Questions and Replies

Reply:

The issues relating to relief measures to small businesses facing liquidity challenges as a result of the pandemic are managed and administered by the Department of Small Business Development. The question needs to be redirected to the relevant department.

Reply:

I have not recommended Mr Dovhani Colbert Mamphiswana for employment in any capacity to a municipality.

a) Not applicable.

b) Not applicable.

Reply:

a) Due to the ongoing dispute between the three role-players, Knysna LM, SANPARK and the Leisure Island Rate Payers Association about who is responsible for maintenance of such wall, no significant maintenance was done in the past five years. An Environmental Approval was issued by DEA&DP in 2019 to assigned to the Island Rate Payers Association to work on the sea wall.

b) The responsible party has not been formally identified and all maintenance remains on hold.

There is currently a formal IGR dispute between the Knysna Local Municipality and SANPARKS in relation to the above. Knysna Local Municipality disputes liability for maintenance of the seawall and so does SANPARKS.

A formal IGR has been declared by the Knysna Local Municipality to resolve the dispute as to whether Knysna or SANPARKS should be responsible for the maintenance of the seawall. The dispute is still ongoing, but there are current attempts to facilitate a resolution.  The dispute is however still ongoing and is not yet resolved.

The Acting Municipal Manager of Knysna Local Municipality on 8 December 2020 (attached as ANNEXURE A), requested that the Western Cape Provincial Government (WCG) designate a facilitator to assist with resolving the dispute between the Knysna Local Municipality (KLM) and SANParks regarding the repair and maintenance of the Leisure Island seawall.

The following three-pronged approach has been proposed to address the issue:

1. The Development Management unit of DEA&DP in the George Office, will engage with the officials of the KLM and SANParks to see whether a longer-term solution can be found to the conflict relating to the responsibility for the maintenance of the Leisure Island seawall and research on the history of the dispute.
2. Based on the outcomes of the engagement with the officials of KLM and SANParks, consider recommending the appointment of a facilitator (or facilitate such) to involve the parties in a high-level engagement which is documented in detail, to try and resolve the issue.
3. Should the above approach not be successful in finding a solution, KLM will then forward all records to the DFFE, to prove that the parties have indeed undertaken every reasonable effort to resolve the dispute.

There is no set date on the outcome and no timelines determined but will depend on the procedures of the IGR dispute.

Reply:

a) In terms of disputes at the level of kingship or queenship, the AmaZulu Kingship dispute is being attended to at national government level, and it was formally brought my attention in August 2021 and we are working with a Mediation Panel to assist the Royal family to resolve the dispute amicably. Other disputes at kingship or queenship level are those that were/are in the courts and they cannot therefore be dealt with by the Minister.

b) Limpopo Province

VaVhenda Kingship Dispute

One section of the Royal Family is challenging the recognition of the current King Toni Ramabulana as the King of VaVhenda in court. The matter is therefore being handled by the courts.

Bapedi Kingship Dispute

Following the passing of the late King of Bapedi, there is now disagreement on who should be the successor, the acting king/queen or the regent. One section of the Royal Family has taken the matter to court for the court to rule on the matter.

Eastern Cape

Amaxhosa Kingship Dispute

One section of the Royal Family has taken Government to court, to challenge the recognition of the King.

AmamPondo Kingship Dispute

One section of the Royal Family has taken government to court after the recognition of His Majesty King Zanozuko as the King of AmaMpondo.

c) There are 882 Traditional Leaders in South Africa including kingship, queenship, principal and senior traditional leaders. All are remunerated in accordance with the Remuneration of Public Officers Act (Act 20 of 1998). The salaries of all legally recognized traditional leaders are paid by provinces from their respective budgets.

Reply:

Most of the forensic reports instituted in terms of Section 106 of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000 made recommendations that certain remedial or other corrective measures should be taken. In instances where corruption, fraud and related offences have been identified, such reports are handed over to law enforcement agencies for further processing. Where Councilors are implicated and internal disciplinary processes are recommended, disciplinary processes are instituted in line with schedule 1 of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act.

The outcome of the assessment in some of the forensic investigations reports points to the need for further investigations. The Department continues to collaborate with law enforcement agencies, provinces and municipalities to ensure that recommendations which emanates from forensic investigation reports are implemented.

Reply:

a) The liquidation proceedings have been stayed and are pending before the Western Cape High Court, Cape Town.

b) In the course of the liquidation proceedings, certain factual allegations emerged that caused a factual dispute which could not be resolved on paper or affidavit in the application. This necessitated that the liquidation application be held in abeyance pending action proceedings, which were instituted for purposes of resolving the factual dispute.

Reply:

1. The Department has not issued any contracts to NJR Projects/G5 Group.
2. N/A

Reply:

The response is received from Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; the Lindelani informal settlement is currently provided with basic services such as water, sanitation, refuse removal, grading of the streets and mobile community services.

Further to the above, the residents of Lindelani informal settlement are earmarked to benefit from the two housing projects which are currently in the implementation phase, namely Alliance Extension 1 which entails the construction of houses and Alliance Extension 9 which entails the provision of serviced sites.

The allocation of completed houses at Alliance Extension 1 is in progress, whereas the construction of serviced sites and allocation thereof has not commenced. No electricity will be provided for the beneficiaries of houses and serviced sites as per the applicable policy.

However, the residents of Lindelani informal settlements who did not benefit in the Alliance Extension 1 and Alliance Extension 9 projects will be considered for the provision of water, sanitation and electricity when the informal settlement is re-blocked. The re-blocking will take place once the relocation has been finalised.

Reply:

1. (a) The total number of Veterinarian's posts in the province is 28 (Animal health, Labs and VPH).

b) N(i) 6 of these are vacant (5 in Animal health and 1 in the laboratory).

(ii) The province intends filling vacant positions in the new financial year.

2. With up 1000 000 mature livestock units in Limpopo province and 22 filled positions, the Livestock Units per State veterinarian ratio is 1:45 000.

3. Yes, the Compulsory Community Services (CCS) with Veterinarians has been implemented, and have been having a new cohort on an annual basis. There are currently 10 CCS Veterinarians across the Province.

4. (a) Foot and Mouth disease, Rabies, Lumpy skin disease and sporadic tick- borne diseases have been the major challenges.

(b) Vaccinations and identification of the susceptible population in the protection zone. Dipping of the communal cattle.

Reply:

1. The total cost of appointment is R1 057 075.20.

2. A more information will be provided after having interacted with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) Report on the matter.

3. N/A

Reply:

1. (a), (b), (c )(i)(ii) Attached as Annexure A

2. Attached as Annexure A

3. Attached as Annexure A

END

Reply:

(a) to (f) The information is attached, as Annexure A.

Reply to question 2007 recommended

NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021-09-23

Reply to question 2007 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 29-9-2021

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. As you may be aware that the province is under administration in terms of Section 100 of the Constitution, therefore the Minister or her department is only accountable for provincial matters requested to the extent of her or her Department’s section 100 intervention.

2. (a) and (b) Falls away.

Reply:

a) The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) draws reports of employees who are alleged to have conducted business with the State from the National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database (CSD) on a monthly basis and alert their departments to take appropriate steps and provide progress reports to the DPSA on action taken.

b) At the end of March 2019, National Treasury found 1068 employees alleged to have conducted business with the State (270 from national departments and 798 from provincial departments). In April 2020, the number increased to 1539 (this number was 1544, but Department of Trade and Industry confirmed that the 5 cases identified in their departments were in fact employees officially representing that department). A total of 1111 employees, possibly conducting business with the State, were from provincial departments, whilst 428 were from national departments. At the end of June 2021, the total number of employees alleged to have conducted business with the State has drastically decreased to 118, wherein 38 employees were from national departments whilst 80 were from provincial departments. This shows the effectiveness of interventions that the Public Service has introduced to eliminate this action.

c) The DPSA is working closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to assist with the investigations and prosecution of cases of employees who are criminally charged with conducting business with the State, in terms of the Public Administration Management Act, 2014. SAPS is currently investigating 17 employees who were alleged to be conducting business with the State and three of these cases have already been referred to the NPA for prosecution. One of these cases was enrolled in court. On a quarterly basis the DPSA also follows up with Departments to verify any disciplinary action taken against such employees alleged to have conducted business with the State.

End

Reply:

1. There were no identity documents lost in the Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces during the unrests. However, there were death registers which were recorded on the system waiting for dispatch and archival process by Head Office which were destroyed at the Baragwanath Mall office during the unrest due to a burst water pipe which resulted in the office being flooded.

In tracing the documents, the Department has registers to record all face value documents from Government Printing Works (GPW), and in this particular case DHA-5 forms come with unique serial numbers which are recorded on a register DHA-812 form as proof of receipt. The same documents are then issued to the sections/service points/health facilities in a sequential format and those are also signed for by the supervisor acknowledging receipt.

Upon issuance to the applicant after information is printed (death certificate) there is also a register signed by the client indicating a unique serial number issued. In the event that there is an error on a certificate and the latter gets cancelled, the cancelled certificate is recorded as such and crossed as cancelled to ensure that every serial number is accounted for.

2. According to the Standard Operating Procedure of birth and death registration, the clients are issued with death certificates on the spot and if the client requires a vault copy it is upon the client to lodge a formal request. all those who made requests were issued with death certificates and if there is a need for a vault copy. In terms of section 3 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992, the Director General may reproduce or cause to be reproduced any document submitted in terms of this Act, such as in this case.

END

Reply:

Financial Year	Total number of Fidelity Fund Certificates
2015/16	43 729
2016/17	48 563
2017/18	49 645
2018/19	51 430
2019/20	47 356
2020/21	51 063

Reply:

a) The Department has not been receiving Permanent Residence applications since March 2020. An extensive project plan to address the current Permanent Residence application backlog at all delegated approval levels was developed and implemented. Staff are currently working overtime until end of March 2022 in an attempt to address the backlog.

b) The Department is currently consulting the various Government clusters where after a Cabinet Memorandum will be presented to Cabinet for a final decision whether any further dispensation will be issued or not.

END

Reply:

1. The Department of Social Development has not conducted any study that is specific to orphan hood and therefore does not have the figures of children orphaned due to COVID-19. The causes of orphan-hood have not been tracked as yet, services are rendered to all children who are made vulnerable by different circumstances including those who are orphaned.

2. The department in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders in the children’s sector at the National Child Care and Protection Forum developed an Emergency Response Plan which is intended to ensure coordination and monitoring of services to children including the adverse consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in an increased number of orphanhood and caregiver deaths. The National Child Care and Protection Forum meets on quarterly basis and is a coordinated national structure to monitor implementation of services to children.

Reply:

1. The task of preventing persons who face criminal charges is overseen by the South African Police Services. They ensure that the relevant details are recorded in the various departmental systems that can detect whether a person travelling through borders is a fugitive from justice. Further departments are meeting daily over the matters relating to this incident. There are relevant resources deployed for this purpose.

2. The information mentioned is shared through daily security cluster meetings at NATJOINTS.

END

Reply:

a) The Department has developed an ID distribution strategy and the following programs have been put in place to ensure that citizens receive their Identity documents on time before the commencement of the local government elections:

The Department has undertaken to prioritize its services to those who have applied for their identity documents ahead of the general elections by issuing election enabling documents, i.e. Identity Documents, and also to issue Temporary Identification Certificates (TIC’s) on the spot to those whose identity documents are lost.

• Targeted Communication intervention on uncollected Green Barcoded Identity Books and Smart Identity Cards.
• Provinces in collaboration with stakeholder forums will embark on public awareness campaigns for the distribution and collection of ID’s.
• Communities are encouraged to collect Identity documents already received at offices.
• Collections of ID smart cards are prioritised at all offices.
• Provinces to work with Stakeholders to deploy mobile units for people to collect their Green Barcoded Identity Books.
• Mobile Offices will be deployed to service a cluster of Voter Registration stations (Green Barcoded ID Books). Mobile trucks are also deployed in cooperation with the local government office of the premier to voter education programs throughout the provinces.
• Provincial managers to make announcement making use of local media.
• Rescan all Green Barcoded Identity Books on hand on track and trace to reactivate the Short Message System (SMS) to clients informing them to collect IDs.
• A contingency plan to provide back office support services, where its front offices are experiencing problems with issuance of ID’s and TIC’s enabling documents.
• Clients to contact the Call Centre using 0800 60 11 90 to establish the status of their Identity Documents.
• Lastly, the Department plans to extend its operational hours during the Voters Registration Weekend as well as on the scheduled Election day(s). It is against this backdrop that the Department has aligned its working hours with those announced by the Independent Electoral Commission(IEC). On the weekend of the 18th and 19th September 2021, all DHA offices will be opened in order to fast track the processing of identity document applications and to ensure that all persons who are legible to vote are not excluded from participating in the next upcoming local government elections.

b) There were no identity documents that got lost during the unrest of July 2021 in both KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng provinces. However, in KZN only three offices were accessed during the unrest namely Vulamehlo, Eshowe and Impendle. All three offices reported that no documents of value were lost during the unrest as the areas where the documents were stored were not accessed. In Gauteng province, at Bara Mall (Soweto) office only, death registers that were already recorded on the system and ready for dispatch for archival purposes were damaged during the unrest due to burst water pipes, however all citizens who were affected applied for death certificates, and received them the same day.

END

Reply:

The total number of school learners, in each province, who are facing criminal charges for any kind of assault that took place in school, is reflected in the table below.

Find here: Number of assault cases reported in schools, per province, in 2020/2021
 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that the term in-house workshop refers to full time employees of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) housed in the Workshop Section of the Facilities Management Branch. The Workshop undertakes various routine maintenance and repair activities on various facilities.

Reply:

1. (a)The Free State Province has a total of fifteen (15) field veterinarian positions, ten (10) of these positions are filled.

(b)(i)There are five (5) positions that are currently vacant, and the department has advertised three (3) positions linked to the provincial budget.

(ii)The department plans to therefore to fill the three advertised positions as early as 1st October 2021.

2. The ratio of mature livestock unit is approximately 50000 livestock units to a veterinarian.

3. The Free State has implemented the compulsory community service with success, and the program has been running since inception in 2016. During 2021, the compulsory community service year the Free State Provincial Department is hosting 14 Veterinarians in the following eight (8) provincial clinics that are again distributed among the province’s five (5) Districts:

• a) Bloemfontein State Vet Clinic in Mangaung Metro;
• b) Thaba Nchu State Vet Clinic in Mangaung Metro;
• c) Qwa Qwa State Vet Clinic in Thabo Mofutsanyana;
• d) Kroonstad State Vet Clinic in Fezile Dabi;
• e) Ladybrand State Vet Clinic in Thabo Mofutsanyana;
• f) Fauresmith State Vet Clinic in Xhariep District;
• g) Welkom State Vet Clinic in Lejweleputswa District; and
• h) Heilbron State Vet Clinic in Fezile Dabi.

On average all the clinics are seeing an average 928 Clients per month. Each client brings to the clinics a minimum of two (2) animals. The clinics are providing assistance for both companion animals (dogs and cats) and farm animals (cattle sheep and goats). Primary animal health care remains the focus area of intervention at these clinics. Farmer extension services and farmer workshops are being offered to assist our rural emerging farmers to improve their livestock production.

4. (a) The Free State Province shares the same disease profile as the rest of the country. Bovine brucellosis, Bovine tuberculosis and Rabies continue to be recorded from time to time as a result of our field personnel performing routine disease surveillance function. The outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever also spread to the Free State Province, this being a result of movement of migratory wild water birds; as well as movement of pigs and pig products between different provinces (livestock auctions as possible route).

(b) The veterinary and para-veterinary personnel continue to implement disease prevention and disease control interventions as part of their day-to-day functions linked to these diseases.

Reply:

In terms of the Disciplinary Code and Procedure, discipline is a management function, and the PSC does not have the mandate to interfere in the disciplinary process. This position was confirmed by a legal opinion obtained by the PSC from the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor.

However, as part of its monitoring and advisory mandate, the PSC held a meeting with DPSA on 28 May 2021 to deliberate on, amongst others, the issue of disciplinary management and prolonged suspensions. The DPSA indicated that they have procured a service provider to assist them to develop a strategy on how to deal with the backlog of disciplinary cases. In order to contribute to the formulation of the strategy, the PSC and DPSA explored various options, including the following:

1. The reinstatement of employees whose cases have exceeded the 90 days period where the nature of the misconduct is not of a serious nature;
2. The reassignment of employees whose cases have exceeded 90 days where the nature of the misconduct is not of a serious nature to other units within Departments or the Public Service;
3. The establishment of a pool of capacity (i.e. Labour Relations Officers) within the Public Service to deal with backlog cases within the prescribed period; and
4. The appointment of contract workers/service provides who have the required expertise to deal with some of the cases within the prescribed period.

The PSC is awaiting further engagements with DPSA on the development of the strategy and the PSC continues to urge departments to ensure that disciplinary matters are concluded timeously in the interest of sound labour relations and service delivery.

End

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed by the Department that the DPWI communicated its intention to transfer/allocate the said property to the Department of Social Development on 01 June 2021 and is still awaiting their response. The house was not placed on auction.

2. The DPWI did not sell the referenced property in an auction

(a) Not applicable;

(b) Not applicable

3. The referenced property is still under the custody of and reserved for Government purposes.

4. Not Applicable

Reply:

1. Yes, an administration plan has been submitted to Court by the Department as part of the application to place Richtersveld Sida Hub CPA under Judicial Administration, in terms of section 13 of the CPA Act.

2. Yes. Following the Northern Cape High Court order of 28 February 2020, in terms of court order number 961/2019, the Department appointed Honey Attorneys, represented by Mr Don Majiedt as the Judicial Administrator of Richtersveld Communal Property Association for a period of three (3) years. Mr Chris Viljoen has been appointed for a period of 6 months as an Accountant to do the bookings of the CPA from January 2015 to date.

3. (a),(b),(c),(d),(e),(f) Yes. It is part of the Administration Plan as per the court order number 961/2019.

4. Yes. As part of the Judicial Administration process and providing support to the CPA in terms of in terms of the CPA Act, the Department is legally obliged to assist the CPA in terms of arranging AGM and other meetings as indicated below:

Meeting	Date Scheduled
Annual General	December 2021
Others: Special General Meeting	20-23 September 2021

5. Yes. The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa; Northern Cape office has been asked for assistance but are unable to assist due to the coming local government elections. Department has appointed an independent election agency to assist with nominations and elections.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1:

a) The Small Harbours Unit has been located as a Chief Directorate within the Department’s Programme Management Office (PMO). The Small Harbours has been included as one of the 62 Strategic Integrated Projects of Government.

b) The Small Harbours portfolio of properties generated a total of R21 139 517.65 of revenue during the 2019/20 financial year.

2:

a) In the 2019/20 financial year the Small Harbours Unit applied for the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) and General Budget Support Programme (GBS) from National Treasury. The BFI approved R100 million. A total of R15 million under the GBS programme was allocated however no funding was received

The R100 million assisted the Small harbours Unit in completing the priority scope of work under the repair programme to the 13 proclaimed fishing harbours in the Western Cape. Part of the funding was directed to Saldanha and Pepper Bay harbours as the last two harbours in the programme to complete the upgrades to the slipway infrastructure, civil infrastructure upgrades, electrical infrastructure upgrades and security infrastructure upgrades.

b) The Small Harbours Unit did not apply for any funding applications in the 2020/21 financial year.

Reply:

(1)(a)(i) to (iv) The number of child murders, which took place, in 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, is reflected in the table below:

	(i) 2017-2018	(ii) 2018-2019	(iii) 2019-2020	(iv) 2020-2021
Total	576	563	534	469

(1)(b)(i) to (iv) The number of child rapes, which took place, in 2017-2018, 2018- 2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, is reflected in the table below:

	(i) 2017-2018	(ii) 2018-2019	(iii) 2019-2020	(iv) 2020-2021
Total	11 656	11 665	11 380	10 552

(2)(a)(i) to (iv) The number of investigations into the specified cases for child murders, which resulted in successful convictions, in each specified year, is reflected in the table below:

Total		(i) 2017-2018	(ii) 2018-2019	(iii) 2019-2020	(iv) 2020-2021
		251	174	95	33

Find here: (2)(b)(i) to (iv) The number of investigations into the specified cases for child rapes, which resulted in successful convictions, in each specified year, is reflected in the table below:

Reply:

(1)(a-b) The Department does not have the records of undocumented children as the records at its disposal are of those who are documented; as such it is difficult to ascertain the number of the undocumented children being those born to South African parents or foreign nationals. Undocumented persons have to present themselves for registration on the National Population Register by the Department to achieve such.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is the national statistics agency of South Africa established under the Statistics Act (Act No. 6 of 1999) with the aim to produce timely, accurate and accessible official statistics from the civil registration system. Within this system, the Department of Health is responsible for registration of births occurring in health facilities. The aim of government is to ensure that babies are registered and issued with birth certificates shortly after birth at health facilities, for collection of vital statistics which are important for planning and service delivery.

2. The Department operates within the legislative framework that prescribes registration of birth within thirty (30) days. The Department continues to conduct outreach programmes led by the Deputy Minister encouraging parents to register births of their children.

The Department of Home Affairs is in collaboration with International Social Services (ISS), which is a unit within the Department of Social Development that render inter-country social assistance, paying particular attention to destitute and vulnerable children who might have experienced social problems as a result of international migration.

The Department in its cooperation in ensuring the best interest of the child and safeguarding the smooth facilitation process during the child’s repatriation in collaboration with DSD. In the past three years the Department in co-operation with Department of Social Development facilitated repatriation of undocumented foreign children who are born to foreign nationals back to their countries of origin as follows;

Countries where foreign undocumented children repatriated to	2019	2020	2021	Total
Lesotho	1	8	6	15
Zimbabwe			28	28
Angola		1		1
Botswana	1		3	4
Nigeria			2	2
Mozambique			2	2
	2	9	41	52

3. Further modernisation and integration of systems mean the DHA will introduce the Automated Biometric identification system (ABIS) which will enable capturing of more biometrics. The current Home Affairs National Identity System (HANIS) only records two (2) biometrics; that is, photos and finger prints. The ABIS will record at least five (5) biometrics; that is, fingerprints, palm print, facial, iris and photo recognition.

4. The Department had requested the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to look into a possible use/ introduction of biometrics associated with identity management for children. The DHA is still researching on the options such as foot/palm print, iris, DNA and fingerprint for children. However, the Official Identity Management policy which was approved by Cabinet for public consultation in the last financial year recommends that a combination of different biometric data for children should be considered with options such as the fingerprints, palm-prints and footprints. This will depend on the availability of proven technology. The policy will be submitted to Cabinet for approval by 31 March 2022. Once approved by Cabinet, the policy will be translated into a new Identification Act that will regulate capturing of personal information (biographic and biometric data) for all children born in South Africa.

5. The new legislation and ABIS will make it possible to capture biometrics of children born before the inception of the new approach to birth registration. It is envisaged that once the biometrics solution is in place, missing but found children could be easily identified through their fingerprints, and linked to their parents.

END

Reply:

1. No Department officials have been identified as aiding and abetting the escape of the identified individual.

2. Under section 49 (5) of the Immigration Act, 2002, any public servant who provides false or intentionally inaccurate or unauthorised documentation or benefit to an illegal foreigner, or otherwise facilitates such illegal foreigner to disguise his or her identity or status, or accepts any undue financial or other consideration to perform an act or to exercise his or her discretion in terms of this Act, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment not exceeding eight years without the option of a fine: provided that if such public servant is employed by the department , such office shall be punishable by 15 years without the option of a fine.

END

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. a) I have been informed by the Department that for the period from 01 April 2021 – 31 August 2021, a total of 3 466 work opportunities were reported in the EPWP Reporting System for participants who participated in various EPWP Projects implemented in the Greater Taung Local Municipality.

b) Based on the duration of work reflected as total employment days for each participant reported, participants were paid an average daily minimum wage rate of R97.50 which sums up to approximately R3 120 a month.

2. The Code of Good Practice on EPWP indicates that employers should comply with the Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001. However, based on the data reported in the EPWP Reporting System of EPWP participants in Greater Taung Municipality, the DPWI has noted that only the North West - Education and Sports Development have reported the payment of UIF contribution for participants to the value of R16 051. In cases where it’s reported that UIF has not been paid, the Department will request the proof of payment from those public bodies.

a) From the public bodies that implemented EPWP Projects in Greater Taung Municipality, there were no reports of the UIF payments for the participants captured in the EPWP Reporting System. To ensure the information on UIF is reported, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) will engage the public bodies who have not reported on the UIF payments for participants in the EPWP Reporting System. In the event that there is non-compliance by public bodies towards the payment of UIF for participants, the Unemployment Insurance Act provides for enforcement measures to be undertaken by a Labour Inspector.

(b) From the information required to be reported in the EPWP Reporting System, there are no other contributions reflected made by the employers. The information on any payments made to EPWP Participants by employers reside with the public bodies.

Reply:

a) The department is not aware of any South African children trafficked through adoption. Thus, there is no statistics of children trafficked through adoption. The department only have statistics of children legally adopted through intercountry adoption.

b) are three thousand three hundred and fifteen (3 315) intercountry adoptions recorded in the adoption register from 1 April 2004 – 31 March 2021. The following reflects the breakdown according to financial year:

Period	Intercountry Adoptions
1 April 2004 – 31 March 2005	239
1 April 2005 – 31 March 2006	248
1 April 2006 – 31 March 2007	256
1 April 2007 – 31 March 2008	231
1 April 2008 – 31 March 2009	218
1 April 2009 – 31 March 2010	234
1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011	200
1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012	194
1 April 2012 – 31 March 2013	177
1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014	212
1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015	250
1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016	187
1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017	149
Period	Intercountry Adoptions
1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018	153
1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019	151
1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020	156
1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021	60
TOTAL	3 315

Reply:

1. The DHA Online Verification System (OVS) was initially deployed and accessed by the Citizens for the online verification of; marital status, passport and ID application status, among others. The OVS gained popularity to the point whereby insurance companies were not using proper processes. However, insurance companies opted to use the same free service designed for individual citizens. International users were identified trying to access our National Population Register (NPR) system via the unsecured OVS.

This imposed a risk to NPR and security of Citizen’s data. Department was then advised to temporally close the OVS and work on a solution to address all identified risks. Security of Citizen’s data is the priority of the DHA, that’s why the Department opted to temporarily close the system, until OVS is secured and is solely accessed by the authorised users. Thereafter, DHA separated OVS processes for insurance companies and Citizens, into two phases. The former is already in commission, while the latter is being planned to be released as a second phase.

Efforts are underway to provide such services in a more secure fashion. Some of the related developments are described below.

DHA continuously invests in ICT innovations that improve internal operational efficiencies and effectiveness, while also improving Citizen’s digital experiencing through deployment of innovative technologies. DHA acknowledges the adoption of digital transformation and the implementation of ICT technologies that enhance service delivery channels. That’s why there are current e-modernisation projects in place and e-home affairs digital channel. The first phase of eHome Affairs digital channel was developed to allow Citizens with access to the Internet, to apply for Smart IDs and Passports.

This first phase was further rolled-out to the participating banks to provide application of Smart ID’s and Passports. The same eHome Affairs digital channel will soon be used to allow clients to book appointments; not just with the participating bank branches, but with participating Home Affairs front offices as well, but for various services not just Smart ID and Passports. This is one of the initiatives contributing to the War on Queues, as communicated to Parliament.

(2) Emanating from the above background, DHA has embarked on the following initiatives to improve system availability and connectivity:

• • Go to Market Strategy for Access Link – The implementation of a strategy wherein DHA has access to a localised pool of pre-approved service providers wherein a procurement of a connectivity service can be expedited without the onerous procurement processes has long been awaited by DHA. SITA’s promise to implement this strategy in early 2022/23.
  • Partnership with Connectivity Equipment Manufacturers in order to improve turnaround times to replace connectivity hardware infrastructure is in progress.
  • Improve management of generators in term of maintenance together with Department of Public Works to minimise issue of power outages that affects ICT infrastructure.
  • Implemented 100 DHA Mobile trucks with VSAT connectivity and Live-Capture system that are deployed in Rural areas and also planning to procure additional 10 Mobile trucks within the current financial year.
  • Implement DHA Self-service kiosk system for collections, reprint (of birth, marriage and death certificates and re-issue applications for Smart ID’s and Passports by 2024/25 financial year in order to reduce long queues and ease access to DHA services.
  • Increase rollout of DHA services such as ID and Passports to more banks in all Provinces.
  • Implement LTE internet routers to the most of DHA branches in all Provinces to minimise service interruptions, due to cable theft.
  • Closer cooperation with other state and private entities on improving access to the internet to the areas that do not have internet connectivity.
  • Upgraded most of DHA branches across the Country to a minimum of 2MB line or higher bandwidth.

END

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

I have been informed by the Department that the DPWI has not received any request by any client to use the property. The Department has however, offered the property to the Department of Social Development and still await their response.

If the Department of Social Department indicates that they will not need the property, the DPWI may consider other organizations.

Reply:

(1) a. The total number of foreigners (refugees) receiving social grants as at July 2021 is 13 472.

(1) b. Table 1 shows the number of social grants by grant type per province.

Table 1: Number of social grants per province

Province	Care Dependency Grant	Child Support Grant	Disability Grant	Foster Child Grant	Grant-In-Aid	Old Age Grant	War Veterans Grant	Total
Eastern Cape	23,417	1,972,830	178,386	74,893	34,024	593,929	8	2,877,487
Free State	8,787	711,619	78,067	24,569	10,576	212,589		1,046,207
Gauteng	20,916	2,000,812	120,845	41,371	10,424	678,524	9	2,872,901
Kwazulu Natal	39,044	2,969,151	223,704	63,210	79,759	732,988	4	4,107,860
Limpopo	16,627	1,963,506	99,816	40,437	54,687	489,613	2	2,664,688
Mpumalanga	11,335	1,165,489	76,726	22,693	23,237	267,023		1,566,503
North West	9,803	903,493	64,815	26,691	17,228	277,606	1	1,299,637
Northern Cape	5,787	328,070	50,819	10,570	18,975	92,971	1	507,193
Western Cape	16,280	1,052,251	150,624	32,209	24,110	379,526	9	1,655,009
Total	151,996	13,067,221	1,043,802	336,643	273,020	3,724,769	34	18,597,485

(2) It is important to note that applicants for all social grants, except for the Foster Child Grant are means tested. In addition, SASSA checks all the applicants of social grants against the government payroll databases (Persal and Persol) in order to ensure that government employees do not unduly benefit from social grants. The fact that a government employee is benefitting from a social grant is not necessarily an indicator of fraud, as some of the lower level staff may still meet the means test thresholds.

Access to other databases that have been brought into the SASSA environment will also assist SASSA in further refining the validations processes, to ensure that the information provided by applicants on application is checked before the grant is approved. This will assist in reducing errors of inclusion.

(2) i. The total number of Social Development officials receiving social grants is 3400. Table 2 shows the breakdown by department and grant type.

Table 2: Number of DSD official receiving social grants per province

DEPARTMENT	Care Dependency Grant	Com	Child Support Grant	Disability Grant	Foster Child Grant	Old Age Grant	TOTAL
VOTE 04 - EC: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	18	2	103	4	91		218
VOTE 06 - GP: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	6	1	230	7	34	1	279
VOTE 07 - FS: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	7		91	2	31	1	132
VOTE 07 - WC: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	9	1	45	4	17		76
VOTE 11 - NC: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	3		41	1	13		58
VOTE 12 - LP: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	8		158	6	27	4	203
VOTE 12 - MP: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	5		42	1	31		79
VOTE 12 - NW: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	6		59	2	30		97
VOTE 13 - KZN: SOCIAL DEVELOPMNT	51	2	1876	101	132	79	2241
VOTE 19 - NAT: SOCIAL DEVELOPMNT	2		12	1	2		17
TOTAL	115	6	2657	129	408	85	3400

(2) ii. Table 3 shows that 153 SASSA employees are receiving social grants as at July 2021.

Table 3: Number of SASSA officials receiving social grants per province

PROVINCE	CARE DEPENDENCY GRANT	COM.	CHILD SUPPORT	DISABILITY GRANT	FOSTER CHILD GRANT	TOTAL
EASTERN CAPE	5		5		33	43
FREE STATE	3		1		6	10
GAUTENG	3		2		5	10
HEAD OFFICE			5		1	6
KWAZULU-NATAL	10		2	1	11	24
LIMPOPO	6		4		3	13
MPUMALANGA	3		1		9	13
NORTH WEST	2				7	9
NORTHERN CAPE	3	4	1		4	12
WESTERN CAPE	2		3	1	7	13
TOTAL	37	4	24	2	86	153

All social grants received by SASSA employees, except for the foster child grant and the combination grants (which is a combination of foster child grants and care dependency grants, in which case both are not means tested) have been suspended with immediate effect in accordance with Regulation 29(1)(a) of the Social Assistance Act, which allows for suspension without prior notice, in cases of suspected fraud or misrepresentation.

Processes are now underway to determine the amount paid which should not have been paid, as well as the date from which these employees started being employed by SASSA, to determine the amount to be recovered. In addition, documents are being prepared for disciplinary processes to be implemented.

As a preventive measure, all Socpen data will be checked against the SASSA salary system on a monthly basis prior to the payment extraction.

(2) ii. Table 4 shows that as at July 2021, 177108 social grants were received by employees of national and provincial government departments.

NATIONAL/PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENT	Care Dependency Grant	Com	Child Support Grant	Disability Grant	Foster Child Grant	Old Age Grant	TOTAL
EASTERN CAPE	413	47	8570	435	2063	595	12123
FREE STATE	116	8	2916	114	529	144	3827
GAUTENG	537	15	20136	460	901	221	22270
KWAZULU/NATAL	1717	74	61384	3321	3414	8449	78359
LIMPOPO PROVINCE	267	10	8577	186	826	466	10332
MPUMALANGA	224	4	7744	302	617	512	9403
NATIONAL DEPARTMENTS	630	22	10113	372	1605	522	13264
NON GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS			14	1	2		17
NORTH WEST	416	25	17074	579	846	246	19186
NORTHERN CAPE	127	14	3474	217	313	228	4373
WESTERN CAPE	192	3	3079	111	473	96	3954
TOTAL	4639	222	143081	6098	11589	11479	177108

Table 4: Number of National and Provincial government employees receiving social grants per province

Reply:

The following numbers relates to Covid-19 claims received and approved by the Compensation Fund:

Number of received claims related to COVID-19	21 219
Number of approved claims related to COVID-19	13 958
The value of benefits paid to date	R32,723,086.79

Reply:

It is important for the honourable Dr Cardo to realise that majority of the bargaining councils which is +- 85% are made up of small businesses. Furthermore, out of 46 bargaining councils, 40 are private sector bargaining councils and they employ +-950 000 employees in the economy.

Not all of these bargaining councils have concluded collective agreements and/or have extended their collective agreements to non-parties. The remaining 6 are in public sector. Given that in the public sector there is one employer, there is no need for exemption applications

In terms of the law, bargaining councils are required to annually (covering 1 January to 31 December) furnish the Registrar of Labour Relations with the information on exemptions so as to see whether they have taken the affairs of small businesses into consideration.

The Registrar of Labour Relations received reports from 22 of the bargaining councils; and only 13 received exemption applications.

A total of 1443 exemption applications were received by 13 bargaining councils IN 2020:

• A total of 660 exemptions were granted to all; and out of 660, 310 were granted to small businesses;
• A total of 715 were refused; and out of 715, 329 refusals were for small business;
• Withdrawn were 34; and 11 were for small business; and
• By end December, 34 applications were still under considerations.

The granted exemptions range from wages, conditions of employment, provident/pension fund; and medical/sick funds amongst others. When application is refused, it is because it does not comply with the requirements to be granted an exemption.

END

 

Reply:

1. The Government of the Republic of South Africa has formally, lodged an objection to the unilateral decision by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) to grant the State of Israel observer status to the African Union (AU).

• 1.1 Consequently, the matter has been placed on the agenda of the AU Executive Council that will convene on 13 and 14 October 2021.
• 1.2  South Africa and other like-minded countries that have lodged objections will, at the Executive Council meeting, vigorously pursue the conviction that the AU must, as a matter of urgency, rescind the decision on Israel's observer status unless and until it complies with all United Nations (UN) resolutions concerning its withdrawal from all occupied territories and give effect to the self-determination of the Palestinian People.

(2) South Africa maintains diplomatic relations with Israel and as per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Israel has an Embassy in South Africa and South Africa maintains  an Embassy in Israel. There are no plans to request the closure of the Israeli Embassy in South Africa.

Reply:

(a) The South African Police Service (SAPS) is obliged, in terms of its Constitutional mandate to prevent, combat and investigate crime, maintain public order, protect and secure the inhabitants of South Africa and to enforce the law. Police operations, which were conducted following the protest action that started, on 9 July 2021 and looting that started, on 11 July 2021, were informed by the need to restore public order, recover stolen property and enforce the law to deter further violent protests and footing.

(b)(i) Practical guidance for the procedures to be followed during searches and seizures were provided to the SAPS, in a circular issued, on 12 May 2016. This circular was distributed again to inform the procedures followed during operations, to recover stolen property, in July 2021.

(b)(ii) The SAPS relies on Sections 21 or 22 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977), that provide for search and seizure with a warrant, as we!! as search and seizure without a warrant. The SAPS also relied on Section 13 of the SAPS Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995), to cordon off particular areas to ensure the safety of the public or to restore order, in particular areas.

(c) The SAPS required people, who were in possession of suspected stolen or looted items, to provide proof of purchase.

Reply to question 1799 recommended

NATIONAL COMMISSIONERGENERAL: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021/09/15
 

Reply to question 1799 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP

Date:

Reply:

The Department has used virtual marketing tools to support local businesses to access export markets, in addition to more traditional means.

These included the following:

1. Trade Seminars

The department hosted thirteen (13) virtual trade seminars and business engagements with local and international partners.

• South Korean market initiative for the sale of South African alcoholic beverages at GS Retail Stores.
• UAE Virtual trade and investment webinar focusing on the food and beverage market.
• Inaugural South Africa – United States Black Business Summit
• Collaborated with WESGRO and the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) on two (2) key events:
  • Cape Agriculture Week Inward Buying Mission.
  • Biofach eSpecial (an organic virtual trade fair).
• Footwear and Leather Virtual Exhibition event, targeting the Middle East and Africa, with particular focus on UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Kenya.
• Webinar on Trade, Investment and Boat Buying Tourism Opportunities in the Boatbuilding Sector in South Africa.
• Webinar between Export Promotion: North America and USAID for funding opportunities for PDI’s, SMME and Women owned Enterprises.
• Webinar with the US Food and Drug Administration about information companies need to know to export food products to the USA.
• Brazil Agribusiness Trade and Investment webinar hosted in partnership with DIRCO.
• South African companies were introduced and received online training on a Russian e-commerce platform, OZON as a tool to further access the Russian market.
• South Africa-Argentina Webinar: Opening South-South Business Opportunities
• Undertook an outward investment mission to Côte d'Ivoire to assist a South African solar company to enter the energy sector.

2. Trade leads to businesses

It provided 122 trade leads to businesses.

To date, the Department through South African Embassies and Consulates has received and disseminated 122 trade leads linked to export opportunities in 34 territories, including China, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Singapore, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Mauritius, France, USA, Thailand, Argentina and Zimbabwe

3. Assistance with market access

It assisted companies with two 2 market access interventions in terms of product certification in key markets.

• The Department intervened in assisting a BEE company to be certified for beef exports to China.
• The Department, together with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), assisted a company to overcome challenges related to the company’s exportation of live animals (sheep, goats and cattle) from South Africa to Kuwait.

4. Export training programmes

As part of growing and diversifying the exporter base, the department provided thirty (30) exporter awareness and capacity building sessions

• Twenty (20) Global Exporter Passport Programme (GEPP) sessions were held where 270 individuals were trained in the following districts:

City/Town	Province	GEPP Training Phase 1	GEPP Training Phase 2	GEPP Training Phase 3	Trained companies per city/town
Port Elizabeth	Eastern Cape	18	15	13	46
East London				9	9
Mbombela	Mpumalanga			5	5
Virtual Training (1)	National		11	18	29
Virtual Training (2)		32	15	25	72
Tshwane	Gauteng		16	15	31
JHB Sandton			11	8	19
JHB Constitution Hill		13	9	6	28
Tzaneen	Limpopo			11	11
Durban	KwaZulu-Natal		11	9	20
Totals		63	88	119	270

• Ten (10) Export Awareness sessions involving 224 individuals were held as follows:

Province	City/Town	Persons	Date Of Seminar	Platform
1 January 2021 – 30 March 2021
None
1 April 2021 – 30 June 2021
Gauteng	Alexandra	20	06-04-2021	Physical
	Midrand	23	21-04-2021	Virtual
	Johannesburg	17	09-06-2021	Physical
	Johannesburg	35	21-06-2021	Physical
Limpopo	Thohoyandou	9	26-05-2021	Physical
	Giyani	7	27-05-2021
	Polokwane	11	28-05-2021
Northern Cape	Kimberley	11	26-06-2021	Virtual
1 July 2021 – Current
Gauteng	Johannesburg	37	09-07-2021	Virtual
Mpumalanga	Ermelo	48	28-07-2021	Virtual
TOTAL		224

5. Incubation programmes

The Department coordinated an incubation programme for women entrepreneurs.

The Department has an agreement with the German Ministry and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) to collaborate on capacitating South African companies that wishes to do business in Germany with adequate understanding of the market and business culture. The programme is executed in a form of mentorship and incubation by German companies and is designed to assist companies to develop an in-depth knowledge of international trade, using access to the German market as a case the study.

So far in 2021, the programme has benefitted 65 South African companies (44 of which are women-owned) from the following provinces:

• Eastern Cape (6)
• Mpumalanga (1)
• North West (3)
• Gauteng (32)
• Western Cape (19)
• KwaZulu-Natal (4).

The continuing Covid-19 pandemic compelled the programme to be facilitated virtually for a period of 8 weeks. The total of 65 companies were divided into three groups which received training on the following dates:

• Group 1: 1 March 2021 until 23 April 2021
• Group 2: 2 June 2021 until 23 July 2021
• Group 3: 6 July 2021 until 27 August 2021.

6. Export marketing assistance

The Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) funding rules were revised to support South African companies to also participate in virtual exhibitions and missions.

In addition to the existing EMIA support measures, the following support measures were approved for virtual exhibitions and missions:

• Procure and funding 100% digital platform (virtual space/ digital exhibition/ Virtual B-B platform, listing/registration).
• Procure and fund physical stand in a case of hybrid missions and complement with relevant ICT infrastructure, gadgets and related data.
• Assist with digital marketing content/profile development (Digital videos, Digital Profiles, Digital Catalogues, Destination advertising / material / branding and Website) limited to R5, 000 per company participating.
• Transportations of material and samples.
• Procure and provide translators for virtual Group Missions.
• Air time/ mobile data for internet access to qualifying companies (based on need assessment) limited to R200 per event.
• Digital sales lead management and tracking.

7. Unblocking obstacles for investors

Invest SA assisted with the following:

• BMW: Facilitated the unblocking of port clearance procedures that affected the production of the BMW X3 which is destined for the Domestic and Export Market. Due to the challenges at ports, an urgent shipment containing parts were delayed at the Cape Town Harbour. BMW were notified that a Detention stop has been put on these containers by Customs Border Control. The net impact of this would have been the shutdown of the plant which would have impacted their export commitments. InvestSA intervened by escalating the matter to Transnet and had the matter resolved.
• AMKA: Invest South Africa facilitated port clearance for raw materials required for the production of cosmetics for domestic consumption and for exports to markets in Africa.
• LULU Group: Facilitated the shipment of Lulu Groups, buying office containers which were delayed in the port of Cape Town with export products destined for Middle East market.

8. Sector support

The following are highlights of the assistance to local businesses in Footwear & Leather Goods sector through South African Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) to access the export markets since 1 January 2021:

The exports Footwear & Leather exports by value to Middle East increased from R 1.5m value to over R 14 million, to USA by 20% and to UK by 6%. New Markets accessed in Poland, Rumania and Russia brought additional R 1.2m export revenue. Setting up of a New Virtual Show room on SAFLEC website and development of New Virtual Trade Platforms. Launch of new virtual platform for Trade promotion. Addition of 10 more companies to SAFLEC virtual show room. Conversion of 31 companies to virtual platform. This resulted in an increase in exports by 63% in comparison to the 2020 exports largely affected by Covid-19.

Due to the restriction on physical trade promotion resulting from COVID, SAFLEC continues to prioritize Africa, Europe, America’s as well as Australia as markets for South African footwear through virtual platforms to retain the awareness of South African manufacturers. Africa was prioritized as the low hanging fruit. Asia and Europe markets are looked at for Handbags and Leather Goods.

9. Industrial funding and support

The Industrial Financing Branch (IFB) has taken the following actions over the last few months to assist South African exporters:

• Twelve companies that received support from January to July 2021, reported export sales of R542 million. Seven of these companies are Black Industrialists, one is involved in the processing of oysters and is supported by the Aquaculture Development and Enhancement Programme and the other four are beneficiaries of the 12I Tax Allowance Incentive. Two of these 12I companies are operating in the food and beverage industry, one in the home and personal care products and the other in pharmaceuticals.
• On 26th August 2021, IFB through a SEDA online platform, conducted a virtual national SMME exporter development briefing session with SMME’s located across the country. Over 400 SMME across different economic sectors were invited.
• On 26th May 2021, the Branch in partnership with Wesgro conducted a briefing session on export incentive offerings.
• In September 2021, a digital export event support component for emerging exporters was introduced in the revised Sector Specific Assistance Scheme (SSAS) guidelines.

In addition. To the above, there are a number of projects supported y the NEF, IDC and ECIC which assist SA-based companies to increase their exports to the rest of the continent. To illustrate this, the ECIC is providing support to SA companies linked to the Amandi Rail Ghana and Amandi Hospital Ghana projects. This includes exports by Macsteel an SA supplier on the project. The involvement of Macsteel in this Project will advance the objectives of the Steel Master Plan of the dtic. The exports sourced from the South African exporters will have an impact on the South African economy.

10. Regulator efforts

The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) issues permits for exports of Covid-related products. This included

• Hand sanitisers
• Vaccines
• Face-masks and shields

ITAC assists SA exports by issuing rebate and drawback certificates based on the value of imported inputs to final export products. The main users are the agriculture and agro--processing, clothing and textiles, chemicals and plastics, and metals and machinery industries.

Rebate item 470.03 provides for rebate of customs duty upon importation of components and materials specified in the permits and are intended for use in the manufacture, processing, finishing, equipping or packing of goods exclusively for export:

• 98 certificates issued from January to August 2021, covering a wide variety of products.

Drawback item 521.00 provides for drawback of customs duty that was paid on imported components and materials used in the manufacture, processing, finishing, equipping or packing of goods already exported:

• 117 certificates issues from January to August 2021, covering a wide variety of products.

-END-

Reply:

1. Robberies, targeting schools, are addressed as part of the National Crime Combating Strategy of the South African Police Service (SAPS), which employs a five pillar approach, to combat crime. The five pillars are as follows:
   • Pillar 1: intelligence gathering, analysis and coordination.
   • Pillar 2: Proactive and high visibility approach.
   • Pillar 3: Combat and reaction approach.
   • Pillar 4: Reactive through detection, including an organised crime approach.
   • Pillar 5: Communication and Liaison.

As part of the proactive and high visibility approach, Pillar 2, the SAPS and the Department of Basic Education have a protocol in place, since 2011, to strengthen school safety. As part of this programme, all police stations have school safety officers, who are designated to prO\/ide support to schools, educate pupils about crime and safety tips and coordinate any crime prevention interventions, in schools. The schools are also linked to their local police

stations, in order to streamline the crime reporting process. The SAPS conducts school safety programmes across the country, on an annual basis, including crime awareness campaigns, operations required by the schools and other proactive crime prevention programmes, such as the Junior Commissioner Initiative, crime dialogues and sports against crime projects.

The Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments are also involved in the structures of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster, including the National and Provincia! Joint Operational and intelligence committees, which allows them to cooperate with the SAPS, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and other departments in the JCPS Cluster, to ensure a coordinated response to crime and other threats targeting schools.

2. From 30 June 2021 to 26 July 2021, a total of 411 burglaries were reported at schools nationally. A total of 34 suspects were charged and referred to court, in 26 cases.

3. The JCPS Cluster and the SAPS provide regular feedback on notable successes, including arrests, but does not necessarily share information on every arrest and every person charged. Court proceedings are mostly public proceedings, which allows for the media to report on any person, who appeared as an accused in court.

4. The National Crime Combating Strategy serves as a blue print for the fight against crime and the School Safety Programme provides for a specific focus on preventing crime that affect schools, in recognition of the importance of education and of schools being safe spaces for children.

Reply to question 1820 recommended

NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021/09/15

Reply to question 1820 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 18/09/2021

Reply:

1. The investigation is close to completion and currently awaiting the Financial Report from the Accountant, after which the case will be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision whether to prosecute or not.

2. No, the case is still under investigation.

 

Reply to question 1949 recommended

NATIONAL COMMISSIONERGENERAL: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021/09/07
 

Reply to question 1949 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP

Date: 18/09/2021

Reply:

a) PRASA will request all service providers that are currently rendering services where physical contract documentation could not be traced to submit copies of the signed contract agreements with PRASA.

b) (i) PRASA has signed a Secondment Agreement with SIU to investigate all contracts that were identified in the Public Protector Derailed report and flagged also by AGSA as irregular. Such investigation would shed light on how contract documents went missing in the first place and what corrective measures should be taken against responsible individuals. Internally the key challenge is on non-availability of documents and SIU seems to be having capacity constraints. SIU has indicated that the capacity challenges are being addressed and the investigations will be finalised in June 2021.

(ii) The process to pay for services where contract documentation is missing requires end-user departments to compile the necessary submissions with relevant source documents and confirmation of receipt of goods or services for approval by the GCEO and Finance prior to processing of any payment, especially for goods and services of a critical nature that PRASA cannot afford to operate without. In instances where payments have been processed without the necessary documents, based on the SIU investigation, appropriate corrective action will be taken against responsible individuals.

 

Reply:

(1)(a) The total number of cases outstanding, since 1 March 2021, in each forensic laboratory of the South African Police Service (SAPS), is reflected in the table below:

 

Biology
Category	Biology Eastern Cape	Biology KwaZuIu- Natal	Biology Head Office	Biology Western Cape	Total
Unclassified > 3 ' days	7 050	8 438	34 829	14 197	64 514
Routine > 35 days	921	81	4 399	2 539	“     7 940
DNA Intelligence > 90 days	0	0	25 996	14 483	40 479
Non-routine » 113 days	0	0	10	22	32
Reference Index Intelligence > 90 days	0	0	72 615	52 051	124 666
Total	7 971	8 519	137 849	83 292	237 631

Find here question reply

 

Reply:

The revenue losses suffered by SANRAL due to traffic reductions during lockdown, is estimated around R650 million. However, SANRAL continued to apply frequent user discounts of 20% to 40% (Class 1) and local user discounts of 40% to 90% (Class 1) on all its routes, regardless of this loss in revenue. SMME’s therefore continue to benefit from these discounts all over the country. Details of the discounted rates are available on SANRAL’s website and in the published Gazette of 11 February 2021 – Vol 668.

It must be emphasised that by awarding contracts SANRALs contribution to SMMEs is far more significant and sustainable. Therefore, SANRAL endeavoured to ensure it continues to contribute significantly to the recovery of the country’s economy by continuing to speed up its construction programme. This was done despite challenges in the changing procurement environment to adjust to lockdown regulations. To this end, SANRAL awarded 64% more construction projects in 2020/21 financial year than in the prior year. More details of SANRAL’s contribution to SMMEs, such as the Supplier Development Desk, is published in the Integrated Report of 2021 and on SANRALs website.

Reply:

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act, prohibits work by children if the child is under 15 years old; under the minimum school-leaving age (where this is 15 years or older); over 15 years but under 18 years old, if the work is inappropriate for the age of the child or if the work places at risk the child’s well-being, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral or social development or has been prohibited through regulations.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act further explicitly criminalises all offences related in the engagement of the child labour and regulates that any person convicted of the prohibition of child labour may be sentenced a maximum term of imprisonment of up to six years.

As a country, we further pride ourselves in the Child Labour Programme of Action (CLPA) which is the country’s roadmap towards the prevention, reduction and eventual elimination of child labour. It serves to focus and guide the efforts of a number of Government departments and civil society groups, including business organisations, labour federations and organisations serving the interest of these children.

In order to collect reliable and credible statistics on child work in the country, the Department of Employment and Labour commissioned Statistics South Africa in 2019, to conduct a national household-based survey; the Survey on the Activities of Young People (SAYP). The SAYP is a household-based sample survey that collects data on the activities which children aged 7 to 17 years who live in South Africa get involved in.

According to the 2019 Survey on the Activities of Young People which was realised in March this year:

• There was a decline in the number of children who were involved in child labour from 779 000 in 2010 to 577 000 in 2015 and 571 000 in 2019;
• Children aged 16-17 years were more likely to be engaged in child labour;
• Compared to other population groups, black African children were more likely to be involved in Child labour;
• In both 2015 and 2019, the difference between boys and girls involvement in child labour was minimal;
• Children in KwaZulu-Natal were more likely than those in other provinces to be involved in child labour at 8,8% in 2019 from 10,0% in 2015;
• At 2,5% urban areas had the lowest proportion of children involved in child labour compared to 8,5% of children in non-urban areas in 2019;
• The proportion of children who were exposed to at least one hazardous working condition decreased from 34,2% in 2015 (0,8 of a percentage point) to 33,5% in 2019.
• Furthermore, girls (34,1%) were more likely to be exposed to hazardous conditions compared to boys (32,9%) when both engaged in all economic activities in 2019.
• In both 2015 and 2019, boys who were engaged in both market activities and production for own consumption (or household use) accounted for the largest share of children who were exposed to at least one hazardous condition (60,8% and 53,0% respectively).

END

Reply:

1(a) Open Water Advanced Risk Solutions was appointed to conduct an investigation

(b) The investigation was completed in July 2019.

(i)(aa) the detailed findings are contained in a report, and confirm the 2017/18 AGSA findings.

(bb) the recommendations are contained in the report.

(ii) The Department has hard copies of the report.

2(a) the Director-General has been found guilty and dismissed with a 30 day notice period. In respect of other implicated officials, consequence management is currently underway.

(b) The Department brought a review application on 10 March 2018 to have the tender award reviewed and set aside by the High Court. The review application also request for the recovery of the money that was paid to the service provider by the Department. The hearing on the matter took place on 12 and 13 October 2020. The judgement was reserved and the Department is waiting for the outcome.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) I have been informed by the Department that the value of the current maintenance project WCS 046748 is R 88, 997, 040.00 including VAT.

b) The name of the contractor who was awarded the maintenance contract is "Ilitha Painters & Decorators" t/a The Construction Co.

c) The contract was awarded on the 7th of April 2020.

d) The intruder alarms system challenges will be addressed, per Parliamentary Village, on the dates listed below:

• Acacia Park – on works completion of the Park on the 19th of May 2022
• Laboria Park – on works completion of the Park on the 9th of February 2023
• Pelican Park – on works completion of the Park on the 4th of December 2023

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1) I have been informed by the Department that an investigation into the allegations made in December 2020 against the Registrar and President of SA Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP) has been concluded. The report has will be submitted to the Portfolio Committee today, 17 September 2021.

(2) The Registrar of SACAP is not a member of the anti-corruption forum. However, the President of the SACAP is a member.

Reply:

I have been furnished with a reply to the question submitted, by Ms Thabang Mampane, Commissioner of the National Lotteries Commission.

Ms Mampane says the following:

“ In terms of section 2A (3) which states that: The Commission may, upon request by the Minister, board or on its own initiative in consultation with the board, conduct research on worthy good causes that may be funded without lodging an application prescribed in terms of this Act.

a) In compliance with section 2A (3) the NLC allocated and disbursed R 140 923 864,10. In addition to that, the NLC compiled a Report on COVID-19 Funding outlining the integrated response to Covid – 19 relief funds. The report is attached as Annexure A for reference.

b) The list of funded organisations and the amounts is attached as Annexure B.

c) The balance of unallocated funds amounting to R9 076 135,90 will be disbursed in the current financial year as the pandemic is still on-going and the Commission is assessing needs in relation to worthy good causes relating to the pandemic.

d) All the grants that were awarded under the Covid Relief Fund fell under the small grants category as such the reporting shall be done in terms of Regulation 10 of 2015 which states that:

“An applicant to whom a small grant is made must, at such period as may have been imposed at the time when a grant is made submit to the National Lotteries Commission a report detailing how the grant funds were used, together with all supporting invoices and any other relevant documents for the purposes of financial accounting.”

Considering the above, the NLC is awaiting reports from the beneficiaries for the Commission to compile a consolidated Monitoring and Evaluation Report.”

Attachments:

Annexure A

Annexure B

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