Questions and Replies

Reply:

Based on information received as well as a consultation with the Western Cape Provincial Department of Human Settlements, the Better Living Challenge (BLC) started in 2014 to respond to socio-economic needs of communities and to spur job creation. It was co-funded by the Western Cape Provincial Department, of Human Settlements and Economic Development and Tourism.

The target groups of the BLC are:

1. Residents who only qualify to receive a serviced site from government and are required to build their own structures,
2. Residents already living within informal settlements, to assist them to build safer structures and promote dignity by utilising the principles from the tutorials, and
3. Small-scale builders who are already assisting residents in informal areas, which are key to economic empowerment.

The Western Cape Provincial Department of Human Settlements reported that they engaged with various communities, including in Du Noon, Khayelitsha and Philippi, on their needs and priorities to design the initiative to respond to the respective requirements and attain the necessary community support. The initiative is aimed at assisting those still waiting for housing opportunities and cannot assist themselves in any other way to, in the very least, build a safer structure. The initiative has been well received by the communities and was also nominated for a Human City Design Award in 2019 hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network, the Human Cities Network, and the World Design Organisation.

In addition, the incubator programme facilitated the training of fifteen (15) local small-scale builders from Du Noon, Khayelitsha and Philippi in the City of Cape Town informal settlements, not only building and material-selection skills, but also entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, and personal development skills. Workshops were held with community builders and stakeholders in Sibanye in Moorreesburg and Swartland, in December 2020 as well as with other communities in Grabouw in the Theewaterskloof Municipality. The BLC, via the Cape Design Institute, also developed tutorial videos, which is aimed at small scale builders and the facilitators, including municipal housing official, within the informal settlements upgrade sector who are conducting workshops with community builders.

The Province advises that the BLC has thus far assisted many informal settlement communities directly in the Breede Valley and Drakenstein Municipalities, and the Provincial Department has also shared the initiative with Non-Governmental Organisations working within informal settlement areas, Municipal human settlements and housing officials across the Province, relevant sector Departments and the National Department of Human Settlements.

The National Department has in place policies, planning, programmes and funding interventions to ensure that informal settlements are upgraded, and this includes ensuring households are provided with security of tenure and access to water, sanitation, energy with access to socio-economic development and opportunities, to ensure an improved quality of life.

The National Department of Human Settlements will undertake further consultation with the Western Cape Province to ensure that the outcomes of the BLC are congruent with that of the policies and programmes of the Department. On this matter the Department was advised that the BLC also includes an initiative to promote adequate housing. The Department has advised the Western Cape Province, that all the outcomes of the BLC must ensure that all required minimum norms and standards of the Department as well as compliance with building regulations and specifications. In addition, the dignity of all households must be respected.

Reply:

1 a) The Houses have not yet been completed, however construction is still underway.

b) i) 41 Houses have been handed over to beneficiaries and they are still 237 houses to be handed over- the delay was due to community unrests which led to the contractor vacating the site. More delays were caused by additional remedial work that had to be done on some of the houses.

ii) We are following engagements between the councillor and the community to resolve any problems that they had with regards to the additional works that have to be done, a submission has been done by the Department of Human Settlements to request additional funding.

2) R 28 241 413.25

3) The contractor was paid all claims for work done and the department does not owe the contractor anything.

4) a) the delays were caused by community unrests which led to the contractors vacating site. More delays were caused by additional remedial works that had to be done on some of the houses and needed extra cost to complete them.

b) June 2021

c) the matter is no longer with both the Former MEC and Former Minister it is with The department of Human Settlements Administration and attending to resolve it. The current Acting Head of Department is addressing the outstanding variations.

 

 

Reply:

1. The Foreign Placement policy stipulates the process as follows:

(a) The vacant foreign posts are advertised, shortlisting is undertaken and interviews are conducted for final selection of candidates.

(b) The advertisement shall outline the inherent requirements such as academic qualifications as well as specific attributes as per the specific job evaluation specifications that are required for each post, in accordance with the foreign mission.

2. The posts have not been advertised. The number foreign offices have been rationalized. This took into consideration the impact over the years in various foreign offices. The posts for all foreign offices are all vacant and are being advertised. Shortlisting will be done and interviews will be conducted. Candidates will be appointed from the recommended interviewed qualifying candidates.

3. The former Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) had a Foreign Placement Policy:

a) The Policy was periodically reviewed.

b) With the merger of the two departments, a new policy has been finalised. .

Reply:

a) The sugarcane industry is regulated by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and they have assessed the damage. Initial assessments have been undertaken and further information was also requested from the industry.

b) All those industries which were affected by the unrests will apply to the Sasria Insurance and National Empowerment Fund (NEF).

Reply:

An order for eviction was granted by court on 15 October 2019. The Department did not act on the order because it had not yet received the Court order from the State Attorney. The delay was caused by the fact that after matters are finalised at High Court Registry files are taken and stored somewhere.

(b)The Court order was received on 30 September 2021. The State Attorney was instructed on 8 October 2021 to instruct the Sheriff to serve the order on the respondents (unlawful farm occupiers) to give them time to vacate the farm on their own accord.

(c) On the 11 October 2021 the Sheriff of Mogwase, Northwest, served the Court order on persons who reside in villages. The same process was undertaken by the Sheriff of Thabazimbi, Limpopo on persons on the farm Nooitgedacht 11 JQ.

(d)In terms of the Court order the Sheriff is authorised to evict any occupant who fails to vacate the farm, within fourteen (14) after service of the order.

(e)The countdown commenced on the 13 October 2021 and ends on 3 November 2021.

1. If the occupants fail to vacate the farm on their own accord, the Sheriff will be instructed to execute the order by :

• 1.1 Demolishing the herdsmen’s shack erected on the farm.
• 1.2 Liaising with the nearest Poundmaster to find space where the livestock will be accommodated after removal from farm.
• 1.3 The Sheriff will, with the assistance of the South African Police Services remove the livestock from the farm, using trucks or hired trucks.
• 1.4 After removal the animals will be accommodated at the pound of the nearest

Poundmaster so that their owners can go and remove them there.

(f)In terms of the Court order, “in the event that that unlawful occupiers and any other unauthorised person fail to vacate the farm on 3 November 2021, the costs of removing, transporting and impounding the livestock are borne by the owners

thereof”.

Reply:

1. No. The Agri-Parks programme was conceptualised to be implemented through its defined three legs as outlined in the programme simultaneously. An Agri-park comprises three distinct but interrelated basic components:

• The Farmer Production Support Unit (FPSU): A rural small-holder farmer outreach and capacity building unit that links with farmers and markets. The FPSU does primary collection, some storage, some processing for the local market, and extension services including mechanisation;
• The Agri-hub (AH): A production, equipment hire, processing, packaging, logistics, innovation and training unit; and
• The Rural Urban Market Centre (RUMC): The RUMC has three main purposes. Linking and contracting rural, urban and international markets through contracts. Acts as a holding-facility, releasing produce to urban markets based on seasonal trends. Provides market intelligence and information feedback, to the AH and FPSU, using latest Information and communication technologies.

However, noting the less than desired and envisaged private sector investment and active involvement of other government departments, it became evident that implementing all three legs of the programme at the same time is not affordable. The approach of prioritising the first leg of the programme (FPSUs) became the obvious one and is what the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is focusing on.

The implementation of the programme is not unfolding as originally planned but we would not classify it as a failure given the fiscal constrains the country faced post introduction of the programme.

There are success stories that can be shared with regards to Agri-Parks. One of the success stories is support provided by the African Development Bank. In an effort to build capacity of the Agri-Parks, the African Development Bank has recently approved Technical Assistance (Transaction Advisory Service MIC TAF Grant) of UA 400,000 (about R9.9 million), to support the development of two Agri-Parks, namely Tsiame Agri-Park located in the Free State Province and Springbokpan Agri-Park, located in the North -West Province. This grant is intended to upscale the South Africa Agri-Park program to the Sustainable Infrastructure Development System (SIDS) methodology at the Infrastructure Investment Office (IIO) in the Presidency. This grant will also assist with coordination, bringing the project to financial closure and provide an operations and management structure that will enable investors to provide investment funds for infrastructure development and attract private sector investment to the respective provinces.

A letter of Agreement is currently under preparation by the legal team of the African Development Bank for review and signature. Once this process is completed it is estimated that the launch will be in November 2021, whereafter the process of recruiting a Transactions Adviser will commence.

 

2. No. There has not been corruption detected or reported on the Agri-Parks.

3. No. No maladministration and incompetence have been detected or reported.

(a),(b),(i),(ii) Falls away.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1) (a) I have been informed by the Department that the Council for the Built Environment’s (CBE) succession plan and other relevant HR polices are being reviewed and updated to assist with staff retention. Regarding the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Operations Officer (COO) positions that were vacated at the end of June 2021, the CBE has advertised them. Shortlisting and interviews have been held in a bid to fast-track the filling of the posts.

(b) The CEOs that have been leaving the CBE mid-term were grounded on the following.

• CEO 1 – A 3-year contract (10 February 2004 – 09 February 2007) – Suspended on 22 August 2006 until end of contract
• CEO 2 - 4-year contract (1 August 2007 – 31 July 2011) – Requested and received approval for early release on 2 June for 30th June 2011
• CEO 3 - 5-year contract (1 May 2012 – 30 April 2017) – Suspended and dismissed on 29 August 2016
• CEO 4 – 5-year contract (01 October 2017 – 30 September 2022) – Requested to be released citing the reason for leaving being to further her studies; and
• The COO left due to a job offer in another entity.
• The Manager: Legal and Regulations, was suspended on 17 November 2020 after it came to Council’s attention that he allegedly tried to interfere with the investigation in which he was implicated through the Whistle Blower allegations of the 4th Term Council and the dismissal of the former CEO, Ms. Gugu Mazibuko. The decision to suspend the manager was taken as an administrative precaution to protect the integrity of the investigation process and to ensure that the investigation into the alleged misconduct is undertaken independently. An acting Manager was appointed into the position and his contract is renewable until the investigations are concluded.

(2) For the purposes of getting contracts from the public sector, failure to register with the Councils for the Built Environment Professions (CBEP) can make individuals unemployable. For the private sector however, the restrictions are less, although exposes companies or individuals to higher risk when deciding to use the services of persons that are not professionally registered. Mainly so, because the CBEP only regulate the conduct of registered professionals. There would be very little room for recourse for a company or individual to utilize the services of an unregistered person, because the CBEP would not be able to act against such a person should their work not conform to the required standard or endanger the public. In fact, the client would be liable should the project result in the lives of the public being put in danger as a result of the work of unregistered persons.

This is partly the reason that the policy on the Identification of Work (IDoW) has been mooted. This would assist in ensuring that people work in the areas that they are most proficient in and avoid people taking on work that is classified in the higher classes of work, for which normal professional registration would be required.

Understandably, there would be persons that have gained sufficient experience and proficiency in performing different classes of work, and an opportunity exists to be professionally registered through the path of Recognized Prior Learning (RPL). Once each of the CBEP have published their IDOW policy persons will be accorded a specific time-frame to get professionally registered. However, the challenge of enforcing this in the private sector will still remain as the Acts that established the CBEP, are mainly targeted at regulating the conduct of registered professionals only.

(3) The CBE in collaboration with the DPWI, has several initiatives to promote professional registration. Quarterly forums are convened to monitor progress on candidacy programmes and to address the bottlenecks identified. The CBE further coordinates professional registration workshops wherein, amongst other things, all Councils for the Built Environment Professions (CBEP) engage on how to simplify their professional registration processes and use uniform standards where applicable. Another initiative is the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) which is being incorporated by Councils in route for registration process.

Reply:

a) Nature of the specified plans

Environmental implementation plan (EIP) is required by chapter 3 of National Environmental Management Act, 107 of 1998. (NEMA). Section 11(1) of NEMA provides that every national department listed in Schedule 1 of NEMA as exercising functions which may affect the environment must within one year of the promulgation of the Act and at least every five years thereafter develop an EIP. The Department of Tourism is listed in Schedule 1 of NEMA and is thus required to develop an EIP.

In 2018 the Department of Tourism gazetted the Environmental Implementation Plan (TEIP) 2015-2020 (First edition) in fulfilment of the requirements of Section 11 (1) of National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA). The gazetted EIP reached its end of life during the end of 2019-2020 financial year. The Department of Tourism second edition EIP (2020 – 2025) is currently in the process of being gazetted.

The purpose of the EIP is to co-ordinate and harmonize environmental policies, plans, programmed and decisions of the various national departments that exercise functions that may affect the environment or are entrusted with powers and duties aimed at the achievement, promotion, and protection of a sustainable environment. It further gives effect to the principle of co-operative government in Chapter 3 of the South African Constitution.

(b) Scope of specified plans

The Tourism Environmental Implementation Plan (TEIP) contains the following:

• A description of policies, plans and programmes that may significantly affect the environment.
• A description of the manner in which policies, plans and programmes referred to above will comply with the principles set out in section 2 of NEMA as well as any national norms and standards.
• Recommendations for the promotion of the objectives and plans for the implementation of the Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) procedures and regulations referred to in Chapter 5 of NEMA.
• The 2020 - 2025 TEIP outlines 12 strategic objectives and interventions to address the key environmental impacts associated with the tourism sector’s operations.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) I’ve been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Roads in the North West is not aware of any investigation relating to the North West Development Corporation.

b) The Department is aware of an investigation done by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) in line with Proclamation R21 of 2021 to investigate corruption, malpractice and maladministration in the procurement of, or contracting for works or services by and on behalf of the Department relating to:

(i) Project Management for the Transport Infrastructure Directorate of the Department;

(ii) Rehabilitation of flood damaged roads infrastructure in the North West Province and

(iii) The installation of perimeter fencing at the Eagle Waters Wildlife Resort and payments which were made in respect thereof in a manner that was contrary to applicable legislation and instructions issued by the National Treasury and relevant Provincial Treasury.

The investigation started in March 2021 and is ongoing. It is anticipated to be concluded by the end of January 2022.

Reply:

According to the information received from the South African Airways:

South African Airways has not acted as an agent for any other airline and/or travel agent in the period 01 January 2021 to 15 August 2021.

2119.

Reply:

According to the information received from Transnet:

(a) The port networks have not been negatively impacted by the attack, as the surface area of attack was on the server domain and applications.

(b) Transnet networks were shut down in the attack to prevent the spread of the malware.

(b)(i) Through the shutdown period, some terminals operated manually, while others could not operate in manual mode, given the complexity of the operations. This impacted on vessel and truck turnaround times.

(b)(ii) No long-term impact is foreseen, as catch-up planning takes place within the terminals. No IT systems were compromised or lost at Transnet Port Terminals. We have seen similar cyber-attacks on large organisations - including shipping lines - that have recovered without a long-term negative impact on trade.

 

Reply:

According to the information received from Transnet:

(1)(a) The Shareholder Ministry - the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) - has been kept abreast of all developments pertaining to the declaration of a force majeure, following the incursion on Transnet systems that occurred on 26 July 2021. It is not accurate to suggest that the force majeure has resulted in a ports crisis. The current status of the global shipping environment has been as a result of a number of factors which are more often than not, exogenous to Transnet’s operations. The current perception of Transnet as the fault-line and the cause for a “ports crisis” is factually incorrect. 1a

(1)(b) Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has engaged with the Ports Regulator of South Africa on measures to follow in the event of a similar incident recurring. 1b

(1)(c) We have provided a detailed analysis of the number of import containers that have left the country since 26 July 2021, to-date. (see the attached annexure A)

(2)(a) Transnet has engaged all affected stakeholders following the incursion on the systems.

(2)(b) Since the ICT challenges first began on Thursday 22 July 2021, Transnet Port Terminals has continued to keep all customers and stakeholders informed of the progress made, both on the ICT side and on the operational recovery. This has taken the form of daily meetings and letters, among others.

(2)(c) Whilst the frequency has declined as the crisis was addressed, as at 20 September 2021, Transnet still conducts the following stakeholder engagements:

• A daily operational meeting with port stakeholders (shipping lines, transporters, freight forwarders, TNPA, TFR, TPT)
• A weekly engagement with the citrus stakeholders
• A weekly engagement with members of Business Unity South Africa

(2)(d) Transnet will continue to engage in dedicated recovery forums, until all operations and the entire supply chain have normalised.

(3) The question should be directed to the Department of Transport as the Port Regulator of South Africa is an entity under its authority.

(4) There are a number of reasons for Shipping Lines omitting South Africa from their schedules, these include:

4.1. Omissions for shipping line convenience (trying to catch-up on schedule integrity/make the next window in the following port; profitability; inability to complete the customer’s voyage, e.g. when the vessel plans to omit a destination port in Europe).

4.2 Blank voyages (lack of vessels on a line service network e.g. there should be 7 vessels in a row to make a weekly call in every port, but due to shortages of vessels the line plans to only have 6 vessels, in order to save costs and effectively balance supply with anticipated logistics delays which may impact any one of the number of ports within the schedule).

4.3 Omissions because of delays in the port (caused by TPT operational inefficiencies/delays; wind delays; port congestion; landside congestion. It is worthwhile to note that it becomes difficult to quantify the percentage of TPT’s responsibility because all incidents (wind, operational, congestion etc) have a combined impact on the total terminal delay, resulting in decisions by the shipping line to omit. It is worthwhile to note that it becomes difficult to quantify the percentage of Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) responsibility because all incidents (wind, operational, congestion etc.) have a combined impact on the total terminal delay resulting in decisions by the shipping line to omit.

• TPT is undertaking initiatives to reduce congestion at the ports. This includes increasing equipment availability to improve productivity. The initiatives are tracked through the Durban Decongestion Workstreams, where all stakeholders participate. These include:

• Decongesting Durban Container Terminal (DCT) imports through promoting prompt evacuation in partnership with the shipping lines (carrier haulage).

• Working closely with citrus exporters to ensure the export reefers arrive within the terminal in time to make the vessel sailing deadlines.

• Mass evacuation of imports through Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) supporting the short-haul evacuation to back-of-port facilities in the greater Durban precinct.

 

 

Reply:

The Parliamentary Question PQ 587, with its reply provided on 26 March 2021, is similar to PQ 194. The reply to PQ 194, which is attached as part of the annexure, was submitted to Parliament.

I have requested the Provincial Department to furnish further details of work done during the period in question. We will make this information and anys supporting ducuments available to the honourable member.

Reply:

We have integrated township development to the District Development Model (DDM) One Plans. The effort of pursuing a coordinated framework through the DDM approach presented an opportunity for balanced ecosystem for integrated development. This process requires cooperation of all three spheres of government to ensure efficient and well-coordinated implementation of the interventions and programmes including the Special Economic Zones.

We are working closely with The Department of Small Business Development, which is currently implementing the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP) that is reflected in various Municipal Economic Recovery Plan that were developed with guidance from the Department of Cooperative Governance as a critical programme to relieve Township business from the haltfelt impact of the pandemic. The TREP is a dedicated programme to transform and integrate opportunities in townships and rural areas into productive business ventures. The focus is to create platforms which provide the business support infrastructure and regulatory environment that enables entrepreneurs to thrive. TREP places priority on spatial location as it is focused on enterprises based in townships and/or rural areas that have the potential or capacity to supply goods and services to public and private sector, local, provincial, and national government departments on a sustainable basis.

There are operational Special Economic Zones that are located in townships in partnership with rural municipalities, including the Nkomazi SEZ in the Mpumalanga, Nkowankowa SEZ and Seshego SEZ, both in Limpopo. Furthermore, there are 10 designated and proposed Special Economic Zones in seven Provinces which include, Duwazi SEZ in Limpopo, Namakwa SEZ in Northern Cape, Bojanala SEZ in Northwest, Vaal River SEZ in Gauteng which are located in townships.

It is for this reason that the Department of Cooperative Governance plays an active role in the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on SEZ and Industrial Parks to address challenges that are encountered at municipal level in the implementation of SEZs including Red Tape related challenges. Other challenges that has been noted particularly in the township economic zones include issues of infrastructure, electricity, access to water and rail and road facilities. These challenges have an impact on the investor confidence. In this regard, several recommendations have been put forth to the DTIC in relation to the role of SEZs in the South Africa economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

It is against this background that the Department approached the United Nations in South Africa to support the implementation of the DDM and to enhance the Department’s support initiatives. The outcome has been the development of district specific implementation plans built on three interrelated pillars: Unlocking Economic Value Chains, Social Transformation and Service Delivery enhancement. The first pillar encompasses the development of tools and unlocking of opportunities for inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

The delivery mechanism arranged to carry out these interventions has been realised in the establishment of Business Solution Centres, structures setup to provide business development services for micro- and small-enterprises with special focus on women- and youth-led SMMEs. The Business Solution Centres will also function as one-stop facilities whereby a range of services will assist small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs in overcoming obstacles such as lack of management skills and access to capital and market entry. Through this provision, training and services will endow this important sector with the skills and capabilities to succeed in the economic ecosystem and realise its full potential.

Reply:

1. In terms of sections 29 and 31 of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, all claims against Deceased Estates must be lodged with the appointed executor, and not the Master.

In terms of sections 32 and 33 of the Act, the Executor can dispute or accept these claims against the estate and any party aggrieved by such decision of the executor can either proceed to proof his/her claim in court. Alternatively, the claimant may wait until the executor lodge the Liquidation and Distribution Account and then formally, in terms of section 35(7) of the Act, object to the Liquidation and Distribution account to include his/her claim.

It is the duty of the executor to ensure that all heirs and creditors specified in the approved Liquidation and Distribution account are paid accordingly.

The Master does not receive or decide on the validity of claims against Deceased Estates and does not keep record of such information. This information can be obtained from the lodged Liquidation and Distribution Account in each estate above the value of R250 000.

 

2. In terms of Section 29 of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, every executor shall, as soon as may be after letters of executorship have been granted, cause a notice to be published in the Gazette and in one or more newspapers circulating in the district in which the deceased ordinarily resided at the time of his death and, if at any time within the period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of his death he so resided in any other district, also in one or more newspapers circulating in that other district, or if he was not ordinarily so resident in any district in the Republic, in one or more newspapers circulating in a district where the deceased owned property, calling upon all persons having claims against his estate to lodge such claims with the executor within such period (not being less than thirty days or more than three months) from the date of the latest publication of the notice as may be specified therein.

In terms of section 32, if an executor disputes any claim against the estate, he may by notice in writing:

a) Require the claimant to lodge, in support of his claim, within a period specified in the notice, an affidavit setting forth such details of the claim as the executor may indicate in the notice; and

b) With the consent of the Master, require the claimant or any other person who may in the opinion of the Master be able to give material information in connection with the claim, to appear before the Master or any Magistrate or Master nominated by the Master, material information in connection with the claim, to appear before the Master or any Magistrate or Master nominated by the Master, at a place and time stated in the notice, to be examined under oath in connection with the claim.

Reply:

1. All applications received by the Guardian’s Fund is captured on the Application Tracker System by each office. However, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s Information Technology Systems are currently down, hence the inability to extract and provide such information at this stage.

2. Though various litigation cases are served on the Master annually, they are not necessarily lodged against the Master, as the Master is and have to be, in many instances, cited as an interested party due to the functions of the Master as prescribed in the various acts governing the Master. In most of those matters, no specific relief is necessarily sought against the Master. The tables below provide details of all litigation matters received in which the Master is cited according to the records kept:

1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021	Total
Unopposed summonses	74
Opposed summonses	6
Unopposed applications	574
Opposed applications	costs only opposed	22
	application opposed	6
Matters where no specific action was filed (withdrawn, incorrectly cited, etc.)	25
Annual Total	707

1 April 2021 – 30 June 2021	Total
Unopposed summonses	29
Unopposed applications	207
Opposed applications	costs only opposed	4
Matters where no specific action was filed (withdrawn, incorrectly cited etc.)	15
Quarter 1 Total	255

3. The only funds held by the Master, is that which have been deposited into the Guardian’s Fund in terms of the applicable laws.

Funds are received or accepted by the Master into the Guardian’s Fund for the benefit of a specific beneficiary. The Master opens an account in the name of the person to whom the money belongs to or the estate of which the money forms part of. Only that beneficiary may claim the funds due to him/her once it becomes claimable. The Master will administer the funds, free of charge, for the minor until he/she turns major (now 18 years of age) or reach the age as indicated in the Will/Testament.

Deceased Estate funds in the Guardian’s Fund becomes claimable by beneficiaries as soon as they reach the age of majority, or such other date as may be determined by a Will/Testament. Funds which earn interest will still bear interest for a period of five (5) years after it became claimable. Claimable funds are also advertised in the Government Gazette for three (3) consecutive years in September each year (Section 91). These adverts must also be displayed at all Magistrate Courts. The advertisement is further also placed on the Master’s Website

Whilst the funds are not yet claimable by the beneficiary, the guardian of a minor/persons incapable of managing their own affairs can claim maintenance/allowance from the Guardian’s Fund. The Master is entitled to pay for maintenance, such as school and university fees, clothes, medical fees, boarding and lodging and any other needs that can be fully motivated. Payments can be made directly to the service provider such as schools, universities, bookshops, etc.

In terms of Section 92 of the Administration of Estates Act, if funds are not claimed for thirty (30) years after it became claimable, it is forfeited to the State and are paid over to the Commissioner of Revenue. All funds which have not yet been claimed prior to thirty (30) years are still claimable by the relevant beneficiaries.

As the Master does not have control over who decides to claim the funds, maintenance etc. and how much they want to claim – it is not possible to indicate a quantified amount which should have been distributed to families or an individual, but is still with the Master. As from the above explanation, it is clear that all funds in the Guardian’s Fund, can be applied for by the beneficiary, guardian, etc. at any stage, from the date it is deposited, up to 30 years after it became claimable.

4. Yes, action has been taken against relevant personnel. Below are the relevant details:

NATURE	NUMBER	STATUS	OUTCOME OF THE SANCTIONS
Bribery	3	2 Finalised	2 Final Warning
		1 Not Finalised	1 Pending
Corruption	7	5 Finalised 2 Not Finalised	1 Suspension
			1 Verbal Warning
			1 Written Warning
			2 Dismissal
			2 Pending
Fraud	3	1 Finalised	1 Withdrawal
		2 Not Finalised	2 Pending
Insubordination	3	1 Finalised	1 Final Warning
		2 Not Finalised	2 Pending
Intimidation	1	Not Finalised	1 Pending
Negligence	3	1 Finalised	1 Dismissal
		2 Not Finalised	2 Pending
Unauthorised Absence	1	Finalised	1 Written Warning
Unethical Behaviour	2	Not Finalised	2 Pending
Maladministration (Busasa)	1	Not Finalised	Pending
Non-Disclosure (Busasa)	1	Not Finalised	Pending
Total	25	11 Finalised 14 Not Finalised	14 Pending 1 Withdrawal 2 Written Warning 1 Verbal Warning 3 Final Warning 3 Dismissal 1 Suspension

5. A new administration and financial system for the Guardian’s Fund was developed together with Information Systems Management.

The tender process has been done in the 2020/21 financial year, and it is envisaged that development of this system will be finalized and rolled-out in the 2022/23 financial year. The new system will be a full financial system which will ensure accurate financial statements and management. The move to a fully financial system will guarantee accurate records and reports while simplifying processes of the Master’s office in Guardian’s Fund matters.

Reply:

A rigorous process of assessing the state of local government (SOLG) culminated in the Cabinet considering the SOLG report in June 2021. The assessment included all service delivery issues including drainage systems in the City of Cape Town (CoCT). Cabinet resolved that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and National Treasury should lead the process of the development of the municipal support plans in collaboration with sector departments, SALGA, provinces and municipalities. This process is underway and the target date to complete the municipal intervention and support plans (MISP) is the end of October 2021. This MISP will include plans to address the challenges mentioned above.

As stated above, the compilation of MISP brings together all sector departments as advocated for by the District Development Model as service delivery challenges of informal settlements go beyond flooding challenges, but include lack of basic services and housing among others.

We are also planning to brief the nation on the 21 October 2021 on the seasonal weather forecast. This briefing will include the state of readiness in municipalities across provinces to deal with disasters resulting from the seasonal rainfall.

Reply:

DDM Hubs are part of the overall institutional arrangements for the implementation of the DDM. They are an extension of CoGTA capacity deployed in districts for purposes of driving the institutionalisation of the DDM and facilitating the formulation, adoption, implementation, monitoring and review of the One Plans. A DDM Hub is conceived as a functional network of support and a facilitation system for Intergovernmental Planning in relation to a specific district or metropolitan space or a combination of district spaces or metropolitan spaces. These Hubs will be established in a phased and differentiated manner across the various districts and metros taking into account the dynamics of each district and metropolitan spaces. DCoG in consultation with provinces and municipalities will determine where such hubs are needed and could potentially be established provided the required financial and funding resources are available.

To date, fully-fledge DDM Hubs have been established in the three DDM pilot sites of eThekwini metro, OR Tambo, and Waterberg districts. The Hub Managers for all three pilots are in place. Seven out of the eight approved positions have been filled in OR Tambo, the Senior Development Planner commenced duty on the 16 August 2021. Seven out of the eight positions were filled in the Waterberg District, there are challenges in filling the position of the Capacity Building Coordinator. Two out of the four approved positions for eThekwini have been filled. The Implementation Support Specialist position will be advertised based on the recruitment plan.

a) The design and composition of a DDM Hub will differ from district to district and metro to metro as demonstrated by the experiences in the three DDM pilot sites, thus influencing the capital costs for establishing these Hubs.

b) Following from the above, annual operating costs are dependent on the design and composition of a DDM Hub in terms of staff size and associated overhead costs.

c) The staffing compliment for each DDM Hub is informed by needs and skills analysis informing a recruitment plan for each of the DDM spaces in collaboration with the respective provinces and municipalities.

Reply:

According to the information received from Eskom:

(a)

Eskom has concluded 2 Coal Supply Agreements (“CSA’s”) for FY2022 as follows:

• Modification to the CSA with South32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Ltd from MMS to supply Duvha Power Station.
• A new CSA with Arnot OPCO (Pty) Ltd from Arnot Mine to supply Arnot Power Station.

(b)

Eskom cannot, at this point in time, fulfil the parliamentary request of disclosing the contractual prices of the above-mentioned CSA’s.

Eskom is currently progressing with coal supply negotiations with the shortlisted tenderers from RFP’s issued to the market. By disclosing this information to the public, the tenderers could potentially use this information to erode Eskom’s bargaining power.

 

Reply:

Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati Disrict Municipality (DRSDM) is the Water Services Authority (WSA) in its area of jurisdiction which includes Naledi Local Municipality (NLM) area. The Water Services Act, 108 of 1997 defines a WSA as any municipality responsible for ensuring access to both water and sanitation services. The sanitation services include the management of sewered systems. In executing its functions, which include the WSA function, DRSDM gets grant funding and technical support from the provincial and national government departments. NLM monitors the projects implemented by the district in its area of jurisdiction and liases with DRSDM. The Department of Corporative Governance (DCOG), through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) provides technical support to both DRSMD and NLM in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM).

According to NLM the sewer spillages in Ward 2 in NLM are caused by the blocked sewer line and faulty manhole in Sonneblom Street, Colridge (in Vryburg). DRSDM appointed a contractor to perform the necessary construction repairs under emergency works. NLM is monitoring the works and liasing with DRSDM.

The contractor has already installed a temporary pump and bypass line (102m long) to avert the spillage problem and to re-route the live sewerage for construction repair works to be performed under workable dry conditions. According to NLM the bypass system has been in operation since 10 September 2021 and the work area has dried out sufficiently, as shown on the picture below, to allow repair works to be conducted.

The excavation for the pipeline replacement and new manhole construction is underway. Completion and re-commissioning of the effected sewerage infrastructure is anticipated to be by the end of October 2021 subject to favourable weather conditions as it is now in the rainy season.

Supporting Photographs:

Photo 1: Faulty sewer line before commencement of repair works

Photo 2: Temporary pump and bypass line installed

Photo 3: Temporary pump secured with barricade netting

Photo 4: Excavations around manhole (note area dried out)

Reply:

The response below was provided by the province:

Various investigations have been instituted by the province, municipality and law enforcement agencies in relation to the Venda Building Society Mutual Bank (the VBS) investments. On 28 March 2019, the municipality Council took resolution number 44/2018/19 to appoint an independent investigator to investigate allegations relating to the missing R49 million. The investigation report has been completed and there is no record of the missing R49 million and the Curator also confirmed that the amount that is in the records of VBS is R150 million. As such, there is no need for the department to institute further investigation on this matter.

Some of the investigations which have been conducted with regard to the above mentioned allegations are listed below:

Report	Description
10/10/2018	Report by Sekela Xabiso to HoD of Department of Finance tittled: “INVESTIGATION INTO THE INVESTMENTS MADE BY NORTH WEST MUNICIPALITIES AT VBS MUTUAL BANK (DR RS MOMPATI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY)”
23/02/2021	Report by Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality to MEC Ms Cwale tittled: “REQUEST FOR PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATIONS OF RECOMMENDATIONS EMANATING FROM FORENSIC REPORT IN RESPECT OF THE VENDA BUILDING SOCIETY MUTUAL BANK (VBS) INVESTIGATION”
24/02/2021	Report by Katake Attorneys to Dr RS Mompati District Municipality titled: “LEGAL OPINION REGARDING LEGALITY OF DISCIPLINARY PROCESS AGAINST THE MUNICIPAL MANAGER”

 

Reply:

a) All municipalities have indigent registers which are reported to be reviewed on an annual basis as per the Non Financial Census (NFC) published on the 31st March 2021. It should be noted that Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) collects information relating to indigents management in municipalities based on the indicators which have been provided by the Department of Cooperative Governance. Furthermore, the Department compiles a Programme Performance Monitoring Report on the mechanisms utilised for the provision of Free Basic Services (FBS) to poor households in all the municipalities on an annual basis. The report covers a wide range of disciplines such as number of municipalities implementing indigent policies and with indigent registers. It further identifies gaps that need to be addressed by relevant stakeholders including the municipalities themselves.

b) The Department provides support and guidance to all municipalities with regards to the provision of free basic services to indigent households. Furthermore, the Department works closely with Provincial COGTAs; Municipalities and all other relevant Stakeholders with the objective being to ensure that municipalities provides free basic services to all qualifying indigent households. The Department will engage both Mpumalanga Provincial COGTA and Steve Tswhete Municipality to seek more clarity

Reply:

In terms of approval requirements of Section 139 of the Constitution, the Minister exercises the power assigned to approve or disapprove the intervention invoked by the Provincial Executive Council if the municipality cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation. Approvals of interventions are based on sufficient evidence of the failures of the executive obligations by the municipality. Approvals are also based on when the decision of the Provincial Executive Council to intervene in the affairs of the municipality solely on failures to fulfil an executive obligations by the municipality.

Section 139(2)(a)(i) of the Constitution provides checks and balances in that “If a provincial executive intervenes in terms of subsection (1)(b), it must submit a written notice of the intervention to Cabinet member responsible for local government affairs”. In terms of Section 139(2)(b), the intervention must end if the Cabinet member responsible for local government affairs disapprove the intervention within 28 days after the intervention began, or by the end of that period has not approved the intervention. Similarly, section 139(3)(a)(i) of the Constitution provides that “If a Municipal Council is dissolved in terms of subsection (1)(c), the provincial executive must immediately submit a written notice of the dissolution to the Cabinet member responsible for local government affairs”. In terms of Section 139(3)(b) the dissolution takes effect 14 days from the date of receipt of the notice by the Municipal Council unless set aside by the Cabinet member responsible for local government before the expiry of those 14 days. These mechanisms are meant foresee the correct invocation and application of section 139 of the Constitution.

 

Reply:

1. The Municipal Managers are appointed in accordance with the regulations on appointment of senior managers. The minimum qualifications requirements on appointment of the Municipal Managers are a bachelor’s degree. In terms of the provisions of the Constitution, it is the prerogative of the Provincial Executive Council to invoke and subject a municipality to an intervention in terms section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution. To that end, it is also the prerogative of the Provincial Executive Council to determine the caliber of person(s) to be appointed as Administrators of municipality placed under intervention.

2. Provincial Executive Council as the appointee of Administrators should follow all regulations on appointment of senior managers, including verification of qualifications.

Reply:

1. According to information from Province and the municipality, only Section 106 investigations have been completed. The investigation by the HAWKS on the matter have not been concluded; and

2. The information therefore remains unavailable, since the matter is still under investigation by the HAWKS.

Reply:

I will attempt to answer this question, even as I request the Honourable Member to clarify the question he is asking. There are a number of unverified factual statements contained in the lead-up to the question, which seem to have limited relevance to the question itself.

Firstly, it is not clear on what basis the Honourable Member makes the claim that SARS and the NPA are issuing summonses to taxpayers with outstanding tax returns as part of a compliance drive which aligns with the proposed expatriate exit tax. What summonses is the Honourable Member referring to and by whom, from SARS or the NPA? SARS does not disclose any secret or protected taxpayer information matters to the Minister of Finance, in keeping with the provisions of the Tax Administration Act. I would therefore request the Honourable Member to provide more information on what facts he is basing this claim - we all need to take great care not to spread false information and rumours in the world we live in. The NPA also does not report to the Minister of Finance, and I cannot answer for the NPA, but here too the Honourable Member needs to provide more clarity on what basis he is suggesting that the NPA is involved in issuing taxpayer summonses.

With regard to a proposed “expatriate exit tax”, can the Honourable Member indicate what specific tax he is referring to, or which announcement in the last or previous Budget Review was such an announcement made? Perhaps he is referring to recent amendments – some already enacted in our tax laws and some proposed this year and not enacted as yet - that affect South African taxpayers who change their tax residency at some point in their lives, which addresses a number of long-standing inequities in our residency-based tax system. In the past, tax administration of foreign incomes and movement of taxpayers was hampered by a lack of jurisdictional assistance and poor information beyond the jurisdiction of any tax authority. The international sharing of information between tax authorities is enabling revenue collection options that were long difficult to pursue, even in cases where South Africa may have had taxing rights in principle. Our recent amendments, that some colloquially (and inaccurately) refer to as an “expat tax” or “exit tax”, remove exemptions that have benefited South African tax residents who spend a portion of their time in employment out of the country. This means that any increases in the tax liabilities faced by those taxpayers arise from the cessation of generous exemptions, rather than the imposition of new taxes.

With regard to any concern that the “amassed revenue is not lost through embezzlement, rampant corruption and mismanagement”, the Honourable Member is reminded that section 213 of the Constitution requires that all revenue collected from a national tax or levy must be paid into the National Revenue Fund (NRF), except money reasonably excluded in terms of an Act of Parliament. Further, money can only be withdrawn from the NRF via an appropriation or direct charge in terms of an Act of Parliament. The NRF is also annually subject to an audit, and its financial statements tabled in Parliament every year. The Treasury is able to assure the country that the flow of revenue from SARS after it has received the revenue due from taxpayers to the NRF is safe and there is little risk of losses through corruption and embezzlement – the biggest scope and risk of corruption occurs once funds are allocated from the NRF to organs of state in terms of the Budget, when it is up to the accounting officer or accounting authority to manage the spending of budgeted funds, including their procurement processes, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act or Municipal Finance Management Act. It is in this spending and procurement phase that we need to improve all our mechanisms to keep funds safe and ensure that all spending is in line with budgeted objectives and that the state gets full value-for-money.

 

Reply:

According to the Scope of practice of nurses, only professional nurses registered with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) are allowed to administer vaccinations. Enrolled nurses, also registered with SANC, may administer vaccinations under the supervision of a professional nurse, on condition that they receive the relevant training.

Currently, there are no nurses registered with SANC in the “community nurse” category. For this reason, the Department of Health (DoH) may not use nurses who are not registered with SANC.

END.

Reply:

1. According to Section 4 (Application for registration) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) Regulation R101, An application by any foreign qualified person for registration as a health practitioner in any of the professions registered under the Act shall be made on the prescribed application form obtainable from the professional board concerned, and shall be accompanied by - (e) in the case of an application for registration in a profession for which internship training is a requirement, a certificate of completed training as an intern or of similar training or experience obtained elsewhere and the Programme for such training; (g) an original certificate of good standing, which shall not be more than six months old, issued by the foreign registration authority where the applicant is or was registered”.

Most of the South Africans who study abroad in institutions not recognized by the HPCSA are unable to meet these requirements. The pathway was intended to assist such applicants by providing an opportunity for clinical exposure and registration as student interns so that they could then be able to undertake formal internship. Unfortunately the pathway, which was approved by the National Health Council (NHC), has not been fully implemented because of the outstanding issues between HPCSA and medical schools, in terms of providing this opportunity for these students interns training.

(2) All applicants who are eligible and/or have submitted compliant documents have been allowed to sit for examinations. It should however be noted that, because of the COVID19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, there were no exams held in 2020. This led to a backlog that has, since the beginning of 2021, been attended to. The HPCSA is currently processing new applications that are currently being received for future examinations.

END.

Reply:

1. No, Government does not intend to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory by law. the government approach is to invest in persuading in people seeing the life-saving value of vaccination.

2. As stated above, government wants to emphasis on rather convincing people of the value of vaccination.

3. While the state has no intention to make vaccination mandatory, we also have no intention to interfere in internal policies of private and independent institutions, including on the public health policies.

4. Not applicable.

5. As stated in (3), government has no intention in interfering in internal policies of private and independent institutions in this regard.

END.

Reply:

According to the information received from Eskom

(1)(a) and (b)

The incident is not related to the steam pipe / or steam generator as it occurred on the Electric Generator that is coupled to the steam turbine centreline through a Turbo Gen rotor. The Medupi Generators original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is General Electric (GE).

(2)

The 8th of August 2021 Medupi unit 4 generator failure incident is still under investigation, however, following the preliminary investigation, it appears that while performing the purging of hydrogen activity, air was introduced into the generator at a point where hydrogen was still present at sufficient quantities to create an explosive mixture. This is not related to the steam pipes or to issues with previous maintenance activities.

(3)(a)(i)

The final damage assessment will only be quantified once the all-turbine cylinders and the generator are fully stripped. The process underway is making the area safe to commence with stripping and internal inspections. The cost of repairs will be established once the contracts are placed as per detailed scope of work following damage assessments.

3(a)(ii)

The repairs will depend on the extent of the damage and the long lead components to be replaced. It is safe to say that the repair duration will be in excess of one year.

3(b)

Eskom has insurance cover for all its assets.

Reply:

According to the information received from Alexkor

1. (a) The initial contractual obligations were to buy Alexkor Richtersveld Mining Company Pooling and Sharing Joint Venture (PSJV) production and pay the nett value percentage to PSJV.

(b) The initial period was 3 years as stated above. Then it was amended to include IMDSA (Deep sea marine mining), at this point SSI changed the operating model to buy, market and sell. Which was not the original plan at the tender stage.

(2) The company did change the model agreed to tender system which was agreed to by previous management to buy the whole production. This means that they did not fulfil the obligations initially agreed to.

3. The agreement payment was 1.5% commission for all carats sold at the tender. It was paid in full and no outstanding amounts.

4. (a) No company was appointed, Alexkor SOC is conducting the marketing and selling function in house with corporation from Diamond Export and Exchange (DEEC) and Government Diamond Valuation (GDV) office.

5. No company was appointed, Alexkor SOC is processing in house with corporation from DEEC. The Contractors and the Alexkors appointed evaluators are still in operation.

Reply:

1. The due diligence is at an advanced stage and should be completed shortly. The parties have started negotiating the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA). After the successful completion of the SPA stage, we will be able to announce the completed deal to the public pending regulatory approval.
2. Once the Sale and Purchase Agreement have been concluded, the Memorandum of Incorporation will be finalised.

Reply:

According to the information from Transnet response:

(a) Initially all ICT systems were shut down to stop the spread of the malware.  Some servers and some workstations that were online at the time of the attack were encrypted by the ransomware.

(b)(i) An incident response team was brought in to assist with the secure rebuild of the active directory servers. A second incident response team assisted with containing the incident and performing a forensic scan of all machines.

(b)(ii) Transnet was already in the process of rolling out additional security measures across the network. This has been fast-tracked and all machines that are brought back on on-line have the security stack deployed. A separate Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and forensic agent has been deployed on all machines before they were brought back online.

All older operating systems have been upgraded to current operating systems and were fully patched before being brought back online.

Transnet has also deployed a web access firewall, reverse proxy and an anti-distributed denial of service system for all public websites.

(c) It was a ransomware attack. There is a criminal investigation in progress.

(d) There is a criminal investigation in progress.

(e) All customer interfaces and the NAVIS terminal operating system have returned to normal. TPT has continued to keep customers and stakeholders informed of the progress made since Thursday 22 July 2021. Transnet will continue to engage in the dedicated daily recovery fora and meetings until all operations and the entire supply chains have normalised. For example, Transnet has a dedicated weekly recovery session with Business Unity South Africa, which commenced on 28 July 2021 and is planned to conclude on 20 September 2021. Other meetings with port stakeholders will continue daily, until congestion has been resolved.

(f)(i) Container volumes were delayed as a result of the cyber-attack or the resulting congestion. However, most imports and exports would still be serviced through SA or neighbouring Ports, albeit later than originally planned.

Automotive vessels were delayed due to system unavailability, which was mitigated by the implementation of manual processes. Some vessels have been diverted between terminals and other delayed volumes have caught up. Hence, the impact on volumes through SA ports is negligible.

In respect of Bulk and Breakbulk cargo, Business Continuity (manual processes) significantly mitigated the potential loss of volumes. No material impact is expected on Bulk and Breakbulk volumes as a result of the system down time.

(f)(ii) TPT will continue to engage in dedicated recovery forums, until all operations and the entire supply chains have normalised.

In addition to the broader fora, TPT engages directly with the shipping lines, to plan jointly to ensure fluid operations at the terminals and on the waterside.

 

Reply:

According to the information received from Safcol

a) (i) Total number of land claims: 46 (1X KZN, 24X Limpopo, 21X Mpumalanga)

(ii) Status of each specified land claim: Status of each claim indicated in Annexure A.

(iii) (aa) Total number of land claims that have been settled: 4 settled.

(bb) Challenges hampering the settling of land claims: finalization of claims by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. Signoff of title deeds handover by respective departments.

b) Title deeds handed over: 1 Mpumalanga CPA

c) How land claims are dealt with by SAFCOL to date:

(i) Engage land claimants proactively in terms of SAFCOLs Proactive Community Engagement Model (before settlement of land claim) to establish commercial partnerships in the value chain:

Value Chain Position	Description
Downstream	Utilising SAFCOLs final products
In the value chain	Directly related to SAFCOL
Related activities	Conservation, tourism, unplanned areas, agro-forestry
Upstream	Before entering SAFCOLs value chain

Reply:

With regards to child protection of children from exposure to possible death or disability;

Section 150 of the children’s Act 38/2005, makes provision for child in care and protection including a child who may be abandoned as a child in need of care and protection.

Section 151 of the Act also makes provision for the removal of such children to any alternative placement if the current environment is of danger to that particular child.

Alternatively, section 157(3) of the Children’s Act 38 of 2008 Act provides that a very young child who has been abandoned or orphaned, must be made available for adoption in a prescribed manner and within the prescribed period, except when this is not in the best interests of the child; only the Children’s Court can make such a determination.

The following are steps which can be taken by Social Workers

According to Regulation 56, if it appears that the child has been abandoned or orphaned, the designated social worker must:

• Develop an advertisement to be published in at least one local newspaper circulating in the area where the child has been found calling upon any person to claim responsibility of the child.
• A copy of the advertisement must be submitted to the Presiding Officer who must be satisfied that the child has been abandoned or orphaned.
• A period of at least 3 months must lapse since the publication of the advertisement and that no person has claimed responsibility of the child.
• Before the child can be made available for adoption, two affidavits are required:
• By the social worker setting out the steps taken to trace the child’s biological parent/s, guardian/s or care-giver/s; and the effect that the child’s parent/s, guardian/s or care-giver/s cannot be traced, and
• By any other person, if any, who can testify to the fact that the child has had no contact with his or her parent/s, guardian/s or care-givers for a period of at least 3 months.

Advertising of children for the purpose of adoption:

• No person may publish or cause to be published in any form or by any means an advertisement dealing with the placement or adoption of a specific child.
• The child has the right not to be advertised or paraded as being available for adoption through any means including print and electronic media, such as newspaper, magazines, radio, internet, face-book, etc.
• Publication of advertisement for the purpose of recruiting prospective adoptive parents may be done by accredited adoption service providers on print and electronic media. However, such advertisement should not publish or photo list a specific child, but should give a profile of adoptable children available for adoption and express their need to be adopted and have permanent homes. Recruitment may also be done through promotional materials on adoption, presentations and community awareness campaigns at clinics, hospitals, churches, social clubs, and shopping malls and any other public facilities, etc.
• Any illegal advertisement can expose children to the abduction, sale and trafficking in children, which is likely to be done as a systematic organised operation or crime syndicate.

• Any violation to this provision of the Act relating to advertising is regarded as an offence in term of Section 305 of the Act and severe penalties may be imposed by law.

• As far as possible, the child should be placed in adoption as early as possible to enhance bonding with the adoptive family and reduce adjustment problems.

In a case of an abandoned child, the social worker must also:

• Gather all the necessary information and affidavit/s from person/s who found or reported the child as abandoned.
• Report the matter to the police, acquire a police case number and request the police assistance in investigating the child’s biological parent/s or guardian/s’ identity and whereabouts.
• Follow up with the police if child’s parent/s were traced or not and request a copy of the police report if untraceable.
• Place the child legally in a temporary safe care/ child and youth care centres pending further investigations and follow up on every lead and information if there was no person/s who made any contact with the child.
• Children should not be kept in cycc for an indefinite time, the social workers must always have a permanency plan for them and there should be a progressive movement towards their final placement into permanent families.
• According to the alternative care strategy, the social worker need to re-assess those children that have being in child and youth care centres for a long period, to determine if they can be adoptable.
• Provide the child with the name and surname, ensure the age estimation of the child by the Children’s Court and thereafter, register the child’s birth with the Department of Home Affairs.
• Ensure the medical examination and testing of the child is done and receive the child’s medical certificate/ report. The child’s medical report assist the prospective adoptive parent/s to make an informed decision about adopting the child or not.

In case of an orphaned child, the social worker must also:

• Submit a death certificate/s of the child s parent/s, guardian/s or care-giver/s must also be submitted to the Presiding Officer.
• If the death certificate cannot be obtained, an affidavit by a person/s, it can be the extended family member/s, community member/s or friends, who can testify to the death of the child s parent/s, guardian/s or care-giver/s, must be submitted. The full identifying details of the deceased, the date of birth/ identity numbers as well as the date of death are required on the affidavit.
• The adoption of an orphaned child may only be considered if the child has no guardian/s or care-giver/s including extended family member/s that is willing to adopt the child.
• Obtain a statement from the child’s guardian/s or care-giver/s or extended family member/s confirming that they will not be able to take care of the child or adopt him/ her.
• Consent of the child’s guardian/s should be obtained and signed at the Children’s Court in front of the Presiding Officer.
• If one of the child’s parents is still alive and available, his/ her consent should be obtained, if that parent agrees to the adoption of a child.
•  If the other parent of the child is alive, but not available or the whereabouts are unknown, efforts to trace him/ her should be made by the social worker with the assistance of the police, before the child can be adoptable.
• If the surviving parent of a child is a biological father who was not married to the mother of the child, he should be given preference to adopt his own child.
• Ensure the medical examination and testing of the child is done and receive the child’s medical certificate/ report. The child’s medical report assist the prospective adoptive parent/s to make an informed decision about adopting the child or not.

Consent for giving up a child for adoption

The following steps should be taken when biological parent/s or guardian/s has consented to their adoption – this is similar to when a mother does not want to keep the child rather she intends to give up the child for adoption

• An adoption of a child can only takes place after the required consent to the adoption has been obtained from the biological parent/s or guardian/s of the child, provided they are available.
• The child must also sign legal consent him/ herself, provided the child is of 10 years of age, if less than 10 years, maturity and stage of development to understand the implications of signing consent for his/ her adoption should be considered.
• The period of at least 60 days has lapse for withdrawal of the consent by the persons mentioned here and as alluded above.
• Once the required consent is obtained without been withdrawn, then the child can be adoptable.

Children whose biological parent/s or guardian/s’ consent to the adoption is not necessary or required by Court

There are different circumstances where consent for the adoption of a child is not required and the Court may dispense with such consent due to the following:

• Biological parent/s or guardian/s is incompetent to sign consent due to mental illness and this must be supported by a medical report from a qualified psychiatrist.
• Children who have been abandoned and the whereabouts of their biological parent/s or guardian/s cannot be established or their identities are unknown.
• Abused or deliberately neglected children.
• The biological parent/s or guardian/s has consistently failed to fulfil their parental responsibilities towards their children during the last 12 months.
• Guardianship in respect of the child has been terminated by the court; this could free a child for adoption when progress has not being made with efforts to reunite the child with their biological parent/s or guardian/s.
• The biological parent/s or guardian/s has been divested by an order of court of their right to consent to the adoption of their children.
• The biological parent/s or guardian/s has failed to respond to a notice of the proposed adoption within 30 days of serving the notice.
• Orphaned children who have no guardian/s or caregiver/s who are willing to and able to adopt those children; and the court has been provided with certified copies of their parent/s or guardian/s’ death certificate or other documentation as required by court.
• If biological father of the child is not married to the child’s mother, and was not married to her at the time of conception or at any time thereafter, and he has not acknowledged that he is the father of the child by:

(a) Giving a written acknowledgement that he is the biological father of the child either to the mother of the child or the clerk of the children’s court before the child reaches the age of 6 months;

(b) Voluntarily paying maintenance in respect of the child;

(c) Paying damages in terms of customary law; or

(d) By causing his particulars to be entered in the registration of birth of the child in terms of the Birth and Death Registration Act 51 of 1992 of DHA.

• The child was conceived from an incestuous relationship between the biological father and the mother, or
• The court following an allegation by the mother of the child, finds on the balance of probabilities that the child was conceived as a result of rape of the mother.
• If the biological parent/s or guardian/s is unreasonably withholding consent for the adoption of the child.
• In determining that consent is withheld unreasonably, the court must take into account all relevant factors, including the following:

(a) The nature of the relationship during the last 2 years between the child and the person withholding consent and any findings by court in this respect;

(b) The prospects of a sound relationship developing between the child and the person withholding consent in the immediate future.

Reply:

According to the information received from Eskom

(1)

Eskom maintains the position that it supports nuclear power, in particular the life extension of Koeberg Power Station. The procurement process is being dealt with by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DMRE) in accordance with IRP19. The DMRE should be approached for any further information.

(2) this matter is being dealt with by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DMRE) in accordance with IRP19. The IRP makes it clear that additional nuclear power generation will only be added to the electricity mix at a pace and scale that the country can afford .The DMRE should be approached for any further information.

 

(3) the DMRE is best placed to respond to this.

Eskom is ready to provide support where needed as the operator of nuclear power plants in South Africa, and in accordance with the Nuclear Energy Policy of 2008.

Reply:

(1)(a) There is no plan to sell assets to private companies.

(1)(b) There is no plan to privatise ports under the control of Transnet. The position in this regard is to crowd in private capital to co-invest in the ports equipment, technologies, skills and operations with the aim of improving efficiencies of the country’s port systems which is critical for the country’s economic competitiveness ability to grow the export market and support the growth of local businesses.

Transnet’ balance sheet alone is not sufficient to support the investment resources required to upgrade the ports to worldclass standards. The private sector participation model leaves the ownership of the port and resultant improvements in the balance sheet of Transnet, enables the participation of the private sector in supply chain efficiencies as port users but still leaves the ownership of the entity with the State while simultaneously reducing the financial reliance on the national fiscus.

2. No. The invitation of the President was not informed by any plan to privatise the Port of Durban or any other port under Transnet. The visit by the President was to evaluate progress made from his visit to the Port of Durban in October 2019. During that visit, many local businesses and port users raised specific concerns about the performance of the Port of Durban. Shipping companies in particular, expressed concern about the low productivity levels in the port which included amongst others, truck congestion and waiting times, ship berthing delays and poor reliability of critical port equipment. The visit in April 2021 was aimed at affording the President a firsthand check on the progress against the commitments that were made in the 2019 visit; and for Transnet to apprise him about further plans to reposition the port. This was to reinforce the commitment that the President had made to local business regarding the improvement of the efficiencies at South African Ports.

Reply:

According to the information received from Denel:

1(a) Technically Skilled lost in past 3 Financial years = 173

1(b) Total number of technically skilled currently employed = 157

2.(a)- (b) details of the tenders that Denel Vehicle Systems (DVS) finalised in term of due process in the past financial years are mentioned in Annexure 1.

3. The business has existing contracts with customers and are at the different stages. These are shown in Annexure 2: DVS Existing contracts. Along with these are the opportunities at varying stages:

(a) DVS has submitted a number of proposals to various potential clients but none are at the stage of being finalised;

(b) The new opportunities are valued at R700 million;

(c) DVS would seek project financing from corporate office, alternatively it would be asking clients to pay for material directly to suppliers where possible.

(d) The business is financially strained and cannot meet short to medium term financial obligations.

4. Financing of Programmes

(a) DVS is not in a position to raise any capital to finance these contracts due to liquidity challenges;

b) DVS is seeking external sources to finance existing programmes as well as the potential contracts.

Reply:

a) There are no agreements signed by the Minister of Public Enterprises and his predecessors over the past 10 financial years on behalf of the Government of South Africa.

b) Not Applicable,

c) Not Applicable,

(i) None.

(ii) None

Reply:

According to the information received from Eskom

(1)(a)&(b) Eskom does not engage with the sub-contractors, they are engaged by the principal contractors. Eskom therefore cannot provide details of sub-contractors.

However, there are 22 active principal construction and supply contracts at the Kusile project site.

(2) As mentioned above, Eskom does not engage with sub-contractors. However, for principal contractors:

The contracts in place are either from the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) or New Engineering Contract (NEC) suite of contracts and include specific Eskom approved clauses. The contracts include specific penalty clauses for performance issues and delays. The penalty clauses and the quantum of the penalty vary from one contract to the next – the penalties generally vary between 5% and 10% of the contract value.

(3)(a) On 14 December 2015, the Eskom Board approved a budget of R161.40 billion for Kusile Power Station, excluding interest during construction (IDC).

(3)(b) As at 31 July 2021, R142.93 billion (excluding interest during construction) was spent in relation to the budget.

(3)(c) No additional budget was approved.

(3)(d) No amount was overspent.

(4)(a) On 9 June 2020, Eskom Board approved a time extension only from 30 September 2022 to 31 May 2024 for commercial operation of the last unit (Kusile unit 6).

(4)(b) The approved project period is still valid and has not been exceeded (see 4a above).

(5)(a)(i) The average monthly spend on accommodation is R5.27 million, including value-added tax (VAT).

(5)(a)(ii) The average monthly spend on meals is R7.55 million, including VAT, which includes meals for residents at Kendal Village.

(5)(b) The current suppliers of accommodation are:

• Combined Accommodation (Kendal Village and Khaya Resort),
• Raziserve (Nan Hau and Cathy Hostel),
• Cross Atlantic Properties 219, and
• T L Marule Property Developer (Villa Shekina).

The current supplier of meals is: Tsebo Solutions Group ATS (Pty) Ltd.

Additional Information:

1. We provide a list of contractors with whom Eskom has active principal construction and supply

contracts at the Kusile project site.

It is to be noted that there are 22 principal contracts with 17 contractors because some contractors have two or more contracts e.g. Alstom has two contracts; ABB has two contracts and Tenova Mining and Minerals has three contracts. 

The 17 principal contractors are as follows:

1. MHI Power ZAF (Pty) Ltd and Mitsubishi Power Europe GmbH	2.  Aveng Africa
3. Alstom S and E Africa (General Electric)	4. Ingersoll Rand South Africa
5. Kusile Civil Works JV	6. PDNA Industrial Projects 7. (Mott Macdonald)
8. Eskom Rotek Industries	9. Zest Electric Motors
10. Siemens	11. Static Power
12. SSBR (Stefanutti Stocks Basil Read Joint Venture)	13. Honeywell Automation
14. Industrial Water Cooling	15. ACI Technical Services
16. ABB South Africa	17. Actom Contracting, a division of Actom
18. Tenova Mining and Minerals

2. We provide a historical view of all Kusile business case approvals:

ERA’s (Business Cases)	ERA Value (excluding IDC)	Approval Date	Approved By
ERA Rev. 0	R80.7Bn	March/April 2007	Eskom Board
ERA Rev. 1	R103.9Bn	September 2009	Eskom Board
ERA Rev. 2	R121.0Bn	May/June 2011	Eskom Board
ERA Rev. 3	R156Bn (P50) R161.4Bn (P80)	December 2015	Eskom Board
ERA Rev. 4	R156Bn (P50) R161.4Bn (P80)	June 2020	Eskom Board

Reply:

According to the information received from Denel:

1. The increase in the number of contractors in the period from 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021 was as a result of permanent employees, who resigned from their permanent positions and later offered their services on a fixed term basis.

2. SARS is amenable to granting Denel a deferred payment arrangement for the legacy tax debts and a compliant tax status provided the entity pays the current monthly Value Added Tax (VAT) and Pay as You Earn (PAYE) for August and the subsequent tax periods. Denel managed to pay the VAT due on 31 August but the PAYE remains unpaid.

SARS has indicated their intention to invoke the provisions of section 169 of TAA and recover tax that is due to the fiscus followed by the provisions of section 172 (Application for civil judgment for recovery of tax) in the event of not securing enough cash to liquidate the current outstanding liabilities.

Provisions of section 234(2)(k) that lead to conviction, fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years may be applied by SARS against the management of Denel due to non-payment of VAT and PAYE withheld and not paid over to SARS.

3. The three (3) executives, implicated in the Ngidi Report are currently on precautionary suspension with full pay. The suspension with full pay is in line with the Denel SOC Ltd Disciplinary Code.

4. Four (4) employees who were implicated in the ENNE 7 contract were subjected to disciplinary hearings. Two were found not guilty. The other 2 were found guilty and were given Final Written Warnings. In addition to the Final Written Warning, one also received an additional 12 months suspension without pay.

Reply:

According to the information received from Eskom:

(1)(a) Eskom is not ignoring the community of Pimville.

Eskom has responded to all 32 faults logged by the Pimville customers since June 2021. Regrettably, 24 of the 32 faults relate to cable theft, five to network overload and three were due to planned maintenance.

In the Pimville area Eskom has ~24 700 registered customers however 70% (~17 300) of these customers do not buy electricity.

The causes of power interruptions in Pimville are vandalism, cable theft and illegal connections which result in an overloaded network.

It is to be noted that queries and faults from customers that do not buy electricity are scheduled for meter audits. Upon auditing, customers that are found to be buying electricity legally are restored. However, customers that are found to be buying illegal electricity tokens; not buying at all; or have tampered meters, are issued with fines and their supply is only restored once payment of the tamper fine is received.

Recently, the longest outage experienced was due to infrastructure vandalism at Moroka substation which affected supply in multiple areas in Soweto, including Pimville. The vandalism resulted in an explosion at the substation which took almost a week to repair due to the extent of the damages.

Even though Eskom secures the substation, thieves still find a way to break in, steal cables and other equipment, leading to massive destruction and extended unavailability of electricity to customers.

(1)(b)(i) and (ii) Eskom has taken the following measures:

• Eskom replaced the credit meters with prepaid split meters in the area, where amongst other benefits customers are able to manage their consumption and limit it to their affordability, however most communities continue to bypass these meters resulting in vandalised equipment, indiscriminate use of energy and overloaded networks. Eskom has tried to remove these meter bypasses but experiences retaliation from the community which in some cases, makes it unsafe for our technicians to work in those areas.

• In cases where major networks are affected resulting in extended outages, Eskom dispatches technicians to the fault areas and customers are updated through contact details of the registered account-holders. Customers are also updated through media statements, radio, and via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

• Eskom implements load reduction in all areas where the networks are at risk of being damaged by overloading, and Pimville is one of these areas. Load reduction is carried out to prevent loss or damage of equipment and extended outages. Customers are notified of pending load reduction, which normally lasts for a maximum of five (5) hours and is implemented up to twice a day per customer.

• Eskom continues to educate customers on the safe and responsible use of electricity. Eskom encourages communities to protect their infrastructure by reporting any nefarious activities undertaken by their neighbours including Eskom technicians and contractors. Eskom intends to run community co-operatives where communities will co-own the problem and joint solutions will be sought and implemented.

(2) Yes, Eskom conducts routine assessments as required by our maintenance philosophies.

The tampering and the bypassing of meters, illegal connections and unauthorised operations result in electricity demand exceeding the design capacity of the network and overloads and damages electricity infrastructure i.e., transformers.

Of ~132 transformers in the area, six failed recently due to overloading however three have since been restored. The cost of replacing a transformer is ~R400 000.

For Pimville area alone Eskom has lost revenue of ~R36 million in the last four (4) months.

Reply:

According to the information received from Transnet:

(1)(a) Not applicable to Transnet.

(1)(b)(i) and (ii) Not applicable to Transnet.

(1)(c) The concession was a 20 year concession for the Design, Build, Financing, Operating and Maintenance of Private Rail Terminal.

(2)(a) Southern Palace Joint Venture was awarded the tender. The Joint Venture company comprised of Southern Palace Group, Ferrovie stat o del Italia, Makoya Logistics.

(2)(b) The estimated capital investment into the terminal was R1.8bn

(3)(a) Transnet issued a Request for Proposal (CRAC-KGG-21543) for the development of a Private Rail Terminal at the Tambo Springs Logistics Gateway. Transnet was to acquire the required land for the Terminal and was responsible for the Bulk services and the Arrival and Departure yard investment. The concessionaire was responsible for the Design, Build, Financing, Operation and Maintenance of the terminal for 20 years. The Concessionaire was unable to provide the financial guarantees to proceed with the project as required by the RFP and bid award and the concession was cancelled. The transaction is under investigation by the Special Investigation Unit.

Subsequent to the award, the Concession was withdrawn and cancelled by Transnet as the Concessionaire failed to provide the required bidder guarantees.

(3)(b) The terminal would have been positioned adjacent to a section of the existing Gauteng Freight Ring rail infrastructure. No additional rail infrastructure was required

(4) (a) Not Applicable to Transnet

(4) (b) Transnet has not incurred any cost relating to court cases related to the road designs and environmental impact assessments.

Reply:

a) The number of persons that (i) were food insecure (inadequate or severe inadequate access to food) before COVID-19 was about (20% of households) in the country (Stats SA, 2019) and

(ii) The number of people that are currently food insecure as in April/May 2021 was approximately 10-million people and 3-million were children (NIDS-CRAM, 2021).

According to the NIDS-CRAM Wave 5 estimates and StatsSA’s 2020 mid-year population estimates, approximately 2,8-million households (with 10,6-million residents) were affected by hunger in April/May 2021.

b) The measures in place to address the overall food insecurity include the provision of safety nets – such as food relief through nutrition support centres, food parcels and various types of social grants, including the recently re-introduced Social Relief of Distress Grant of R350 per person. Social Relief of Distress is also provided in the form of cash and vouchers on a temporary basis to support households in distress.

Reply:

Mango has been placed under Business Rescue and a Business Rescue Practitioner has been appointed to be responsible for the affairs of the airline. The Department will be providing oversight support during this process by ensuring that a sustainable model is developed for Mango. Of significance would be the restructuring of Mango to successfully ease the reliance of the airline from Government funding and taking into account the current market dynamics.

Reply:

According to Children’s Act 38 of 2005, orphaned children are regarded as children in need of care and protection and therefore processes and steps as outlined in section 150 of the Act stating that such children must be placed in alternative care such as foster care and Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) are being implemented. The Children’s Amendment Act affords potential parents the opportunity to adopt children who may be orphaned.

Orphans who are in the care of the family members benefit from Child Support Grant (CSG) as per provisions of the Social Assistance Act of 2004; and a top up grant that was introduced during COVID 19 to reduce the impact of the pandemic on families who these children are part of. The orphans who have relatives are also supported through the community-based prevention and early programme delivered in drop-in centres.

The department further employed over 1600 social workers during COVID 19 who amongst other services provided psychosocial support services to people in distress including orphaned children. The Gender Based Violence Command Centre was also operational 24 hours and accessible to all people including orphaned children. Through these initiatives the department was able to provide psycho social support services to more than 67 000 people including orphans.

The Department further implements Community-Based Prevention and Early Intervention (CBPEI) programme, which provides Core Package of Services (CPS) for vulnerable children. The aim of the community-based prevention and early intervention services to vulnerable children is to provide continuous support through an ecosystem and resilience-based approach. The Core Package of Services (CPS) are provided to all vulnerable children irrespective of the cause of the vulnerability during the pandemic to address different needs that they are presenting. The CPS was developed to operationalise community-based services for children, families and communities to reduce risks and build resilience in children.

The seven intervention domains of the CPS are:

• Food and Nutrition: Provide a safety net for children within their communities and where they can access food when the food provision in their family is insecure or where the child is at risk of stunting and malnutrition (cooked meals, food parcels).

• Psychosocial support: Improving children’s mental health by the early identification of children in emotional and psychological distress.

• Educational support: to increase access to and attendance of schools through for example, supporting children to overcome obstacles to attendance – such as lack of school uniform, lack of parental support for schooling and to support children in their educational performance.

• Economic Strengthening: aims at supporting and increasing the economic base of households through facilitating access to social security grants, entrepreneurial and other economic strengthening activities.

• Child care and protection: prevention of child abuse, neglect and exploitation and creating an enabling environment within the home, community and accessible services that will support parents to look after their children.

• Health promotion: Improve children’s health through better access to health care, promote and support access to sexual reproductive health services for girls and boys, and the early identification and support to children with disabilities, promote and support good WASH habits.

• HIV and AIDS services: Reducing children’s risk of contracting HIV by improved HIV awareness and sexuality education.

In addition to the implementation of the Core Package of Services (CPS) and in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, an Emergency Response Plan was developed. The purpose of this Emergency Response Plan is to address the needs of vulnerable children who have been affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. The purpose of this Emergency Response Plan is to address the needs of vulnerable children who have been affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. Furthermore, the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 makes provision that all orphaned children, despite their circumstances around orphan-hood, they are accommodated in terms of section 150 which identifies them as children in need of care and protection.

Reply:

(1) the dtic and other Government departments have worked together to build local capability in the production of Covid-19 vaccines. The actions included among others:

• Support to Aspen Pharmacare for the building of a world-class manufacturing facility in the Eastern Cape that was able subsequently to meet the technical standards to qualify as one of seven manufacturing plants globally for the completion of fill and finish contracts with J&J
• Initiating a request at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in October 2020, together with India, for a waiver of certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement that regulates use of intellectual property. The effect of this would be to enable production of vaccines and use of technologies during the pandemic without the veto that patent-holders currently have. This has now secured the support of more than 100 countries, a number of former Heads of State and Nobel laureates as well as religious organisations, civil society formations, medical professionals and members of parliaments across the world; and holding bilateral meetings with a number of countries to secure their support
• Engagement with J&J that resulted in an agreement that the bulk of vaccines manufactured in SA would be for use domestically and elsewhere on the African continent
• Advocacy efforts to have licensing agreements between SA-based companies (including Aspen Pharmacare) and large global pharmaceutical companies, accompanied by transfer of technology. We refer the Honourable Member to the announcement by Aspen Pharmacare in respect of talks on a licensing agreement with J&J and the public statement by the dtic.
• Engagement with the German and French governments and BionTech regarding the transfer of technology and manufacturing rights in respect of the Pfizer vaccine to another SA company, namely Biovac, which h was followed by the announcement of a partnership agreement; and
• Discussions with Nantworks about Covid-19 vaccine development and the prospects of establishing a manufacturing facility in SA in future.

SA is now designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the new production Hubs for COVID-19 vaccines using approved mRNA technology. We continue to engage with intellectual property patent holders for full access to the requisite technology under the Access to COVID Tools (ACT)-Accelerator initiative, launched by WHO and partners, and co-chaired by SA and Norway.

2. the dtic has completed extensive work on a draft Patents Bill (PB) that will be submitted to Parliament in due course, after it has been considered by Cabinet. The PB aims to update and reform SA’s patent legislation, bring it in line with new developments in the patent regime and ensure consistency with international best practice. Subject to the outcome of the consideration of the Bill within the executive, it is expected that it will provide for special measures to address use of patented products during a health crisis. As soon as the terms of the Bill is finalised and agreed, a public consultation process will commence.

-END-

Reply:

(1)(a) The BRT kerbside operations of the City of Ekurhuleni’s Bus Transport commenced in October 2017 with an introductory service (operating with limited buses). In January 2019, the system was expanded further North, to commence from Tembisa Hospital. The kerbside operations use portions of the dedicated lanes, except in areas where construction is underway at stream crossings and trunk stations.

(b) The BRT trunk route operations are planned to commence from September 2021 in a staged approach. The operations of the trunk route have been delayed by the construction of median trunk stations and the stream crossing. The trunk route is expected to be fully operational during the 2021/2022 financial year as the stations are at practical completion and significant progress has been made on the stream crossings construction.

2. The following processes needs to be completed:

• Registration process (identification of affected operators) – negotiations canonly be undertaken with the affected operators;
• Cost component of the Business Value Surveys (revenue information hasbeen signed off); and
• Execution of the Market Share Surveys.

As a result, negotiations can only be undertaken after all the above relevant Industry Transition processes have been completed.

(3)(a) Construction of the pedestrian bridges was completed in June 2019.

(b) The bridges are not yet fully open pending completion and operationalization of the median trunk station in September 2021. Pedestrians have however been allowed to use the bridges to cross the trunk route since completion in June 2019.

Reply:

The SA Government’s industrialisation and localisation policies aim to build and upgrade domestic production to supply domestic and foreign markets, support wider economic development and promote employment growth. As we build domestic production capabilities, we expect to see greater levels of value added exports to the rest of the world, including to other African markets as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement is operationalised and the tariff reductions specified under its terms are progressively implemented.

While Government, business and labour have together in Nedlac identified sectors that hold great potential for upgrading, all firms in SA continue to have access to the policy tools, incentives and programs offered by Government for upgrading and development. As indicated in a reply to a previous parliamentary question, localisation policies are entirely consistent with SA’s international trade obligations and building industrial capacity is the very purpose of the AfCFTA. Indeed, other African countries see the AfCFTA as an incentive to their programmes to build agricultural and industrial productive capacity for export under the AfCFTA.

SA is already integrated into global supply chains and our industrial policy, of which localisation is integral, seeks to ensure we move up the value chain to retain a greater share of the value created by participation in those supply chains. An important objective of the AfCFTA is to encourage the development of more value chains amongst African economies. Rules of origin are powerful instruments in this regard as they determine the level of African value in traded goods – both inputs and finished products – that must be met to benefit from the AfCFTA tariff preferences. In this way, the rules of origin incentivise both greater African production and the development of African value chains that underpin growth in intra-African trade.

There is ongoing monitoring of the impact of various localisation measures being implemented. In my address to Parliament during the Trade and Industry Budget Vote in May this year, details of the impact was shared with honourable members. As the localisation policies have been agreed with other social partners, both the business and labour constituency will be evaluating the impact of, and reporting on successes with localisation policies.

President Ramaphosa, as the previous Chair of the African Union (AU), oversaw important work leading to the establishment of the AfCFTA that is integral to the wider structural transformation agenda adopted by all AU Members in 2015 under “Agenda 2065: The Africa We Want”. This agenda is premised on an integrated work program built on market integration through the AfCFTA, building cross border infrastructure across Africa and through cooperation on African industrialisation.

Cooperative work on industrialisation is overseen by the AU Specialised Committee of Ministers of Trade, Industry and Mineral Resources. At its recent meeting, the Committee advanced work across a wide range of areas including: commodity beneficiation; developing an African fashion industry value chain; developing common product standards; strengthening trade facilitation, infrastructure and future work to map and develop existing continental and regional value chains.

On 15 October 2020, President Ramaphosa tabled before a joint-sitting of Parliament, an Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), aimed at stimulating equitable and inclusive growth in South Africa in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic. The ERRP was the culmination of work with social partners at Nedlac over a number of months. It reflects a consensus amongst the social partners that there should be substantial structural change in the economy that would unlock growth and allow for development. The plan has identified nine key policy interventions, one of which is localisation. It also supported the expansion of markets for SA manufactured products through the AfCFTA.

-END-

Reply:

a) There were no transfers that were withheld, in the 2018/2019 financial year for the municipality.

b) Not Applicable.

c) Even though transfers were not withheld, a portion of the Public Transport Network Grants (PTNG) Allocations was stopped, in terms of the Division of Revenue Act (DoRA) section 19, in order to mitigate and reduce the municipality’s low expenditure trajectory.

An amount totalling R90 million was effectively stopped, made up of an initial R48,5 million identified by National Treasury and Department of Transport as part of the expenditure review. An additional R41,5 million was volunteered by the municipality.

The municipality’s original PTNG allocation amounting to R694,6 million was reduced to R604,6 million.

The stopped R90 million allocation was subsequently reallocated, in terms of DoRA section 20, to other municipalities within the PTNG programme, based on their capacity to absorb further allocations.