Questions and Replies

Reply:

The South African Revenue Service, in processing all refunds, will always seek to balance the protection of the fiscus from illegitimate refund claims and the optimal processing of all those refunds that are legitimate. This balance is further enhanced when considering that more than R50bn in illegitimate refunds are prevented from flowing out of the fiscus every year.

SARS has for the period ending 31 December 2021 paid R193bn in refunds of which 72% (R138bn) was paid within 21 days. It is worth noting that almost 80% of all refund claims are paid without audit or verification thus confirming our compliance theory that most taxpayers are honest and want to meet their tax obligations fully. The remaining 20% is the combination of those taxpayers who make genuine errors as well as those who unfortunately seek to defraud the fiscus. It must be noted that the law does not prescribe a minimum period for the completion of an audit or verification, therefore rendering the notion of overdue refunds a misnomer in law. However, SARS has committed to various turnaround times in its service charter in line with the desire to provide superior service to taxpayers.

The following table reflects the number of VAT credit returns submitted since March 2019 with total value and a column indicating credit balance in relation to those submissions. Some of the credits submitted will be outstanding and are reflected in the rolling credit balance. As can be generally noted on the percentage unpaid refunds, the amounts yet to be paid for these periods are much less than the original submission.

It must be noted that the unpaid refunds column is inclusive of all statuses i.e. cases where supporting documents have been requested and vendors have not submitted to date. Such vendors are categorized as Continuous Noncompliant (CNC). To date, SARS has over R11.5bn CNC cases for VAT which largely cannot be processed until the taxpayer responds to the SARS query.

As can be noted on the table, there is an increase in value of unpaid refunds from March 2021 onwards as reflected in the current balance per month which is in line with the increased number of return submissions and values coupled with an increased focus on the risk mitigation against refunds fraud (this focus in risk mitigation has resulted in R59 billion revenue protection across all tax refunds in current fiscal year). This is to ensure that SARS maintains the balance of protecting the fiscus from illegitimate refund claims whilst processing legitimate refunds. It must be noted as well that there are challenges experienced in matching the available capacity and the generated case load as the risk system responds to compliance risks that are inherent in the filed returns.

SARS at any given time will have amounts outstanding on refunds for a number of reasons including the following:

1. Audit within 21 days amounting to R8.5 billion,
2. Audit above 21 days amounting to R20.6 billion,
3. Continues Non-Compliant CNC) amounting to R9.1 billion, *
4. Suspected fraud amounting to R0.369 billion,
5. Outstanding Returns amounting to R1.8 billion, and
6. Invalid Banking details amounting to R0.5 billion.

* CNC includes cases where SARS is awaiting taxpayer response on long outstanding documents having granted in excess of 35 days for taxpayer to respond.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

(1) The South African Revenue Service, in processing all refunds, will always seek to balance the protection of the fiscus from illegitimate refund claims and the optimal processing of all refunds that are legitimate. This balance is further enhanced when considering that more than R50bn in illegitimate refunds are prevented from flowing out of the fiscus every year.

SARS has for the period ending 31 December 2021 paid R193bn in refunds and 72% (R138bn) was paid within 21 days, furthermore it is worth noting that almost 80% of all refunds claims are paid without audit or verification interventions thus confirming our compliance theory that most taxpayers are honest that want to meet their tax obligations fully. The remaining 20% is the combination of taxpayers who make genuine errors as well as those who unfortunately seek to defraud the fiscus. It must be noted that the law does not prescribe a minimum period for the completion of an audit or verification process, therefore rendering the notion of overdue refunds a misnomer in law however SARS has committed to turnaround times in its service charter in line with the SARS desire to provide superior service to taxpayers in order to bring about clarity and certainty on their affairs

 

Yes, SARS has some refunds that are outstanding. SARS at any given time will have amounts outstanding on refunds for a number of reasons, key amongst these reasons are 1) SARS is at various stages of the audit and verification process and 2) Taxpayer related issues including invalid banking details, instances of outstanding documentation where SARS has communicated in more than one instance with the taxpayer requesting such supporting documentation (these are continuous non-compliance cases) as well as instances of suspected fraud by the taxpayer. The sectorial view of the balance of refunds in audit in excess of 21 days is as follows:

Industry	Vendors	Sum of Balance
AGENCIES AND OTHER SERVICES	11718	-R 3,485,040,995.02
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHING	11228	-R 2,032,265,989.44
BRICKS, CERAMICS, GLASS, CEMENT AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS	338	-R 52,091,107.65
CATERING AND ACCOMMODATION	1827	-R 302,765,982.13
CHEMICALS AND CHEMICAL, RUBBER AND PLASTIC PRODUCTS	707	-R 362,900,673.78
CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR	520	-R 67,148,930.30
COAL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS	555	-R 216,979,759.08
CONSTRUCTION	10316	-R 4,273,709,791.85
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES	471	-R 81,063,823.27
ELECTRICITY, GAS AND WATER	583	-R 261,615,811.24
FINANCING, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE AND BUSINESS SERVICES	13678	-R 4,327,781,607.92
FOOD, DRINK AND TOBACCO	1630	-R 248,802,796.42
LEATHER, LEATHER GOODS + FUR(EXCLUDING FOOTWEAR + AND CLOTHING)	205	-R 20,001,623.97
MACHINERY AND RELATED ITEMS	1243	-R 304,557,104.71
MEDICAL, DENTAL AND OTHER HEALTH AND VETERINARY SERVICES	774	-R 218,844,178.05
METAL	437	-R 275,891,258.63
METAL PRODUCTS (EXCEPT MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT)	529	-R 108,858,944.81
MINING AND QUARRYING	3990	-R 934,174,989.83
OTHER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES	719	-R 183,565,764.57
PAPER, PRINTING AND PUBLISHING	571	-R 98,998,679.73
PERSONAL AND HOUSEHOLD SERVICES	509	-R 177,524,560.34
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION	236	-R 264,314,018.60
RECREATIONAL AND CULTURAL SERVICES	561	-R 75,341,201.10
RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES	145	-R 24,340,885.13
RETAIL TRADE	4491	-R 707,260,203.27
SCIENTIFIC, OPTICAL AND SIMILAR EQUIPMENT	149	-R 60,521,555.14
SOCIAL + RELATED COMMUNITY SERVICES NOT ELSEWHERE SPECIFIED	785	-R 95,335,672.15
SPECIALISED REPAIR SERVICES	599	-R 94,216,037.19
TEXTILES	300	-R 62,412,722.77
TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT(EXCEPT VEHICLES, PARTS AND ACCESSORIES)	756	-R 338,988,730.81
TRANSPORT, STORAGE AND COMMUNICATION	3059	-R 757,966,821.77
VEHICLES, PARTS AND ACCESSORIES	1236	-R 240,996,838.88
WHOLESALE TRADE	3695	-R 1,740,906,434.94
WOOD, WOOD PRODUCTS AND FURNITURE	412	-R 46,556,690.16
Grand Total	78972	-R 22,543,742,184.65

The financing, insurance, real estate and business services accounts for the largest balance, followed by Agencies and other services, Wholesale Trade then Construction sector.

(2) SARS adopts a number of strategies to address the credit book backlog including but not limited to working overtime, repurposing of experienced staff to focus on audits and verifications, applying secondary risk tolerance and appetite based on taxpayer previous compliance track record and continued attempts to get taxpayers to comply with outstanding requirements in order to process refunds. SARS accepts that the balance of supply and demand is not always possible to maintain thereby leading to increase in inventory faster than the available capacity can handle. In this regard refinement of our risk approach is on-going.

Reply:

1. Food Control is one of the 9 Municipal Health Services that has been devolved since July 2004 in terms of the Municipal Structures Act, 1998, (Act no 117 of 1998) to the 44 district municipalities and 8 metropolitan municipalities. The department continues to develop policies and provides support on municipal health services delivery in all 9 provinces, 44 districts and 8 metropolitan municipalities that are rendering food control. The department has developed National Environmental Health Norms and Standards to ensure that the provision of food control and other municipal health services is standardised throughout the country. Municipal Health Services Assessments (Audits) are continuously conducted to assess compliance with National Environmental Health Norms and Standards (NEHNS).

2. (a) The department through the authorised municipalities monitors all schools on a number of areas including food safety. The above-mentioned document, NEHNS which guides municipalities on the frequency of inspection requires that schools be inspected once a year. This is just a guide as municipalities conduct risk assessment to determine whether a school is a high risk facility which would require constant monitoring or it falls in a low risk category. Investigations are only carried out if incidents take place relating to food. The school in question was visited on the 1st of February 2022 after receiving the complaint on the 31st January 2022. The municipality conducted an investigation at the school where field visits were done, samples of the affected products were taken for laboratory analysis and a follow up investigation on the 2nd February 2022 was done and the outcome was that most of the affected victims had recovered. Further samples will be submitted for chemical analysis.

(b) The department will eventually publish the outcome of the investigation once all the areas of concern have been finalised. The department takes precautionary measures when dealing with such cases to avoid being sued if things are not correctly handled.

END.

Reply:

The National Treasury sets the overall expenditure ceiling for compensation budgets, which can be managed either through headcount adjustments or remuneration by departments. Wage agreements - for individual salary changes - in government are negotiated at the Public Service Coordinated Bargaining Council (PSCBC) with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) representing both the national and provincial government departments. Once the wage agreements are reached, a circular is issued by the DPSA to the rest of government for implementation. Adherence to these circulars is a requirement for government departments. In this regard, the Department of Transport is no exception.

The Driving License Card Account (DLCA) is a trading account of the Department of Transport, with an acting chief executive currently a deployed employee of the Department of Transport. The reasons for approval of the salary increases of four of its employees may be answered by the DLCA and the Department of Transport. The National Treasury ensures that departments stay within their allocated budget ceiling, whether this involves changes in staff numbers or unit cost of employment.

Reply:

Attached find here : Reply

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed that Dr. Michael Sutcliffe has not been appointed to head the new board of the Independent Development Trust (IDT). He is only one of the 12 newly appointed board members approved by Cabinet.

a) The current Chairperson of the board is Ms Zimbini Hill.

b) The board’s term of office started on 05 July 2021 in accordance with the provisions of the IDT Deed of Trust, which stipulates that the term of each Trustee begins when they receive their letter of authority from the Master, which is on the date indicated above.

c) (i), (ii) and (iii) The board members do not receive a salary, but are paid an honorarium for preparation and attendance of board meetings. The board fees are aligned to the National Treasury prescripts and committee members are paid at the ordinary Board Member’s rate of R4 317.00

________________________________________________________________________

Reply:

The most recent update of the NHI cost model was carried out in 2019/20, details of which can be found in section 8 of the explanatory memorandum to the NHI Bill and the 2019 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. This modelled the medium-term cost of specific NHI interventions at approximately R33 billion per annum by the 5th year. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has thus not been factored into the cost model. The need for and timing of further updates to the model will be determined by practical progress with preparing for the implementation of NHI, spending on the existing NHI allocations, as well as progress with processing the NHI Bill in the two chambers and relevant committees of Parliament.

Reply:

a) There are no conditions attached to the loan.

b) The loan has a 13-year repayment period including a 3-year grace period (period after the disbursement where no capital repayments are required). The interest rate of the loan consists of the 6 month Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) (currently at 0.05%) plus a 0.75% variable spread, for an all-in rate of 0.80%.

c) It is a budget supported loan to assist the government to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reply:

Noting the growing concerns by various stakeholders on lack of progress in repairing the damages done to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, following the devastating fires more than nine months ago and the hospital allegedly running only at 40% capacity. A joint intervention between NDOH and the province was initiated. Its objective was to identify the following:

i) The latest progress of the remedial work; and

ii) The best approach that can be applied in order:

1. To speed up the execution of remedial work.
2. To ensure compliance with the COJ (City of Johannesburg) Occupational Health Safety requirements.
3. To ensure that the hospital is fully functionally and operationally.

1. The latest progress reports on the repair work at the hospital

It covers the following areas:

i) The assessment and Identification of the gaps that are related to the infrastructure requirements of health care facilities, particularly areas in Charlotte Maxeke that are required to be recommissioned for occupancy after the fire incident dated the 16-17th of April 2021.

ii) Outlining the Health and Safety Requirements and approach that will be used during the refurbishment and maintenance of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) Hospital and to ensure that the remedial works programme and compliance monitoring are aligned with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, National Building Regulations 103 of 1977 and National Health Act 61 of 2003 and its latest regulations.

i) Advising the hospital management on standard to comply with on the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, City of Johannesburg By-Laws and other related Health and Safety Legislation for the proposed functional and support services such as the Mortuary, Kitchen, Laundry and Waste Management Areas.

ii) Providing specific recommendations in addressing gaps and over and above that, ensuring that the priority concern areas are addressed to comply as a matter of urgency.

iii) Proposing mitigation measures to improve the overall condition, efficiency and functionality of the Hospital to prevent Health and Safety Incidents.

iv) Ensuring that the monitoring, evaluation, reporting and review methods for this OHS inspection report are implementable and appropriate measuring tools to ensure effectiveness are put in place.

v) Listing the outcomes to be expected through the implementation of this Site Assessment Report recommendations and monitor its effectiveness.

vi) Providing guidance and assistance in the development of the Health, Safety and Environmental Systems during Construction and Operation that will include Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Methodologies, Documentation Control, communication, Training, Management Approach and reviews. This will ensure continual improvement of the hospital management.

2. Status provided by the appointed service providers

The has been some progress through the Solidarity Funding. They have covered some of the remedial work related to electrical, mechanical, fire safety, structural and architectural works for the following Blocks:

# Block 1 – 17% complete

# Block 2 – 18% complete

# Block 3 – 20% complete

# Block 4 – 22% complete

# Block 5 – 29% complete

3. The timeframe for the remedial work

The project plan has been submitted to the National Department of Health (NDOH) covering all the milestones including the timelines of the indicators. The duration of the project is estimated as being 22 months long. Over this period the hospital remedial works will be completed to achieve compliance with the applicable COJ requirements.

Additionally, the project is intending to cover the remedial work for the following Blocks as indicated in Table 2 below:

REMEDIAL WORK FOR THE BLOCKS	EXPECTED DATE OF COMPLETION
Emergency Unit	March 2022
Block 1	March 2023
Block 2	July 2023
Block 3	October 2023
Block 4	November 2023
Block 5	November 2023

Table 2 – High Level Plan for the Blocks

END.

Reply:

1) State hospitals have employee wellness programmes which are aimed at supporting the staff that have any workplace-related health problems including those who have mental health problems. These programmes are staffed by professionals who are trained in Employee wellness, including mental health support. Whenever there are staff members who are faced with a case that is beyond their level of expertise, they refer such cases to the relevant professionals for further management.

2) Health care workers who are suffering from Covid-19 burnout are managed on the case-by-case basis, as the situation differs from person to person. Whenever cases are reported in the health establishments, these are referred to the Employee Wellness programme manager, who makes a determination on the recommendation for leave of absence. Some of these health care workers make use of family doctors and such cases have been accepted by health establishments as genuine cases deserving leave.

(3) (a) The department has no record of any hospital management that has marginalised staff who admit to needing mental health leave as a result of the extreme pressures they have been subjected to as a result of COVID-19, and loss of life they have seen in the past 20 months. To the contrary, the department has been very appreciative of all health care workers including hospital managers who have equally been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

(b) The department is also not aware that there have been people that were stigmatised as a result of being in need of mental medical leave. The department is working on the sector wide productivity management and wellness services as part of post Covid-19, management for psycho-social support and reintegration.

END.

Reply:

1. Appointed and Acting Deputy Directors-General

(a) i Deputy Director-General (DDG)

SURNAME	INITIALS	DESIGNATION	NT APPOINTMENT DATE	APPOINTMENT DATE AS DDG
SISHI	NE	DDG: BUDGET OFFICE	01/10/2007	01/02/2022
PIETERSE	DE	DDG: ASSET AND LIABILITY MANAGEMENT	01/09/2013	01/12/2020
VUMENDLINI	V	DDG: INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY	15/04/2010	01/03/2018
MODISE	MP	DDG: PUBLIC FINANCE	29/09/2009	01/11/2017
NGQALENI	MT	DDG: INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS	01/10/1998	01/01/2014
MNGOMEZULU	JS	DDG: CORPORATE SERVICES	01/11/2002	01/11/2011
MOMONIAT	I	DDG: TAX AND FINANCIAL SECTOR POLICY	01/01/1996	01/01/2001

(ii)Acting Deputy Director-General (DDG)

SURNAME	INITIALS	DESIGNATION	DATE OF APPOINTMENT AS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE NT	DATE OF APPOINTMENT AS ACTING DDG
MODISE	BM	ACTING DDG: ECONOMIC POLICY	16/01/2012	26/10/2021
FANI	MI	ACTING CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER	01/12/2018	25/08/2021
MAREE	K	ACTING ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL	01/04/2011	13/12/2019

(b) Expected retirement age

SURNAME	INITIALS	DESIGNATION	EXPECTED RETIREMENT DATE
MODISE	BM	ACTING DDG: ECONOMIC POLICY	18/06/2050
MODISE	MP	DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL: PUBLIC FINANCE	03/05/2048
PIETERSE	DE	DDG: ASSET AND LIABILITY MANAGEMENT	13/03/2045
SISHI	NE	DDG: BUDGET OFFICE	19/01/2042
VUMENDLINI	V	DDG:INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY	05/06/2041
MAREE	K	ACTING ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL	19/01/2041
FANI	MI	ACTING CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER	23/07/2034
MNGOMEZULU	JS	DDG: CORPORATE SERVICES	06/08/2031
NGQALENI	MT	DDG: INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS	11/06/2024
MOMONIAT	I	DDG: TAX AND FINANCIAL SECTOR POLICY	19/08/2022

2. Regulated retirement age

(a) No employee is above the regulated retirement age.

(b) All employees are still within their regulated retirement age.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

The No Fault Compensation Scheme is not operational as the regulations and directions are still being finalised.

a) Not applicable.

b) So far there are 33 causally linked adverse events following immunisation with reported injuries.

(i) All 33 will be considered for compensation

(ii) None.

END.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

(a) (i) Directors-General: 35 (Nationally) Directors-General: 7 (Provincially)

(ii) (aa) (bb) List is appended at Annexure A, derived from PERSAL ending January 2022.

End

Reply:

The details of the spouses’ pension benefit cannot be provided due to the fact that such information is deemed to be personal and cannot be made available to third parties.

Members are encouraged to utilize the available GEPF channels to obtain information regarding their pension benefits such as the call centre (telephone number 0800 117 669); walk in centre facilities across the country (details obtainable on the GEPF website (www.gepf.co.za)) or via email at [email protected] to deal with enquiries.

 

Reply:

The South African Revenue Service, in processing all refunds, will always seek to balance the protection of the fiscus from illegitimate refund claims and the optimal processing of all refunds that are legitimate. This balance is further enhanced when considering that more than R50bn in illegitimate refunds are prevented from flowing out of the fiscus every year through tight risk engine rules.

The following table depicts the ageing of the VAT credit book as at 31 December 2021. The month end reports run on the 3rd of the following month hence the report is dated 3 January 2022.

Age Bracket	Amount
0 – 1 Month	12 124 197 396
2 Months	8 096 487 168
3 Months	6 013 454 301
4 – 6 Months	10 972 108 740
7 – 9 Months	5 197 216 823
10 – 12 Months	3 993 203 326
13 – 24 Months	4 620 035 970
25 – 36 Months	1 181 352 081
37 – 48 Months	928 762 378
49 – 60 Months	717 706 100
60+ Months	2 358 401 594
Grand Total	56 202 925 877

It must be noted that 81% of the book is within 12 months whilst 45% is within 3 months.

SARS at any given time will have amounts outstanding on refunds for a number of reasons including the following:

1. Audit cases amounting to R39.9 billion,
2. Continues Non-Compliant CNC) amounting to R11.1 billion, *
3. Suspected fraud amounting to R0.369 billion,
4. Credits payable within 24 hours amounting to R2.6 billion
5. Outstanding Returns amounting to R1.8 billion, and
6. Invalid Banking details amounting to R0.5 billion.

* CNC includes cases where SARS is awaiting taxpayer response on long outstanding documents having granted in excess of 35 days for taxpayer to respond.

Reply:

No, they have not been capped for good reason, given the complexity and potential unintended consequences arising from such measures. As you may be aware, Government has been totally committed to bringing down charges in the retirement industry to maximise benefits for members of such funds, as can be seen from the government policy paper titled Charges in South African Retirement Funds published in 2013. The paper found that the layering of many fees and costs, which were also opaque for certain products, was driving the high charges, and therefore clearly unfair to members of retirement funds since they were reducing their savings significantly by up to 40% over a lifetime in one scenario presented in that paper.

It is also recognised that structural reform issues were also driving costs, with too many funds (nearly 4 500), many of which only had small memberships and were not economical – hence the focus on consolidation, widening coverage and strengthening preservation to drive costs down. The recent December 2021 papers give further effect to these reforms.  The proposed reforms are in line with best international practices than direct measures like caps, which have limitations and could have perverse outcomes. Different countries are taking different approaches to regulating the fee structure of retirement fund providers.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

 

 

Reply:

(1) (a) Material misstatements of receivables, payables, immovable tangible assets, and commitments identified by the auditors in the submitted financial statement were corrected. Effective and appropriate steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure, as required by section 38(1)(c)(ii) of the PFMA and treasury regulation 9.1.1. The majority of the irregular expenditure disclosed in the financial statements was caused by contravention of procurement processes. Some of the contracts were awarded to suppliers whose tax matters had not been declared by the South African Revenue Service to be in order, as required by treasury regulation 16A9.1(d). Some of the contracts were awarded to bidders who did not submit a declaration on whether they are employed by the state or connected to any person employed by the state. Some of the goods and services of a transaction value above R500 000 were procured without inviting competitive bids, or deviations were approved by the accounting officer, but it was practical to invite competitive bids.

(b) The Department has a Loss Control Committee which will investigate and determine if there are any officials accountable. Subsequently, appropriate measures in line with the labour relations prescripts will be applied.

(2) The labour relations directives and prescripts have prescribed timelines on dealing with consequence management once accountability issues have been dealt with and determined.

(3) (a) Non-compliance with the prescripts such as Public Financial Management Act no.1 of 1999, National Treasury Instruction note 3 of 2016/2017, Departmental Policy and SARS requirements;

(b) Departments that were guilty are as follows:

a) Nature of Transgression	b) Guilty Department
AGSA had indicated that the transaction did not meet the definition of emergency procurement in terms of National Treasury prescripts. Management should have requested pre-approval from National Treasury. The service was to render emergency support services to Project Management Office (PMO) during Covid-19.	Supply Chain Management
AGSA had indicated that the transaction did not meet the definition of emergency procurement in terms of National Treasury prescripts. Management should have requested pre-approval from National Treasury. The service was to investigate an urgent transaction on expenditure that was deemed irregular.	Supply Chain Management
AGSA had indicated that the transaction was Non-compliant with Local production and content for designated sector and noncompliance with tax requirements on foreign procurement. The services were for emergency procurement of vaccines for the country.	Affordable Medicines
AGSA had indicated that the services were rendered outside the approved period without sourcing the necessary approval from the accounting officer / delegated official / approving authority such as National Treasury.	Workforce Management
The service was for rendering of strategic communication services for NHI and emergency communication for Covid-19: Non adherence with SCM processes and National Treasury prescripts on emergency procurement.	NHI and Communication

4. (a) Other cases have been sent for assessment in terms of the Irregular Expenditure Framework as published by National Treasury, dated 16 May 2019 to determine whether the transactions are indeed irregular or not. Some of these transactions have been sent to the Office of the Accountant-General to determine if indeed the findings of AGSA are valid or not in terms of the Mechanism for Resolving Disagreement Between the Auditor (AGSA) and Auditee dated 01 June 2021, the auditee in this cases is (NDOH). Some of the officials implicated in the cases mentioned had been suspended and disciplinary hearings are underway/ in progress.

Below is the table indicating all transactions declared irregular by AGSA in terms of NDOH Final Management Letter. The table below provide details in so far as question 4(a) is concerned on the nature, the amount and the status.

Nature of the services	Amount	Status on Disciplinary Action	Non-compliance with the law, regulations and documents, internal policies and procedures
According to AGSA, the transaction did not meet the definition of emergency procurement in terms of National Treasury prescripts. Management should have requested pre-approval from National Treasury. The service was to render emergency support services to PMO during Covid-19.	R14 671 755	Referred to NT to mediate between AGSA and NDOH to determine if transaction are irregular.	Non-compliance with NT instruction note.
According to AGSA, the transaction did not meet the definition of emergency procurement in terms of National Treasury prescripts. Management should have requested pre-approval from National Treasury. The service was to investigate an urgent transaction on expenditure that was deemed irregular.	R592 250	Referred to NT to mediate between AGSA and NDOH to determine if transactions are irregular.	Non-compliance with NT instruction note.
Non-compliance with Local production and content for designated sector and non-compliance with tax requirements on foreign procurement. The service was for emergency procurement of vaccines for the country.	R4 350 502	Referred for assessments to determine if the transgression is non-compliance or irregular.	Non-compliance with SARS requirements
Services were rendered outside the approved period without sourcing the necessary approval from the accounting officer / delegated official /approving authority such as National Treasury.	R14 984 000	Referred for assessments to determine if the transgression is non-compliance or irregular.	Non-compliance with NT instruction note.
The service was for rendering of strategic communication services for NHI and emergency communication for Covid-19: Non adherence with SCM processed and National Treasury prescripts on emergency procurement.	R150 000 000	Disciplinary hearings are currently in emotion.	Non-compliance with NT Instruction.

(b) The status above encompasses both non-compliance and irregular expenditure.

(5) The National Department of Health developed and implemented the online National Quarterly Reporting System (NQRS) in 2017 to ensure quarterly progress on the Annual Performance Plan (APP) is tracked and on-line evidence storage. The system tracks progress towards attaining the objectives and targets set in the APP, highlighting achievements, deviations, factors enhancing or inhibiting progress, as well as corrective action when targets are not achieved. The Portfolio of Evidence for reported performance is uploaded on the online NQRS to support indicator performance reports. By Day 6 of the reporting month, the Quarterly Performance Information is captured and signed-off by Directors/Cluster Managers together with the Portfolio of Evidence which is uploaded on the online NQRS. The Quarterly Performance on APP targets is reviewed and signed off by Branch Managers. The Internal Audit Unit of the National Department of Health reviews the Performance Information and supporting evidence every quarter and reports to the Audit and Risk Committee. The primary objective is to review reported Performance Information against the Portfolio of Evidence and provide feedback to the Department to address any shortcomings identified. The NQRS system provides a single online storage for all Performance Information updated during quarterly reporting which is also used by Auditor General for auditing purposes

END.

Reply:

Yes, National Treasury keeps a record of the debt owed to creditors.

(a)(i)(ii)(iii) The tables (attached as Annexure A) provides the detail of the debt owed by municipalities to creditors for the respective years per province as per the Local Government Data Base - Section 71 reports of the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003, (MFMA). This information is for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years and the Annual Financial Statements for the 2019/20 financial year.

(b)(c) The column, “Year 2021/22 – Month 06” in Annexure A provides the year to date amount owed by each municipality. The total for municipalities is R76.6 billion (unverified). Due to the amounts being accumulative, it will be the same for total amount in debt as well as current total outstanding.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

(1)(a) Although the Minister of Finance is the custodian of the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003, (MFMA), it is the policy adopted by the respective municipality or Metro that dictates the process or procedure to be followed for debt recovery. In this case, the policy will be the Credit Control and Debt Management Policy. National Treasury have been persistently advocating through various correspondence and budget circulars that debt owed to creditors by municipalities must be paid within 30 days as stipulated by Section 65(e) of the MFMA.

The City has informed National Treasury that majority of the debt owed by Soweto is to Eskom. National Treasury has no legal mandate to address the debt owed by consumers to Eskom, however, the Government through the Political Task Team Chaired by the Deputy President is addressing municipal debt owed to Eskom. It is the City’s responsibility to intensify its credit control and debt collection strategies to ensure that the debt owed by consumers is collected. Similarly, it is the responsibility of Eskom to implement its Credit Control and Debt Management strategy to achieve a sustainable solution to the recovery of Soweto arrear debt.

The City reported that the following measures are being institutionalised to collect the outstanding debtors:

• Councilor intervention in areas with limited access.
• Applying of strict control measures on customers who acknowledges their debt, by ensuring thorough affordability checks are done against each customer to determine the down payment and reasonable terms of payment.
• Intensify internal meter audits on accounts confirmed by entities as successfully disconnected.
• Promote support from the councilors during the City’s Open Days (to assist on educating customers about City’s relief programs and instant query resolutions); and
• Promote visibility of the Stakeholder Relations Officers to all the regions at all times (as the support for clear communication of the customers concerns in the entire value chain).

(1)(b) The City has informed National Treasury that it has embarked on a number of revenue enhancing initiatives to collect debt older than 90 days (this includes debt owed by Soweto residents). The City will be in a better position to provide the progress made so far in relation to revenue collection of debt older than 90 days. The City has intensified the credit control actions taken since December 2021 and January 2022 by issuing pre-termination notices and delivered it to most of the Soweto owing households. Disconnection of services have commenced after 14-days lapse of the notices delivered but with low return on investment, this is due to community disturbance to effect credit control measures. JMPD Officers have been called to provide security since the beginning of February by escorting the technicians to various areas wherein they are likely to experience backlash (trusting that their visibility will slowly show improved results).

2. According to the Section 71 of the MFMA reports for the second quarter ending December 2021, reports submitted to National Treasury by municipalities indicates that the total debt owed by municipalities to various creditors is R73.7 billion.

(3)(a)(b) Below is the list of municipalities with debt owed over R100 million as per the Local Government Data Base - Section 71 reports of the MFMA.

Reply:

a) The following factors were considered to convene the Appeal Committee

Section 24A (1) of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965 (Act 101 of 965) as amended ("the Act") provides that any person aggrieved by decision of the SAHPRA may appeal against such decision by notifying the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) within 30 days of becoming aware of such decision of his or her intention to appeal and setting out the full grounds of appeal. The Act also provide for a mechanism where CEO must meet with the Appellant to try to resolve the matter, especially if the appeal involves administrative matters (Section 24A (2). This process is done without the presence of the legal representative.

Section 24A (3) and (4) of the Act provides as follows:

‘‘24A. (3) Should the Chief Executive Officer and the appellant fail to resolve the matter as contemplated in subsection (2), the appellant shall within 30 days of being notified by the Chief Executive Officer of the failure to resolve the matter and upon payment of a prescribed fee, request the Minister in writing to convene an appeal committee.

(4) The appeal committee contemplated in subsection (3) shall -

(a) comprise the chairperson who shall have knowledge of the law and four other persons who shall have knowledge of the subject matter of appeal but with no financial or business interests in the affairs of the parties to the appeal, two of them nominated by the appellant and the other two by the Chief Executive Officer; and

(b) conduct the appeal hearing and make a decision within 30 days from the day when it first meets to hear the appeal.’’

Free the Children Save the Nation NPC represented by Mr John Taylor launched an appeal in terms of Section 24A (4) of the Act. The Appellant and the CEO of SAHPRA met to try and resolve the issues raised by the Appellant as provided for in the Act. However, the matter could not be resolved.

If the issues raised by the Appellant had not been resolved through the mechanism of a meeting between the CEO of SAHPRA and the Appellant, the Act compels the Minister to convene an Appeal Committee. Therefore, the Appeal Committee was convened after the processes envisaged in section 24A (1) to (3) were done but the matter remained unresolved.

b) (i) The process for hearing of evidence by the Appeal Committee

In terms of Regulation 48 (2) (a) and (b) of the General Regulations made in terms of the Act, the Appeal Committee has to determine the procedure for its hearings and may in this regard, if it deems necessary, call for oral evidence or argument.

The Appeal Committee in its meeting of 21st January 2022 agreed that it will conduct the hearings through oral submissions together with both medical and legal representation. The Parties may call their experts to lead evidence in support of their case.

(ii) The Appeal Committee in its meeting with the Parties held on 08 February 2022 had agreed that both the media and the broader public be invited and have access to the link of the hearings. Therefore, the expert testimonies will be open to the public as the hearing will be open to the general public.

END

Reply:

(1) (a) There are four vaccines approved for use in the Republic.

(b) (i) Covid-19 vaccine Jannsen

(ii) Pfizer Comirnaty

(iii) Coronavac (Curanto Pharma); and

(iv) BBIBP-CortV-Vaccine (Sinopharm) [MC Pharma]

(2) (a) (i) Covid-19 vaccine Jannsen - 31 000 000 doses

(ii) Pfizer Comirnaty - 30 002 310 doses plus 1 392 300 doses through the COVAX Facility

(b) The pricing information cannot be shared as we are bound by non-disclosure agreements with manufacturers.

(3) There is no law that gives the government exclusive rights to procure vaccines from approved suppliers. However, with regards to COVID-19 vaccines, manufacturers opted to contract exclusively with government to make vaccines equitably available.

(4) The Department has spent approximately R 6 billion on vaccines to date.

END.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that, after engagement with the Client, it was confirmed that the facility has been vandalised while SAPS is in occupation. Security of the facility is the Client’s responsibility.

• (a)(i)(ii) The Client confirmed the availability electricity and water. However both electricity and water are turned off due to vandalism that takes place at the facility.

• (b) There is currently no repair and renovations project at the facility, the last repair and renovations project was signed off in April 2012.

• (c) Cleaning and security of the facility is the Client responsibility.

Reply:

a) The construction of the Mpumalanga High Court was completed in May 2019, and the practical completion certificate was issued. Before the practical completion certificate was issued, there was a two weeks’ assessment which was performed by the project team, i.e. the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD), Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ), Independent Development Trust (IDT), Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), Consultants and Contractor, to determine the condition of the buildings and its equipment. The outcome of this assessment was a snag list that was issued to the contractor. As per the signed construction contract, the court buildings were under warranty/guarantee for a period of one (1) year, from June 2019 to May 2020, where the contractor was responsible for maintenance and completing the snag list that was issued during the assessment.

The DoJ&CD transferred the court facility to DPWI as per Section 42 of PFMA in September 2019. The transfer letter further requested DPWI to implement a Total Facility Management Solution (TFMS) for the maintenance of the court buildings.

Whilst the process of appointing TFMS is underway within DPWI, DoJ&CD and OCJ are maintaining the facility through day-to-day maintenance. On monthly basis, a report is generated regarding the maintenance requirements of the court and this are addressed through day to day maintenance.

The maintenance of major equipment like HVAC (aircons), lifts and fire system are done by DPWI on behalf of DoJ&CD.

The technical assessment of Mpumalanga High Court is underway by the professional engineers to conclude the specification for the TFMS.

The DoJ&CD did not perform any separate investigations regarding the security concerns since these were part of the infrastructural challenges of the building project. However, the Department appointed a security service provider to repair and maintain the system. During the system assessment, the service provider identified two (2) faulty Network Recording Devices (NVR’s) that records the images in cameras, and as a result the cameras became dysfunctional. The two (2) NVR’s were taken for repairs, and it was discovered that they cannot be repaired due to unavailability of spares in the local market, the recommendations were to replace them with local manufactured NVR’s. As interim security measures, the Department has deployed the contracted security guarding services in the High Court, hence the Integrated Security System (i.e. cameras, card reader systems) are also partially working to provide safety to the court building. The procurement processes for the new NVR’s are currently in progress and anticipated to be finalized on or before 31 March 2022.

b) The court is maintained by DoJ&CD and DPWI using day-to-day maintenance delegations. The DoJ&CD is allocating R10 million per annum to OCJ for day-to-day maintenance of all the High Courts in the country. Following a meeting with DPWI in January 2022, DPWI agreed to take over the full maintenance of the court until TFMS is implemented. The DoJ&CD has agreed to make funding available for the full maintenance.

END

Reply:

(a) In 2019 the Department engaged with subject matter experts and the drafters of the Occupations in High Demand (OIHD) list published by the DHET. The purpose of the engagement was to request assistance with methodologies and best practice in drafting a credible critical skills list. The DHET officials agreed to the request and requested that a memorandum of agreement be concluded between DHET and DHA to that effect.

In August 2019 an official request to the Minister of DHET requesting authorization for the collaboration was concluded. The Minister of DHET responded positively and indicated that DHET welcomes and supports the collaboration between the two departments. An MOA was signed between the two departments. The agreement was that the DHET will use its subject matter experts and resources, at no cost to the DHA, to draft the Critical Skills List on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs.

(b) The details of the investigations and findings that were undertaken by the DHET researchers in the drafting of the Critical Skills List are captured in the Technical Report on the Critical Skills List available at the Department of Higher Education and Training.

END

 

Reply:

a) Basil Read was appointed in 2014 as the contractor for the construction of the new Port Shepstone Magistrate Court. The site was handed over to the contractor in October 2014 with the initial construction period of 24 months. The contract was terminated following payment disputes and voluntary business rescue of the contractor in 2019.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) disputed the terms and conditions that the contractor required for contract cancellation and the matter is in litigation. Part of the dispute is the contract final account, which was prepared by DPWI, that Basil Read is rejecting.

DPWI has since advertised the outstanding scope and it took more than 18 months to appoint the replacement contractor to complete all the outstanding works. The replacement contractor (Musan Trading Enterprise) was appointed, and the site was handed over in September 2021. The project is anticipated to be completed in March 2023.

b) The first contract of Basil Read was awarded at a contract amount of R286 million over 24 months. By the time the contract of Basil Read was terminated, R265 million was already paid to the contractor for work done. Basil Read is further claiming R162 million for the final account, which DPWI is refusing to pay, a matter which is part of the litigation in court.

The second contract was awarded at R95 million over 18 months. The project is anticipated to be completed in March 2023. The new scope includes incomplete (outstanding) works, remedial works, commissioning and snagging.

END

Reply:

The Human Resource Development Council established ten (10) Technical Task Teams based on the Five-Point Implementation Plan and focused on the following: Foundational Learning, TVET, Worker Education, Production of Academics and Stronger Partnerships between Industry and Higher Education and Training Institutions, Production of Professionals, Entrepreneurship and Education, Skills System Review, and Artisan Development as well as the Maritime Sector Skills. Broadly, the Technical Task Teams played a catalytic role towards the achievements of the Council.

Artisan Development

The Human Resource Development Council established a Technical Task Team on Artisan Development which assisted in ramping up the artisan development. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of competent artisans have steadily increased from 14 389 in 2014/15 to 24050 in 2019/20. Should this trajectory indeed be sustained, the country will be able to meet the National Development Plan target of producing 30 000 artisans per annum by 2030.

University Sector

The Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology has advised us that University enrolment at public institutions has increased from 495 356 in 1994 to 1 036 984 in 2017, indicating that the country is on course to reach the National Development Plan target of 1,6 million enrolments by 2030. The enrolments in Science, Engineering and Technology have increased with an average annual growth rate of 4,3% in 2017. The number of students graduating in technical fields in both Universities and Universities of Technology has also been increasing over the years.

TVET College Sector

Through the recommendations of the Human Resource Development Council, measures were put in place to reposition TVET as an important skills development sector to incrementally produce the required numbers of artisans. The TVET sector has expanded and enrolments amongst the youth. The TVET enrolment has increased from 358 393 in 2010 to 673 490 in 2019. This was made possible by mobilising government to make funding available to improve access, which has resulted in increased allocation for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

Maritime Skills

The Human Resource Development Council SA established the Maritime Sector Skills Technical Task Team in September 2013 to investigate blockages within the maritime skills development pipeline, and to propose measures that can be implemented to address those. The consequence of this intervention, amongst others, was the establishment of the South African International Maritime Institute which was funded by the National Skills Fund.

A considerable number of young people have benefited from the South African International Maritime Institute, as a result, some have been awarded bursaries, and scholarship to pursue maritime studies abroad.

In conclusion, the Human Resource Development Council has assumed the role of Human Resource Development pillar of the National Development Plan 2030 with an emphasis on “building the human resources required for an improved and competitive economy”. The location of Human Resource Development within the National Development Plan is intractably linked to achieving the broader socio-economic goals, including poverty alleviation, equity and social inclusion as central goals.

Reply:

The Deputy President has not commissioned any short term interventions to mitigate the effects of the increase in petrol prices. The Basic Fuel Price consists of factors outside of South Africa’s control, hence international fuel prices fluctuate from day to day. South Africa is a net importer of Petroleum Products, and has no control over crude oil prices, exchange rates, and any factors informed by geo-politics.

The calculation of fuel prices is done by the Central Energy Fund on behalf of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. In this regard, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy announces the adjustments of fuel prices based on current local and international factors, and in terms of the amended regulations of the Petroleum Products Act, 1977 (Act 120 of 1977).

Reply:

1. Yes, the Department has appointed a service provider on a 12 months contract while awaiting the finalisation of the long term solution. As such, the appointed service provider is responsible for supporting both Court Recording Technology (CRT) and Sexual Offences System across the country. At the same time, the Department has embarked on a process for procuring an overarching contract for a period of three (3) years. This process is at an advanced stage, and is expected to be published by the end of February 2022.

if not, (a) on what dates did the previous contracts lapse?

The contract expired on 21 April 2021, and interim measures were put in place to ensure continuity. These interim measures relate to providing support and maintenance as part of an existing contract that is providing regional support service. In terms of this arrangement, the service provider was appointed to perform the maintenance and support services for Court Recording Technology (CRT) and SOS between June 2021 and August 2021, on a project basis. Thereafter internal officials were assisting in trouble-shooting and reporting on a case by case basis.

(b) what are the reasons that the specified contracts were not timeously renewed?

Capacity constraints in both Information Systems Management (ISM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) as well as Contract Management Units were part of the reasons. The Department operated without the Head of ISM, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Director: SCM and Director: SCM for a while. However, such capacity constraints are now being addressed. The following posts have been finalised to capacitate the finance section:

1. CFO
2. Chief Director: Financial Accounting
3. Director: IT Strategic Sourcing
4. Chief Director: SCM (awaiting interviews)

Director: SCM (awaiting short listing)

(c) and what steps are being taken to rectify the matter; if so, what are the relevant details;

In order to rectify the matter, the Department has concluded the following to ensure operational continuity, whilst concluding an overarching contract for a period of three years:

• The Department has appointed a company on a 12 months contract for maintenance of Court Recording Technology (CRT) and Sexual Offences System.
• Concurrent to this, the Department has already started the procurement process to appoint a service provider to deliver the support and maintenance for Court Recording Technology (CRT) over a period of three years. At the date of writing, this process has progressed quite significantly with the Bid Specification having been finalised and is being Quality Assured, with the view of publication by the end of February 2022. Implementation of this process is being monitored on a weekly basis by the relevant senior manager, supported by a Task Team monitoring High Priority procurements.

2. As at 1st February 2022, there were 700 backlog calls of which the appointed service provider has already started to deal with the backlog, so far the provider has managed to resolve 90 calls and the process is ongoing.

3. South African courts are courts of record, which depend on court recording technology to conduct efficient and effective court proceedings. The Court Recording Technology (CRT) solution allow for electronically recorded cases that are stored in a data repository and made available whenever requested, either for transcription or other purposes. In most instances, when the recording is non-functional, this means that the court session cannot take place and must be postponed.

Reply:

The department and entities responded as follows:

(i) Department of Home Affairs

Details	Quantity (a)	Amount (b)	Anticipated date of Payment (c)
(aa) 30 days,	1	R5 120.51	18 February 2022
(bb) 60 days,	0	R0.00
(cc) 90 days	0	R0.00
(dd) 120 days,	0	R0.00

The above report is for the Department of Home Affairs as at 15 February 2022.

(ii) Government Printing Works

(a&b) At the Government Printing Works (GPW), which is a Government Component, reporting directly to the Minister of Home Affairs there are 68 invoices still unpaid:

Details	Quantity (a)	Amount (b)	Anticipated date of Payment (c)
(aa) 30 days,	67	R38 150 550.17	Within 30 days
(bb) 60 days,	0	R0
(cc) 90 days	0	R0
(dd) 120 days,	1	R1 814 509.82	GPW envisages settling the amount at the end of March 2022, due the ongoing discussion between GPW and the Service Provider to resolve the disagreement

 

(ii) Electoral Commission

a) There are 358 supplier invoices that still need to be paid.

Details	Quantity (a)	Amount (b)
(aa) 30 days,	102	R6 982 726.00
(bb) 60 days,	20	R331 331.00
(cc) 90 days	31	R395 181.00
(dd) 120 days,	205	R1 325 335.00

(c) Most of the outstanding payments relate to service providers who are experiencing challenges with the National Treasury prescribed Central Supplier Database (CSD). Supplier registration and the updating of banking details on CSD appear to be the predominant challenges. The mandatory use of the CSD, inter alia, obviates fraudulent payments. Once the suppliers’ status on CSD is compliant, the Electoral Commission stands ready to immediately make payments.

 

END

Reply:

The Office of the Deputy President did not receive the correspondence referred hereto. There was nothing to be brought to the attention of the Deputy President, as the correspondence is non-existent

Reply:

The Office of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Honourable Minister Nzimande/Department of Higher Education and Training/Department of Science and Innovation did not receive any correspondence either via email, WhatsApp, hardcopy and/or in any other format.

(a)-(c) Not Applicable

Reply:

(1) South Africa’s position has been (and is) continuing to encourage all the parties to strengthen all diplomatic efforts to avoid an escalation of tensions, and work towards an inclusive, sustainable and peaceful solution based on cooperation and dialogue. In this regard South Africa encourages all parties to approach dialogue with the spirit of compromise in order to move the process forward without accusing any party, something that will not be helpful in the efforts to resolve the conflict. South Africa stands by its principled position of peaceful resolution of conflicts.

(2) South Africa’s position has been (and is) continuing to encourage all the parties to strengthen all diplomatic efforts to avoid an escalation of tensions, and work towards an inclusive, sustainable and peaceful solution based on cooperation and dialogue. In this regard South Africa encourages all parties to approach dialogue with the spirit of compromise in order to move the process forward without accusing any party, something that will not be helpful in the efforts to resolve the conflict. South Africa stands by its principled position of peaceful resolution of conflicts.

(3) The BRICS partnership is built on a common commitment to multilateralism and the principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality, inclusiveness, and strengthened collaboration. In paragraph 22 of the BRICS New Delhi Declaration issued on 9 September 2021, BRICS Leaders expressed concern at the continuing conflicts and violence in different parts of the world. The BRICS Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of States and reiterate that all conflicts must be resolved by peaceful means and through political and diplomatic efforts in line with international law, in particular the UN Charter. BRICS Leaders also underscored the inadmissibility of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

 

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

1. There are sufficient commentators for all indigenous languages and for all covered sporting codes, even XK FM has started doing live commentary in !Xu and Khwe languages.

2. (a,b,c) The SABC has always carried live cricket commentary in the three languages (English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans).  This is still in place on the respective radio stations when they carry the games.  This is not possible on analogue TV as it cannot do multiple audio tracks.  This is possible on the SABC Sport Channel (DTT and DTH) and does occur, but the SABC cannot afford to do this simultaneously at this time.

3. This is the specialty of SABC Radio Stations and has been the case for many years. The SABC has identified and groomed most of the country’s sports commentators, who have gone on to work for other industry players.

4. This is already in place, but sequentially. This is done in parallel and will only be possible if the costs can be justified and it will be on a ‘case by case basis’. Currently Sport is a loss-making entity due the high cost of sport rights. The SABC is mandated in terms of the sports regulations to prioritise national sporting events. Therefore, it tries its best to ensure that there is a balance of the core language groups used in the broadcast of such events.

 

MS. NONKQUBELA JORDAN-DYANI

DIRECTOR-GENERAL (ACTING)

DATE:

Recommended/not recommended

__________________________

HON. PHILLY MAPULANE, MP

DEPUTY MINISTER

DATE:

Approved/ not approved

________________________________

HON. KHUMBUDZO NTSHAVHENI, MP

MINISTER

DATE:

Reply:

a) Neither the Minister of Small Business Development nor the Department of Small Business Development received the correspondence referred to in the question.

b) N/A

c) N/A

MS STELLA TEMBISA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

I have been advised by the SAPO as follows:

1. (a) Landlords

As at 31 January 2022 an amount of R304 million was owed. The amounts owing to landlords include rental and operational/ utilities costs

(b) & (c) Municipalities & Water and electricity

The current balance for municipalities as at 10 February 2022 is R915 000 which is only the current costs for the month.

2. The reason for outstanding rentals is due to SAPO’s constrained cash flow position. SAPO’s costs have continued to exceed revenue resulting in losses for the year ending 31 March 2021 and for the ten months ending 31 January 2022. The losses are unfunded resulting in SAPO having insufficient funds to settle liabilities.

3. (a) Negative impact on customers as branches are closed / locked by landlords.

(b) Also impacts on revenue not being generated by closure of these branches.

4. SAPO currently does not have the required funds to settle the liabilities. SAPO has developed a revised strategy to improve its operational and financial performance – and is in the process of implementing such. In addition, SAPO has requested funding through the MTEF process.

Reply:

The African Union (AU) has, as an element of its African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS). The CEWS was established in line with Article 12 of the PSC Protocol with the mandate to facilitate the anticipation and prevention of conflicts in Africa. Its role is to collect data to anticipate and prevent conflicts on the continent as well as to provide timely information on evolving violent conflicts. Equally, the Union strives to ensure there’s sunergy’s between APSA and the African Governance Architecture (AGA).

The continent has recently witnessed the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government. South Africa believes that as part of an architecture of efforts to eradicate the scourge of coup détat’s in Africa, it is imperative to underscore the significance of addressing the underlying courses of unconstitutional changes of government and violent conflict. In this regard, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), in its drive to promote democracy and good governance on the continent, and the African Governance Architecture (AGA) remain the most profound instruments at the disposal of the AU and its Member States to utilise to effectively end the scourge of coup détat’s. The AU PSC has agreed on the need for the review of the AGA and the Lome Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, a process that should result in AU instruments that are strengthened to appropriately respond to this challenge. Equally, the PSC has agreed to the importance of enhancing the contribution of the APRM in early warning for conflict prevention in harmony and synergy with the APSA and AGA. The work of the APRM in areas of democracy good governance, human rights, rule of law and the acceleration of political, social and economic integration of the Continent are key considerations in this regard.

The role of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Mechanisms (RM) and Member States, as partners, on continental early warning, implementing the APSA, AGA, APRM and Master Roadmap on Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2030 cannot be overemphasized.

Reply:

I have been advised by the SAPO as follows:

(a)

• Graaff Reinet Post Office
• Aberdeen Post Office
• Willowmore Post Office
• Jansenville Post Office

(b)

• Graaff Reinet – R552,534.75
• Aberdeen – R150,743.43
• Willowmore – R103,500.00
• Jansenville – R0

(c) All SAPO landlords were sent a letter explaining the financial situation of SAPO and negotiating a payment model. The commitment made was that payments would be made as soon as finances become available.

(d) Some payments are honoured based on cash flow, the Jansenville Post Office landlord was fully paid on February 10, hence the outstanding balance is R0.

(e)

Office	SASSA Grants (Average)	SRD Grants (Average)
Graaff-Reinet PO	R117 500	R29 750
Aberdeen PO	R105 750	R13 300
Jansenville PO	R82 250	R9 800
Willowmore PO	R157 450	R 10 850

 

MS. NONKQUBELA JORDAN-DYANI

DIRECTOR-GENERAL (ACTING)

DATE:

Recommended/not recommended

__________________________

HON. PHILLY MAPULANE, MP

DEPUTY MINISTER

DATE:

Approved/ not approved

________________________________

HON. KHUMBUDZO NTSHAVHENI, MP

MINISTER

DATE:

Reply:

a) (i) The Government of South Africa’s approach to the situation between Russia and Ukraine is based on our unique approach to all global issues expressed through our Diplomacy of Ubuntu and the vision of a better world for all. As a human-rights based constitutional democracy, South Africa engages globally rooted in our values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism, non-sexism and the rule of law. In line with the White Paper on Foreign Policy, South Africa embraces multilateralism as an approach to solve challenges confronting the international community. Therefore, Government approaches conflict between states by promoting dialogue to achieve conflict resolution.

(ii) South Africa’s position has been (and is) continuing to encourage all the parties to strengthen all diplomatic efforts to avoid an escalation of tensions, and work towards an inclusive, sustainable and peaceful solution based on cooperation and dialogue. In this regard South Africa encourages all parties to approach dialogue with the spirit of compromise in order to move the process forward without accusing any party, something that will not be helpful in the efforts to resolve the conflict. South Africa stands by its principled position of peaceful resolution of conflicts.

b) South Africa will continue to share with the global community its experience of conflict resolution through negotiation and to use its voice in multilateral fora to promote cooperation over competition and collaboration over confrontation.

Reply:

a) Number of supplier invoices currently remain unpaid by the department :

(aa) Number of supplier invoices currently remain unpaid for more than 30 days.

• 497 invoices

(bb) Number of supplier invoices currently remain unpaid for more than 60 days.

• 03 invoices

(cc) Number of supplier invoices currently remain unpaid for more than 90 days.

• 03 invoices

(dd) Number of supplier invoices currently remain unpaid for more than 120 days.

• 01 invoice

b) The total amount outstanding in each case

(aa) R488 342.68

(bb) R4 624.99

(cc) R62 148.01

(dd) R45 321.36

c) By what date is envisaged that the outstanding amounts will be settled?

• It is envisaged that all the invoices mentioned above will be processed for payment by the 15th of March 2022.

Reply:

At the35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) that took place from 5 to 6 February 2022, the outgoing chairperson of the AU, DRC President Thisekedi, emphasized the need to exert concerted efforts in realizing Africa’s 50-year continental development Agenda 2063; namely the need to silence the guns across the African continent; to consolidate the African architecture of peace and security and to immediately reactivate the African Standby Force (ASF) to enhance its preparedness to act should the need arise. At this time, a draft MoU between the AU and RECs/RMs on the ASF, which will formalize and strengthen partnership between the AU and sub-regional organizations on the deployment of the ASF, is being circulated. The MoU will provide the official framework in terms of which the AU anRECs/RMs collectively deploy the ASF, when required in terms of the AU Constitutive Act and the Protocol on the Establishment of the AU peace and Security Council (PSC).
 

Reply:

a) South Africa maintains relations with both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the territory of Taiwan, albeit at different levels.

South Africa established diplomatic relations with China in January 1998, as per the ‘Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations’. In paragraph 3 of the Communique, South Africa recognises that “there is but one China in the world, the Government of the PRC is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and recognises China’s position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China”. As per this same agreement, however, South Africa could maintain its ties with Taiwan, albeit that they are limited to economic, scientific, and cultural exchanges.

In line with South Africa’s foreign policy principles as they relate to respect for other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, South Africa thus does not perceive either China or Taiwan as the (i) aggressor or (ii) the victim.

b) The question of “what assistance does the Government intend to offer to show solidarity with the victim”, therefore, does not arise. South Africa strictly adheres to the “One China Policy” and accordingly regards Taiwan as an integral part of China (when calculating bilateral trade, the total volumes of trade with Taipei/Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong are added to China’s). While South Africa enjoys comprehensive strategic relations with China through its representative offices located in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, South Africa also maintains low-key commercial, scientific- and cultural engagements through its Liaison Office in Taipei.

Reply:

The Office of the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Honourable Minister Pandor/Department, did not receive the correspondence referred hereto. In this regard, there was nothing to be brought to the attention of the Minister as the correspondence is non-existent.

Reply:

The Republic of South Africa is working within the established protocols of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to address stability and the political situation in Eswatini. The SADC is already engaged to support the Kingdom to resolve the challenges. This work is done within the overall objective of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation which is to promote peace and security in the Region as stipulated under article 2.2. of the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation.

President Ramaphosa, in his capacity as Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation appointed Special Envoys to engage with His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini on the escalating security and political developments in the Kingdom. This was a follow up to a SADC Organ Fact Finding Mission which visited Eswatini in July 2021.

Consultation with stakeholders, including with the King, the Government, civil society and diplomatic corps on the ground, highlighted the need for an inclusive national dialogue in an appropriate forum.

Following a meeting between President Ramaphosa and King Mswati III held on 2 November 2021, it was agreed that the SADC Troika would assist in the development of terms of reference for the national dialogue. The National Dialogue will work to facilitate a peaceful, orderly and inclusive national multi-stakeholder political engagement in order to identify and implement sustainable solutions to Eswatini’s political and security challenges. In this regard, a draft framework has been developed by the SADC Troika and will be presented to the Eswatini Government in due course.

South Africa is part of the SADC collective and cannot alone decide on who should be held responsible for the conflict. South Africa supports peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and does not impose its will on the territorial integrity of other countries.

In this regard, the SADC Troika is pursuing an inclusive process and therefore the proposed dialogue is not premised on who could be an aggressor and/or victim as it is the dialogue that will be undertaken by parties representing all sectors of society for their common good.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department and entities as follows:

DEPARTMENT:

a) Currently there are no invoices that are unpaid by the Department for,

b) N/A.

c) N/A

ENTITIES:

(a)

ENTITY	(aa) 30 days	(bb) 60 days	(cc) 90 days	(dd) 120 days
SITA	51	40	28	91
NEMISA	None	None	None	5
BBI	35	95	24	9
SENTECH	7	2	4	20
FPB	1	1	2	1
SABC	23	19	9	2
ZADNA	None	None	None	None
SAPO	90	26	17	63
POSTBANK	1	2	-	5
ICASA	18	11	03	29
USAASA	6	6	2	3

(b)

ENTITY	30 days	60 days	90 days	120 days
SITA	R45.3m	R45.3m	R45.3m	R45.3m
NEMISA	-	-	-	R70 364.74
BBI	R13 000 942	R19 100 028	R17 089 078	R12 338 747
SENTECH	R267,606.64	R267,606.64	R267,606.64	R267,606.64
FPB	R 7 854.20	R 737 420.63	R 456 499.72	R318 279.37
SABC	R1 152 514.02	R24 421 343.05	R 1 973 703.05	R191 242. 27
ZADNA	-	-	-	-
SAPO	R119m	R59m	R37m	R270m
POSTBANK	R136 967,30	R141 107,14	-	R10 672 890.74
ICASA	R371 859,95	R366 837,92	R19 946,55	R175 127.05
USAASA	R419 193.21	R441 369.37	R107 308.27	R29 090.64

(c)

SITA is working with all its client departments to ensure that they make funds available to settle all outstanding invoices as soon as possible, not later than 31 March 2022. These outstanding amounts are largely for services consumed by different government departments, and SITA manages the related contracts on their behalf, and can only settle invoices when client departments make funds available.

NEMISA envisage that the outstanding amount will be settled by 31 March 2022.

BBI stated that; (30 days) 29 of these invoices (R2 615 956) have since been paid. The balance of the invoices is from fellow SOE’s with whom they are discussing payment options. (60 days) 70 invoices (R162 783) are from their previous Travel Management Company and still undergoing verification. The balance of the invoices is from fellow SOE’s with whom they are discussing payment options. (90 days) the invoices are from two fellow SOE’s with whom they are discussing payment options. (120 days) the invoices are from two fellow SOE’s with whom they are discussing payment options.

SENTECH stated that the outstanding amounts will be settled by 31 March 2022.

FPB indicated that the envisaged date of settlement is by 31 March 2022 for all invoices that meet the payment requirement i.e. Service or Goods have been delivered.

.ZADNA indicated they have no outstanding amount to be settled.

SABC invoices falling between 30-120 days will be settled between February 2022 and March 2022 subject to all internal processes being concluded.

SAPO currently does not have the required funds to settle the liabilities. SAPO has requested funding through the MTEF process. SAPO has developed a revised strategy to improve its operational and financial performance and is in the process of implementing such. However, the success of the new Strategy depends on the availability of funding.

Postbank has indicated that the payment will be made by 28 February 2022, with the exception of SAPO where payments to SAPO were put on hold as SAPO has withheld Postbank's revenue from SASSA on payment of grants. Negotiations between SAPO and Postbank are still in progress. The outcome of these negotiations will determine the way forward.

ICASA stated that invoices falling between 30 – 90 days are currently in progress and will be settled no later than the end of February 2022. The invoices falling within the 120 days are either under dispute or the supplier’s tax status is not up to date, therefore payment cannot be effected.

USAASA has indicated that some of the invoices will be paid before end of February 2022, while other invoices are awaited to be are fully compliance.

 

MS. NONKQUBELA JORDAN-DYANI

DIRECTOR-GENERAL (ACTING)

DATE:

Recommended/not recommended

__________________________

HON. PHILLY MAPULANE, MP

DEPUTY MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

DATE:

Approved/ not approved

________________________________

HON. KHUMBUDZO NTSHAVHENI, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

DATE:

Reply:

(a)(i) Department of Small Business Development (DSBD)
(aa)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 30 days	None.
(bb)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 60 days	None.
(cc)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 90 days	None.
(dd)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 120 days	None.
(b)	Total amount outstanding	R0.00
(c)	Date envisaged to settle outstanding amounts	N/A
(b)(ii) Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda)
(aa)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 30 days	None.
(bb)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 60 days	None.
(cc)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 90 days	None.
(dd)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 120 days	None.
(b)	Total amount outstanding	R0.00
(c)	Date envisaged to settle outstanding amounts	N/A
(b)(ii) Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa)
(aa)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 30 days	1 (One).
(bb)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 60 days	None.
(cc)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 90 days	None.
(dd)	Number of supplier invoices unpaid by 120 days	None.
(b)	Total amount outstanding	R 69 455.40
(c)	Date envisaged to settle outstanding amounts	Payment is expected to be made to the client by the 28 February 2022.

MS STELLA TEMBISA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT