Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. (a) The Mabopane train station has been built prior to 1980, with the ownership falling under the South African Railway and Harbours Administration (SAR&H). During all the changes in administration, the land ownership has changed as set below.

The station comprises of two interlinked terminals: the railway terminal and the bus terminal. The railway terminal is located on land owned by PRASA and the bus terminal, at the time of construction, was locate on three land parcels:

(1) Portion 3 of Farm Rietgat No 611–JR

(2) Remainder of Farm Boekenhoutfontein No 236–JR

(3) Portion 266 of Farm Rietgat No 611–JR

Land parcel (1), was owned by the State and fell under the jurisdiction of Department of Land Affairs. The Department of Land Affairs agreed to donate this property to the South Africa Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC, currently PRASA). A recommendation to dispose the property was done in 2006 and was approved by the Minister of Land Affairs. National Treasury also granted approval to donate the land parcel to PRASA on 16 May 2007. The State Attorney was appointed to effect the transfer. To date, the transfer has not taken place, however, the State Attorney’s office is reopening the case and will complete the transaction.

In April 2000, Land parcel (2) and (3) were consolidated into a single property known as Farm Mabopane No 702–JR and registered via title deed T73872/2012 in favour of City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (City of Tshwane). According to the Department of Land Affairs, the City of Tshwane had agreed in principle to transfer the portion of land, on which the bus station is located, to PRASA.

In 2008, City of Tshwane transferred the remainder of Farm Mabopane No 702–JR, to Tutuni Investments 31 PTY LTD, No 2008/002145/07.

In 2012, Farm Mabopane No 702–JR, was subdivided to create portions 44 – 58. These newly created portions were registered in favour of various owners. On 28 September 2012, the remainder of the Farm reverted to the City of Tshwane via Title Deed T73872/2012.

Portion 52, which included the portion on which the bus terminal is constructed on, was surveyed via SG Diagram No 2683/2012 by Mr G Pettit (Professional Land Surveyor, PLS0913) and registered in favour of Tutuni Investments 31 PTY LTD, No 2008/002145/07 on 22 August 2012. Less than a month later, on 10 September 2012, the property was endorsed in favour of Permacorp Investments PTY LTD, No 2011/118721/07.

It needs to be noted that:

• The survey created a property cutting through a building, and
• Both transactions, registration of the remainder of Farm Mabopane No 702–JR and the portion 52 were handled by the same attorneys Maponya Incorporated.

(b) Portion 3 of Farm Rietgat No 611–JR (donation to PRASA) is with the State Attorney who was appointed to effect the transfer.

The ownership of a portion of Portion 52, on which the station is situated, is still in private ownership after having been transferred by the City of Tshwane in 2008, as stated above. The City of Tshwane committed that they would assist with resolving the issue around the land they sold but has not yet done so. The land must be urgently acquired, either through negotiations or expropriation.

2. (a), (b) and (c)

Project planning for the improvement and upgrade of Mabopane Station commenced during 2013/14. The zoning and land ownership issues was known by PRASA and the City of Tshwane. As the building was in existence and only to be upgraded, the construction team, relied on the provision of subsection 4 of the National Building Regulations and Building Standard Act 103 of 1997 which prescribes that:

“…in respect of any building to be erected by or on behalf of the State, such plans, specifications and certificate as may be prescribed by national building regulation, shall before the commencement of such erection be lodged with the local authority in question for its information and comment”.

Construction work therefore commenced on the basis of subsection 4 as set out above and no building plans were lodged for approval.

However, in 2018, PRASA lodged building plans for the Mabopane Concourse with the City of Tshwane to be considered and/or approved. Following submission of the plans, several meetings were held with the City of Tshwane’s Planning Department and the latter eventually communicated on 27 September 2019 that:

• the plans submitted to City of Tshwane’s Planning Department by PRASA cannot be supported,
• the Occupation Certificate cannot be issued due to the Station Precinct, stretching over a number of erven (Erf 611/43, Rietgat and the remaining extend of portion 3 and 52 of Rietgat) and
• the land parcels and rights is not supporting the current use.

3. There is currently a security contracts in place on the Mabopane – Pretoria corridor. Personnel has been deployed compromising of both PRASA internal security and those sourced through private security companies. To date, there has been no vandalism or crime incidents reported since the deployments.

4. PRASA has deployed 160 permanently employed security officers on the corridor. The private security contract expires in September 2022.

 

Reply:

 

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

The DBE has collated the information from the nine Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) in terms of the vacancies at both the provincial head office level and at the district level, together with the DBE, and the table below provides the summary:

Province	Head Office	District
Eastern Cape	36	67
Free State	5	10
Gauteng	43	5
KwaZulu Natal	72	174
Limpopo	8	10
Mpumalanga	13	14
Northern Cape	33	12
North West	15	3
Western Cape	44	2
DBE	11
Total	280	297

 These vacancies exist across the following functions:

(a) Printing, packing, distribution  and storage of question papers.

(b) Monitoring of the writing.

(c) Marking 

(d) Data Capture

(e) Certification

(f) School Based Assessment

(g) System Administration

(h) General administrative responsibilities

PEDs have appointed staff on contract basis and utilised staff from other Units to assist with the examination functions, so as to ensure that the examination functions are not compromised. 

Reply:

(a) The table below shows the vacancy rate for teachers (Post Level 1) in each province in terms of the latest available information which is at the end of December 2021.

PROVINCE	All PL1 Teachers	Number of PL1 vacancies	Vacancy rate
EASTERN CAPE	44 054	4 777	10.8%
FREE STATE	17 172	121	0.7%
GAUTENG	54 863	87	0.2%
KWAZULU/NATAL	72 037	2 237	3.1%
LIMPOPO PROVINCE	40 828	3 219	7.9%
MPUMALANGA	26 850	74	0.3%
NORTHERN CAPE	7 236	23	0.3%
NORTH WEST	21 786	89	0.4%
WESTERN CAPE	25 712	40	0.2%
Grand Total	310 538	10 667	3.4%

Source: Persal, December 2021

(b) There is currently no national policy/norms to create posts for teacher assistants. 

(c)The table below shows the vacancy rate for principals (Post Level 1) in each province in terms of the latest available information which is at the end of December 2021.

PROVINCE	Number of Principal Post	Number of Principal vacancies	Vacancy rate
EASTERN CAPE	5 190	1 032	20%
FREE STATE	1 069	55	5%
GAUTENG	2 215	355	16%
KWAZULU/NATAL	5 882	1 457	25%
LIMPOPO PROVINCE	3 732	850	23%
MPUMALANGA	1 676	325	19%
NORTHERN CAPE	556	108	19%
NORTH WEST	1 487	271	18%
WESTERN CAPE	1 525	334	22%
Grand Total	23 332	4 787	21%

Source: PERSAL December 2021 

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

A total number of 19 persons were arrested and three persons were prosecuted during the violent looting that occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, in July 2021, where schools were affected.

No person were arrested and prosecuted during the violent looting that occurred in Gauteng, in July 2021, where schools were affected.

Reply to question 336 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2022-02-28

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 01/03/2022

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

a) The contract with Muhlbauer ID Services was subsequently terminated on 26 July 2021. The SCM process was followed and the local suppliers (South African) were appointed to provide this service.

b) The total amount paid during the extension from 27 January 2021 to 26 July 2021 amounted to R 8 million which was within the variation threshold (15%/ R15 million) provided by the National Treasury.

Reply:

Maintenance activities are carried out continually on the N12 and there is a dedicated Routine Road Maintenance team working on the road. Most of the N12 road under SANRAL jurisdiction is in a good condition.

There is a sinkhole that developed on the N12 near Stilfontein in the North West province. The sinkhole on the road reserve has affected both SANRAL and municipal land. To address this, SANRAL appointed consulting engineers who completed the required design work. For construction work to commence, SANRAL requires that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) be entered into between itself and the Matlosana Local Municipality. SANRAL is in constant communication with the Matlosana Local Municipality to finalise the MOA.

SANRAL has gone out on public tender for the appointment of a contractor to repair the sinkhole but cannot complete the award of the construction tender until the MOA is finalised.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

(a) (b) (c) 

The Department of Basic Education is not aware of the correspondence referred to. 

Reply:

The total cost for fuel, tyres, oil and repairs for the official vehicles from May 2019 to December 2021 is R 1 035 615.32.

The cost for E toll from May 2019 to October 2021 is R47 500.00.

The total cost for fuel, tyres, oil, repairs and toll fees is R1 083 115.32.

Reply:

Educators Recruitment Database is one of several sources of supply for the recruitment of educators. The Department provides the database as a service to districts and schools to access as one of the sources of supply to widen the pool of potential recruits to a national level. The Department does not actively manage the database as a placement service and therefore does not keep record of recruitment and actual placement from the database.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

(a) At the inception of Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative, Provincial Departments of Education identified schools dependent on basic pit toilets.

• A total of 3898 schools were identified at the time.
• Subsequent to that, some schools were closed as part of rationalisation and the sanitation at some schools were addressed under other programmes.
• At present, there are 2814 schoosl on the SAFE programme.
• Of these 2814 schools, the upgrading of sanitation has been completed at 1564 schools.
• The balance of the schools are scheduled for completion by the end of 2022/23..

(b)The Department of Basic Education is currently engaging with Provinces to establish whether such Provinces became aware of additional schools dependent on basic pit toilets.  Early indications are that there are some additional schools in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

The office of the Minister did not receive the correspondence referred hereto. There is nothing to be brought to attention of the Minister as the correspondence is non-existent

Reply to question 165 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 01/03/2022

Reply:

 

The South African Police Service (SAPS) does not escort the money wagons of private security companies

Reply to question 278 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2022-02-28

MINISTEROF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE
Date: 01/03/2022

Reply:

1. There are no officials that received a combined salary increase of 88% in the past three years at the DLCA. The salary payments to the executives at the DLCA are provided below in line with the figures audited by AGSA and published in the audited Annual Performance Report of the Entity. All payments to staff at the DLCA are regulated by the Department of Public Service and Administration.

a) In 2018/2019 financial year, the top four executives earned a total of R3,404,000. The average was R 851,000 each. This average is distorted by the executive who worked only two months in the year and resigned. The average for the three executives excluding the resigned manager is 1,098,000.

b) In 2019/20 financial year, there were three (3) executives, who earned a total of
R3,104,000. This resulted to an average of R 1,035,000 each.

c) In 2020/21 financial year, there were three (3) executives, who earned a total of
R3,196,000. The average was R 1,065,000. The difference is due to the fact that the CFO did not act for 12 months.

Executives	2018/'19	2019/'20	2020/'21
Former CFO	178,000	Resigned	Resigned
Acting CFO	1,038,000	927,000	1,016,000
Senior Manager: Information Technology	109,000	Resigned	Resigned
Senior Manager: Production & Infrastructure	1,061,000	1,107,000	1,111,000
Senior Manager: Risk, Governance & Compliance	1,018,000	1,070,000	1,069,000
Total	3,404,000	3,104,000	3,196,000
Average	851,000	1,034,667	1,065,333

2. Refer to (1) above

3. Refer to (1) above

4. Refer to (1) above

5. Although the DLCA executives would appreciate the salary increase of 7.3%, all salaries paid to the DLCA executives are aligned to the DPSA directive of which in 2020-21 financial year no increases were paid to the executives/ senior managers.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

 

Reply:

Question 1: The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has a number of programmes and/or workshops that intend to upskill and improve the professional development of teachers nationwide. Together with provinces, DBE developed a three-year plan which highlights all national priority programmes. These programmes and implemented by all provinces and monitored quarterly by the Department.  The success of these programmes is monitored by subject advisors as they regularly visit schools. Tracking of learner participation and performance in provinces through the NSLA has an indirect way of assessing teacher programmes.  The DBE has further just developed impact assessment tools which will used as from 2022 to determine the impact Teacher Development programmes.

Question 2: The Department has 133 District Teacher Development Centres and 9 Provincial Teacher Development Institutes which are used as hubs for Continuing Professional Teacher Development. The DBE also collaborates with Teacher Unions to deliver DBE priority programmes. The Department further works with the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) to delivery the Primary School Reading Programme to General Education and Training (GET) teachers. A number of partners such as Sasol Foundation for Coding and Robotics,  Siyavula for Maths and Sciences, Cisco, SchoolNet and Vodacom for ICT programmes and Higher Education Institutions such Wits and University of Johannesburg in ICTs and Maths programmes and UNISA for Coding and Robotics.

Question 3: As indicated in Question1, the Department will share the 3- year plan for Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD). The Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) have a range of programmes covering a wide scope of subjects and grades. Some of the DBE initiated programmes are

* Support for Further Education and Training (FET) Accounting and Economics teachers

* Support for Senior Phase Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

1) It needs to be understood that the application of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI), Act 4 of 2013, in its current context, is new and there are no settled interpretations to some of the clauses in the Act.  The Department therefore, consulted extensively on this matter, specifically with regard to whether the examination numbers of candidates constitutes the personal information of the learner, before a decision could be made.  Besides the legal advice that was sought on this matter, the DBE also engaged the Information Regulator on this matter, both in writing and in meetings. 

The DBE was reminded by the Regulator that the Department could be penalised if found to be violating the prescripts of the POPI Act.  Therefore, the DBE adopted the cautious approach not to publish the results of the 2021 candidates in the media, and use this year to investigate this matter more thoroughly and extensively, to ensure a more considered and fully explored option is implemented for the Class of 2022.  This position was adopted in consideration that no candidate would be disadvantaged, given that the complete results of the candidates were available at the school, on the morning of the release under supervised conditions, and also the results were available on the DBE website.          

(2) There was certainly no embarrassment to the Department, given the fact that this matter was open to different legal interpretations.  We therefore, had no issue in complying with the order of the court.  In terms of future years, through the learner application forms, we will obtain from each Grade 12 learner and their parents, their individual consent with regard to the publication of their results in the media at the end of this year.     

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

No, currently there are no plans to build a police station, in Gastrow, Gordon’s Bay, as it does not form part of the Top Ten priorities of police stations to be constructed between 2022/2022 and 2025/2026, in the Western Cape Province.
 

1. Not applicable
2. (i)(ii)(iii) Not applicable

Reply to question 364 recommended

 

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SREVICE
KJSITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2022-02-28

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 01-03-2022

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities procured officials vehicles for the Minister and the deputy minister as follow:

	Minister	Deputy Minister
(a)	Audi	Audi
(b)	Q5 2.0 TDI S TRONIC SPORT	Q5 2.0 TDI S TRONIC SPORT
(c)	2020	2020
(d)	R690 000.00	R690 000.00
(e)	06 January 2020	06 March 2020

Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date 28/02/2022

Reply:

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION:

Name of institution	(i) (ii)	(i) (ii)	(c)
	(aa)	(bb)	(cc)	(dd)	(aa)	(bb)	(cc)	(dd)
					R’000	R’000	R’000	R’000
DSI	None	None	None	None	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Not applicable.
CSIR	148	34	21	140	3,203	386	62	73	84% of the invoices were settled during January 2022. 16% of the invoices will be paid by 28 February 2022 (unless there is an unresolved issue regarding delivery of the product/service).
TIA	None	None	None	None	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Not applicable.
SANSA	23	5	5	14	73	1,034	3	1,320	The invoices will be settled by 28 February 2022.
HSRC	6	4	4	0	65	40	22	0	The invoices will be settled as soon as outstanding queries are resolved.
ASSAf	None	None	None	None	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Not applicable.
NRF	14	33	11	2	348	115	18	5	The invoices will be settled by 28 February 2022.

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

Based on information received from the Department in response to Parliamentary Question 798, details are accordingly provided as follows:

The attachment provides details pertaining to outstanding invoices that have not been paid within the requisite 30-day threshold. These invoices are currently disputed with the respective suppliers, as the Department is of the view that they are too high. The latter payments therefore, can only be settled once suppliers have resolved individual disputes duly supported by relevant evidence. All correspondence related to engagements with suppliers is retained by the Department for record purposes.

Based on information received from the Public Entities reporting to the Department *details are also accordingly provided in the attachment. At the time of providing the required information, responses were received from 24 of the 26 Entities.

Reply:

(a) 

(i) Department of Basic Education

(aa) 30 days,  - 5

(bb) 60 days, - 2

 (cc) 90 days - 0

 (dd) 120 days,- 5

 

 (b) what is the total amount outstanding in each case:

 

No.	Order No	Amount
1	OR-013041	R24 909,00
2	OR-013070	R15 715,90
3	OR-012896	R4 218,20
4	OR-012347	R5 043,90
5	OR-012537	R2 314,38
6	OR-012733	R3 769,65
7	OR-012996	R10 301,62
8	OR-012708	R12 105,27
9	OR-012668	R9 078,95
10	OR-012742	R18 157,91
11	OR-012725	R12 105,27
12	OR-012816	R583 239,30
13	OR-012925	R16 883,00

(c) by what date is it envisaged that the outstanding amounts will be settled?       

• 15 March 2022  

               

(ii) UMALUSI - See Annexure A Response received from UMALUSI 

 (aa) (bb) (cc) (dd), (b) and (c) 

 

SACE See Annexure B Response received from SACE 

  (aa) (bb) (cc) (dd), (b) and (c) 

Reply:

There are no new cars for Minister and her deputy purchased since 29 May 2019. However, below are details of their current cars:

(a) What is the (a) make:
    (i) Mrs. AM Motshekga, MP Minister
        1. BMW - Cape Town
        2. Mercedes Benz – Pretoria

    (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister
        1. BMW - Cape Town
        2. AUDI - Pretoria

(b) Model
    (i) Mrs. AM Motshekga, MP Minister
        1. 535i Sedan
        2. GLE 500
    (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister
        1. 530
        2. Q7 3.0 TDI Quatro

(c) Year of Manufacture
     (i) Mrs. AM Motshekga, MP Minister
        1. BMW - 2014
        2. Mercedes Benz - 2016
    (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister
        1. BMW - 2018
        2. AUDI - 2018

(d) Price
    (i) Mrs. AM Motshekga, MP Minister
        1. BMW - R769,022.76
        2. Mercedes Benz - R849,900.00
    (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister
        1. BMW - R833,488.41
        2. AUDI - R1,015,702.05

(e) Purchase Date of vehicle
    (i) Mrs. AM Motshekga, MP Minister
        1. BMW - 23 September 2014
        2. Mercedes Benz - 26 October 2016
    (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister
        1. BMW - 28 March 2018
        2. AUDI - 13 December 2018

Reply:

With the first iteration of the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, SASSA entered into contracts with banks to provide the cash send / mobile money transfer channel for approved applicants who chose this payment option. The reinstatement of the grant was only published in the Government Gazette on 3 August 2021, a month after the expiration of the contracts with the banks. As a result, SASSA had to follow a new procurement process.

SASSA got approval from the National Treasury to follow a closed tender process, directed at banks registered in South Africa only. This process was concluded in December 2021, with only 4 banks of the more than 20 banks in South Africa passing the tender processes. Work is currently underway to conclude the detailed contracts with the banks to be able to provide the cash send payment option.

Since the banks are also contracted to provide a means test for reconsideration of declined applications, SASSA approached the National Treasury for approval to negotiate with the remaining banks, as the service required is not based on competitive bids, but rather the intention is to include as many banks as possible. This will ensure that the most accurate decisions possible are made for applications for the grant. This process is underway.

Despite the mobile money transfer option not being operational at this stage, all applicants for the SRD grant who chose the money transfer method of payment were contacted in order to either provide bank account details, or opt to be paid through the post office, so as not to delay the payments of the approved applicants.

 

Reply:

a) R 961 242 959.16 is the total amount that has been paid to BT Communications

b) The owners of BT Communications are:

• BT Limited owns 70%

The Company Directors as per the Central Supplier Database for BT Communications are:

1. Abdula Khalid
2. Naidoo Presantha
3. Thomas Brian Keith
4. Ah Sing Chantelle
5. Shihabi Eyad
6. Delport Bertrandt
7. Dzvova Valentine Colleta

• Kilomix Investments (Pty) Ltd owns 30%

 

Reply:

a) The table below reflects the 2022 enrolment targets for first-time entering undergraduate students at the 26 public universities.

INSTITUTION	Enrolment Target
Cape Peninsula University of Technology	7 695
Central University of Technology	4 677
Durban University of Technology	9 595
Mangosuthu University of Technology	3 516
Nelson Mandela University	7 000
North West University	12 869
Rhodes University	1 434
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University	992
Sol Plaatje University	1 467
Tshwane University of Technology	14 448
University of Cape Town	4 075
University of Fort Hare	4 290
University of Free State	8 100
University of Johannesburg	10 200
University of KwaZulu-Natal	8 761
University of Limpopo	5 310
University of Mpumalanga	2 300
University of Pretoria	7 903
University of South Africa	58 012
University of Stellenbosch	5 603
University of the Western Cape	4 550
University of Venda	3 474
University of Witwatersrand	5 569
University of Zululand	4 118
Vaal University of Technology	5 139
Walter Sisulu University	7 200
Total	208 299

b) Students are encouraged to sign-up with the Central Applications Clearing House (CACH) so that firstly they can be considered for spaces available at the other universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Secondly, students will also be considered for spaces available for integrated work learning. The Department is engaging with several organisations to see if the CACH database could be used for the filling of learnerships and apprenticeships.

Reply:

The African Union (AU) and its member states strongly uphold the implementation of the provisions of the Lomé Declaration of July 2000 on the Framework for the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) response to unconstitutional changes of Government, and the related instruments for responding to unconstitutional changes of government. The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) is the principal organ within the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) to promote peace and security on the Continent, which includes addressing unconstitutional changes of government.

The APSA also embodies the principles of subsidiarity and complementarity. The APSA relies on the respective Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) to take the lead in the regions, including in addressing coups d’états, with the PSC following up. This was done in every case where a coup occurred in the last year, including Mali, Guinea Conakry, Sudan, and Burkina Faso, which have all been suspended from the AU. At no time has the AU ever suspended four member states in one year for the same reason, that of unconstitutional changes of government.

The Report of the Peace and Security Council of the AU on its activities and the state of peace and security in Africa presented at the February 2022 AU Summit, as well as the numerous interventions by Heads of State and Government in the course of the deliberations, addressed the surge in unconstitutional changes of Government. The coups were unanimously and strongly condemned. These actions demonstrate that the AU and its members are committed to implementing the provisions of the AU Constitutive Act, the Protocol Relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, and the Lomé Declaration, as well as all related instruments, in the quest to promote democracy, good governance and the rule of law on the Continent.

South Africa will assume a two-year seat on the AU Peace and Security Council on 1 April 2022 and will work steadfastly for the effective use of the APSA, including the powers of the PSC.

 

 

Reply:

a) SASSA engaged 7 banks for the first iteration of the Special COVID-19 SRD grant (May 2020 to April 2021). This was specifically for the purposes of means testing reconsideration of declined applicants.

(i) ABSA; First National Bank, Nedbank, Standard Bank; Postbank; Tymebank and Capitec. The contracts expired on 31 July 2021, prior to the implementation of the new iteration of the SRD grant.

SASSA then followed a closed tender process to contract with banks again. To date, no contracts have been finalised with any bank. Currently, contracts are being finalised with ABSA, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Grindrod Bank for the provision of means testing and mobile money transfer services, as these banks passed through the tender process. Approval to negotiate with other banks who did not pass through the tender process for the means testing services, approval is being sought from the National Treasury.

(ii) No outstanding appeals for the first iteration of the SRD grant. With regards to the second iteration, the number of outstanding appeals are as follows:

2021:

August 984 702

September 711 017

October 570 111

November 416 234

December 302 302

2022:

January 141 010

(Please note that the window to request reconsideration is still open for January 2022, so these numbers may still increase. Reconsiderations must be lodged within 30 days of the applicant having received the outcome of their application.

b) The requirement to assess income on reconsideration is set in the Directions for the SRD grant. This is the only means through which SASSA can electronically validate the assertion by the applicant that he/she does not have financial support from any other source. Despite the delays in finalising contracts with the banks, all reconsiderations will be attended to. Once concluded, the contracts will remain in place until end of March 2023. This will enable SASSA to effectively deal with all backlogs.

Reply:

The nature of The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation’s relationship with BT Communication is none other than the contractual relationship regarding the services provided by the company – BT Communication.

Also, the department’s officials have no special relationship other than that of a contractual one.”

The services rendered by BT Communications to the Department of International Relations and Cooperations is to provide, maintain and support a global managed Wide Area Network Infrastructure for information and communication technology

 

Reply:

i) DSD

a) Two (2) suppliers remain unpaid, 5 invoices

(aa)                 One (1)           – R 591 712.00        

(bb)                 Two (2) – R 890 212.00

(cc)                  One (1) – R 606 202.00

(dd)                 One (1) – R 682 872.00  

b) Total value of R2,770 million

c) The payments for all invoices have been actioned and the settlement date will be 22 and 24 February 2022. 

ii) SASSA

One of the performance indicators SASSA is measured against is 100% supplier payments within 30 days.

SASSA has achieved this indicator since April 2020 to date where all suppliers were paid within 30 working days.

iii) NDA

The NDA processed a total of 605 invoices to the value of R54,86 million, for the financial year to the end of January 2022.

a) The NDA has no supplier that has not been paid.

During this period:

aa) 604 suppliers were paid within 30days

bb) 1 supplier paid within 60 days

cc) no supplier not paid in 90days

dd) no supplier not paid in 120 days

b) The NDA does not have any outstanding payment due to any of its suppliers.

Reply:

No (a) Not applicable (b) Not applicable (c) Not applicable

Reply:

a) (i) My Department does not have supplier invoices currently remain unpaid for more than (aa) more than 30 days (bb) more than 60 days (cc) more than 90 days (dd) more than 120 days         Nil Nil Nil Nil b)) Total amount outstanding: (aa) more than 30 days (bb) more than 60 days (cc) more than 90 days (dd) more than 120 days         Nil Nil Nil Nil c) By what date is it envisaged that the outstanding amount will be settled (aa) more than 30 days (bb) more than 60 days (cc) more than 90 days (dd) more than 120 days         N/A N/A N/A N/A

Reply:

a) SASSA has a cleaning contract with the company in question which was awarded in April 2022. This contract was not part of the SIU investigation. The contract that the Honourable Member is referring to in which the company was implicated in fraudulent activity relates to the procurement of food parcels under the state of national disaster. The final SIU investigation report became available early this year. The SIU will institute civil proceedings against this company in respect of the food distribution contract.

An investigation was conducted internally against the official and when no evidence of wrong doing was found, the matter was referred to the HAWKS for further investigation. The outcome of the investigation will determine the disciplinary action, including the current contract.

Reply:

The Honourable member should note that the response to question 37 of 2022 still stands.

Reply:

1. SASCOC’s Constitution / Policy and position is very clear in relation to provision of equal incentives for any athlete who medals at multi-coded events. Discrimination of any form is not tolerated within the Organisation.

2. I as the Minister, I serve all South Africans from all walks of life, race, class or gender is not an issue to me and the political party I belong too.

SASCOC does not tolerate or practice a system of discrimination based on one or more grounds. This includes but not limited to race, gender, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, or HIV and AIDS status. We also subscribe to the IOC Charter, the Constitution of SA and the SASCOC Constitution in this regard.

Reply:

1. The media reports were incorrect, the correct message was that we were working with our Stakeholders such as the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and National Lotteries Commission to provide incentives. This was also clarified at a media conference that was held after the Games (August 2021).

2. The amount budgeted and paid out by DSAC & NLC was R4.40m.

Reply:

a) I received the preliminary report in December 2021 and the final report last month.

b) Upon receipt of the final report, I made it available to the implicated officials to allow them an opportunity to state their cases in response to the SIU investigation and findings as required by law.

c) The Department had a meeting with the SIU investigators to discuss the report and to seek clarity. The SIU offered its assistance to the Department as it initiates the process to take the necessary disciplinary action against the implicated officials.

Reply:

The question is vague and a corresponding letter provided was not signed and lacks clarity, so we could not get a full insight on this question.

Reply:

The Inter-Ministerial committee has had regular engagements with the trucking industry, unions, interested organisations representing foreign drivers and senior officials in government. The resolutions taken so far are to increase inspections within the industry by the departments of Labour and Home Affairs, to work on policy changes within the respective departments legislation and to continue to build consensus and cohesion within the sector.

END

Reply:

1 (a) The OPG means test formula was last reviewed on 01 April 2011. The formula however is linked to the value of the grant, which is reviewed annually, based on the budget allocated for the grant.

(b) Provision is made for annual inflation related adjustment to all social grants, including the Old Age Grant. However, in recent years, due to fiscal constraints, and budget cuts across government.

(2) The means test assesses the income and assets thresholds of both a single and a married applicant, and does not consider the number of household members. One of the policy proposals in the Discussion Paper on Comprehensive Social Security is to align the means test criteria with the criteria for tax thresholds, and progressively move towards universalisation of all social grants. With regards to dependants of applicants, the Department’s policy is to provide individually for them. For example, if there are children in the household of the applicant, the caregiver can access the Child Support Grant. If there are dependants who have a disability, they can access the Disability Grant, and if there are adult dependants, they can access Social Relief of Distress.

(3) There is no such a thing as “blanket refusal” because every application is subjected to policy provision, including the means test.

(4) Yes, Section 18 of the Social Assistance Act (Act 13 of 2004) makes provision for applicants whose application has been declined to may appeal SASSA’s decision with the Independent Tribunal for Social Assistance Appeals.

Once again, I would like to reiterate that there is no such thing as “blanket refusal” as every appeal is assessed on a case-by-case basis. The same qualifying criteria provided for in the Social Assistance Act are used to assess the appeal cases. The 2021/2022 threshold for the Old Age Grant is as follows:

• R 87 720 for and individual
• R175 440 for a couple

The asset threshold for the OPG is:

• R 1 247 400 for an individual, and
• R 2 494 800 for a couple.