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02 January 2024 - NW3622

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education

(1)       Whether her department is accountable for sanitation projects at schools; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) with regard to the sanitation project at the Nomagaga Primary School in the Harry Gwala District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, are there stipulations contained in the contractors’ agreement for legal ramifications in case of project delays and/or substandard work and (b) what are the relevant details of the consequences; (2) what other accountability mechanisms are in place in the agreement to hold both the contractor and her department accountable for project delays and related risks; (3) what specific measures have been undertaken to (a) expedite the completion of the pit toilet project and (b) ensure the safety of learners and staff; (4) whether she and/or her department intend to undertake a personal oversight visit at the specified primary school to gain firsthand understanding of the situation; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1. The question falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Kwa Zulu Natal. The Member is kindly requested to refer the question to the MEC for Kwa Zulu Natal as per section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134 (5)(b) of the NA rules. 

02 January 2024 - NW3506

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Ngcobo, Mr SL to ask the Minister of Basic Education

With reference to the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative by her department, what are the relevant details pertaining to the (a) budget allocated for, (b) actual expenditure and (c) construction and/or maintenance of (i) primary and (ii) high schools in each province in the past four financial years?

Reply:

In 2011, the Department of Basic Education launched the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI-2011). This programme focused on the following:

  • Appropriate building for schools made entirely of inappropriate materials.
  • Appropriate water supply to schools with no water.
  • Appropriate sanitation at schools with no toilets.
  • Appropriate electricity supply to schools with no electricity supply.

In 2018, the Department of Basic Education launched the Sanitation Appropriate For Education (SAFE-2018) initiative.  This programme focused on the following:

  • Providing appropriate sanitation at schools dependent on basic pit toilets.

Both the ASIDI & SAFE programmes are funded from the School Infrastructure Backlog Grant (SIBG).  The Department submit weekly progress reports on the ASIDI & SAFE programmes to the Minister (DBE-2023).

(1) SIBG budget allocation in the past four financial years are:

(2) Actual expenditure in the past four financial years is:

(3) Construction and/or maintenance

330 of the 338 schools made entirely of inappropriate materials, have been provided with appropriate structures through ASIDI. This is 97.6% progress.

1 298 of the 1 307 schools with no water supply, have been provided with water infrastructure through ASIDI. This is 99.3% progress.

1 087 of the 1 087 schools with no toilets, have been provided with sanitation infrastructure through ASIDI. This is 100% progress.

373 of the 378 schools with no electricity supply, have been provided with electricity through ASIDI. This is 100% progress.

2 975 of the 3 380 schools dependent on basic pit toilets, have been provided with appropriate sanitation infrastructure through SAFE. This is 88% progress.

A list of the constructed schools is attached hereto indicating which are (i) Primary and (ii) High Schools.

ASIDI and SAFE do not do maintenance of schools.

02 January 2024 - NW3456

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education

(1)       With reference to the sanitation project at the Nomagaga Primary School in the Harry Gwala District in KwaZulu-Natal, (a) what are the specific project milestones set for the toilet construction at the specified school and (b) have the contractors (i) met or (ii) missed the specified milestones; (2) what safety measures has her department implemented to ensure the safety of staff and learners regarding the unsafe pit toilets at the school; (3) (a) on what date was the last performance assessments and/or evaluations of the contractors performed and (b) what were the outcomes; (4) whether any corrective action was taken; if not, why not; if so, what action?

Reply:

The question falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Kwa Zulu Natal. The Member is kindly requested to refer the question to the MEC for Kwa Zulu Natal as per section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134 (5)(b) of the NA rules. 

02 January 2024 - NW3563

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Tito, Ms LF to ask the Minister of Basic Education

What is the total number of schools in each province where pit toilets were eradicated since she assumed office?

Reply:

2975 schools dependent on basic pit toilets have been provided with appropriate sanitation infrastructure through SAFE.

The table below provides a number of schools on SAFE provided with appropriate sanitation per province.

02 January 2024 - NW2664

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education

(1)       What total number of plain pit and bucket latrines are identified for demolition or improvement, (a) nationally and (b) in each province by the (i) Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, (ii) Sanitation Appropriate for Education Programme, (iii) provincial departments of education and/or (iv) any other sanitation programmes; (2) (a) what total number have (i) originally been identified for each programme and (ii) been eradicated and (b) by what date is it envisaged that the remaining toilets will be eradicated?

Reply:

(1) (a) Nationally, there were 3 898 schools initially identified on the SAFE programme and additional 809 schools were later added. 867 schools did not proceed due to some schools closing, some schools not meeting SAFE criteria, some of the schools are on private land and some have sufficient number of toilets in line with the Norms and Standards. DBE proceeded to intervene at 3 380 schools. 

(b) The following tables provides a breakdown of schools per Province.

(i) Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) focused on providing appropriate sanitation to schools with no toilets. The following schools have been provided with sanitation:

(ii) Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) initiative focused on providing appropriate sanitation at schools dependent on basic pit toilets. The following number of schools have been provided with sanitation. (iii) The table below includes sanitation provided by both provinvial education departments and Donors.

(2) (a) ASIDI sanitation projects have been completed. Number of SAFE schools completed are provided in (1.ii) above.

(b) The Completion date for the remaining SAFE schools has been affected by budget cuts. DBE had planned to complete the schools by end of 2023/24 financial year.

02 January 2024 - NW3521

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van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Social Development

In view of the KwaZulu-Natal nonprofit organisations network reporting that over 47 welfare organisations, 1 714 staff and approximately 422 826 grant recipients, including children, older persons, and individuals with disabilities, were directly impacted by late payment of subsidies as at 10 October 2023, what (a) measures are being taken by her department to ensure that such life-saving organisations receive their subsidies on time, (b) on what date will the unpaid subsidies from (i) August 2023, (ii) September 2023 and (iii) October 2023 be paid to organisations and (c) are the full relevant details in this regard?

Reply:

a) The Department has implemented new funding model with effect from October 2023. The new funding model entails paying NPOs in tranches on a quarterly basis. The tranche will be paid in April, July, September and January each financial year. This will ensure timeous payment of subsidies to NPOs

b) 

  1. Subsidies for August 2023 were paid in full on 06 October 2023;
  2. Most of NPOs have been paid subsidies for September, October and November 2023. The remaining unpaid NPOs will be paid on 2 November 2023.
  3. October is included on the New Funding Model, final payment will be made on 2 November 2023.

c) There were delays in payment of subsidies due to cash blocking resulting from budget cuts. The funds are allocated by Provincial Treasury on monthly basis. The department does not have enough cash to pay for its contractual obligations and operational costs.

The department has requested funds for NPO subsidies to be allocated quarterly in order to pay NPOs in tranches to avoid late payments. The tranche payment to NPOs will be paid in April, July, September and January each year. The first tranche for 2023/24 has been effected in October 2023 and the next one will be in January 2024.

02 January 2024 - NW3577

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Maseko-Jele, Ms NH to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services

(1) Whether any practical results have been noted after he signed the Cybercrime Cooperation Protocol Agreement with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, which offered training to judicial officers and prosecutors to improve the investigation of cybercrimes, that will benefit the Republic and particularly the Special Investigating Unit; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what further measures has he put in place to expand the specified training?

Reply:

I wish to inform the honorable Member that I have been informed that

The following interventions has been identified for training of Judicial Officers, Prosecutors and Investigators within the Anti-Corruption and Law Enforcement Agencies, to build cybercrime expertise on the following courses:

Cyber Forensic First Responder Course

This course gives a broad view of Cyber equipment and the methods to collect and seize information from devices on a high level. It gives the delegate a broad understanding of the various methodologies which could be used in gathering information, determining the criticality of various information stored in digital media.

It also provide insight into the various Acts which would come into play when collecting digital information with a broad idea of the responsibilities of the first responder. It should be noted that this is not an advance technical course but rather an introduction to the various aspects of collecting information and the responsibilities of the first responder during an investigation. The course provides the first responder with a broad understanding of the various aspects relating to cyber forensic investigation after completion of the course, understanding the various conventions relating to the regulation of electronic evidence, laws, computer science, information security systems, cyber forensics and the management are key outcomes of the course.

Open Source Intelligence Training Course

This training allows the investigators to search the internet to find clues and evidence that could guide their investigations. The roll-out of this training was first for the SIU Trainers,

This is a five day training focusing on the understanding of the network theory, technical searches, IP Addresses, E-Mails, investigations using accounts created on the social networks etc

DARWIN TOOL (Data Analysis Response Windows)

The DARWIN Tool has been developed by the French Cybercrime Department (SDLC) and the French Judiciary Police Dept (DCPJ). This tool is used by the cybercrime investigators to boot a computer and to make technical searches and to fulfill the investigation report.

The course enables the First Responder (FR) to use the DARWIN tool while retrieving data and preserving the chain of custody. The aim is to perform a quick scan from a shutdown computer and realize a forensic copy of the data. It was created under Windows 10 environment and supports a program called LIBERKEY. This Program allows you to embed all the programs in a portable version that will be used for analysis.

Mobile Investigations Training

Building expertise on the use and application of UFED Cellebrite to extract and

analyse evidence

Arrangements has been made with the NPA, Civilian Secretariat Police Service, Campus Protection Services of South Africa (Camprosa) representing 24 universities, to train prosecutors in the case of the NPA and Investigators for others in the above indicated courses starting February 2024 and on a range of Investigation courses at the Anti-Corruption Academy (Justice college).

TRAINING OFFERED 2022/23

Topic

Target Audience

#

Open Source Intelligence

Prosecutors

16

(2) what further measures has he put in place to expand the specified training? NO4749E

Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) entered into with PSETA on 17 August 2023

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) is for the Special Investigating Unit (“SIU”) and the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (“PSETA”) to record their intention to collaborate and partner in building the skills capabilities within the public service, and to fulfil both Parties’ constitutional and statutory obligations.

    1. Both committed to maintain accreditation status of courses identified for public servants, Certification of Learners and the achievement of accreditation status of the Anti-Corruption Academy by 4th Quarter of current financial year.
    2. PSETA and the SIU agreed on the training of public servants nationally on accredited courses over two phases
      1. Phase1: Corruption Prevention
      2. Phase 2: Public Education
    3. The SIU Submitted the Corruption Prevention course targeting public servants for accreditation to PSETA during September 2023 which contain the following modules:
    4. Corruption Prevention course scheduled for roll-out during January 2024, a total of 810 public servants targeted for training by 31 March 2024 with an increased number planned for the 2024/25 financial year.
    5. SIU Accredited trainers, Assessors and Moderators are already registered as part of the compliance requirements of the accreditation of the academy.
    6. SIU submitted Anti-Corruption Academy accreditation application to PSETA, accreditation process in final stages, accreditation expected by 30 November 2023.

MoU’s signed with SADC Member States Anti-Corruption Agencies

MoU’s signed with 5 SADC Member States Anti-Corruption Agencies on 01 August 2023, namely; the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau, Zambia Anti-Corruption Commission, Namibia Anti-Corruption Commission, Independent Commission Against Corruption of Mauritius, the Independent Bureau Against Corruption of Madagascar and the Anti-Corruption commission of Seychelles to train their investigators on cyber forensic investigations, open source intelligence training from February 2024.

TRAINING OFFERED UNDER COOPERATION PROTOCOL SIGNED BETWEEN THE RESPECTIVE MINISTERS

Topic

Target Audience

#

Cyber Forensic First responder

Investigators, Public Education Officers and Corruption Prevention Officers from Anti-Corruption Agencies of Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar

36

Cyber Forensic First Responder

Investigators scheduled for 04-08 Dec 2023 Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Agencies 19 Africa countries to be trained at the Academy in Pretoria

To be confirmed

(Attached please find a copy of MoU signed with PSETA, and a copy of MoU signed with SADC Member States, Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau).

These MoUs serve as additional measures taken by the SIU to expand training offered. Training for the Public Servants as per MoU with PSETA and for SADC Member States as per MoU with the SIU to be offered at the Anti-Corruption Academy.

02 January 2024 - NW3455

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education

Regarding the sanitation project at the Nomagaga Primary School in the Harry Gwala District in KwaZulu-Natal, what is the latest specified update on the status of the specified project, including the (a)(i) total number and (ii) types of toilets that have been (aa) installed and/or (bb) completed and (b) timeline for the (i) completion and (ii) handover of the project?

Reply:

1. The question falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Kwa Zulu Natal. The Member is kindly requested to refer the question to the MEC for Kwa Zulu Natal as per section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134 (5)(b) of the NA rules. 

02 January 2024 - NW3611

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van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Social Development

Whether she has been informed that a group of almost 50 nonprofit organisations (NPOs) in KwaZulu-Natal have launched an online petition to protest the ongoing late and/or nonpayment of subsidies from her department, with some organisations struggling since 2022 to get regular payments; if not, what steps will she take to investigate the issue and set things right; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

Yes, the issue was on the agenda of the MINMEC meeting held on 5 December 2023 and was discussed at length with all MECs. The meeting to discuss and find long term solution is scheduled for early next year with the KZN Provincial Department of Social Development. The meeting will address issues that are a challenge for both parties. All the NPOs that have signed the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Department have been paid their subsidies as in December 2023.

02 January 2024 - NW3621

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education

(1)       Whether her department will put in place safety measures at schools with open pit toilets; if not; what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) support has her department provided to the Nomagaga Primary School in the Harry Gwala District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and (b) what are the relevant details; (2) whether temporary safety measures have been put in place to mitigate the risk of open pit toilets for the duration of the sanitation project at the specified school; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

The question falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Kwa Zulu Natal. The Member is kindly requested to refer the question to the MEC for Kwa Zulu Natal as per section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134 (5)(b) of the NA rules. 

02 January 2024 - NW3572

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education

(1)       Regarding the sanitation project at the Nomagaga Primary School in the Harry Gwala District in KwaZulu-Natal, what are the (a) names, (b) contact details and/or (c) all relevant details of the company of the contractors entrusted with the project; (2) whether any payments have been made to the contractors to date; if not, why not; if so, what (a) total amounts, (b) were the dates of payment and (c) criteria were employed to determine the specified payments?

Reply:

The question falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Kwa Zulu Natal. The Hon Member is kindly requested to refer the question to the MEC for Kwa Zulu Natal as per section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 134 (5)(b) of the NA rules. 

02 January 2024 - NW210

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Mbabama, Ms TM to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

(1)What are the details of the (a) destination and (b) total costs for (i) accommodation, (ii) travel and (iii) any other costs incurred for international travel of each (aa) Minister and (bb) Deputy Ministers of her Office since 1 June 2019; (2) what is the total cost incurred for domestic air travel for each (a) Minister and (b) Deputy Minister of her Office since 1 June 2019?

Reply:

1. The details of the destination, total costs for accommodation, travel and other costs incurred for international of each Minister and Deputy Minister since 1 June 2019 are depicted in the tables below:

International Travel

(aa)

 

(a)

(b)(i)

(b)(ii)

(b)(iii)

 

Date

Destination

Accommodation

Flights

Forex & Insurance

Minister

Oct 2019

BRAZIL

 

R90 264,43

R225,00

 

Oct 2019

ETHIOPIA

 

R32 700,93

R5 402,00

 

Sep 2019

KENYA

 

R28 213,43

R0,00

 

Feb 2020

ETHIOPIA

 

R66 062,93

R5 132,00

 

Feb 2020

UNITED STATES

 

R155 327,93

R0,00

 

Nov 2021

ETHIOPIA

 

R63 965,75

R0,00

 

Mar 2022

UNITED STATES

 

R108 409,75

R0,00

 

Jun 2022

MALAWI

 

R59 935,80

R225,00

 

Nov 2022

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

 

R109 106,00

R17 436,00

 

Nov 2022

TOGO

 

R48 584,40

R8 045,00

 

Jun 2022

RWANDA

 

R27 390,40

R5 810,00

 

Feb 2023

UNITED STATES

 

R228 927,45

R36 000,00

Total

 

 

R0,00

R1 018 889,20

R78 275,00

International Travel

(bb)

 

(a)

(b)(i)

(b)(ii)

(b)(iii)

 

Date

Destination

Accommodation

Flights

Forex & Insurance

Deputy Minister

Oct 2019

BELGIUM

 

R83 956,93

R225,00

 

Feb 2020

UNITED STATES

 

R170 091,43

R405,00

Total

 

 

R0,00

R254 048,36

R630,00

           

2. The total cost incurred for domestic air travel for each Minister and Deputy Minister of her Office since 1 June 2019 are depicted in the tables below:

(a)

Period

Total cost Domestic Air Travel

Minister

1 June 2019 to 1 Mar 2023

R578 096,79

(b)

Period

Total cost Domestic Air Travel

Deputy Minister

1 June 2019 to 1 Mar 2023

R327 696,51

________________________

Approved by Minister

Dr NC Dlamini-Zuma, MP

Date:

 

29 December 2023 - NW3329

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1) (a) What number of public servants have skills related to information and communications technology (ICT), and (b) how often do the relevant government departments upskill the specified skills. (2) what number of cyber security specialists are currently employed in the Public Service. (3) what number of ICT and/or e-Government-related courses does the National School of Government currently offer?

Reply:

Background

In pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape within the public service, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) utilized the PERSAL system to generate reports concerning ICT personnel within various departments. Regrettably, these reports revealed discrepancies, as many departments had failed to update the field designating personnel involved in IT-related roles, consequently compromising the accuracy of the reports.

Subsequently, the DPSA formulated a data collection instrument, mandating all departments to provide the following particulars regarding their respective ICT personnel:

• Department or Government Component Name

• Sphere of Government (National/Provincial)

• Province

• PERSAL Number

• Full Name

• Branch

• Chief Directorate

• Directorate or Unit

• Job Title

• Salary Level

• A concise summary of the job description

It's noteworthy that this data collection initiative did not aim to ascertain specific ICT skills; nonetheless, through a meticulous analysis of the data received, the DPSA managed to infer a rudimentary skill level based on the roles that were being undertaken. It is imperative to highlight that a more comprehensive collection of skills information will be undertaken as part of the broader public service skills audit initiatives currently in progress.

Of the anticipated 161 departments, 132 provided responses, revealing a salient opportunity for departments to enhance the quality of their human resources data, particularly in relation to personnel information, job descriptions, and job titles.

Response to Question 1

(a) What number of public servants have skills related to information and communications technology (ICT),

As indicated above, pending the completed public service skills audit, the skill levels will be inferred based on the functions being performed.

Furthermore, the majority of public servants that have access to computer technologies would have ICT skills that typically encompass basic competencies required for everyday tasks such as word processing and internet browsing, while specialist ICT personnel deployed in ICT functions would have skills that involve a deeper and specialized knowledge, often focusing on complex system development, cybersecurity, or network administration.

Therefore, the data collected reveals that there are 4548 ICT personnel deployed in departments’ ICT functions.

and (b) how often do the relevant government departments upskill the specified skills.

Upskilling and training of employees is decentralized with departments prioritizing resources based on their specific needs. The DPSA does not currently have a mechanism to track and report on the ICT specific training and upskilling by departments.

Response to Question 2

What number of cyber security specialists are currently employed in the Public Service?

From the 4548, 64 personnel have been identified as having either a job title of job description that involves ICT security / Cyber security. The data does not show the level of expertise and specialization at this point. The broader skills audit programme will provide further clarity upon its completion.

Response to Question 3

What number of ICT and/or e-Government-related courses does the National School of Government currently offer?

Currently the NSG has one programme.

The Digital Transformation for Public Sector Programme targets:

  • Chief Information Officers and ICT Practitioners.
  • Strategic managers in IT – dealing with service delivery improvement through digitization.

The programme was developed during the 2019/20 financial year in partnership with the curriculum development sub-committee for the Government Information Technology Officers Council (GITOC). The programme content was further peer reviewed in 2022 by colleagues from DPSA, DSI, SSA, SITA and DCDT.

The intention was to create a programme applicable and relevant to Government-wide needs in the digital transformation and ICT spheres and furthermore, to make it impactful in enhancing service delivery through 4IR and other transformative ICT tools.

Programme Overview

The programme is structured into four modules, each of which is divided into a varying number of units, as indicated below:

Module 1 - ICT Leadership in Government Information Communication and Technology

Unit 1: CIO Role

Unit 2: IT Organisation

Unit 3: IT Governance

Unit 4: IT Planning

Unit 5: Overview of Public Sector Procurement

This section focuses on the IT organisation, its leadership and management. It looks at how IT should be governed and the role of business and leadership in the corporate governance of ICT.

Module 2 - Technology Platforms

Unit 1: Service Oriented Architecture and Micro-services

Unit 2: Cloud Computing

Unit 3: The Fourth Industrial Revolution

    • Social Media & Mobile Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Augmented and Virtual Reality
    • Internet of Things
    • Blockchain

This section covers current technology trends and how they are used to enable business. The information will help learners not only gain a deeper understanding of the technologies available but how they can be used in public sector service delivery and administration.

Module 3 - Public Sector Digitisation

Unit 1: Data Management

Unit 2: Business Process Management

Unit 3: Digital Government

This section covers the fundamentals of digitisation and how these fundamentals can be applied to the public sector.

Module 4 – Cyber Security

Unit 1: Cyber Law

Unit 2: Cyber Security

Unit 3: Cyber Security Governance

Unit 4: Cyber Threats

Unit 5: Cyber Attack Threat Vectors

This section covers the fundamentals of Information Security and the threats or challenges posed by ever increasing digitisation and connected cyber networks. The section will also look at the legal matters related to information security and what IT organisations must do in the public sector to protect the state.

End

29 December 2023 - NW4184

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What (a) are the triggers and processes to periodically amend Public Service Regulations and (b) is the reason that Public Service Regulations 62 was amended to include operational reasons determined by her when she does not know the operational requirements for other executive authorities; (2) what (a) are the reasons that transfers were never prescribed in terms of section 14 of the Public Service Act, Act 103 of 1994, and only regulated now by the insertion of Public Service Regulations 62A and (b) are the reasons that this was not previously challenged when unilateral transfers were done in her department without regulations; (3) what has she found is the import that the definition of the public interest clause with regard to the Saloojee vs Minister of Police 2004 matter have on transfers when abused as punitive weaponised instruments against targeted Senior Management Service employees; (4) what are the reasons that (a) the proposed amendment to the transfer provision is overlapping with operational requirements reasons as such overlap allows for arbitrariness in decision making and (b) a conflict in decision making clause by a complicit functionary not included in the Public Service Act, Act 103 of 1994, as a necessary amendment to protect whistleblowers?

Reply:

1. (a) The authority for the Public Service Regulations is contained in section 41 of the Public Service Act. The review of regulations is usually triggered by gaps or challenges identified, policy changes, strengthening processes or managing interpretational challenges, amongst others.

(b) The requirement to seek the Minister’s determination on secondments that exceed 12 months is to ensure that secondments do not affect service delivery and do not become a mechanism to create long term employment which places undue burden on the seconding department and its employees to carry the tasks of the seconded employee over a protracted period. The Minister therefore assesses the operational requirements taking into account the circumstances and the impact of the secondment in excess of 12 months as motivated by relevant departments. It must be noted that this requirement was not introduced in the recent Public Service Amendment Regulations, 2023.

2. (a) Prior to the Public Service Amendment Regulations, 2023, transfers were regulated by section 14 of the Public Service Act. It became necessary to provide further clarity to ensure proper implementation of transfers by requiring-

  1. in respect of a transfer to another department, the executive authorities of the two relevant departments must agree in writing to such a transfer;
  2. due regard be had to the inherent requirements of the job and the employee’s competencies to perform the functions of the post to which he or she is being transferred; and
  3. that an employee is not transferred into a post in the Office of an executive authority, Deputy President or Deputy Minister.

(b) A challenge on transfers of employees without their consent cannot be sustained as it is authorised by section 14 of the Public Service Act and is not dependent on regulations.

3. We are not aware of a case of Saloojee v Minister of Police 2004 and therefore we are unable to respond on the import thereof in relation to transfers.

4. (a) The Public Service Amendment Regulations, 2023 does not make reference to operation requirements in respect of transfers.

(b) Regulation 7 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 provides for decision-making in cases of conflict of interest.

End

29 December 2023 - NW4185

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)What (a) legislative provisions were relied upon when amending the Public Service Regulation 61(6)(b), (b) constitutes privileged information as there is no such category in terms of Minimum Information Security Standards and (c) legislative provisions prohibit a whistleblower from disclosing privileged information to (i) a Parliamentary committee and (ii) the media; (2) whether she has found that amended Public Service Regulation 61(6)(b) is in line with the Protected Disclosures Act, Act 26 of 2000 as it is now an offence and misconduct for a Senior Management Service member to disclose any privileged and/or confidential information obtained during the course of duty to an unauthorised person or persons, with a prohibited reemployment period for five (5) years if found guilty; if not, why not; if so, which provisions of the specified Act does the amendment align with; (3) what (a) are the reasons that her department wants to manage the database public disclosures when it is not the custodian of the Act and gazetted procedures, as that is now contrary to the whistleblowing reporting regime of 2011 and (b) mechanisms and procedures have been made available to potential whistleblowers who intend to make a protected disclosure against her department itself, as what had happened recently?

Reply:

1. (a) the provisions of regulation 61(6)(b) of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 relate to the unauthorised release of information and is authorised by section 41 of the Public Service Act, 1994 read with section 17(4) of the same Act.

(b) Privileged information is information that is protected from disclosure due the rights vested in individuals or bodies by the Constitution, other laws and rules of the Republic of South Africa.

(c) Whistleblowing is managed through the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 and authorises an employee to disclose information to authorities listed in the Practical Guidelines for Employees issued in terms of section 10(4)(a) of the Protected Disclosures Act. In addition, regulation 13(e) of the Public Service Regulations requires and authorises the reporting of fraud, corruption, nepotism, maladministration and any other act which constitutes a contravention of any law (including, but not limited to, a criminal offence) or which is prejudicial to the interest of the public, which comes to the attention of an employee during the course of his or her employment in the public service to relevant authorities.

(i) the authority to report certain protected disclosures to Parliament is contained in the Practical Guidelines for Employees issued in terms of section 10(4)(a) of the Protected Disclosures Act.

(ii) the authority to report certain protected disclosures to the media is contained in the Practical Guidelines for Employees issued in terms of section 10(4)(a) of the Protected Disclosures Act.

2. Yes, the amended Public Service Regulation 61(6)(b) is in line with the Protected Disclosures Act. The Protected Disclosures Act authorises the disclosure of certain information. If so authorised, the employee cannot be found guilty of misconduct relating to unauthorised disclosure of information as per the Public Service Regulations.

3. (a) A disclosure contemplated in section 1 of the Protected Disclosures Act can, in addition to the persons and bodies listed in section 8 of that Act, be made to the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (TAU) of the DPSA. The TAU therefore maintains a database of matters so referred.

(b) Protected disclosures may be made to other bodies provided for under the Protected Disclosures Act.

End

29 December 2023 - NW3287

Profile picture: Ngcobo, Mr SL

Ngcobo, Mr SL to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether his department has records of the total number of public servants in the Republic; if not, why not; if so, what are the statistics in each (a) department and (b) province?

Reply:

The following information reflects the total number of public servants in the Republic of South Africa. The information is obtained from PERSAL as of 30 September 2023
(3rd quarter 2023/2024).

a) The number of public servants in each National Department and Components are as follows:

TOTAL NUMBER OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENTS AND COMPONENTS

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

6 812

Basic Education

809

Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service

172

Communications and Digital Technologies

267

Cooperative Governance

632

Correctional Services

37 650

Employment and Labour

9 288

Environment, Forestry and Fisheries

3 323

Government Communication and Information System

410

Health

823

Higher Education and Training

29 295

Home Affairs

8 101

Human Settlements

467

Independent Police Investigative Directorate

369

International Relations and Cooperation

1 861

Justice and Constitutional Development

21 672

Military Veterans

125

Mineral Resources and Energy

1 445

National School of Government

212

National Treasury

1 932

Office of the Chief Justice

2 009

Office of the Public Service Commission

258

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

384

Police

186 143

Public Enterprises

156

Public Service and Administration

384

Public Works and Infrastructure

4 636

Science and Innovation

401

Small Business Development

203

Social Development

645

Sports, Arts and Culture

530

Statistics South Africa

3 260

The Presidency

463

Tourism

461

Trade, Industry and Competition

1 077

Traditional Affairs

101

Transport

687

Water and Sanitation

4 822

Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

109

TOTAL

332 394

b) The number of public servants in each Province is as follows:

TOTAL NUMBER OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN THE PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS

Eastern Cape

112 003

Free State

55 501

Gauteng

179 702

KwaZulu-Natal

174 990

Limpopo

93 584

Mpumalanga

69 099

North West

64 076

Northern Cape

20 897

Western Cape

81 428

TOTAL

851 280

End

29 December 2023 - NW3198

Profile picture: Gondwe, Dr M

Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

With reference to public servants who do not have qualifications for the positions that they currently occupy, what (a) is the total number of such public servants in each (i) national and (ii) provincial government department and (b) are the relevant details of the (i) positions that are occupied by such public servants and (ii) time period that each public servant has been employed in each specified position?

Reply:

a) (i) and (ii):

The Minister for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA), guided by section 3 (c) of the Public Service Act (PSA), issued a Directive guiding national and provincial departments on Compulsory Capacity Development Mandatory Training Days, and Minimum Entry Requirements, specifically for Senior Management Service (SMS) roles. The Directive sets forth mandatory requirements and standards which define qualification criteria that must be met for recruitment into SMS positions.

Since the Directive was issued the following has been noted:

  • The majority of officials that do not meet minimum entry requirements, entered into those positions before the Directive was issued and at a time when they were meeting the requirements. This means that departments are complying with the Directive.
  • As South African law does not allow for retrospective application unless specifically ordered by a court of law, the officials are being encouraged to improve their qualifications either through academic study or Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
  • Most of the Public Servants have since secured improved qualifications, however these are yet to be captured on PERSAL by their departments.
  • The DPSA is working with relevant departments to ensure that improved qualifications are correctly updated and captured on PERSAL.

Within the context of the Directive, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), fulfilling its role, compiles qualification data solely for SMS members in compliance with this Directive. The total number of SMS Members in each national and provincial government department is attached as Annexure A:

b) (i) and (ii):

The total number of SMS members with qualifications not specified on PERSAL as of 30 September 2023 is 1 801.

SMS Members with Qualifications Unspecified on PERSAL

Occupational Classification

Date Appointed In SMS

Total

 

Before 1 August 2016

From 1 August 2016

 

Total

1 259

542

1 801

Administrative Related

91

55

146

Advocates

 

1

1

Agriculture Related

2

 

2

Communication And Information Related

4

2

6

Computer Programmers.

 

1

1

Computer System Designers and Analysts.

 

1

1

Crime Investigators/ Misdaad Ondersoekers

 

1

1

Custodian Personnel

 

1

1

Economists

2

 

2

Finance And Economics Related

20

6

26

Financial And Related Professionals

18

11

29

Financial Clerks and Credit Controllers

2

 

2

General Legal Administration & Rel. Professionals

2

1

3

Head Of Department/Chief Executive Officer

20

6

26

Health Sciences Related

3

2

5

Human Resources & Organisational Development & Related Professions

10

4

14

Human Resources Related

11

4

15

Identification Experts

3

 

3

Information Technology Related

4

 

4

Legal Related

4

1

5

Natural Sciences Related

2

2

4

Operational Planning

 

1

1

Other Administration & Related Clerks and Organisers

2

3

5

Other Administrative Policy and Related Officers

2

 

2

Other Information Technology Personnel.

8

 

8

Other Occupations

9

 

9

Police.

 

1

1

Professional Nurse

1

1

2

Prosecutor

 

1

1

Risk Management and Security Services

4

 

4

Saps

1

1

2

Secretaries & Other Keyboard Operating Clerks

 

3

3

Security Officers

1

 

1

Senior Managers

1 027

432

1 459

Social Sciences Related

1

 

1

Social Work and Related Professionals

2

 

2

Trade/Industry Advisers & Other Related Profession

2

 

2

Veterinarians

1

 

1

Table 1: PERSAL Data as of 30 September 2023 Occupation Specific

End

29 December 2023 - NW4136

Profile picture: Komane, Ms RN

Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Whether the process of conducting lifestyle audits on public sector officials yielded the intended results; if not, what urgent steps will be taken to curb the increasing corruption in the public sector; if so, (a) how and (b) what are the relevant details in this regard?

Reply:

The implementation of lifestyle audits became compulsory from 1st April 2021 in the public service. The national departments, provincial departments and government components conduct lifestyle audits in their respective institutions and report annually to the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).

The process of conducting lifestyle audits in the public service comprises three phases namely lifestyle review, lifestyle investigation, and lifestyle audit (quantification and evaluation).

a) The 2022/2023 financial year is the second year since the implementation of lifestyle audits in the public service. During the first year (2021/2022) of implementation, the DPSA focused on capacity building to capacitate more than two hundred Ethics Officers in the public service on how to conduct lifestyle reviews, which is the first step when conducting lifestyle audits. Currently, during the 2023/2024 financial year, the DPSA focuses on investigators in the public service to capacitate them on how to conduct lifestyle investigation, since the process of lifestyle audit is a new phenomenon in the public service. As a result of this training, about 200 Senior Management Members reviews were referred for investigation in this financial year.

b) The process of conducting lifestyle audits in the public service is in its second year and is still yet to be evaluated for effectiveness in preventing and detecting fraud and corruption. However, the improvement in the number of national departments from 24 (in 2021/2022) to 36 (in 2022/2023), and provincial departments from 71 (in 2021/2022) to 89 (in 2022/2023) who started to conduct lifestyle audits, indicates that departments are geared to conduct lifestyle investigations.

End

29 December 2023 - NW3197

Profile picture: Gondwe, Dr M

Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1) What (a) total number of public servants (i) are currently receiving grants in each (aa) provincial and (bb) national department and (ii) qualify to receive such grants and (b) types of grants do the specified public servants receive. (2) What total number of public servants have been disciplined for receiving grants they do not qualify to receive in each (a) provincial and (b) national department. (3) What total number of cases has her department opened against public servants who benefited from grants that they did not qualify to receive; (4) What total amount has her department recovered to date from public servants who benefited from grants that they did not qualify to receive?

Reply:

1.(a) Public servants that received grants:

TABLE 1

No

Province

Number public servants identified by AGSA

1

Eastern Cape

1257

2

Free State

103

3

Gauteng

280

4

KwaZulu-Natal

1102

5

Limpopo

468

6

Mpumalanga

296

7

Northwest

1460

8

Northern Cape

566

9

Western Cape

280

10

National

 

Total

5812

In March 2023 33833 public servants had their grants lapsed and also referred to the Fraud and Compliance Unit for further investigations as they failed to present themselves to a SASSA office to have their grants reviewed. Below is the distribution of the public servants (according to provinces)[1].

TABLE 2

(i) The 5812 Covid related (refer to Table 1) and 33833 normal grants (refer to Table 2) recipients had their grants lapsed upon identification that they had contravened Section 21 of the Social Assistance Act (furnished untrue information when applying or continue to receive social assistance when they standard of living has changed).

(aa) According to SASSA dataset extracted from Covid and SOCPEN systems, distribution is according to province as per Table 1 and 2 above indicating where grant application was submitted and not according to employing department (be it provincial or national).

(bb) SASSA dataset did not distribute civil servants according to employing department, but according to the province where the application was submitted

(ii) The numbers of civil servants contained on Table 1 and 2 may have qualified through misrepresentation which has been uncovered as SASSA systems were improved and enhanced.

(b) 5812 civil servants benefited from the Covid 19 Social Relief of Distress grant within the period of May to October 2020. Distribution of the 33833 was not provided by SASSA.

2. What total number of public servants have been disciplined for receiving grants they do not qualify to receive in each

(a) Provincial departments: 36

(b) National departments: 6

 

Misconduct cases of Public Servants who benefited from

social grants as at 30 September 2023 - cases referred from 2008)

 
 

National/ Provincial department

Number of cases

Number of people

Total

 

44

42

Eastern Cape

Total

2

2

 

Social Development

2

2

Free State

Total

1

1

 

Human Settlements

1

1

KwaZulu-Natal

Total

18

18

 

Health

6

6

 

Public Works

12

12

Limpopo

Total

1

1

 

Transport and Community Safety

1

1

National

Total

6

6

 

Home Affairs

2

2

 

Police

4

4

North West

Total

16

14

 

Community Safety and Transport Management

14

12

 

Social Development

2

2

Data source: PERSAL

     

Compiled by the DPSA

     

Excluding Defence and State Security Agency

   

3. What total number of cases has her department opened against public servants who benefited from grants that they did not qualify to receive?

To date 1815 cases have been referred to the South African Police Service by SASSA for further criminal investigation for the contravention of the Section 21 of the Social Assistance Act, as it is a criminal offence.

4. What total amount has her department recovered to date from public servants who benefited from grants that they did not qualify to receive?

The recovery of loss is being managed where the employee is located through signing of an acknowledgment of debt that SASSA at provincial office will submit to the Office of the Premier. Where employees refuse to sign acknowledgement of debt forms, Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Act, will be invoked. DPSA and SASSA will coordinate the process.

End

  1. See 1 (bb)

29 December 2023 - NW3859

Profile picture: Kibi, Ms MT

Kibi, Ms MT to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What (a) measures has she put in place to ensure that the innovation from the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) is integrated as part of the Government plan to /professionalise the Public Service and (b) resourcing plans are in existence to increase the capacity of the CPSI?

Reply:

a) A professional public servant in a rapidly changing and evolving governance environment requires the capacity to innovate and manage innovation, especially in a digitised public sector. As such the CPSI is working closely with:

  • NSG to introduce relevant capacity building courses such and Managing Innovation in the Public Service, Design Thinking and soon Strategic Foresight.
  • DPSA and other Departments such as DCDT and Home Affairs and academic institutions such as Wits School of Governance to engage on, develop and implementing digital transformation initiatives.
  • Participated in the PSETA/TUT in the research on future skills for public servants.
  • Currently conducting a comprehensive assessment of public sector innovation in partnership with NACI to ensure evidence-informed innovation policy and practices.
  • Facilitating a ‘trailblazer’ network (ie a network of system developers) in provinces and departments to develop ‘in-house’ capacity and share code and documentation for replication across government.

b) CPSI has engaged extensively with all stakeholders to ensure a future-fit organisation. This culminated in 2021 in a comprehensive study by Wits School of Governance on the strategic direction, capacity and resource requirements of the CPSI. As such, a new structure was approved by the MPSA. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints and no additional allocation in the MTEF this cannot be operationalised and as such the CPSI would be reliant on reprioritisation within the MPSA portfolio.

End

29 December 2023 - NW4078

Profile picture: George, Dr DT

George, Dr DT to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

What are the detailed statistics concerning occupation specific dispensation (OSD) employees across various government departments, specifically regarding (a) the number of OSD employees in each department, (b) their respective salary levels and the current total cost to the state for the specified employees and (c) projected forecasts for future uptake of OSD positions in the upcoming financial years?

Reply:

(a) and (b) The number of OSD employees in each department and current total costs

Sphere / Province

Name of the Department

a) Number of OSD officials

b) Current total costs

Eastern Cape

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

38

32 000 277

 

Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism

146

76 439 952

 

Education

53 115

20 509 133 643

 

Health

28 877

10 615 391 757

 

Human Settlements

67

68 151 942

 

Office of the Premier

13

15 103 227

 

Provincial Treasury

2

1 328 907

 

Public works and Infrastructure

240

114 707 706

 

Rural Development and Agrarian Reform

172

112 685 385

 

Social Development

3 076

1 027 143 894

 

Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture

17

11 772 783

 

Transport

162

76 191 501

Free State

Agriculture and Rural Development

50

35 090 604

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

14

10 423 284

 

Community Safety, Roads, and Transport

83

42 955 533

 

Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs

75

40 041 237

 

Education

23 156

8 819 080 161

 

Health

11 332

4 357 227 426

 

Human Settlements

8

5 619 375

 

Office of the Premier

5

6 382 212

 

Public Works and Infrastructure

128

52 014 009

 

Social Development

736

254 000 352

Gauteng

Agriculture and Rural Development

232

143 643 240

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

19

16 638 204

 

Community Safety

3

2 283 381

 

E-Government

2

1 701 510

 

Economic Development

2

2 078 754

 

Education

75 479

28 547 983 953

 

Health

46 336

19 798 096 956

 

Human Settlements

84

90 353 199

 

Infrastructure Development

691

297 457 170

 

Office of the Premier

8

8 685 627

 

Provincial Treasury

1

895 137

 

Roads and Transport

131

85 466 487

 

Social Development

3 359

1 066 815 162

 

Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation

2

1 864 659

KwaZulu-Natal

Agriculture and Rural Development

139

100 856 100

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

38

35 570 190

 

Community Safety and Liaison

1

351 618

 

Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs

187

102 382 005

 

Education

88 999

33 819 171 582

 

Health

46 429

18 651 581 223

 

Human Settlements

70

41 119 125

 

Office of the Premier

5

6 966 771

 

Public Works

202

121 996 509

 

Social Development

2 405

813 447 888

 

Sports, Arts & Culture

2

1 819 698

 

Transport

446

194 137 263

Limpopo

Agriculture and Rural Development

155

101 776 944

 

Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs

91

90 145 737

 

Economic Development, Environment and Tourism

149

109 694 280

 

Education

53 220

20 502 681 339

 

Health

22 201

8 913 796 371

 

Office of the Premier

8

12 697 959

 

Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure

275

117 116 286

 

Social Development

2 168

768 332 787

 

Transport and Community Safety

22

8 509 869

Mpumalanga

Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs

117

83 281 068

 

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

13

9 777 660

 

Culture, Sport, and Recreation

2

1 536 432

 

Economic Development and Tourism

2

1 241 895

 

Education

34 119

13 007 176 482

 

Health

14 019

5 463 956 094

 

Human Settlements

17

15 940 116

 

Provincial Treasury

4

4 117 281

 

Public Works, Roads, and Transport

301

131 932 098

 

Social Development

1 196

415 166 202

North West

Agriculture and Rural Development

46

30 650 952

 

Arts, Culture, Sports, and Recreation

1

531 381

 

Community Safety and Transport Management

17

7 156 959

 

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

10

5 447 409

 

Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism

82

50 903 394

 

Education

28 749

10 860 139 755

 

Health

12 790

4 977 296 637

 

Human Settlements

11

6 411 768

 

Office of the Premier

5

4 337 892

 

Provincial Treasury

1

543 969

 

Public Works and Roads

279

103 078 668

 

Social Development

1 583

502 267 020

Northern Cape

Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform

92

54 943 071

 

Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs

6

4 213 749

 

Economic Development and Tourism

1

895 137

 

Education

10 098

3 819 470 646

 

Health

4 535

1 834 593 873

 

Office of the Premier

6

7 966 260

 

Roads and Public Works

44

30 301 173

 

Social Development

661

210 115 851

 

Sport, Arts and Culture

3

752 061

 

Transport, Safety and Liaison

1

1 081 953

Western Cape

Agriculture

94

56 350 647

 

Cultural Affairs and Sport

1

687 879

 

Education

36 424

13 786 617 735

 

Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

166

117 424 167

 

Health and Wellness

21 868

9 574 968 660

 

Infrastructure

323

230 986 251

 

Local Government

7

6 135 051

 

Social Development

1 828

540 649 101

 

The Premier

51

53 534 403

National

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

608

439 097 178

 

Basic Education

83

81 963 714

 

Cooperative Governance

80

85 110 819

 

Correctional Services

34 708

10 776 529 947

 

Employment and Labour

222

157 899 498

 

Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment

570

408 740 031

 

Health

75

66 344 493

 

Higher Education and Training

10 382

3 744 058 359

 

Home Affairs

139

47 709 462

 

Human Settlements

12

14 850 924

 

Independent Police Investigative Directorate

165

73 574 844

 

International Relations and Cooperation

11

12 206 517

 

Justice and Constitutional Development

5 378

3 859 592 781

 

Military Veterans

3

1 590 030

 

Mineral Resources and Energy

17

11 688 324

 

Office of the Chief Justice

109

49 778 241

 

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

3

3 794 706

 

Police

139 029

42 592 961 358

 

Public Service and Administration

6

4 101 528

 

Public Works and Infrastructure

497

346 447 563

 

Science and Innovation

3

3 651 852

 

Small Business Development

5

3 724 875

 

Social Development

134

85 216 542

 

Sport, Arts and Culture

9

6 471 867

 

Statistics South Africa

2

1 587 360

 

The Presidency

8

10 489 695

 

Tourism

6

5 636 835

 

Trade, Industry and Competition

5

5 494 335

 

Traditional Affairs

1

1 252 374

 

Transport

3

2 099 697

 

Water and Sanitation

1 260

804 582 825

In addition, the OSD salary levels range from level 3 to 12. Detailed breakdown of employees’ respective salary levels and the current total cost to the state are attached in Annexure A and B.

(c) With regard to the projected forecasts for future uptake of OSD positions in the upcoming financial years, note should be taken that salaries for Public Servants, including OSD categories would be adjusted in line with PSCBC Resolution 2 of 2023 with effect from 1 April 2024, which would adjust the salaries and the total cost to the state accordingly. Furthermore, the appointments of officials, including those within OSDs fall within the authority of the various Executive Authorities and therefore the uptake in terms of appointments would thus be in line with the relevant processes, including the availability of funding and prioritization by the respective departments. There are currently no new OSDs being considered in line with PSCBC Resolution 3 of 2010.

End

29 December 2023 - NW3556

Profile picture: Komane, Ms RN

Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

With reference to the latest report of the Auditor-General of South Africa to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, wherein she highlighted that her department is lacking in the implementation of its oversight mandate over the departments, what (a) measures have been put in place by her department and (b) are the time frames for the implementation of the specified measures?

Reply:

(a) and (b)

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is guided by Section 41 (1) h (ii) which call for all organs of state to “co-operate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by “assisting and supporting one another”. The following are some of the specific measures that have been initiated to improve the oversight capacity of the department and promote compliance on the norms and standards issued in line with its mandate:

  • In January 2022, the DPSA entered into a cooperation agreement with the Auditor General of South Africa (AG-SA) to include in the audit plans of departments norms and standards issued in pursuit of the mandate of the Department. The AG-SA is already implementing this agreement including an agreement on the auditing of performance of the Public Service against the Directive that is being developed to implement the Professionalisation Framework. This agreement allows the DPSA to borrow on the powers of the AG-SA, resulting in more enforcement capability.
  • In line with Section 16A (3) of the Public Service Act, 1994 the Minister for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA) prepares regular compliance reports to Cabinet or, through the relevant Premier, to the Executive Council of the relevant province on any non-compliance by an executive authority. These compliance reports are used to ensure that there is accountability at the executive authority level.
  • The Minister initiated one-on-one sessions with Executive Authorities of departments including Premier’s of Provinces that have been identified as having challenges with complying with the norms and standards set by the MPSA. These sessions, discuss specific areas of concern, which are then followed by specific technical assistance that is provided by the DPSA to address these challenges.
  • The Director General of the DPSA convene quarterly engagements with Heads of Cooperate Services which receives presentations on compliance trends and performances. In these engagements, lessons are shared on best practices towards improving compliance.

To introduce a systematic approach to compliance monitoring and reporting, the DPSA is currently developing an Early Warning System to actively monitor compliance with the provisions of the Public Service Act, 1994 or a regulation, determination and/or directive made in line with its mandate. This Early Warning System will be institutionalised to ensure that governance matters are monitored in an active manner to avoid the collapse of public institutions and services. In line with the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) tabled in Parliament, it is envisaged that the Early Warning System will become active during the 2024/25 Financial Year.

End

29 December 2023 - NW4188

Profile picture: Schreiber, Dr LA

Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration

(1)Whether it remains the policy position of the Government to ensure control of the levers of the state by appointing cadres from a particular political organisation (name furnished) over prioritising a professional Public Service; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (2) whether the Government plans to abolish the preference of deploying cadres in the Public Service over prioritising a professional public service; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

Applicable to both questions one and two:

Government does not have and has never had a policy of cadre deployment. Employment in the public service operates on a merit-based recruitment and selection system, rendering the concept of cadre deployment inapplicable for filling positions. The Minister for the Public Service and Administration directs and guides departments in formulating norms and standards governing employment practices, ensuring strict adherence to a meritocratic framework and ethical recruitment practices.

The legislative and regulatory structure of the public service encompasses essential governance measures aimed at fostering a professional, ethical, competent, and merit-based state. These measures contain, but are not limited to:

  1. The Public Service Regulations (PSR), 2016, particularly sections 65 and 67, delineate the conditions for recruitment and selection in the public service. Under these regulations, the executive authority is obliged to publicly announce all vacancies within their department, setting forth guidelines and standards for recruitment and selection to promote a fair and open competition that attracts qualified candidates.
  2. The Public Service Act (PSA), 1994, requires adherence to sections 9 and 11(2) stipulating the necessity of merit-based recruitment.
  3. The Department of Public Service and Administration is consulting critical stakeholders on a draft directive to professionalise the public service. This draft directive outlines norms, standards, and ethical considerations in the employment management process.

The collective implementation of these processes and the comprehensive suite of services they represent, are instrumental in shaping a public service that is efficient, transparent and anchored in merit and ethical principles. Such a coordinated approach ensures the establishment of a capable and professional public service, which is crucial for effective governance and delivering high-quality services to the public. This synergy of regulations, standards, and directives reflects a robust commitment to excellence and integrity in appointments and administration across the Public Service.

End

27 December 2023 - NW4022

Profile picture: Luthuli, Mr BN

Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Small Business Development

Whether her department enables positive and consistent contributions of township and village economies in each province that (a) encourage entrepreneurship in townships and villages and (b) provide sustainable employment to township dwellers; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?

Reply:

I have been advised that:

a) In Encouraging entrepreneurship in township and villages:

The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has in place the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP) which aims to assist informal, micro and small enterprises grow their businesses. The financial package is structured at a maximum value of R1 000 000 that consist of:

  • Maximum of R1 000 000.00 towards working capital, cost of equipment, or any other CAPEX (paid directly to the supplier where applicable).
  • The financial package will be offered in the form of a blended finance with 50% of the total approved amount being a grant i.e., a maximum grant amount of R 100 000.00.

TREP supports all small enterprises operating in townships and rural areas that meet the qualifying criteria including, but not limited to, the following:

    • Clothing and Textile
    • Bakeries and Confectionaries
    • Tshisanyama and Cooked Food
    • Retail (including restaurants, car washes, general dealers etc.)
    • Automotive
    • Personal Care
    • Artisans

Also, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) has a big network of offices in the country, with 53 branches and 52 co-location points. Our co-locations are specifically established to extend access to Seda services in underserviced and rural South Africa. It is also realised that there are still several areas where entrepreneurs and SMMEs still must travel far for them to access services. Seda has therefore established 80 service points or access points. Seda will continue to expand service delivery to rural communities through various modalities whilst striking a sound balance between community needs, budget availability and collaboration with ecosystem partners. Furthermore, the organisation has 110 incubators, of which 32 are based in rural areas.

The agency also employs alternative mechanisms for ensuring that services are available, like mobile offices. Information is provided through DSBD, Seda and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) websites and contact centers. Where possible, Seda also provides virtual interaction with those clients that can attend, for example online training and webinars. To this end, 801 clients attended virtual sessions during the 2022/23 financial year, and 1 630 during the second semester of the current financial year (2023/24). Support includes, amongst others, Pitch for funding, Access to markets, including Pop-up markets, Digital skills development training, Inventory Management Training, etc.

b) Providing sustainable employment to township dwellers:

While the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP) described in part (a) is aimed at the individual entrepreneur, the National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy (NIBUS) seeks to uplift informal businesses and micro enterprises through a systemic and institutional response collaborating with and supporting local chambers/business associations and municipal Local Economic Development offices to deliver and facilitate access to upliftment programmes aimed at providing sustainable employment to township and rural dwellers, targeting informal business entrepreneurs from designated groups, i.e., women, youth, and people with disabilities.

    1. NIBUS has two Instruments under its enterprise development pillar, namely the Shared Economic Infrastructure Facility (SEIF) and the Informal and Micro Enterprise Development Programme (IMEDP).
    2. The Informal and Micro Enterprises Development Programme (IMEDP) is a 100% grant offered to informal and micro enterprises from a minimum grant amount of five hundred rand (R 500.00) up to a maximum of ten thousand rand (R10 000.00) to assist them in improving their competitiveness and sustainability.
    3. The key objective of this financial facility is to provide developmental support to informal and micro businesses that are operating in townships and rural areas of South Africa with an emphasis on support for designated groups, i.e., women, youth and persons with disabilities.
    4. The programme aims to develop and strengthen the capacity of credible informal and or micro enterprises to be sustainable through the provision of access to information, appropriate business development support and business infrastructure (machinery, tools, equipment, and stock) and excludes (working capital, conversions, clothing) for eligible applicants.
    5. Going forward, it is planned that Informal and micro enterprises are to be supported using the DSBD’s Informal and Micro Enterprise Development Programme (IMEDP) capped at R 30 000.00 for informal businesses and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) to support micro businesses with amounts above the R 30 000.00 threshold.
    6. The funding will be 100% grant for the informal sector and subject to availability of funds.

During the 2022/23 financial year, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) provided a total of 21 181 skills development and support interventions to township and rural businesses and 10 836 interventions during the second semester of the 2023-24 financial year. These interventions included amongst others Basic Business Skills, Business Start-Up 1, Cybercrimes, South African Revenue Service (SARS) Incentives, Costing & Pricing, Business Planning, Business Model Canvas, Financial Management training, Access to funding, Point of Sale Training, Access to Funding, Business Plans, Mentoring and various others.

Seda also has a dedicated programme, the Basic Entrepreneurship Skills Development (BESD) which was jointly developed by the Agency and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development via Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) since 2012. GIZ left the programme in December 2016 and since then the programme is funded by the National Skills Fund for an amount of R84 million. The BESD approach utilises coaching as an innovative methodology to facilitate and reinforce learning and development support to emerging entrepreneurs. A total of 2 038 Emerging Entrepreneurs were supported through the programme to date. All the project sites across the country were completed in 2019, we are currently utilising remnants of the budget to benefit more SMMEs.

Seda, through its Learning Academy, has also developed different training programmes. These programmes are credit bearing and accredited by the Services Seta. Quality training aims to assist organisations of all types to implement and operate the Quality Management System (QMS) to increase effectiveness, consistency, and customer satisfaction, explain the benefits of implementing QMS and understand the quality, management principles. Whilst Food safety introduces Food Safety, Understand Pre-Requisite programme, HACCP (Hazard Analysis, Critical, Control, Point) system and HACCP principles and Implementing a Food Safety Management System (SANS 22000:2019.).

Seda has also forged the following skills development partnerships namely:

  • A 3-year partnership with the National Skills Fund (NSF) to benefit 14 000 beneficiaries for a total budget of R 592 275 000. The aim of the project is to recruit unemployed graduates with Accounting and Business Management qualifications to be trained on New Venture Creation, Coaching, and Mentorship Programme to enhance their skills to provide support to Micro Enterprises. Seda will use coaching as an innovative methodology to facilitate and reinforce learning and development support to Micro Enterprises and the unemployed graduates will be trained on new venture creation as well as business coaching to enable them to transfer skills and knowledge to Micro Enterprise owners.
  • Seda and Wholesale and Retail Seta signed an agreement to support one thousand (1 000) Tuckshops, General Dealers to the value of R 9 975 000.
  • In 2021, DSBD, Seda and Merseta signed Agreement for Merseta to release a discretionary grant to Seda to the value of R 50million. The funding will be provided in a phased approach over a 3-year period. The purpose is to train Small Enterprise in the Automotive Trade Sector as well as facilitate Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning (ARPL).
  • A partnership between Seda, GIBBS and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women was forged. The Cherie Blair Foundation has an award-winning Mobile App that offers women entrepreneurs essential business training and support on the go. It features a range of learning tracks on topics including launching a business, accessing finance, expanding market access, e-commerce, and mobile money.

During the first two quarters of the 2023/24 financial the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme supported the sustaining and/or creation of 10 884 jobs, whilst 38 059 jobs were supported in the 2022/23 financial year.

Proposed future interventions will utilise a macroeconomic approach that combines the expertise of public and private sector partners to counteract resource and capacity constraints.

Furthermore, provision of sustainable employment to township dwellers the level of the social economy and community empowerment levels include through the Co-operatives Development and Support Programme (CDSP), for new and budding primary co-operatives.

  1. There is a start-up grant of up to R1,5 million, up to R2.5 million for growing primary co-operatives and up to R5 million for secondary co-operatives.
  2. All co-operatives to be funded are subjected to co-operative governance training so as to ensure that they understand what is expected from them in running a successful organisation.

27 December 2023 - NW3817

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Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Small Business Development

What (a) total amount was spent on the sustenance and development of (i) small-, medium- and micro enterprises and (ii) informal businesses in the (aa) townships and (bb) rural areas during the COVID-19 lockdown in each province, (b) post-COVID-19 support was offered to the specified businesses, (c) total number of the businesses supported in this way during the COVID-19 lockdown are still operational and (d) are the further relevant details in each case?”

Reply:

I have been advised that:

a) The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) through the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) provided support to small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. sefa contributed towards the Covid-19 emergency fund (relief programme) which was aimed at providing relief to small businesses during the pandemic. Through the fund, sefa disbursed R316 million to 1 144 small businesses. Of this amount, R28 million was disbursed to businesses in townships and R60 million were to businesses in rural areas.

(a)(i)&(ii)

b) An additional R10 million was disbursed towards business growth and resilience facilities.

R105 million has been approved for SMME payment holidays. The Department further introduced the Economic Recovery Programme to assist small businesses in the South African economy. The economic recovery programme disbursed R1.3 billion to small businesses operating in various provinces as per the table below. The disbursements to small businesses operating in townships amounted to R552 million and R392 million to those in rural areas.

A table with numbers and text

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c) Through the Covid-19 relief scheme, a total of 1 161 clients were funded. As at end of September 2023, 450 clients had their loans settled, 407 are still honouring their payment obligations and 304 clients are not paying.

d) The businesses that have settled their loans are no longer under sefa monitoring. 450 clients are still honouring their payments although their term has expired. These businesses are still operational and sefa is considering restructuring these loans. The 304 clients which are not paying sefa and are handed over to pursue collection. An exercise is underway to re-verify their existence.

27 December 2023 - NW3806

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Luthuli, Ms SA to ask the Minister of Small Business Development

Whether she will furnish Inkosi B N Luthuli with records of tangible achievements of her department since its establishment in 2014; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?”

Reply:

In 1994, the new government inherited a highly unequal and concentrated economy, with very low levels of entrepreneurship, little to no black economic ownership, and an extremely weak and fragmented SMME support eco-system.

This made South Africa an outlier. SMMEs play a major role as a driver of growth and employment in both developed and developing economies.

To realise the growth and jobs potential of SMMEs, Government established the Department of Small Business Development in 2014. The mandate of the Department Small Business Development (DSBD) is defined: “to lead and coordinate an integrated approach to the promotion and development of entrepreneurship, Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) and Co-operatives, and to ensure an enabling legislative and policy environment to support their growth and sustainability”.

Since its inception, the work of the DSBD has been driven by several key policy frameworks, including the National Development Plan, Vision 2030, which is aimed at harnessing the potential of SMMEs, Co-operatives and the informal sector, and sets specific goals for the small business sector as follows:

  • To enhance economic growth through SMMEs and Co-operatives as assessed through an increased contribution by the sector to GDP.
  • To enhance economic growth through SMMEs as assessed through an increased contribution by the sector to GDP.
  • To create 9 million of South Africa’s 11 million needed jobs by 2030 through the SMME sector.
  • To reduce the cost of regulatory compliance and promote ease of doing business for SMMEs and ensure policy coherence through partnerships among for SMMEs and ensure policy coherence through partnerships among key societal players, business and government.

The work of the DSBD has until recently been framed by the Integrated Strategy on the Promotion of Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprises (ISPESE), which was reviewed and a new national SMME and co-operatives strategy developed – the National Integrated Small Enterprise Development Strategic Framework (NISED) – adopted by Cabinet and launched in November 2022.

The ISPESE and NISED have been focused on addressing the core constraints faced by SMMEs and co-operatives, including:

  • Red-tape and regulatory burdens.
  • Market concentration, and lack of access to markets.
  • The lack of access to finance, and
  • Weak entrepreneurial and business development skills, and

Progress since 2014 is framed around what has been done to address these constraints and create a more enabling environment for SMMEs and co-operatives.

Red-Tape

To address the issues of reduced cost of doing business and regulatory compliance in South Africa, commonly referred to as red tape, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) is the custodian of red tape reduction (RTR) for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and has initiated a number of interventions to reduce red-tape for SMMEs and co-operatives.

This includes reviewing the Businesses Act (1991), which was transferred from the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic) to the DSBD in the 2020/21 financial year. The DSBD has reviewed the Act and is in the process of finalising the Business Licensing Amendment Bill. Recently Cabinet has approved the National Business Licensing Policy for gazetting for public comments, by the end of the term a policy on Business Licensing will have been finalised.

The other piece of legislation which has been reviewed is the National Small Enterprise Act, 1996 (Act No. 102 of 1996). A National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill, 2023, has been developed and is currently before Parliament, National Assembly has referred this to the NCOP for concurrence and this should be finalised by the end of February by Parliament. The amendments:

  • provide for the establishment and registration, in terms of the Companies Act, No. 71 of 2008, of the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEDFA) and the subsequent incorporation into SEDFA of the sefa, the Co-operative Banks Development Agency (CBDA) and the Seda.
  • establish of the Office of the Small Enterprise Ombud Service ("the Office").
  • enable the Minister to declare certain practices in relation to small enterprises to be prohibited as unfair trading practices.
  • propose an amendment to section 20(2) of the Act to provide clarity on the interpretation of the powers assigned to the Minister in amending the Schedule to the Act as well as the definition for small enterprises, to allow for simplification of the Schedule.

The DSBD has also, in 2023, undertaken a “Rapid Review of ALL legislation that impacts SMMEs and Co-operatives” for “regulatory guillotining”, that is, at the level of National, Provincial and Local Government.

The DESBD has also supported red-tape reduction at municipal level, and has supported 23 Districts, 108 municipalities, and 4 Metros to roll out the Red-Tape Reduction Awareness Programme. Recently, the department has piloted the Pilot Administrative Simplification Programme (PASP) in association with KwaZulu-Natal EDTEA, COGTA and SALGA, targeting key red-tape reduction including access to infrastructure (specifically water as it permeates all municipalities), customer/complaints management, municipal policies, by-laws/regulations; land development and SPLUMA, building plan approval timelines/processes; and informal trading management. The idea is to consolidate this is a Municipal Red Tape Reduction Dashboard.

Market access

To address market access, the Department developed and continues to implement the SMMEs-focused Localisation Policy Framework that was adopted by Cabinet during the course of the 2020/21 financial year. At the end of 2022/23 financial year, 807 products produced by SMMEs, and Co-operatives were linked/introduced to domestic markets through working relationships with large retailers and wholesalers across the country against a five-year target of 1 000 products.

To drive localisation, the Department designed a focused Small Enterprise Manufacturing Support Programme (SEMSP) aimed at building and supporting SMMEs participating in the manufacturing value chain. The purpose of the SEMSP is to build a manufacturing sector for an improved industrial base through a focused import replacement programme and build the industrial base for both the domestic market and external market. The Programme aims to contribute to South Africa’s localisation strategy. As at 30 September 2023, SEMSP approvals concluded amounted to R879.2m to 94 SMMEs, facilitating 5295 jobs.

The DSBD has also partnered with the International Trade Centre to improve market access for women-led enterprises. As of 30 September 2023, the total cumulative number of South African members registered on the ITC SheTradesZA platform is 3004, whilst the ITC'S web developers finalise the system update. The Department is continuing to intensify its effort working towards realising its outcome to increase participation of women, youth and persons with disabilities, SMMMEs and Co-operatives in the domestic and international markets.

To date, 188 SMMEs and Cooperatives were exposed to global market opportunities, between 2022/23 and 2023/24, through international missions, exhibitions, and fairs. Our work in exposing SMME products and services to global markets through the Small Business Exported Development Scheme has seen an extension in driving the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) markets during the 2023/24 financial year.

The other area of focus for DSBD has been the opening of corporate supply chains for SMMEs and co-operatives. To this end, an Enterprise Supplier Development (ESD) Community of Practice (COP) has been established with the private sector to overcome fragmentation and strengthen the key element of targeted entrepreneurship development. The ESD COP is complemented with an ESD e-learning platform and a series of masterclasses by Seda along with a website for COP member recruitment and the promotion of capacity building events and activities.

Access to finance

Here the focus has been on supporting SMMEs and co-operatives from under-served communities with access to finance, be it direct lending, blended finance, and micro-finance.

There have been numerous instruments designed and impended since 2014. This includes those for supporting SMMEs, Cooperatives and informal enterprises in townships and rural areas such as the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship programme. There are instruments for youth, such as the Youth Challenge Fund, those targeting people with disabilities such as the Amavulandlela Funding Scheme, as well as those implemented during COVID-19 to support SMMEs and Cooperatives experiencing financial distress such as the Business Viability Programme

Since 1 April 2014 to 31 October 2023, the DSBD, through its implementing agency sefa, approved loans to the value of R12.3 billion, disbursed into the South African economy R14.5 billion[1], and provided financial support to 597 473 SMMEs and Co-operatives. These funded clients in turn helped create and retain 809 148 jobs.

In terms of developmental impact:

  • sefa disbursed R11.6 billion to enterprises owned by black entrepreneurs,
  • R5.5 billion to women-owned businesses,
  • R2.9 billion to businesses owned by youth,
  • R109 million to enterprises owned by persons with disabilities,
  • R1.9 billion to small businesses operating in the townships, and
  • R4.4 billion to enterprises operating in rural towns and villages.

The DSBD has also developed an SMME and Co-operatives Funding Policy to ensure improvement in access to finance for SMMEs and Co-operatives. The Policy is now at NEDLAC.

Business Development Services

Much of DSBD’s entrepreneurship and business development support is implemented through Seda. Since 2014, the following has been achieved:

Number of clients reached through entrepreneurship awareness sessions

201 879

Number of clients supported with various interventions

414 205

Number of clients supported through Incubation Programme

69 840

Number of incubation centres established

110

Number of jobs created by supported clients

38 787

Number of jobs sustained by supported clients

62 118

The 110 Incubation Centers and Digital Hubs are aimed at nurturing new and existing small enterprises by providing them with financial and technical advice pertaining to the running of a business. The breakdown of these 110 that are in various stages of implementation is 73 Technology Business Incubators; 31 centers for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubation; and six Township and Digital Hubs that focus on various designated sectors within which small business start-ups are functioning.

The goal of increasing incubation centers and digital hubs to 100 by 2024 has already been achieved, and the new focus is on improving governance, independent sustainability and returns on investments.

Conclusion

As is evident, much has been achieved since the establishment of the DSBD in 2014. But much more needs to be done to place SMMEs at the centre of driving the country’s inclusive growth. The merger of Seda, sefa and the CBDA will provide seamless and customised support to the sector but needs to be effectively capitalised to effectively contribute to addressing the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, and leveraging the kinds of partnerships envisaged in the NISED.

  1. Due to the nature of sefa’s partnership with the intermediaries, disbursements are always higher because the intermediaries roll sefa’s money several times a year before paying it back.

27 December 2023 - NW4021

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Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Small Business Development

What was the total (a) amount spent on her and her Deputy Minister’s travel costs in the 2022-23 financial year, (b) number of trips she and her Deputy Minister undertook in the specified financial year, (c) amount spent by her department on (i) hotel, (ii) residential and/or (iii) other accommodation for her and her Deputy Minister and (d) amount of any further costs incurred by her department in relation to such travel?

Reply:

I have been advised that:

(a) The total amount spent on the Minister and her Deputy Minister’s travel costs in the 2022-23 financial year is R2 615 876.16

(b) The number of trips the Minister and her Deputy Minister undertook in the specified financial year: 198 domestic trips and 12 international trips

(c) The amount spent by her department on:

(i) Hotel: R474 660.68

(ii) Residential: R0.00 (The Deputy Minister has been allocated state accommodation in Cape Town and Pretoria and DSBD has not incurred costs on rental or maintenance as it is the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI)-Prestige responsibility. The monthly fee is charged from the Deputy Minister’s salary in line with the lease agreement signed by herself (an amount of R1 196.57). The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has only spent on relocation costs and related housekeeping services.

(iii) Other accommodation for the Minister and her Deputy Minister: R0.00

(d) The amount of any further costs incurred by her department in relation to such travel: R2 141 215.48, this is the cost of domestic air travel, car hire and international air travel (see table below).

DSBD - Minister and Deputy Minister Travel Expenses for the Period April 2022 to March 2023

Category

Number of transactions

Amount “R”

Domestic Air Travel

195

783 799.39

Accommodation Domestic

98

474 660.68

Car Hire

62

1 234 134.69

International Air Travel

12

123 281.40

Total

367

2 615 876.16

22 December 2023 - NW3982

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Skosana, Mr GJ to ask the Minister of Finance

What (a) is the performance of the Bounce-Back Support Scheme relative to the COVID-19 loan guarantee scheme and (b) are the profiles of the beneficiaries?

Reply:

a) In 2020 National Treasury launched the Covid Loan Guarantee Scheme (LGS) as part of a package of measures to help small and medium business survive the most severe lockdowns related the global Covid pandemic. The LGS enabled eligible businesses to access loans via commercial banks in terms of a finance facility administered by the Reserve Bank. At the termination of the LGS scheme (27 March 2021), banks had approved 14 827 in loans, with the LGS providing R14,6 billion in loans.

Following the conclusion of the LGS, South Africa experienced another economic set-back due to civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng from the period 8 July 2021 to 19 July 2021. The civil unrest resulted in damage to business properties and caused major supply chain disruptions. The impact of the civil unrest was mostly felt by businesses, some of which were still recovering from economic losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdowns.

The Bounce Back Support Scheme (BBS) was launched in April 2022 and was terminated in April 2023. This scheme operated on an opt in basis. The BBS resulted in 3211 small businesses being provided with support. The total disbursed amounts was around R 1 billion (R935,385,620.)

2. Data on the geographic and other demographic information was not collected.

22 December 2023 - NW3908

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Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Finance

With regard to the correspondence by the Government Employees Pension Fund in November 2022 informing its members who intended to retire in November or thereafter that they would not receive their full pension payments, and in light of the complaint received from a retiree (details furnished) that despite applying for her pension before November and not receiving any letter she did not receive her full pension, (a) what informed the retroactive application of the November correspondence and (b) how many individuals were affected by such retroactive application?

Reply:

a) The GEPF implemented its revised actuarial factors with effect from 1 November 2022. The actuarial factors of the GEPF are updated in accordance with any changes to the actuarial assumptions at each statutory valuation of the GEPF. In terms of the Government Employees Pension Law, 1996, (GEP Law), the actuarial factors are consulted with public sector labour unions. Upon conclusion of this process, the actuarial factors were implemented with effect from 1 November 2022, as referred to above. Pension benefits, as prescribed in the GEP Law, are determined and finally calculated as at date of service termination. The GEP Law specifies the date on which a benefit shall become payable to a member, pensioner or beneficiary, and this date is typically the last day of service at the employer.

Any Estimate of Benefits provided prior to the last date of service, is a mere estimation of current/future benefits. This is clearly indicated on the Estimate of Benefits which indicates that benefits are awarded in terms of the rules of the Fund and will be confirmed by the Fund when the benefits become payable.

Pension benefits are thus not calculated and/or confirmed on the date applying for retirement but on the information as on the last day of service. In this specific instance the Estimate of Benefits referred to, was provided as at 30 September 2022, being a date prior to the last day of service.

The actuarial factors applicable as from 1 November 2022 adjusted the actuarial factors applicable at 30 September 2022 and accordingly influenced the calculations. It is however not correct to state that the member did not receive her full pension. Members continue to receive their full benefits in accordance with the GEP Law, 1996, and rules. The adjustment to the actuarial factors were not applied retroactively as the adjustments were implemented effectively from 1 November 2022 onwards, applying only to exits on or after 1 November 2022.

b) The amended actuarial factors, which became applicable as from 1 November 2022, influenced all resignations as well as other exits where members had less than 10 (ten) years pensionable service and which members terminated service on or after 1 November 2022. Thus, all resignations and other exits from the GEPF, where the members’ exit date was on or after 1 November 2022, would have been influenced by the adjustment of the actuarial factors as all such benefits refer to the actuarial interest a member has in the GEPF. The adjusted actuarial factors was applied to all pension benefits paid as a result of resignation and other exits from the Fund where members had less than 10 (ten) years pensionable service, where the exit from the Fund occurred on or after 1 November 2022.

It is again confirmed that there was no retrospective application of the adjusted actuarial factors as it was implemented from a future date being 1 November 2022. The application of the adjusted actuarial factors follows the approval thereof by the GEPF Board of Trustees after the required consultation process with organized labour as per the GEP Law, 1996 and Rules of the GEPF.

The GEP Law,1996 and Rules provides for the adjustment to actuarial factors as part of the benefit structure of the GEPF. Actuarial interest factors are based on a set of financial and demographic assumptions as recommended by the Fund’s valuator in the statutory actuarial valuation report. These assumptions are expected to reflect the experience of the GEPF membership and its investments. The assumptions are based on reasonable expectations about future events and are guided by actual experience and statistics. The main driver of the actuarial factors is the investment returns above inflation, which the Fund’s investments are expected to earn from now until the pension benefits are payable. Economic conditions however change from time to time and, as a result, the actuarial interest benefits can rise or fall depending on how the actuarial factors is adjusted, as explained above.

Members however still received their pension benefits prescribed in the Rules of the GEPF as per the formula set out in the Rules.

It must be clarified that the adjustment to the actuarial factors apply consistently to all active GEPF members, maintaining fairness across the board and reflecting current economic realities.

22 December 2023 - NW3981

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Abraham, Ms PN to ask the Minister of Finance

What is the (a) performance of the amendments of Regulation 28 asset allocation for infrastructure of 40% in relation to public infrastructure as the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery prioritises infrastructure and private investment and (b) impact of the increased allocation of 45% foreign asset exposure on domestic investment?

Reply:

a) It is too early to provide a detailed answer to the question as the amended Regulation 28 only came into effect on 1 January 2023. The first investment reports, post the amendment, will be submitted to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in 2024. Secondly, it will be difficult to make the comparison since there is no reference point to compare changes in investment in infrastructure due to the ERRP with the amendment to Regulation 28. It is also not only retirement funds that are expected to invest in infrastructure, but other asset managers that are not subject to Regulation 28.

In general terms the financial sector continues to heavily fund government. As noted in the MTBPS, National Treasury will seek to achieve infrastructure investment growth through establishing an Infrastructure Finance and Implementation Support Agency that will systematically address the need to crowd-in private sector finance and expertise into the public infrastructure programme. In addition, government will also widen the scope for concessional borrowing by creating new mechanisms through which private-sector investors and multilateral institutions can co-invest with government for selected infrastructure projects. These interventions will lay the basis for broader investment by private sector including pension funds through the 45% asset allocation to infrastructure investment in Regulation 28.

b) The share of foreign exposure relative to the 45% upper limit increased across all institutional investors moderately. Where increases in offshore asset allocations have occurred, retail investors i.e., unit trusts have accounted for the majority in percentage terms. For all institutional investors, offshore exposure remains at about 23% of total assets under management (AUM). The data suggests that the impact of the increases in offshore allowance has expanded the scope of possible outflows but has not triggered actual large outflows in line with the maximum permissible amounts.

22 December 2023 - NW4081

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Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Sport Arts and Culture

(1). With reference to the failure of a certain person (name and details furnished) to pay a certain person (name also furnished) money that is owed to him despite promising to do so, (a) how is it possible that the specified person remains an executive committee member of the National Professional Promoters Association and (b) what example is set by the situation; (2). with reference to the announced compulsory training for licensees that was announced by Boxing South Africa (BSA) at very short notice earlier this year, leading to many licences’ being unable to attend the initial and/or the second, cancelled round of training leading to licensees now being refused licenses, how can BSA cancel training and then penalise licensees; 3(a). how were the trainers selected since neither of the trainers have ever acted as a ring official in a professional bout (details furnished) and (b) what are the reasons that the process did not go out to tender?

Reply:

The response to question from Boxing SA is as follows:

(1). Most promoters owe Boxing South Africa due to the income declarations that are made after tournaments through affidavits in terms of the Boxing Regulations. All promoters who owe Boxing South Africa are subject to this arrangement and therefore none of the debts by the promoters have prescribed, hence Boxing SA is not able to take any action based on this arrangement.

(a). The National Professional Boxing Promoter Associations is an independent structure of licensed promoters established in terms of section 28 of the Boxing Act.

This structure operates on its own constitution, and it held elections of its leadership, and all the office bearers were duly elected in an open and transparent process. It is not for BSA to dictate who are supposed to be the leaders of the structure. As far as the question around the boxer is concerned, it must be noted that contracts between Promoters and Boxers are concluded without the intervention of Boxing South Africa and so are disputes arising therefrom.

(b). The Board resolved to establish a sub-committee that looks at the tournament applications of each promoter and each promoter that is owing Boxing South Africa appears before the committee to commit to some arrangement in terms of which the debt can be settled and once this arrangement is in place the promoter is then allowed to stage tournaments subject to payment arrangements as approved by this committee.

(2). Boxing SA responded as follows: It would amount to fallacy to hold the view that Boxing South Africa penalises licensees upon postponement of its programmes. Boxing South Africa held its second phase training timeously and those who were successful in the assessments have been duly licensed.

(3)(a&b). The Board established a committee in terms of section 7 of the Boxing Act and this committee was established based on experience and therefore there was no need for
the training to be outsourced.

 

 

22 December 2023 - NW3145

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Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies

On what date was the last SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) payment technical infrastructure and software updated by the SA Postbank, (b) what (i) year and (ii) model is the payment technical infrastructure and software currently in use for SASSA payments and (c) what is the cost of the payment technical infrastructure and software for the current financial year?

Reply:

(a)-(b) The South African Postbank SOC Ltd processes and pays SASSA grants using an Integrated Grant Payment System (IGPS) based on FSS Tech 5.1.0 Software and a payment switch, Postillion Switch 5.6 Software. The payment switch was last updated on 28 September 2023, version 2023.V1.5.0.  

(c) The payment technical infrastructure and software, IGPS are licensed until March 2024 for R32.2 million for the duration of the contract.

Thank You.

22 December 2023 - NW3999

Profile picture: Tambo, Mr S

Tambo, Mr S to ask the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies

Whether the SA Broadcasting Corporation has relinquished its part ownership on videos that were produced during the 1980s in partnership with record companies; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what were the terms of the termination?

Reply:

The Rules Committee took a decision on 4 and 23 November 2022, in respect of questions requesting information prior to 1994, that such questions should take into account the possible non-availability of information before the pre-democratic era (see page 10 of attached ATC).

The SABC has indicated that it is proving difficult to track information dating back to the 1980s.

Thank You.

22 December 2023 - NW3975

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Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Sport Arts and Culture

(1). Whether he can furnish Mr T W Mhlongo with any good reasons why the entire board of Boxing SA (BSA) should not be suspended with immediate effect, given that recent notices served on licensees of BSA to appear at disciplinary hearings in August of 2023 has seen the licensees incorrectly charged as officials of BSA and not as licensees (details furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2). whether he is able to furnish a (a) clearly defined timeline and (b) date of when the matter of a certain person (name furnished) will be resolved; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3). what are the reasons that (a) a certain person (name furnished), who has been a boxing promoter for over 15 years, is still unable to promote a tournament without receiving government funding since promoting boxing is a business and (b) his department, and essentially taxpayers, must finance the businesses of a certain select group of boxing promoters; (4). what are the reasons that some of the promoters who are continually assisted by the Government financially are the promoters who do not adhere to the Boxing Act, Act 11 of 2001, and who pay some of the lowest purses?

Reply:

(1). The Minister announced the appointment of the new board on Tuesday, 28 November 2023. The new board assumed it’s duties on 12 December 2023 whilst the erstwhile board concluded its term on Monday, 11 December 2023. The new board has a responsibility to review all outstanding legal and disciplinary matters not concluded by the previous board before the end of the financial year 2023/2024 ending in March 2023

(2)(a). The Qithi matter has been settled.

(3)(a&b). Provincial Departments are at liberty to implement sport programmes that benefit their athletes and communities. However, Boxing and all National Federations must get to a point where they run with limited support from government, this requires corporate investment. To this end, BSA has committed to developing a funding model for the sector. BSA is expected to provide details of this strategy (operating model) with due dates. This will be shared with Parliament as soon as BSA provides these, a timeline of 31 March 2024 has been set for this plan.

(4). BSA cannot interfere with contracts between promoters and the boxers. However, BSA will investigate the possibility of establishing minimum purse monies for specified bouts to ensure that there is no exploitation of boxers. There is a need to ensure that there is profitable business model for the sport of boxing, and this is part of the turnaround strategy that BSA is already implementing.

 

 

22 December 2023 - NW3900

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Alexander, Ms W to ask the Minister of Finance

Whether, noting that the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) has reported fruitless and wasteful expenditures of over R2,6 billion by the IFMS project since its inception and Auditor-General South Africa accordingly raised a qualified audit opinion against the National Treasury (details furnished), which subsequently led to various state agencies, including Special Investigating Unit, the Public Protector South Africa and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation conducting investigations to this effect, he will furnish Mrs WR Alexander with the findings of these investigations?

Reply:

The investigations have not been finalised and as a result the National Treasury is unable to provide a response to the above question at this stage. The Honourable Member is encouraged to request the findings from the relevant institutions when the investigations are complete.

22 December 2023 - NW3403

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Manyi, Mr M to ask the Minister of Finance

In light of the fact that the Auditor-General has reported a 31% shortfall in terms of upgrading unqualified audit outcomes into clean audit in the National Treasury and all 16 entities that report to him, what actions has he put in place to achieve 100% clean audit in (a) the National Treasury and (b) all the entities that report to him?

Reply:

1. NATIONAL TREASURY

The department has developed an audit action plan to address audit findings and improve on the quality of reporting on both the financial statements and performance information. The audit action plan will be presented quarterly to the NT Audit Steering Committee, where the responsible officials identified as per the action plan will be invited to provide progress updates on the proposed action plan.

The monitoring of the audit action plan will be facilitated by Internal Audit, wherein they will engage with the respective responsible officials on the inputs for the action plans to be implemented as well as monitoring the effectiveness of the corrective measures.

Continuous improvements on the effectiveness of the Internal Control through frequent assessment and enhancement of current controls to detect and prevent any deficiencies that may potentially hamper the department to achieving a clean audit. These includes amongst others the strengthening controls on the effectiveness of:

  • Contract Management review processes to detect and prevent any possible Unauthorised, Fruitless & Wasteful, and Irregular Expenditure;
  • Proactively engaging relevant stakeholders such as Office of the Accountant General, Internal Control and Audit Steering Committee on significant extra ordinary transactions that pose a potential for material misstatements i.e. Land Bank and ESKOM; and
  • Identifying high risks areas coming from prior year audit to initiate early engagements and discussions to prevent the reoccurrence of material findings.

Of the 11 entities reporting to the Minister of Finance, 6 entities received an unqualified audit opinion, while 5 received an unqualified audit opinion with emphasis of matters.

2. ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (ASB)

We have only ever received unqualified (“clean”) audits since the inception of the ASB in 2002. This includes the audit for the financial year ended 31 March 2023.

3. CO-OPERATIVE BANKS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CBDA)

The CBDA is a relatively small entity without its own internal audit function. The CBDA appointed a service provider to perform qualify reviews during the 2022/23 annual financial statements. This measure resulted in an unqualified audit outcome with no material misstatement for the 2022/23 annual financial statements.

Five of the findings on material misstatements of the 2022/23 annual financial statements were resolved and one, relating to non-compliance with legislation, was resolved. The only outstanding finding relates to consequence management, which is in progress. The Acting Managing Director, after his re-appointment in July 2023, has now concluded the remaining consequence management matters and has sent it to NT Internal Audit for due diligence, as requested by the CBDA Audit Committee. All consequence management issues will be finalised during this financial year.

Yet again, a service provider has been appointed to perform qualify reviews for the 2023/24 annual financial statements.

The AMD is confident that the measures put in place will achieve a 100% clean audit for the 2023/24 financial year.

4. DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (DBSA)

N/A - DBSA achieved a clean audit.

5. FAIS OMBUD

We confirm that the FAIS Ombud Office achieved a clean audit for the 2022/23 financial year and will continue to strive to achieve it.

6. FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE (FIC)

The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has achieved a clean audit in its 2022/23 financial year. The FIC will continue on this trajectory of rigorous financial management in the current financial year.

7. FINANCIAL SECTOR CONDUCT AUTHORITY (FSCA)

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has adopted a comprehensive approach to maintain a clean audit status from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). Its commitment to financial prudence, transparency and accountability drives its efforts to ensure that Annual Financial Statements (AFS) are free from material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error and the Annual Performance Report (APR) meets the highest standards of accuracy and compliance. The following are the key measures the FSCA has put in place to maintain a clean audit status:

1. Annual Financial Statements

A dedicated team of qualified and experienced personnel is responsible for preparing the AFS. They ensure strict compliance with relevant accounting standards, the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and other applicable legislation. The Executive Committee (EXCO), Strategic Management Committee (SMC), Audit and Risk Committees provide oversight of the FSCA’s monthly, quarterly and annual financial reporting.

2. Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure

To prevent irregular or wasteful expenditure, the FSCA has implemented a rigorous multi-level approval process and established a system of internal controls. These measures ensure that all financial transactions align with organisational goals and adhere to FSCA internal policies and applicable legislation.

3. Predetermined Objectives

The FSCA’s Monitoring and Evaluation unit reviews quarterly reports and verifies the submissions against each division’s portfolio of evidence to ensure that all reports accurately reflect the performance against the predetermined objectives laid out in the Annual Performance Plan.

4. Procurement and Contract Management

The FSCA procurement decisions benefit from the expertise of supply chain professionals and the counsel of the Head of Office of General Counsel, who advise the Bid Adjudication Committee on the legal aspects of all procurement decisions.

5. Compliance with Key Legislation

The compliance unit continuously monitors the FSCA’s adherence to relevant policies, legislation governing financial matters, including the PFMA and other applicable legislation.

6. Effective Internal Control Systems

The internal audit function overseen by the Audit Committee reviews internal controls annually in alignment with the FSCA's risk profile. The audit annual plan incorporates a pre-assessment of financial and performance reporting. Additionally, all findings raised from audits, if there are any, are recorded in the audit tracker and implementation of controls as per the audit recommendations, are monitored on a monthly basis. The Governance, Risk and Assurance department conducts a thorough annual risk assessment to identify potential risks related to financial and performance reporting and takes steps to mitigate them. Regular training is provided to personnel responsible for financial and performance reporting to ensure that reports produced are in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

7. Governance

The FSCA has four governance committees in place authorised to provide oversight and make recommendations to EXCO. These are the Remuneration, Risk, Audit, and Social and Ethics Committees. These committees have approved terms of reference that outline the purpose, scope, and operational rules for each committee. All committees have annual evaluation processes in place to measure the effectiveness of each committee.

Through these measures, the FSCA is dedicated to achieving and maintaining a clean audit status, demonstrating a commitment to uphold the highest standards of financial integrity, transparency and accountability.

8. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PENSION FUND (GEPF)

The GEPF has received unqualified audit outcomes for 26 consecutive years from 1998 to 2023.

9. GOVERNMENT PENSIONS ADMINISTRATION AGENCY (GPAA)

The Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) has historically never achieved a clean audit due to irregular expenditure and the inadequate consequence management related to it. The GPAA has made a concerted progress towards a clean audit outcome during 2022/23 financial year under the guidance of the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer and the Acting Chief Financial Officer. This is evidenced by a visible R14 million (33%) decrease in the irregular expenditure of (R29 million) reported during 2022/23 against the R43 million reported during 2021/22. The R25 million of irregular expenditure was due to the historic irregular recurring contracts emanating from previous financial years. The CEO GPAA has taken a firm stance and decision to terminate these recurring irregular contracts in order to halt the continuation of irregular expenditure.

The decrease in irregular expenditure was achieved due to management initiatives of improving the internal controls around the procurement processes. The GPAA CEO, Acting Chief Financial Officer and relevant Chief Directors also improved on the implementation of historical pending consequence management cases relating to irregular expenditure.

All these initiatives took place even though the GPAA has operated without the following Level 15 Executive positions for a decade:

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Operations Officer

Head Corporate Services

A decade long lack of Director-General Positions at GPAA has led to this void and the fact that we are currently operating at over 200 contract positions, has led to the instability of the work force. The finalisation of vacant Director General positions is currently in the DG: Treasury’s desk and we await feedback. Subsequently on the 7 June 2023; The Minister of Finance has recommended to the Minister DPSA the GPAA structure for approval. The GPAA still await the approval of the baseline structure from DPSA. Some supply chain management vacancies still need to be filled to improve on the capacity and performance of the unit. The approval of the structure will ensure that operationally we are more stable and rigid in achieving our mandate and circumvent matters that impede the organisation from achieving a clean audit, amongst others.

Management’s efforts has been carried forward into 2023/24 and the results should reflect a significant improvement.

10.GOVERNMENT TECHNICAL ADVISORY CENTRE (GTAC)

GTAC had achieved a clean audit for the 2022/23 year

11. INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BOARD FOR AUDITORS (IRBA)

The IRBA already receives a clean audit.

12. LAND BANK

Actions at entity level

Reason for Land Bank’s unqualified audit with findings:

The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa (Land Bank) received an unqualified audit opinion with findings for FY2023 due to internal control deficiencies that were identified by the Auditor General of South Africa on the reporting of collateral that resulted in material adjustments. The underlying collateral management system works as intended. The finding resulted from the erroneous reporting wherein some portfolios’ collaterals were duplicated.

Remedial Action

The Board of Land Bank instituted an extensive remedial plan post the disclaimed audit opinion in FY2020. The remedial plan process continues to be implemented with focus not only on areas where deficiencies were identified but broadly across the different processes of the Bank to ensure that adequate internal controls are in place.

Specific remedial work is being undertaken on the management and reporting of collateral to address the audit findings raised by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) in the FY2023 audit.

The Land Bank’s Internal Audit Department (which has been strengthened with the appointment of a permanent Chief Audit Executive effective 03 July 2023) provides an independent review of the remedial work by management.

Progress Monitoring and Oversight.

Implementation of the remedial plan is done through a dedicated management forum and monitored through the oversight role of the Audit and Finance Committee of the Board which meets on a monthly basis for this purpose.

13. OFFICE OF THE PENSION FUNDS ADJUDICATOR (OPFA)

Not applicable, the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator received a clean audit for the 2022-23 financial year.

14. OFFICE OF THE TAX OMBUD (OTO)

  1. Section 19(1) of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act 28 of 2011) (TAA) provides that the Tax Ombud reports directly to the Minister of Finance and the Office of the Tax Ombud must submit an annual report to the Minister of Finance, within 5 months of the end of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) financial year.
  2. In turn, section 19(3) of the TAA makes provision for the Minister of Finance to table the annual report of the Office of the Tax Ombud to the National Assembly.
  3. The Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO) is not a public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999) (PFMA).
  4. That said, the Auditor General South Africa (AGSA) currently performs the external audit assurance only on performance information of the Office of the Tax Ombud at the request of the Tax Ombud. The audit conclusion on the performance of the Office of the Tax Ombud against predetermined objectives is included in the 2022/2023 Annual Report of the Office of the Tax Ombud that was tabled by the Minister of Finance in the National Assembly on 29 September 2023 and discussed in the Standing Committee Finance on 11 October 2023.
  5. Therefore, the Office of the Tax Ombud received no material findings on its audit of pre-determined objectives for the 2022/2023 financial year.
  6. To maintain the status-quo the OTO will incorporate combined assurance approach within its governance structure that involves the integration and coordination of various assurance activities to provide a comprehensive and well-rounded view of risk management, control systems, and overall performance. This includes bringing together multiple assurance providers, such internal audit, external audit, and oversight committees, to collaborate and share information, findings, and insights.

15. PUBLIC INVESTMENT CORPORATION (PIC)

  1. Audit opinion: unqualified audit opinion with a finding.

 

The Auditor-General’s finding indicated that the investment activities performed did not, in all instances, comply with investment policies and guidelines, in that in some instances, the risk relating to politically exposed persons (PEPs) identified was not assessed to ensure that the necessary enhanced due diligence and enhanced monitoring processes are applied to the high-risk PEPs identified, as required by the established policy.

  1. Action:
  • The identified PEPs have been included in the PEP register.
  • The custodian of the PEP register is now the Compliance Department that gets weekly PEP activity from the system.
  • The policy will also be workshopped to the business.

16. SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICE (SARS)

SARS received clean audits for its Expenditure Accounts (Own Accounts) (1), Revenue Accounts (2) and the report on the Audit of the Annual Performance Report (3) in the 2022/2023 financial year. The three (3) audit opinions attest to the quality of financial management in SARS and is aligned to one of its Strategic Objectives focused on inculcating good stewardship of its resources across the organisation.

SARS Internal Audit regularly perform audits on areas of risk. SARS has appointed resources such as Governance Specialists in the finance teams. Controls have been embedded to detect and pro-actively manage risks related to the regulated environment.

SARS also implemented action plans to not only sustain the audit outcome from 2022/23 but to further embed good financial management practices.

17. SASRIA SOC LIMITED

  1. Audit opinion: unqualified audit opinion with a finding.

Finding related to SASRIA’s failure to comply with section 55 of the PFMA insofar as it relates to the submission of the annual report, annual financial statements and the report of the auditors on those statements.

  1. Actions to be put in place
  • SASRIA will have an Audit Steering Committee, comprising of External Audit, other Assurance functions and management.
  • Ensure active management and implement improvements in communication and efficacy of the audit process.
  • External Audit will be requested to develop a project plan which will be approved by the Audit Committee. The progress against the plan will be monitored by the Steering Committee on a weekly/bi-weekly basis.
  • Significant deviations from the plan will be escalated to the Executive Committee and if no improvement to the Audit Committee.

22 December 2023 - NW3984

Profile picture: Shaik Emam, Mr AM

Shaik Emam, Mr AM to ask the Minister of Finance

What is the total (a) local and (b) foreign debt owed by the three spheres of government and the state-owned companies?

Reply:

Table 3.8 from Chapter 3 of the MTBPS 2023 shows a projected national government’s gross debt. Gross debt is projected to reach R5.28 trillion by end of 2023/24. This debt is made up of domestic debt of R4.64 trillion and foreign denominated debt of R595.2 billion.

22 December 2023 - NW4115

Profile picture: Loate, Mr T

Loate, Mr T to ask the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies

(1)Whether the Government and/or his department initiated a programme such as Dubai’s National Programme for Coders to attract coders and programmers from around the world to create the best eco-system in the world to allow coders to develop, grow and thrive; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (2) whether the Government intends to emulate Dubai’s initiative of attracting 100,000 golden visas for coders and establish 1000 digital companies in the next five years; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details, (3) what widescale internship opportunities are offered to South Africa’s youth in collaboration with global technical companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, IBM and Facebook?

Reply:

1. No.

2. No

3. In partnership with Huawei, the DCDT implements a yearly programme called ‘Seeds for the Future.’ The programme targets students from previously disadvantaged universities at third or fourth year level who attend a two-week training programme in China. The programme offers training in various fields such as Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, cloud and Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, as part of the implementation of the Cooperation Contract, the DCDT and Huawei jointly train SMMEs on the SMME Digital Skills Transformation which focuses on skills and capacity building in the areas of cloud computing, digital marketing, Huawei Cloud including cloud services.

Thank You.

22 December 2023 - NW4041

Profile picture: Majozi, Ms Z

Majozi, Ms Z to ask the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies

What is the number of (a) international and (b) domestic trips undertaken by senior officials in each entity reporting to him in the 2022-23 financial year?

Reply:

ENTITY

INTERNATIONAL

DOMESTIC

BBI

8

52

FPB

2

3

ICASA

13

18

NEMISA

0

11

POSTBANK

2

162

SAPO

0

6

SABC

0

64

SENTECH

46

2413

SITA

11

50

USAASA

1

42

ZADNA

9

29

Thank You.

22 December 2023 - NW3832

Profile picture: Joseph, Mr D

Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

(1).What are the reasons that the South African Boxing Act, Act 11 of 2001 and the rules and regulations are only applicable to some licensees, but no action is taken in cases where promoters fail to pay in purse monies within the specified time (details furnished); (2). what (a) measures has he put in place to ensure that the sport does not continue to be run in this manner and (b) are the detailed reasons why the entire Board of Boxing South Africa (BSA) should not be immediately suspended; (3). whether he intends to initiate a full commission of enquiry into the administration of BSA; if not, what is the position in each case; if so, what are the full relevant details?

Reply:

Boxing South Africa has responded as follows to this question:

(1). Most promoters owe Boxing South Africa due to the income declarations that are made after tournaments through affidavits in terms of the Boxing Regulations. The Board resolved to establish a sub-committee that looks at the tournament applications of each promoter and each promoter that is owing Boxing South Africa appears before the committee to commit to some arrangement in terms of which the debt can be settled and once this arrangement is in place the promoter is then allowed to stage tournaments subject to payment arrangements as approved by this committee. All promoters who owe Boxing South Africa are subject to this arrangement.

(2)(a). No formal process with supporting evidence has been submitted to the Minister that warrants the Minister’s action within the ambit of his responsibilities within the legislative framework.

(3). The suspension of a board is based on the formal submission to the Minister of substantive reasons to display any misdemeanors. There has been no process to inform the Ministers decision to suspend the Board or initiate a full commission of enquiry into the administration of BSA.

 

22 December 2023 - NW4134

Profile picture: Manyi, Mr M

Manyi, Mr M to ask the Minister of Finance

What (a) are the relevant details on the specific initiatives underway to rectify the failures in preventing and/or mitigating systemic events within the financial sector and (b) proactive measures is the National Treasury considering, to bolster the regulatory framework that deters banks from manipulating the Rand through illicit practices such as price-fixing and market allocation in the future?

Reply:

The misconduct investigated by the Competition Commission is specifically the type of abuse the National Treasury considered in 2011 when proposing and implementing the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA) as part of the Twin Peaks reform.

This reform established a new dedicated market conduct regulator to ensure that all financial institutions treat their customers fairly and operate with the highest ethical standards, which is the nature of the misconduct Standard Chartered Bank was found to have committed.

Specific reforms have also been undertaken as a result of observing misconduct in other jurisdictions to ensure that these do not occur domestically. For this reason, National Treasury tabled Regulations in Parliament in March 2023 which proposed to designate the “provision of a benchmark” as a financial service in accordance with section 3(3) of the FSRA, and to specify that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority is the responsible authority for the regulation, supervision and oversight of the financial sector. In terms of section 288(1)(b) of the FSRA, which empowers regulations to provide for procedural and administrative matters that are necessary to implement the provisions of this Act, some specific powers and duties are provided to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in relation to the provision of benchmarks to enable the effective regulation and supervision of the “provision of a benchmark”.

In 2024, National Treasury will introduce further legislation to ensure South African financial markets are fair, transparent and operate with integrity. The Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) Bill proposes that banks and other financial institutions in the Financial Exchange market are carried into the CoFI licensing activities and will be subject to the CoFI Act in addition to the markets regulation. This implies that requirements for good governance, transparency, managing conflicts of interest, among others will continue to apply.

22 December 2023 - NW3978

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Mabiletsa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Finance

(1)What does investors demand for premiums on debts to compensate for the risk of investing in the Republic imply on the relationship between the State and the financial sector considering that he stated in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement that regardless of the maturity profile of loans and bonds that most of the debt is domestic; (2) whether the premium demand is one of the key factors determining the fiscal policy trajectory based on investor risk fears; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1. The predominance of domestic debt indicates that the local financial sector is heavily invested in government bonds and loans. This scenario fosters a mutually dependent relationship, wherein the financial well-being of the government significantly influences the stability and health of the domestic financial sector. If this risk premium were to increase (due to an impairment in risk perceptions) and National Treasury were not to include this increased premium into the price of government bonds, investors would choose to invest their cash in other instruments (i.e. corporate bonds or equity, which offer better return, albeit at greater risk). This would result in government being unable to borrow the funds necessary to finance the borrowing requirement. The same principle would apply when borrowing in foreign markets; however, there is less quantum demanded for South African bonds at attractive rates in the international markets. Higher premiums on government debt can lead to crowding out of private investment, as the government absorbs a significant portion of available credit. This can slow economic growth, affecting both the state and the financial sector. The risk premium highlights the need for sustainable borrowing practices, efficient debt utilization, and a clear plan for debt reduction.

2. Risk premiums, while a considerable factor, are not the sole determinants of fiscal policy. They are, however, a critical indicator of investor confidence and perceived risk. When investors demand higher premiums, it reflects their concerns about the country's ability to repay its debts, often influenced by factors such as political stability, economic performance, and fiscal management. Most domestic investors in government debt, such as pension funds and insurance companies, are crucial for the country's financial and economic stability. If the government's debt becomes unsustainable, these institutions could face severe challenges, impacting a broad spectrum of the population. The instances of US regional banks facing near collapse due to holding weakened debt, highlights the tangible consequences of fiscal mismanagement and the importance of maintaining liquidity through the appropriate government loans. It underscores the need for prudent fiscal policies and sustainable debt management. Chapter 3 of the MTBPS emphasizes government's commitment to sustainable debt management, ensuring that borrowing is balanced with economic growth and fiscal responsibility. This along with reforms in the Logistics, Electricity, Water and Communications sectors will ensure that government plays its part in reducing the risk premium.

22 December 2023 - NW4133

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Manyi, Mr M to ask the Minister of Finance

Whether he will furnish Mr M Manyi with a robust overview of the specific consultative measures he had with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) to ensure that the SARB is fully aligned with its constitutional duty, particularly in light of recent developments suggesting vulnerabilities to manipulation through price-fixing and market allocation; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the concrete consultative measures or steps being taken to (a) fortify the regulatory framework and (b) pre-empt any future lapses in fulfilling the critical mandate?

Reply:

It is not clear to the Minister of Finance what specific consultative measures the Honourable member refers to. As enshrined in section 224(2) of the Constitution, the operational independence and autonomy of the South African Reserve Bank are constitutionally guaranteed. The Minister of Finance and the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank regularly interact so as to ensure the alignment of fiscal and monetary policy.

Whilst there is constant collaboration between the Minister of Finance and the South African Reserve Bank, the investigation into allegations of uncompetitive practices by banks was conducted by the Competition Commission, with neither the Minister of Finance nor the South African Reserve Bank taking part in it.

22 December 2023 - NW4122

Profile picture: Buthelezi, Mr EM

Buthelezi, Mr EM to ask the Minister of Finance

With reference to his speech during the tabling of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on 26 October 2022, wherein he projected that the average economic growth would be 1,6% and would not be enough to support the developmental goals of the Republic and as a result structural reforms will be implemented, what are the full details of the (a) form of the specified structural reforms, (b) projected growth and results that his department envisages in the different sectors and (c) promotional and supportive assistance and/or investment that his department will offer (i) small, medium and micro enterprises, (ii) the agricultural sector and (iii) township and informal economies to ensure sustainability and that their growth is not stifled?

Reply:

(a) The Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan (ERRP) outlines the country’s near-term growth agenda. It includes a number of structural reforms aimed at supporting the economic recovery by unlocking investment and removing barriers to growth.

(b) The National Treasury provides forecasts from the expenditure side of GDP, details of which can be found in the Budget Review 2022 and Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2022.

With regard to the estimated impact of reform implementation, this was estimated to result in a 2.3 percentage point growth above the baseline over the next ten years. The details of this work can be found in the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan.

(c) The MTBPS does not make specific allocations to departments and programmes. Such allocations will be published in the 2013 Budget.

22 December 2023 - NW3994

Profile picture: George, Dr DT

George, Dr DT to ask the Minister of Finance

In view of the compelling argument for instituting a debt rule that sets a clear target for the national debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), what (a) are the reasons that the National Treasury has not acted on the growing concern that the current expenditure rule has failed to halt the deterioration of our debt-to-GDP ratio and (b) measures will the National Treasury that will manage and control the rising national debt effectively?

Reply:

a) The ceiling on main budget non-interest expenditure was introduced in 2012 to anchor fiscal policy. However, budget deficits and debt have continued to grow, in part because the ceiling was not binding. The target of reducing and stabilising debt has been persistently shifted out, largely because of lower‐than‐expected economic and revenue growth, and large spending pressures such as state‐owned company bailouts and compensation costs. As a result, main budget expenditure has remained relatively high at over 29 per cent of GDP over the past two years. This has led government to consider additional rules to provide an anchor for fiscal sustainability. Further details will be provided in the 2024 Budget.

b) Over the medium term, government will support the economy, stabilise the public finances and protect the social wage. In the context of persistently low economic growth, government’s fiscal strategy remains focused on consolidating the public finances to narrow the budget deficit, stabilise public debt and ensure fiscal sustainability. Fiscal policy will pursue a balanced approach that includes spending restraint, revenue measures and additional borrowing. Tax measures to raise additional revenue of R15 billion in 2024/25 will be proposed in the 2024 Budget. Relative to the 2023 Budget estimates, proposed reductions to main budget non-interest spending mainly baselines and provisional allocations and changes in reserves amount to R33.1 billion in 2023/24 and R213.3 billion over the next two years. On a net basis, non‐interest expenditure will decrease by R3.7 billion in 2023/24 and R85 billion over the next two years. Compared with the 2023 Budget, the main budget deficit increased by R54.7 billion in 2023/24, R51.8 billion in 2024/25 and R66.7 billion in 2025/26. The gross borrowing requirement for 2023/24 has increased from R515.6 billion to R563.6 billion, relative to the 2023 Budget. Gross loan debt is projected to stabilise at 77.7 per cent of GDP in 2025/26. And government will propose new fiscal anchors to ensure a sustainable long‐term path for the public finances.

22 December 2023 - NW4080

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Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Sport Arts and Culture:

(1). Whether a certain person (name and details furnished) currently owes Boxing South Africa (BSA) any money; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) is the total amount owed to BSA by (i) the specified person and (ii) other promoters and (b) are the reasons that the debt owed by the person has been allowed to prescribe; (2). what are reasons that the person was allowed to promote again under the Xaba Promotions banner without the debt having been paid after having been banned from promoting under that banner due to his debt to BSA; 3(a). how could the person be elected as Chairman of the National Professional Promoters Association when he owes BSA money and a former boxer who has since been deceased, Lwandile Sityata, had to obtain a civil judgment against him in June 2022 and (b). what are the reasons that no disciplinary action has been instituted against the person who has cancelled at least three tournaments in the first half of 2023 alone; (4). whether he will furnish Mr T W Mhlongo with a copy of the Constitution of the National Professional Promoters Association; if not, why not; if so, on what date?

Reply:

The following responses were provided by Boxing SA.

Most promoters owe Boxing South Africa due to the income declarations that are made after tournaments through affidavits in terms of the Boxing Regulations.

(a)(i)&(II) The Board resolved to establish a sub-committee that looks at the tournament applications of each promoter and each promoter that is owing Boxing South Africa appears before the committee to commit to some arrangement in terms of which the debt can be settled and once this arrangement is in place the promoter is then allowed to stage tournaments subject to payment arrangements as approved by this committee.

(b). All promoters who owe Boxing South Africa are subject to this arrangement and therefore none of the debts by the promoters have prescribed.

(2). Boxing SA indicates that it is not correct to suggest that a promoter has been banned from staging tournaments. It is only those who have not made suitable arrangements with BSA that have not been allowed to stage tournaments.

(a). The National Professional Boxing Promoter Associations is an independent structure of licensed promoters established in terms of section 28 of the Boxing Act. This structure operates on its own constitution, and it held elections of its leadership, and all the office bearers were duly elected in an open and transparent process. It is not for BSA to dictate who are supposed to be the leaders of the structure. As far as the question around the boxer is concerned, it must be noted that contracts between Promoters and Boxers are concluded without the intervention of Boxing South Africa and so are disputes arising therefrom.

(b). Tournaments are cancelled for a variety of reasons, and it is not a breach of any Rule of BSA to cancel tournaments as cancellation of tournaments happens routinely across the world and therefore there is no basis to charge any promoter noncancellation tournaments. In fact, the Boxing regulations recognises that boxing tournaments may be cancelled or be postponed for a variety of reasons.

 

22 December 2023 - NW3464

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Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

(1). Since what date has his department assisted representatives to attend events (a) inside and (b) outside the Republic as ambassadors of SA Sport as is the case regarding a certain person (name furnished); (2). (a) what number of persons is his department currently supporting with the specified initiatives and (b) how are the persons selected; (3). what is the breakdown of cost for each person from the date the financial support started to up to the latest specified date; (4). whether his department has a revolving policy that benefits more than just the persons who have been selected; if not, why not; if so, (a) are persons allowed to apply to his department to become ambassadors and (b) what are the relevant details; (5). what criteria were used to choose the specified person as a super fan who is seen at rugby, cricket and netball matches with her trademark face painting, isicholo hat and flag colours of the Republic?

Reply:

(1). The Department has not assisted any persons to attend events inside the country or outside the country as ambassadors of SA Sport and hence we are not able to respond to;

  • the number of persons that are currently supported,
  • how they are selected
  • , the cost and dates related to the support.
  • The date the financial support started to up to the latest specified date.
  • A revolving policy that benefits more than just the persons who have been selected.
  • How are persons allowed to apply to the department to become ambassadors and
  • The relevant details: what criteria were used to choose the specified person as a super fan who is seen at rugby, cricket and netball matches with her trademark face painting, isicholo hat and flag colours of the republic?

 

22 December 2023 - NW4138

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Mthethwa, Mr E to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

What (a) are the relevant details of his department’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan, (b) programmes will be put in place to stimulate the creative and cultural sector economy in terms of development and growth,(c) is the roll-out plan, (d) are the time frames regarding the specified plans and (e) are the details of the projected budget?

Reply:

(a). The Department have through the COVID 19 pandemic recovery plan aim to focus on the following Five Critical Priority Areas:

    • Job creation using the employment multiplier model through the PESP 2&3
    • Creating an enabling environment through the Regulatory Environment
    • Enabling access to local and international markets
    • Monetisation of the cultural, creative and sport industries
    • Enhancement of the arts, culture; heritage and sport tourism as well as the Cross-cutting priority of reviving the economy through Infrastructure development through the DSAC contribution.

(b)(c). The department have through the following programmes that focussed on the above priorities

(i) continue to support the CCI industry in 2022/23 utilizing PESP Budget allocation; using the employment multiplier model, where creatives are funded to create work for themselves. The allocation to the implementing agencies and the focus areas are as follows:

National Arts Council (NAC): to be responsible for disbursement to the following domains.

Performance and celebrations (including the area of theatre, dance opera); Design and Creative services; Books and Publishing (including indigenous language development and promotion); and Public Art.

National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF): Audio-Visual and Interactive Media.

National Heritage Council (NHC): Cultural Heritage.

National Museum (Arts Bank): Visual Arts and craft.

Business Arts South Africa: Support to SMMEs and/or Cooperatives in the Creative industry.

In PESP 3, 44 329 Jobs have been created over the target of 24 400 jobs and in PESP 4 the target number of jobs is 37 800 and to date, 11 478 jobs have reported, and the number will increase, and some projects are currently implementing their projects under PESP4 which should indicate that PESP has contributed to the growth and sustainability of the CCI sector.

(ii) Enabling the creative industry to thrive Creating spaces in the provinces that were previously marginalized. e.g. declaration of Nelson Mandela Theatre Complex in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape provided with a budget of R13m for operational costs; and R17m for infrastructure and maintenance in the Northern cape; refurbishment has been completed, resulting into a fully-fledged theatre space in Northern Cape; construction that will commence in Limpopo with DSAC contributing R7m in 2022/23 financial year. For the Limpopo Theatre, a contractor has been appointed and will be on site by Mid-January 2024 to commence with construction. Preferred locations have been identified in Mpumalanga. Govan Mbeki LM has appointed a service provider to assess the building. In the Northwest and engagements continue with those Provinces Northwest Theatre/Mmabana Arts Centre completed a feasibility study. DSAC has included this project in the UAMP for 2024/25 until 2026/27.

(iii) CCI Masterplan: The CCI Masterplan was approved by Cabinet in August 2022. A roll-out of the implementation plan was undertaken in all 9 provinces through Information Sessions with the sector and provincial representatives. National IGR and stakeholder meetings are attended once a month to strengthen the implementation of the Key Action Programs; and DSAC reports there with all National departments. The approved CCI Masterplan has also been aligned with the ACPD Annual Performance Plan.

(iv) Outcome of the Davis Commission: Department of Sport and Recreation led by Sports Trust and Department of Arts and Culture together with BASA developed a detailed submission requesting for the inclusion of arts and culture and sport as eligible activities for public benefit consideration . Based on the submission, Schedule 9 was amended to include these activities amongst others. Sport. Arts and culture are now eligible for consideration as public benefit organisations and if approved can administer donation certificates for specific taxation exemption and tax rebates.

(v) Skills transfer/ Capacity building: Academies project implementing skills transfer project including this includes Incubator Programs in Performing Arts Institutions. Allocated budget towards Incubator and Training Programs where artists are provided with practical skills that enable them to grow their businesses changes per year as it forms part of the branches Annual Performance Plan (APP). These are run in different Performing Arts Institutions throughout the country; and also conducted by different Academies. The 2023/24 APP includes the 22 Capacity building which is budgeted at a total of R68.7m.

(d). In the 2023/2024 financial year.

(e). PESP: To date, a sum of R412 818 600 million has been transferred to the 5 implementing agencies out of the R459,2 million PESP allocation for the 2023/2024 financial year. A total of R46 381 400 remains to be disbursed to entities.

Skills Development programmes are budgeted annually and the 2023/24 budget was R 68 750 000.

Nelson Mandela Theatre Complex in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape was provided with a budget of R13m for operational costs; and R17m for infrastructure and maintenance in the Northern Cape Theatre. The Limpopo Theatre construction the DSAC contributing R7m in 2022/23 financial year.

21 December 2023 - NW4226

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Steenhuisen, Mr JH to ask the President of the Republic

Considering that his term is coming to an end in 2024, what are the details of the current progress that has been made in delivering the (a) bullet trains and (b) smart cities he promised during the State of the Nation Address on 20 June 2019?

Reply:

In the State of the Nation Address in June 2019, I invited South Africans to look beyond the challenges of the present and to imagine a country of high-speed trains, smart cities and a high-tech economy.

I said that to reinvigorate the implementation of the National Development Plan, “we must cast our sights on the broadest of horizons”.

This bolder vision of a technologically advanced society has received practical attention over the last few years.

For example, the Department of Transport has developed a High-Speed Rail Framework. The Framework has prioritised and ranked the corridors using internationally benchmarked criteria. The Johannesburg to Durban corridor was identified as the highest-ranking potential high-speed rail corridor, with the Pretoria to Mbombela to Komatipoort corridor, and Johannesburg to Pretoria to Polokwane to Musina corridor, ranking second and third, respectively.

On 1 November 2023, Cabinet approved the High-Speed Rail Framework Framework for implementation, and for the Johannesburg to Durban corridor to be prioritised for a feasibility study. The Department of Transport plans to establish a High-Speed Rail Project Management Office to take this process forward.

Another practical example is the Lanseria Smart City.

The project aims to establish a new smart city in the area currently known as Lanseria that will be home to between 350,000 and 500,000 people by 2030. The Master Plan is managed and coordinated by the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, with the support of local, provincial and national government.

Support is being provided for the development of bulk infrastructure through the allocation by the Department of Human Settlements of an Urban Settlements Development Grant to the city of Johannesburg.

The current focus of the project is on building a wastewater treatment and land acquisition.

21 December 2023 - NW4211

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Roos, Mr AC to ask the Minister of Home Affairs

Whether his department plays a role in the accreditation of venues as voting stations for eligible South African citizens abroad; if not, why not; if so, what mechanisms and/or protocols are followed to accredit a venue that is not an embassy, High Commission or a Consulate of the Republic as a voting station?

Reply:

The Department of Home Affairs plays no role in the accreditation of venues as voting stations for eligible South African citizens abroad. Sections 33(3) and 33(4) of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998, determine the location of voting stations outside of the country at South African Embassies, High Commissions, and Consulates.

END