities are included in Annexure A, which contain list, names, audited and audit opinions of the municipal entities.

3. All entities fulfilled their reporting objectives except those that are dormant and Maluti a Phufong Development agency as per Annexure A referred above.

Reply:

a) The number of post office branches that have been closed in the past two years are as follows:

 

SUMMARY OF CLOSED BRANCHES
PROVINCE	2020	2021	Total
Eastern Cape	0	6	6
Free State	0	0	0
Gauteng	6	15	21
KwaZulu Natal	13	3	16
Limpopo	0	0	0
Mpumalanga	0	0	0
North West	0	0	0
Northern Cape	0	0	0
Western Cape	3	5	8
TOTAL	22	29	51

(b)(i) For the medium to long term SASSA is considering introducing payments through mobile phones as an added disbursement option to what is currently available for normal social grants. SASSA is also observing the developments on the Rapid Payment Programme (RPP) which forms part of the Reserve Bank’s vision 2025. Vision 2025 is a strategy initiated by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to modernise payment systems and, in turn, improve social and economic conditions for South Africans. A number of workshops have been held between SASSA and SARB to help SASSA gain some understanding on the RPP programme. It is our understanding that SARB has recognised that achieving this vision requires collaboration with other stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that are aligned with Vision 2025’s goals. These goals focus on developing payment systems that are transparent, secure, easy-to-use, financially inclusive, and flexible, so as to make it easier for more of the population to enter the digital economy.

Considering the current challenges experienced by Post Office, the Agency is no longer growing the customer base for Post Office with new Social Grant Beneficiaries. This decision was taken by the SASSA in 2020 to afford the Post Office an opportunity to review their systems and strategies going forward.

(ii) SASSA has institutionalised the payment of social grants as from 2018 when the contract with the previous service provider, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) came to an end. SASSA ensures that the social grant funds are paid into the beneficiaries’ Special Disbursement Accounts handled by SAPO and into beneficiaries’ private bank accounts on a monthly basis. SAPO only assists SASSA in providing access to the distribution networks for beneficiaries who utilise the SASSA/SAPO card to access their social grant. Of the approximately 7 million accounts opened within the SAPO environment for social grant beneficiaries, only 10% actually utilise the post office branches or cash pay points to access their funds. The remaining beneficiaries already access their grants through the National Payment System at bank ATM’s and merchant point of sale devices.

Reply:

1. Infrastructure maintenance plans are developed per service. To that end municipalities are considered to have infrastructure maintenance plans if the municipality has in place the full spectrum of infrastructure maintenance plans for all services. This implies therefore that if a municipality has a roads maintenance plan but does not have a water and sanitation maintenance plan, it is not regarded as having a full spectrum of infrastructure maintenance plans in place. It will be regarded as partly having infrastructure maintenance plans in place.

a) Infrastructure maintenance plans in place:

Province	Water & Sanitation	Roads & Stormwater	Energy / Electricity	Full Spectrum
Eastern Cape	11	17	7	7
Free State	4		7	4
Gauteng	4	8	4	4
KwaZulu Natal	10	37	20	20
Limpopo	7	5	3	3
Mpumalanga	10	11	7	7
North West	6	4	2	2
Northern Cape	15	12	11	11
Western Cape	21	24	17	17

Table 1: Infrastructure maintenance plans in place per service

b) (i) Implemented infrastructure maintenance plans implemented fully:

Province	Water & Sanitation	Roads & Stormwater	Energy / Electricity	Full Spectrum
1. Eastern Cape	7	11	5	5
2. Free State	2	7	5	5
3. Gauteng	3	7	3	3
4. KwaZulu Natal	7	28	15	15
5. Limpopo	5	3	3	3
6. Mpumalanga	7	7	5	5
7. North West	3	3	2	2
8. Northern Cape	11	10	9	9
9. Western Cape	19	19	13	13

Table 2: Infrastructure maintenance plans per service implemented fully

(ii) Implemented infrastructure maintenance plans implemented partly:

Province	Water & Sanitation	Roads & Stormwater	Energy / Electricity	Full Spectrum
1. Eastern Cape	4	6	2	2
2. Free State	2	4	2	2
3. Gauteng	1	1	1	1
4. KwaZulu Natal	3	9	5	5
5. Limpopo	2	2	0	0
6. Mpumalanga	3	4	2	2
7. North West	3	1	0	0
8. Northern Cape	4	2	2	2
9. Western Cape	2	5	4	4

Table 3: Infrastructure maintenance plans per service implemented partly

Summary:

• 75 municipalities across the country have a full spectrum of infrastructure maintenance plans:
• A total of 60 municipalities are fully implementing the infrastructure maintenance plans:
• 18 municipalities are partially implementing their infrastructure maintenance plans.

The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) provides technical support to low and medium capacity municipalities by deploying professionally registered technical professionals, in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM), to develop, review and implement infrastructure maintenance plans as part of the support package. MISA further endeavours to build a local government skills pipeline by placing young technical qualifications graduates and built environment learners so that internal capacity is created with time for optimal delivery of basic services infrastructure. This support is provided in terms of section 154(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Reply:

When Cabinet resolved to put the province under administration, it invoke section 100(1)(a) to provincial CoGTA department. The Section 100 intervention succeded to stabilise the the province in general, however musch still needs to be done to support municipalities to perform and deliver on their mandate. Directives were issued by the CoGTA Minister directing the MEC to review the organisational structure of Provincial CoGTA to be fit for purpose to support municipalities, other directives that related to failure in municipal governance, financial management and service delivery were passed over to municipalities by the MEC.

My department’s assessment of municipalities in the North West revealed that they are facing serious governance, financial management and service delivery challenges. Cabinet then resolved that section 154 support packages in the form of Individual Municipal Support Plans have to be developed. Multi-disciplinary Task Teams were established to monitor implementation. This process have been led by both MEC Finance and MEC CoGTA.

Post Local Government Elections Tswaing, Mamusa, Ditsobotla, Maqquassi Hills and Moses Kotane are facing serious challenges that negatively impact on service delivery. 

The Premier has established Political and technical teams that is by MEC for CoGTA, MEC for Finance and MEC for Community Safety in particular for Ditsobotla,Mamusa, Maqquassi Hills and Moses Kotane to deal with some criminal elemenst interferring with municipal services. Currently we are providing support to both Political and Technical structures that’s are engaging the municipalities in order to develop intervention plans.

 

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

According to available records from the North West Provincial Department of Social Development, there are currently fifteen thousand one hundred and one (15 101) orphaned learners receiving services.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

I have not been informed about the said assessment by the Msunduzi Business Forum (MBF).

According to Msunduzi Local Municipality (MLM), MLM is also not aware of any assessment or study that has been conducted by the MBF, but is aware of the following assessments done:

• The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) together with the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), all provincial departments responsible for local government and provincial treasury departments, under the leadership of the Minister of COGTA, prepared the State of Local Government (SOLG) report that was tabled and considered by Cabinet in June 2021. Cabinet’s resolutions on the SOLG report included that COGTA and National Treasury should lead the process of the development of the Municipal Support and Intervention Plans (MSIPs) in collaboration with sector departments, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), provinces and municipalities. MSIPs, including that of MLM, have since been prepared.
• The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Asset Management Care assessment that is currently underway.
• The KwaZulu Natal (KZN) COGTA assessment on electricity outages that was done in December 2021.

Government has adopted the District Development Model (DDM) to plan, implement and monitor developmental work in all 52 district spaces that cover the whole country. The DDM approach includes whole of government and all other interested and affected parties, including community forums.

To that end, the implementation of MSIPs will be done in accordance with the DDM approach.

Furthermore, DCOG, through MISA supports MLM through the deployment of technical professionals, in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM), to ensure that internal capacity is created with time for optimal delivery of basic services infrastructure. This is in terms of section 154(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

I do not have any information on the number of children denied access to the Child Support Grant due to lack of documents, including birth certificate. The Department’s policy position is that no child eligible for the child support grant should be denied access due to the lack of a birth certificate. In terms of Regulation 11(1) to the Social Assistance Act, 2004, SASSA has an obligation to accept applications for social grants, in cases where the critical documents, including birth certificates for the children involved, or identity documents for the care givers of the child are not available.

To this end, SASSA has put measures in place to ensure that such children are not penalised, but rather given the necessary assistance to access the child support grant. A total of 35 357 children are in receipt of a child support grant using a system generated number, that is provided by SASSA in cases where the child does not have a birth certificate, as at February 2022.

Reply:

(a) Section 48 (2) of the Children’s Act No. 38 of 2005 and Regulation 10 of the Regulations relating to Children’s Courts and Abduction, 2010 may be relied upon in respect of applications for late registration of birth of orphaned and/or abandoned children in cases where such registrations are made.

(i) Applications for late registration of birth of orphaned and/or abandoned children are not made in the name of a social worker. The Social Worker is recorded as an informant when making such application at the Department of Home Affairs.

(ii) The Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act 51 of 1992) and the Identification Act, 1997 (Act 68 of 1997) regulate late registration of birth of orphaned and/or abandoned children in the name of a relative caring for a child.

(b) According to Regulation 4 (2) of the Regulations on the Registration of Births and Deaths, 2014, a person who is next of kin or a guardian of a child qualifies to apply for late registration of birth of an orphaned child.

(c) A social worker must provide the following supporting documents to the Department of Home Affairs for a successful application of late registration of birth of an orphaned and/or abandoned child:

• A professional report.
• Form 7 of the Regulations relating to Children’s Courts and Abduction, 2010
• Form 8 of the Regulations relating to Children’s Courts and Abduction, 2010.

Supporting documents that a relative must provide to Department of Home Affairs for a successful application of late registration of birth of an orphaned and/or abandoned child are determined in terms of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act 51 of 1992) and the Identification Act, 1997 (Act 68 of 1997).

Reply:

Please refer to my reply to parliamentary question 1029 on the same subject.

Reply:

As the Honourable Member is aware, the matter in question relates to the Constitutional Court judgment against the Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs. I am therefore unable to respond to the question as it relates to the mandate of another Department.

 

Reply:

1. The National State of Disaster was terminated on the 4th of April 2022. This followed a process of consultations which included a consultation where my department was asked to get input from with sector departments whether they still needed the regulations under the NSOD.

2. The COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for all countries and governments to handle because of its novel nature. We were forced to learn how to deal with it as we went along and as the virus was and is continues to mutate. Having said that, there is no doubt that measures that were taken by government were necessary under the given circumstances and given the knowledge at its disposal.

The declaration of the National State of Disaster on 15 March 2020 empowered government to take the measures that prevented many more people from becoming severely ill and saved countless lives.

These measures were effective in slowing down the rate of infection, easing pressure on our hospitals, and providing the time we needed to develop the infrastructure, resources, and capacity to manage many people who became ill because of COVID-19.

All these measures were necessary not only to respond to the devastating effects of the pandemic on human health, but also to limit the great cost to society and the economy.

Reply:

1. What (a) policies and/or programmes does her department currently have in place to (i) promote gender equality (ii) mitigate climate change and

(a) (i) The Department approved a framework on gender equality and women’s empowerment in November 2017. The Policy is premised on the promotion and protection of human dignity and human rights of women. It takes cognizance of the role of the National Gender Machinery in promoting non-sexism particularly in relation to organisational transformation and change as well as their impact and management thereof. The policy goes ‘beyond just numbers’ and incorporates comprehensive intervention mechanisms aimed at mainstreaming gender into all departmental structures, policies, processes, and programmes. In line with the National Policy Framework on Women’s Empowerment and Gender (2000), the policy proposes a shift away from treating gender issues as ‘business as usual’, towards locating it at the epicenter of transformation and development within the Department.

(ii) The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meets annually to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify emerging challenges, set global standards for women’s rights and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women worldwide. The CSW66 theme of 2022, which was to engage on gender equality and empowerment of women in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction, is aligned to existing departmental policies.

(b) Benefits the department hopes to reap from the specified engagement

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the economic status of women and exposed women and girls to violence. South Africa’s election to serve in the CSW has come at the opportune moment when government seriously reviewed the status of women in the country. President Ramaphosa prioritised women financial and economic inclusion, leadership in political and social sphere, including addressing the challenges of gender based violence.

DIRCO also participated in the CSW66 to advance South Africa’s positions and national interest. The Department participated in order to ensure that the international norms to be developed are consistent with South Africa’s national policies, laws, and priorities. This year was therefore important to develop global policies and strategies that will consider the inclusion and empowerment of women when responding to climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies.

2. (a) What are the relevant details of her department’s top priorities for the time spent in New York?

South Africa argued that the social construct and marginalisation of women confines women economic activities to the periphery, especially in rural areas, where they are often the ones fetching water, gathering woods, fishing or farming land that is affected by floods and droughts. Meanwhile, their voices are often ignored in environmental planning and management. Therefore, women must be at the forefront to contribute to the climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as disaster risk reduction.

Issues that were highlighted during the Session should include:

• Burden of climate change and environmental disasters in developing countries is experienced by women and girls.
• Discussions should focus on sustainable development solutions that can improve the lives of women and girls.
• Gender bias of the impact of global warming is a reality and therefore women should be involved in solutions aligned with the decisions made at the UNFCCC.
• Access to land and productive resources for women is critical.

(b) What are the tangible outcomes that can be expected?

The Chairship of South Africa at CSW66 was successful. The discussions on the priority theme were timely as environmental changes, natural disasters and climate change have become the biggest threat that affect the most vulnerable, in particular women and girls.The outcome documents adopted were progressive and reaffirmed the women’s empowerment agenda in the context of climate change and disaster risk reduction. Member States highlighted that the CSW is not a climate change forum but one that focuses on women empowerment and gender equality. As a result, Member States managed to refocus the negotiations in line with women human rights agenda which aims to attain equality, empowerment of women and fight gender-based violence.