Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. (a)(i) Yes, Project THUSANO commenced in February 2015. Since then the under-mentioned number of Cuban members have worked in South Africa as per the specified Financial Year (FY) indicated:

FY	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
Total Number	117	133	166	179	172

• An increase in the maintenance and repair teams was approved during the FY2017/18, and a project on simulators also commenced during this period.
• A downscale process started in FY2019/20 and the number of artisans and interpreters was reduced. However, the Military Medical Brigade arrived in April 2020, consisting of 27 members.

(ii) The nationals that are due to be employed in the 2021 – 23 Medium Term Expenditure Framework are indicated below:

FY	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
Total Number of Specialists	172	145	134

• The Military Medical Team will finish in October 2021.
• The downscale process will commence in FY2022/23.

(b) The Cuban members have worked in the under-mentioned areas, and will continue performing in these areas going forward.

• Maintenance and repair of A, B, C and D-vehicles for all the Services and Divisions.
• Preservation of A and B-vehicles for the SA Army and SA Military Health Services (SAMHS).
• Deactivation of B-vehicles for the SA Army and SAMHS.
• Stocktaking, organization and management of warehouses in the SA Army.
• Maintenance and repair of components and spare parts for the vehicles of the different Services and Divisions.
• Maintenance and repair of transport airplanes and helicopters for the SA Air Force.
• Maintenance, repair and manufacturing of test benches for the SA Air Force.
• Maintenance and repair of avionics components for the SA Air Force.
• Maintenance and repair of medical equipment for SAMHS.
• Delivery of medical services to assist SAMHS in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Research, development, manufacturing and installation of combat driving and shooting simulators and automated shooting ranges.

(c) The Cuban specialists are transferring the under-mentioned skills:

• A-type maintenance to B, C and D-vehicles.
• B-type maintenance to B, C and D-vehicles.
• C-type maintenance to B, C and D-vehicles.
• Light repair to B, C and D-vehicles.
• Major repair to B, C and D-vehicles.
• Maintenance to mechanical and electrical components of A-vehicles.
• Light repair to A-vehicles.
• Major repair to A-vehicles.
• Deactivation of B-vehicles.
• Organization and management of workshops.
• Panel beating, welding and spray-painting of A, B, C and D-vehicles.
• Auto electrician skills.
• Repair of different kinds of components.
• Repair, manufacture and exploitation of test benches.
• Stocktaking and warehouses organization and management.
• Operation maintenance and repair of avionics components, such as navigation systems, radio stations, magnetic indicators and power amplifiers.
• Joint work with the South African members in servicing the Oryx helicopters, as well as C-47 TP and PC7 Astra MKII aircrafts.
• Operation, maintenance and repair of test benches.
• Calibrating and testing components.
• Maintenance and repair of different medical equipment.
• Simulators designing and development.
• Simulators validation.
• Simulators operation.
• Simulators manufacturing and installing.
• Methodologies for training personnel with the use of simulators.
• Maintenance and repair of simulators.
• Simulators technologies, hardware and software.
• Electronic basics.
• Combat shooting training with the combined use of simulators and automated shooting ranges.

(d) The Logistics Division does not know the cost of employing the Cuban members. The figures as indicated in the table below indicate the payment of the contract and administration per FY.

Year	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g
Total Cost	6,125,800	143,952,671	170,662,596	274,393,655	219,595,670	252,386,010	9,555,856

2. In South Africa, the companies only provided PME maintenance and repair services for the SANDF, but hiring those companies have the following disadvantages:

• The services are too expensive.
• The maintenance and repairs provided by these companies take a very long time.
• The quality of the maintenance and repairs is not good.

As a consequence, the SANDF pays a lot of money, the vehicles spend a long time receiving the maintenance and repair, and when they are delivered back to the SANDF, these vehicles have to be returned to the companies as they break down very quickly. Taking into account the budgetary constraints faced by the SANDF, and the amount and complexity of the missions it has to fulfil, the SANDF requires a faster, cheaper and more reliable maintenance and repair service for the Prime Mission Equipment (PME). For this reason, the SANDF must build its own capabilities for maintaining and improving the serviceability rate of the PME, which is critical for having a better combat readiness. The companies are not willing to repair the vehicles for a lower price, nor to transfer the skills for doing it. The Cuban members, on the other hand, are providing the services in the required way, and are transferring their skills to the SANDF members at the same time. For example, at the Army Support Base (ASB) Western Cape, at the beginning of the Project, the vehicle serviceability was at 35%. At the current moment the ASB’s serviceability stands at 84%. Most of the unserviceable vehicles at the ASB are not repaired yet due to the lack of funds for procuring spares and material panel beating and painting.

Reply:

a) The details of the skills transfers that the Cubans completed are as indicated in the paragraphs below.

(i) One-thousand-three-hundred-and-eighty-six (1 386) SANDF members formed part of the Project THUSANO skills transfer.

(ii) Three-hundred-and-nineteen (319) SANDF members received official qualifications as an outcome of the project.

b) Four-hundred-and-eighty-three (483) SANDF members are currently working in their respective units.

c) Due to a bilateral agreement between Cuba and South Africa, there are no costs involved as a result of the dependency on the Cubans to service and maintain SANDF vehicles and equipment.

Reply:

a) Twenty-one (21) members form part of the protection service to the Cuban representatives. These members’ tasks include:

(i) Reconnaissance, which is executed each time the Cubans have to deploy or visit a unit/entity.

(ii) En-route protection, during movement.

(iii) Protection at accommodation sites.

b) The current amount spent over six years on VIP Protectors; on S&T, accommodation and food; is R 2, 683 239.46.

Reply:

I am not able to respond to this Question as I am still waiting for the Honourable Member to share the report that the Honourable Member is referring to. Once the Honourable member has furnished me with the report, that would enable me to reply fully to the information requested by the question.

END.

Reply:

The interventions put in place to regulate church attendance and other public gatherings in light of the growing number of coronavirus cases in the Republic, entails amongst others prohibiting gatherings, restricting the duration of gatherings or the number of people that may gather at any given time and reinforcing the health protocols and the social distancing measures that must be followed when gathering.

The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) considered reports from the NATJOINTS and the Department of Health and recommended further restrictions to be put in place, in line with the Risk Adjusted Strategy for managing the pandemic. These measures are set out in Government Notice R.477 published in Government Gazette 44642 on 30 May 2021. It entails, amongst others, reducing the number of people that may attend indoor church and other public gatherings to 100 persons or less and outdoor gatherings to 250 persons or less. If the venue is too small to hold the prescribed number of persons observing a distance of one and a half meters from each other, then not more than 50 percent of the capacity of the venue may be used, subject to strict adherence to all health protocols and social distancing measures.

Reply:

(1) The evidence is clear and has been documented in the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on Infection prevention and control (IPC) for safe management of a dead body in the context of COVID-19, interim guidance, 4 September 2020. The National Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines (South Africa), based on WHO recommendations, outlines the evidence and steps required for handling of COVID-19 bodies and safe burial. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has clarified the difference between death from Ebola and COVID-19 and the burial requirement for each. There is no need for extra PPE- gloves and aprons will suffice since the route of transmission is not like Ebola where the virus survives post mortem in body fluids.

(2) No, to date, there is no reported case of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from a dead body to a human. There is very little risk of infection being transmitted from a dead body to those carefully handling the corpse.

(3) No, however;

a) When dealing with a dead body, all handlers must ensure that IPC precautions are in place such as wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) which protects the body, respiratory tract and mucous membranes from accidental splash contamination. Hand hygiene, good ventilation and a clean environment is essential. Good general hygiene is importanct to make sure that working surfaces are free from contamination and by so doing this will ensure safety of everyone using the premises.

b) There is no evidence that SARS-COV-2 can be transmitted via body secretions post mortem.

END.

Reply:

1. The respirators that did not meet the minimum standard as per the laboratory test were not distributed to health care workers. Where the respirators were distributed these were immediately removed from circulation on instruction to the head of the institution and replaced with respirators that complied with the minimum standard. Communication was sent out to hospitals that received a consignment of donated KN95 that had to be recalled. In this instance the donor replaced the respirators with a new consignment.

2. The National Department of Health: Policy for the Regulation of Quality Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) Supply in Healthcare, August 2020 makes the following provision, in accordance with SAHPRA requirements, for all licensed establishments to conduct post marketing surveillance:

“Prior to use of respirators purchased, a minimum of 10 respirators per 1000 (or part thereof) and at least 100 units of 10000 should be randomly picked by the purchaser from the boxes in their possession and sent at a minimum for a Particulate Filter Penetration test at a published accredited South African test laboratory (to sodium chloride) which test must indicate that the respirator has passed the minimum specification. This cost is borne by the seller (incorporated into cost of sale) and selection of respirators for testing is conducted by the purchaser to maintain integrity of random selection, testing and reporting to the purchaser.

a) If respirators pass this test, all respirators in the same production batch may be used, in the same purchase and having been delivered, and in possession of the purchaser.

b) Failed tests require a second batch of randomly selected (or the same) respirators be sent for formal testing as per point 6

c) The final result of the testing must be reported to the supplier and a copy supplied to SAHPRA and the NRCS. The supplier is then required by the regulators to report (as per pharmaceutical batch recalls), on a publicly accessible portal for the particular batch affected (as per many other global regulatory agency standards for quality testing) at a minimum on SAHPRA and NRCS websites (or a link from one to the other).

d) Publication will only reference the manufacturer, batch failed and test results. The implication should not necessarily be that all respirators from the manufacturer are defective.”

END.

Reply:

1. (a) The below figures indicate the payment according to the contract and administration per Financial Year

Year	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Total Cost	6,125,800	143,952,671	170,662,596	274,393,655	219,595,670	252,386,010	9,,555,856

(b) The current amount spent over six years on VIP protectors for S & T, accommodation and food is R 2, 683,239.46.

2. (a) A total number of sixty-seven (67) vehicles have been dismantled over the past five years.

(b) Eleven-thousand-six-hundred-and-twenty-three (11 623) vehicles have been repaired.

3. (a) This is a lengthy process and requires more time to effectively determine the value of the re- introduced spares. So far twelve-thousand-six-hundred-and-ninety-one (12 691) spare parts have been re-introduced into the vehicle maintenance system over the period of five years. Spare parts such as starter motors, alternators, brake boosters, differentials and engines are received and repaired, and then returned to the vehicles as part of the repair process. The spare parts from dismantled vehicles are also serviced and taken to the depot. The cost of the spare parts is not yet determined, as the internal capability within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is utilised.

(b) (i) and (ii) The spare parts are supplied to the under-mentioned entities for their repair and return to the vehicles:

1. DOD Mobilisation Centre, Bloemfontein.
2. Regional Workshop Gauteng.
3. 102 Field Workshop, Potchfestroom.
4. 101 Field Workshop, Postmasburg.
5. 35 Engineering Support Regiment, Springs.
6. Army Support Base, Kimberly.
7. Army Support Base, Cape Town.
8. Air Defence Artillery School, Ermelo.

(c) The cost of the spare parts repair process has not been determined, as the internal capability within the SANDF is utilised to verify in the system the value of the parts when they are procured, and the current status of the re-introduced parts.

4. No military vehicle has been sold as scrap metal, as the approval for this process to proceed must first be finalised.

5. (a) Wahlmansthal is continuing with maintenance and repairs in their area. Tasks also include the preservation of vehicles. A total of one-hundred-and ninety (190) vehicles have been preserved at Wahlmansthal. The members also dismantled fifteen (15) vehicles.

(b) When there are severe electricity blackouts, a total amount of 4 450 litres of diesel is consumed weekly due to the electricity blackouts at a cost of R8 455.00. The monthly consumption is R33 820. 00. The Department of Defence is engaging ESKOM to upgrade the power supply. ESKOM has commenced with the feasibility study to determine the scope of work and costs for the upgrades.

Reply:

Nr	Province	(a) total number of officials have been found to have colluded with nonprofit organisations to commit fraud in her department in the past five financial years	(b) action has been taken against the specified officials and	(c) total amount was lost through this kind of fraud in the specified period?
1.	Eastern Cape	During the past year financial years, investigations have been conducted on alleged fraud and mismanagement of funds by NPOs at the Districts. The findings are that, only project members found to have committed the alleged fraudulent activities.	Some of the cases have been reported to the SAPS, due to criminal elements in them.	Not applicable
2.	Free State	There are no officials in the Free State Department of Social Development who have been found to have colluded with non-profit organisations to commit fraud in the past five years.	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
3.	Gauteng	No officials have been found guilty to have colluded with Non-Profit Organisation to commit fraud. There are however cases that are currently being investigated in the Department as well forensic investigation reports which are under review.	Not Applicable, no officials have been found guilty to have colluded with Non-Profit Organisation to commit fraud	Not Applicable, no officials have been found guilty to have colluded with Non-Profit Organisation to commit fraud.
4.	Kwa-Zulu Natal	One (1) official in the Department was found to have colluded with non-profit organisations to commit fraud in the past five (5) financial years. This happened in the financial year 2014/15	The official was charged with misconduct, found guilty and dismissed from the Public Service in March 2018	Total amount lost through this act was R438 380.00
5.	Limpopo	Zero	Not Applicable	None
6.	Mpumalanga	No officials were found to have colluded with NPO’s to commit fraud in the past 5 years	Subsequently no action has been taken.	Not applicable
7.	Northern Cape	The Northern-Cape Department of Social Development has no current knowledge on any cases of possible collusion and subsequently have no information to report	None	None
8.	North West	The North West Provincial Department of Social Development does not have any recordings on its database of fraud related cases, any officials who have been reported or found to have colluded with nonprofit organisations to commit fraud in the past five financial years. The Department have established a dedicated Risk, Fraud and Ethics Management unit, which maintains the database of any reported or allegations levelled against any official on incidents of fraud, corruption, mismanagement of funds allocated to NPOs for purpose of investigations. Should there be sufficient grounds to consider disciplinary steps, referrals are to be made to Labour Relations unit or the law enforcement agencies to take appropriate actions. The Risk, Fraud and Ethics Management unit implement quarterly education and awareness programmes to capacitate both the funded NPOs and officials, to deter any possible temptations that would be in contrary with the applicable legislations	None	None
9.	Western Cape	Zero – Noneto Western Cape Department of Social Development	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

Reply:

a) The National Treasury is not proposing amendments to the Constitution.

b) The National Treasury is not proposing a balance budget rule but the 2021 Budget sets out a fiscal framework that targets a debt stabilising primary balance in 2024/25 with debt as a share of output stabilising in 2025/26. The spending ceiling announced in February 2021 remains a key fiscal anchor.

c) No, a debt rule is inappropriate because small changes to debt projection assumptions can have a very significant impact on the long-run debt outlook. Projections of debt are very sensitive to assumptions about future rates of economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the long-term path of the deficit. Unexpected increases in inflation or depreciation of the exchange rate would increase the cost of outstanding inflation-linked or foreign-currency bonds. A debt rule would encourage pro-cyclical fiscal policy stances which would worsen the conduct of fiscal policy.

d) Government already has an expenditure ceiling. It sets a maximum level of expenditure to which the government has committed itself. The ceiling is applied to national government departments and excludes spending that is financed from dedicated revenue sources other than the National Revenue Fund. The ceiling has helped to significantly slow the growth of non-interest expenditure.

e) No, government’s tax policy objectives are set out in chapter 4 of the 2021 Budget review. Tax rates are influenced by projections of government spending and borrowing and the nation’s debt stock and a single numerical revenue rule would be inappropriate. Within this framework, tax policy must also consider the effect of taxes on economic growth; the behavioural response of taxpayers; inequality and fairness; and revenue administration capacity. Short‐term tax policy changes factor in the state of the economy. Over the medium term, tax policy changes seek to create an environment that is conducive to broad‐based economic growth and that avoids complicated incentives for specific sectors or groups of taxpayers. Progressivity will be enhanced by restricting deductions for the wealthy and increasing overall collections through improved administration.

Reply:

1. (a) The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation is the lead department in the research on identifying and costing of core gender-based violence (GBV) that was commissioned and funded by the European Union. The DSD is an important stakeholder in this process and support the outcome of the research. Once approval has been granted by all relevant forums, the implementation of the recommendations will resume. The planned activities are:

(i) First quarter (April – June 2021): the DG Social Development approved the report;

(ii) Second quarter (July – September): the report will be presented to the DG DPME and Social Cluster for endorsement and approval;

(iii) Third and Fourth quarter (October – December): report will be presented to Cabinet for approval.

(b) Yes, the department intends to use the costing model to inform as to how to fund GBV services, from shelters to aftercare services including post-rape care.

2. The new Intersectoral policy on sheltering services has been presented in the Departmental management structures. The plan is to finalise the policy approval by various stakeholders in the current financial year in order for its operation to resume in the financial year 2022/23.

Reply:

Yes. The funding for the local government elections has been provided for and is included in the baseline of the Electoral Commission. The procurement of the election devices is also funded and included in the baseline. The baseline for the IEC for 2021/22, including the operational expenditure of the Commission, is R2.2 billion.

Reply:

1. The June 2020 Supplementary Budget projected that gross national government debt will reach R3.97 trillion or 81.8 per cent of GDP by the end of 2020/21. According to the preliminary outcome for 2020/21, gross debt amounted to R3.93 trillion or 79 per cent of GDP. According to the 2021 Budget, gross debt will stabilise in 2025/26 at 88.9 per cent of GDP compared to 95.3 per cent forecasted in the 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.

2. (a) The 2020 Supplementary Budget outlined how Cabinet had endorsed a 2021 budget process that moves towards debt stablilisation. Cabinet had reiterated support for the proposed public-service wage bill reductions announced in February, which would improve the composition of spending.

The 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) then proposed steps to reduce the fiscal deficit and stabilise debt-to-GDP ratio over a five-year period. The 2020 MTBPS proposed fiscal adjustments to narrow the main budget deficit by 7.3 percentage points of GDP over the 2020 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) period, and by an additional 1.8 percentage points in the subsequent two years after the MTEF. To partially offset the effect of the spending adjustment, government had weighted the largest share of reductions to the wage bill, while supporting capital grants and the Infrastructure Fund. Narrowing the deficit and improving the composition of spending requires reductions in the growth of the wage bill, which accounts for about one-third of the consolidated budget. Government proposed downward adjustments to main budget spending plans over the next three years. Relative to the 2020 Budget, total main budget non-interest expenditure was projected to decrease by R62.9 billion in 2021/22, R92.9 billion in 2022/23 and R150.9 billion in 2023/24.

(c) The 2021 Budget continues this path of expenditure restraint and fiscal consolidation. However, it withdraws the R40 billion in tax measures announced in 2020 SAB. Efforts to narrow the budget deficit and improve the composition of spending – primarily through restraining wage bill growth – remain on course.

Reply:

• Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation has not concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba and/or Cuban National from 2010 – 2011 financial year up to the 2020 – 2021 financial year.
• The Presidency has not concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba and/or Cuban National from 2010 – 2011 financial year up to the 2020 – 2021 financial year.

Thank You.

Reply:

The concerns raised by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) in their latest Annual Performance Plan has been noted by the Ministry and the National Treasury. The process for the promulgation of Standards of GRAP approved by the ASB, including the consultation with key stakeholders, has been reviewed and streamlined to avoid any future backlogs.

With regard to GRAP 104 on Financial Instruments, the effective date of this revised standard will be 1 April 2025.

Reply:

THE international maritime organization SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME: MR TERRENCE MABUELA

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) International Maritime Law Institute [IMLI] was established in 1988 under an agreement concluded between the IMO and the Government of Malta with the purpose to train officers principally from developing countries in International Maritime Law. Its mission is to enhance capacity-building in all States, to contribute to the fulfilment of the IMO objectives thereby promoting safe, secure, environmentally sound and sustainable shipping through international cooperation.;

Mr. Terrence Mabuela: Deputy Director for Maritime Environment Protection was admitted and offered a scholarship by the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) on the 20 July 2020 to study a Master’s of Humanities in International Maritime Legislation at Malta, Sweden. Mr. Mabuela was therefore released by the Minister of Transport on a full-time study leave of nine (09) months i.e from October 2020 to June 2021 with full pay in line with the provisions of the Public Service Regulations, 2016.

Due to the impact of Covid-19 and attempts by all states including South Africa to curb the spread of the virus, Mr. Mabuela was allowed to commence his studies online from October to December 2020. However, the online studies were a temporary measure until the pandemic is controlled in which students were expected to report to the Maritime Institute in Malta on a full-time basis in January 2021.

THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The International Maritime Organization Scholarship covers tuition fees, accommodation costs, Insurance costs (Fire, theft public liability and repatriation in cases of emergency) and monthly stipend of 315 Euro. The scholarship does not cover travel cost to and from Malta.

The Department spent an amount of R18 674.65 towards Mr. Mabuela’s travel to Malta in January 2021 and has already bought the return ticket for his return to South Africa in July 2021 to the value of R18 674.65.

In response to Covid-19 protocols, the International Maritime Law Institute required students to quarantine for 14 days at Turkey on their way to Malta which incurred additional cost of R25 500.00 for accommodation to the department. The total costs for travel and accommodation for Mr Mabuela is therefore R62 849.30.

 

Reply:

Yes.

(a),(b),(c) Please refer to the table below.

Year	Programme	Amount R	Details
2015/16	Recapitalisation & Development	64 974 477	Support to small scale farmers during drought
	Proactive Land Allocation Strategy (PLAS)	6 025 523	Support to PLAS farmers affected by drought
		3 550 000	Management fee
2018/19	Rural Enterprise & Industrial Development	96 089 280	Ratoon management
2019/2020	Restitution	18 096 000	Restitution farmers
	Rural Enterprise & Industrial Development	36 992 000	Ratoon management for small scale farmers
2020/21	Rural Infrastructure Development	20 937 010	Rebuilding & operationalisation of Mkhuze Rail siding
Total	R246 664 290.00

2. Yes.

a) The Department has an MoU signed on 02 March 2016, as well as a Service Level Agreement also signed on 09 March 2016. The agreements are meant to have provided assistance to small scale farmers/ sugar cane growers with production inputs, as well as the utilisation of machinery, equipment, provision of farm infrastructure, training and mentorship.

b) The Provincial offices of the Department are responsible for monitoring the implementation.

3. Yes. Please refer to Annexures A and B. available on request.

Reply:

As Bronkhorstspruit is located in Gauteng Province and falls under the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and not the Mpumalanga Department of Education (MPDoE), the Department of Basic Education referred the enquiry to both Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). Both PEDs have reported that they do not have any record of the referral of Lihle Tshenollo Mashiya for admission.

It should be noted that Lihle Tshenello Mashiya is four years old, and at the moment the responsibility for Early Childhood Development (ECD) resides with the Department of Social Development. If the full details of the learner are provided, the DBE will liaise with the Department of Social Development to see how best the child can be assisted.     

Reply:

1. People with disabilities who live in care homes of any description are vaccinated through the outreach programmes through the ‘congregate settings’ programme. People who are bedridden can, where it is possible, be visited and vaccinated at home. Insured patients should arrange this with their medical aids. For public patients this will depend on the capacity of the provincial health department.

2. The Electronic Vaccine Distribution System (EVDS) is programmed to schedule vaccinations in age bands as determined by the government from time to time (after advice from various Ministerial Advisory and other committees).

3. Vaccination of every person in South Africa is considered important and urgent. The reality is that the capacity of the combined public and private health services to vaccinate people is limited. There are many competing priorities for vaccination and these priorities are addressed within the capacity of the system and the availability of vaccine. There is no objective way to choose one person’s health needs above another, so the focus has started with the groups where the greatest concentration of risk has been identified and that is in the age group over 60 years. The rollout to others is as fast as the vaccine and the services can manage.

END.

Reply:

The outcome of the summit will be assessed and a determination will be made on how it provides lessons to the basic education sector. 

Reply:

There are currently no special schools in Tsitsikamma. The Eastern Cape Department of Education has, however, ensured access to education for learners with special needs, by designating and resourcing Graslaagte Primary School as a full-service school. The intention is to also designate and resource Storm River Primary School as the second full-service school in the area. 

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:

1. No
2. Not applicable

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

The SANDF is fully adhering to the court order of Judge Davis dated 06 April 2021. The SANDF does not have any plan to evict anyone without any court order and its court application process for eviction(s) is under way. The members of Happiness Village will stay there until the eviction application by the SANDF has been adjudicated upon and legally authorised.

None of the remaining housing structures in Happiness Village will be demolished by the SANDF. In ensuring that this is implemented, a briefing was given to all uniformed members in Marievale Military Base to the effect that no member of the SANDF was allowed and will never be allowed to assault, harass or threaten any member or occupant of Happiness Village and/or demolish their houses. Furthermore, a copy of the court order was distributed to all members in Marievale Military Base.

The Chief of the SA Army has also promulgated clear instructions requiring full compliance to the court order. Weekly feedback about routine activities and adherence to the court order is provided to the relevant headquarters.

Reply:

The SA Post Office has prioritised initiatives that focus on improving service delivery, revenue recovery and growth and cost reduction. The Department is concluding the procurement process to appoint a team of experts to develop a restructuring and turnaround plan for a sustainable post office of the future. The turnaround plan will inform the MTEF funding submission for the post office.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

(a)(i)   See table below. The data provided below is from StatsSA and has a margin of +/- 15% accuracy - noting the dynamic circumstances of households that proceed to voluntarily migrate via the existing commercial digital broadcast platforms. The Department used data from StatsSA as a reference point for planning.

 

	ESTIMATED SUBSIDY BENEFICIARY HOUSEHOLDS
Free State	322 970
Northern Cape	101 885
North West	391 767
	646 116
	381 717
Eastern Cape	551 649
KwaZulu Natal	817 383
Western Cape	380 100
	1 091 256
	4 684 843

 

 

(a)(ii)   See table below. Installations are conducted in a sequential provincial schedule, as depicted in the order of provinces below:-

PROVINCE	Total Registrations Completed as at June 2021	Total Installations Completed as at June 2021
Free State	278 069	213 902
Northern Cape	72 429	44 356
North West	155 530	85 224
Limpopo	86 817	37 381
Mpumalanga	97 095	49 288
Eastern Cape	163 162	25 231
KwaZulu Natal	206 652	77 639
Western Cape	54 860	2
Gauteng	33 895	8
TOTALS	1 148 509	533 031

 

(b)       Monthly household migration targets are not used as a yardstick. Instead, a determination is made to conclude a critical mass threshold of 70% household migration within a target transmitter coverage area (which covers a number of predetermined towns/villages). The outcome is then applied to determine the analogue transmitter switch off (ASO) in the provincial sequence. The ASO is carried out in a provincial transmitter sequence in this controlled manner until the final transmitter within the province is switched off.

The table below provides depicts the preliminary migration schedule for each province. The ASO process is carried out in an overlapping manner between provinces. The schedule is subject to continuous revision to optimise where practical, taking  external circumstances and internal implementation variables into account.

MIGRATION AND ANALOGUE SWITCH-OFF (ASO) PROVINCIAL SCHEDULE
PROVINCE	Start	Finish (revised)
FREE STATE ASO	08/01/2018	07/03/2022
NORTHERN CAPE ASO	08/01/2018	21/02/2022
NORTH WEST ASO	05/04/2021	21/01/2022
LIMPOPO ASO	06/09/2021	08/03/2022
MPUMALANGA ASO	03/06/2021	14/02/2022
EASTERN CAPE ASO	02/08/2021	31/01/2022
KWAZULU-NATAL	26/07/2021	15/03/2022
WESTERN CAPE ASO	23/08/2021	01/03/2022
GAUTENG ASO	13/09/2021	22/03/2022

 

(c)(i)   Total budget allocated so far for decoder subsidy, excluding goods and services, is approximately R1,2 billion.

(c)(ii)   The anticipated combined national decoder subsidy shortfall is approximately R563-million for the vouchers; an additional amount will be required for the voucher system which still needs to be determined.

 

 

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

a) The Department set aside an amount of R1 650 000, as a once-off gratuity payment to (33) thirty-three PC4IR Commissioners, wherein each Commissioner would receive an amount of R50 000. Of the 33 Commissioners, (6) six were already in employment of the State which eliminated them from receiving the gratuity. In addition, (11) eleven Commissioners opted not to receive the gratuity, while (1) one Commissioner resigned during the beginning of the work of the PC4IR. A total of (15) fifteen Commissioners who complied with the conditions of registration in the Central Supplier Database (CSD) were paid. Accordingly, a total amount of R750 000 was paid to individual members of the PC4IR out of the allocated R1 650 000.

b) No payment or fees were paid to the Chairperson of the PC4IR.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

1. On 21 September 2020, the SABC was granted concurrent approval by the Ministers of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) and Finance to dispose of 25 non-core properties including Rockland Villas through an open market auction in terms of section 54(2)(d) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999. The concurrent approval was also granted in keeping with National Treasury’s prefunding conditions which were attached to the financial bailout allocation and turnaround plan implementation to dispose of all residential properties as the leasing of properties does not form part of SABCs core mandate.

2. The Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation has since submitted a request and proposal to the DCDT on 05 May 2021 for possible acquisition of the Rocklands Villas residential property based in Cape Town, Sea Point by the Housing Development Agency for human settlement development purposes. DCDT is currently facilitating engagements between the SABC, Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation as well as the Housing Development Agency (HDA) seeking to find an amicable solution between the parties (SABC and the HDA).

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

 

Reply:

(a)(i) With regards to the pending litigation, the effect of the interdict granted on 8 March 2021, is that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is prohibited from proceeding with auctioning the spectrum as planned. The Ministry and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies remain desirous of the speedy resolution of the matter out of court and continues to support the auctioning of spectrum as government is in dire need of the proceeds that will be derived therefrom. The Ministry and Department respect the interim relief granted by the court and abide thereby. Government can therefore only ensure the availability of high demand spectrum when all parties submit to mediation to resolve the matter out of court or the court rules thereon, whichever comes first.

(a)(ii) As far as it relates to temporary spectrum, the Minister issued the Electronic Communications, Postal and Broadcasting Directions under the Disaster Management Act on 26 March 2020. In terms of the Directions so issued temporary licensing of high demand spectrum must be provided for the duration of the COVID-19 national disaster.

(b)(i) The litigation is set down for hearing on 26 to 29 July 2021 and the Ministry and Department are not in a position to pre-empt the outcome and length thereof.

(b)(ii) ICASA, in its latest amendment of the ICT COVID-19 Regulations (28 May 2021), extended the validity of the temporary radio frequency spectrum licences to 31 August 2021.

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

1. During March 2020, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) referred the matter directly to the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) Head Office. The matter was referred to the AFU Durban as it falls within the jurisdiction of that office.
2. There is currently no criminal case registered with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in this matter. However, the AFU in Durban is engaging with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI): Anti-Corruption, with a view to initiate a criminal investigation on the matter. It should be noted that the SIU is also involved in disciplinary proceedings brought against the person by the Department of Correctional Services.

Reply:

(a) Based on information available to the DPSA (a)(i) Three Director General or Head of Component posts were re-advertised as follows:

(aa) CEO: Government Printing Works was re-advertised in June 2018.

(bb) Director-General: Department of Home Affairs was re-advertised in November 2019.

(cc) Director-General: Cooperative Governance was re-advertised was advertised in February 2020.

(a)(ii) Based on information available to the DPSA, state the number of HOD posts (i.e. three (3) Provincial HoD posts were re-advertised:

(aa)

(bb)

(cc)

(b) The reasons provided to the DPSA by the advertising Departments included that advertising requirements were not being met, including attaining the delegation of authority to fill the post from the President and allowing for a fair or adequate time to reply to an advert. It should be noted that in terms of section 3(7)(a) and (b) of the Public Service Act, 1994 the relevant executive authority of department has power and duties to manage the recruitment and appointment in his or her department which includes filling of a posts. The mandate of the DPSA as far as advertising is concerned, is limited to the publication of the vacancies and facilitation of the cabinet memorandum specifically for the Director-General and Deputy Director General posts.

(b) The DPSA issues the PSVC publication at no cost to the departments, any other costs related to the re-advertisement of such post in the media is managed by the relevant department.

End

Reply:

1. The Department of Public Service and Administration has not concluded any work exchange and/or employment agreements with any entity of the Republic of Cuba from the 2010-11 financial year up to the 2020-21 financial year. There was no need identified in this regard.

2. Not applicable.

End

Reply:

1. I presume the Honourable Member is referring to the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) on sugary beverages that was introduced on 1 April 2018, to give effect to health policy to counter the rise in diabetes, obesity and other related diseases in South Africa. There is no “sugar sweetened drings tax” nor any “sugar tax”.

The HPL is administered and collected by SARS. The HPL is a domestic consumption tax and payable by manufacturers in the Republic. Imported sugary beverages are taxed when cleared for domestic consumption.

The cumulative revenue collected from the on domestically produced and imported products, from inception on 01 April 2018 to 31 March 2021, is R7.9 billion. Collections in 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 were R3.2 billion, R2.5 billion and R2.1 billion respectively. These revenue figures from both domestically produced and imported sugary beverages are published on the National Treasury website at http://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/monthly/monthly_2021.aspx.

2. Tax revenues from the HPL are not earmarked or ringfenced for any particular expenditures, but instead flow into the National Revenue Fund. However, additional funding for health promotion and chronic disease prevention was allocated in the National Department of Health budget (see 2018 Estimates of National Expenditure). This allocation is approximately R50 million per annum over the 2021 MTEF. The National Department of Health has spent R24 million in 2019/20 and R14 million spent in 2020/21 on the health promotion allocation.

3. The rate for the HPL was not changed for the 2021/22 fiscal year and no announcement has been made for the 2022/23 fiscal year. Rate and levy changes are normally only made as part of the annual Budget announcements.

In terms of revenue estimates, the 2021 Budget Review showed an expected growth of HPL collections from R2.0 billion to R2.2 billion for the 2021/11 fiscal year. Measured against the actual unaudited revenue outcomes for 2020/21, the estimates for 2021/22 were forecast to increase by R101.4 million (4.8%), with most of the growth emanating from the HPL on domestically produced products. In the next year, HPL collections were estimated to increase from R2.2 billion to R2.4 billion in 2022/23, representing a growth of R152.1 million (6.9%).

4. During the 2020/21 financial year, HPL collections from locally manufactured sugary drinks, which are the vast majority, contracted year-on-year by 16.4% when compared to the 2019/20 financial year. During the early stages of the hard lockdown levels, most manufacturers of sugary drinks were not classified as essential services and thus production was affected. Furthermore, it appears that the impact of the restricted sales on alcoholic products during the COVID- lockdown is one of the drivers behind the lower manufacturing of sugary drinks as demand has also fallen.

During the 2018/19 financial year the imports of HPL amounted to R1.34 billion with R53.1 million in duties collected, and imports increased to R1.45 billion with duties registering R67.8 million. In 2019/20 imports amounted to R1.23 billion with duties of R66.6 million.

The imports of HPL improved to R556.7 million and duties of R26.2 million in 2020 during the first five months of the strict lockdown, as compared to R444.4 million and R24.70 million of duties during the same period in 2019. Overall, Covid-19 had an insignificant impact on HPL collections from imports.

(5) At present there have been two studies that have been shared with the Ministry of Finance on the effectiveness of the health promotion levy. The first detailed the impact of the health promotion levy on the prices of beverages and did not find any evidence of price increases for beverages that were exempt from the health promotion levy, whiles those beverages that were taxed increased in price by around R1 per litre on average. The second study examined the impact of the health promotion levy on the consumption levels of sugary beverages. The study finds that there was a decrease in the consumption of taxable beverages, with a smaller increase in the consumption of non-taxed beverages, and that the impact was greater for lower income households. The citations of the two studies are provided below:

• Stacey, N., Mudara, C., Ng, S. W., van Walbeek, C., Hofman, K., & Edoka, I. (2019). Sugar-based beverage taxes and beverage prices: Evidence from South Africa's Health Promotion Levy. Social Science & Medicine, 238, 112465.
• Stacey, N., Edoka, I., Hofman, K., Swart, E. C., Popkin, B., & Ng, S. W. (2021). Changes in beverage purchases following the announcement and implementation of South Africa's Health Promotion Levy: an observational study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(4), e200-e208.

Reply:

a) The Northern Cape Provincial Government complied with the due date of 31 October 2020 on the signing of PAs for the 2020/2021 performance cycle as set by DPSA Circular 32 02 2020. There was therefore, no reasons required.

b) The performance management and development system (PMDS) prescribe the specific measures for dealing with non-compliance on the signing of PAs including:

• Empowering Executive Authorities and Heads of Department to take appropriate disciplinary action against employees who fail to comply with the PMDS; and
• Disqualifying any employee who fails to comply from participating in any performance incentive, i.e. pay progression and performance bonuses;

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) monitors compliance to these policy prescripts and issues compliance notices. Advocacy meetings are also held with FOSAD and Provincial Executive Councils led by Premiers to highlight areas of concern. If a Department is highlighted to have consistently failed to comply, the Minister also has the option to escalate the matter to the President.

End

Reply:

 

1. The Agreement on Collaboration Between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Cuba on Professional Services in the Field of Basic Education was concluded in November 2016, valid for five years from 2017-2022. The Agreement is for the DBE to employ 20 Cuban Subject Specialists in Maths and Science. The break-down has been as follows:
2.  
3. 2017-2018 (10) Cuban nationals based at DBE, (4) based at Eastern Cape
4. 2018-2019 (10) Cuban nationals based at DBE, (4) based at Eastern Cape
5. 2019-2020 (4) Cuban nationals based at DBE, (6) based at Eastern Cape (6) based at Free State (2) Gauteng (2) Limpopo
6. 2020-2021 (4) Cuban nationals based at DBE, (5) based at Eastern Cape (6) based at Free State (2) Gauteng (2) Limpopo
7. 2021-2022 (4) Cuban nationals based at DBE, (5) based at Eastern Cape (6) based at Free State (2) Gauteng (2) Limpopo
   (b) are the details of the work that each of the specified Cuban nationals was and/or will be employed to perform, Their responsibilities include:
8. Improving teacher capacity, development and support;
9. Strengthening MST Curriculum to respond to Curriculum Implementation;
10. MST Educator Subject Content Training;
11. Producing and Compiling Teacher and Learner Support Material;
12. Analysing MST results; 
13. Screening books, videos, manuals and question papers to look for gaps in the proposed approaches

 (c) The Cuban nationals are specialists in Maths and Science; these subjects are listed as scarce skills where there is a struggle to find properly qualified teachers. The specialists have long standing practice in how they teach particular methodologies in Maths and Science that help teachers to master teaching difficult concepts and areas of work. All Cuban Specialists have Masters Degrees. They have also developed materials that are provided to the department to help convey understanding in these methodologies in the identified scarce skills subjects. Since their arrival, they were able to assist the department in identifying some of the problems that the department has experienced in how to teach and what better pedagogical approaches can be explored to overcome these challenges. They

(d) R733 257.00 p.a. The DBE currently has four specialists.

(2) The Cuban subject specialists have been employed to train teachers and strengthen the sector capacity, and not to teach the children. They have conducted meaningful workshops for teachers and Subject Advisors that help them to better understand the concepts and are able to go back into the classroom to teach the learners based on this assistance.        

 

Reply:

(1) See attached Annexure A;
(2) See Annexure B;
(3) See Annexure C;
(4) See Annexure D
 

Reply:

1. (a) The Domestic Violence Act, 1998 (Act No. 116 of 1998) was enacted to address and combat domestic violence. An applicant can apply to court for a protection order against the perpetrator’s abuse, in terms of the Domestic Violence Act.

The court may, if it is satisfied that it is in the best interest of any child:

• by means of an order, refuse the respondent (alleged perpetrator) contact with such child
• order contact with such child on conditions as it may consider appropriate
• prohibit the respondent (alleged perpetrator) from entering the residence shared by the complainant and the respondent (alleged perpetrator), provided it is in the best interest of the applicant.
• The applicant can apply for an order for temporary placement of children in care facilities.
• Further, the domestic violence court may not refuse to issue a protection order or impose any condition or make any order which is competent to impose or make merely on the grounds that other legal remedies are available to the complainant.

In providing the necessary relief, the court considers the facts presented before

it. The court, in making any order where it affects placement of children or removal of the respondent (alleged perpetrator), depending on the facts and application before it, will consider the best interests of the child, including safety, health, the well-being, perceived risk of further harm or violence, personal and material interests of both the applicant and the children and the best interests of the child.

The best interests of the child, in addition to that of the applicant, is emphasised to demonstrate that in all matters of gender-based violence where children are affected, the court will probe the details of a case in order to have all facts before it, so as to make an appropriate order. In this regard, the court may, where circumstances permit, in terms of the Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters Act, 1987, refer such matters to the Office of the Family Advocate for the court to obtain the Family Advocate’s report containing the recommendations on the best interests of children affected by the domestic violence.

The Family Advocate will conduct an investigation into the welfare of the children and make such recommendation that will first identify the risks and factors that have a direct and an indirect impact on the wellbeing of the children, and then recommend the necessary safety nets to mitigate such risk pending the finalization of the domestic violence case. These recommendations may include supervised contact between the children and the alleged perpetrator, in appropriate circumstances.

The Domestic Violence Act also provides for the court to consider an application brought before it by a child under this Act and if it deems fit, grant the interim protection order. In addition, if the court finds that the applicant child is in need of care, that child will be referred to the children’s court for further intervention.

The provision above demonstrates that minor children have to be protected and can deviate from the norm of a minor having to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, as an order can still be sought against either. The court will respond to any emergency application before it and grant the temporary relief sought, after considering all facts before it and the rights of children affected.

Where the perpetrator contravenes the interim order or removes the children against the court order, that will amount to contempt of court. Legal consequences ensue and the warrant of arrest by the domestic violence court is immediately given effect to. It must be noted that these are immediate orders which are interim pending the return date for further hearing, including that of the alleged perpetrator, for either the confirmation thereof or any order appropriate.

The Sexual Offences and Community Affairs (SOCA) Unit of the national prosecuting Authority provides regular training on the Domestic Violence Act to prosecutors and other partners in the criminal justice system to ensure that the intention of the Domestic Violence Act is fully realized.

(b) Where the victim of domestic violence is a primary care giver of the children (the

victim resides with the children) they will still retain the primary care of the children pending the finalization of the matter. The right that the victim has is that they can request assistance from the Office of the Family Advocate with regards to the drafting of a Parenting Plan. In the Parenting Plan they can set out arrangements as regards the children’s residence as well as the contact regime (how they will continue having contact with the alleged perpetrator) pending the finalization of the case. The victim can also request the Office of the Family Advocate to assist with assessments of the children, interactional analysis as well as observation of the children to ensure that they retain the custody of the children.

2. Children cannot be uprooted from their stable environment without any lawful reason. In the case where a child is unlawfully removed from their stable environment, that is they are removed without a court order or any form of agreement between their parents, the primary caregiver, in this case, the victim of domestic violence has a right to launch an application at the Children’s Court to have the children returned to their primary residence.

During such proceedings, the court will as a way of preserving the best interests of children, make an order to the effect that an investigation be conducted by the Office of the Family Advocate so as to provide the court with the recommendations on the best interests of the children given the prevailing circumstances.

Reply:

The Department is in a process of finalising technical integration designs and procuring a court audio visual solution that will be used for court participant’s interviews and testimony in cases where direct contact is not feasible or very expensive, as well as in cases where expert witnesses are required in court. This will also allow victims and witnesses to easily get in touch and communicate with the CJS practitioners that are responsible for their case. This includes Interpreters, Witnesses, SAPS & DHA Laboratory Experts, Sexual Offence Facilitation and External Experts. This is initially related to virtual court appearances integrating to court recording solution for the court record, however it will be expanded to cater for virtual courts eliminating the physical appearance of all parties in courts and the adjudication of the case online.

The current Annual Performance Plan target for the Court Audio Visual Solution is the implementation of 45 identified sites for the current financial year.

a) As part of the digital transformation of courts and court processes, the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) in the spirit of the modernization approach has leveraged digital and virtual opportunities to ensure efficiency and continuity in court services and led by the Judiciary is in the process of developing and implementing Court Online, an advanced cloud-based collaboration solution aimed at providing a platform for the filing of court documents electronically (E-Filing) over the Internet from anywhere. Court Online is an E-Filing, Digital Case Management and Evidence Management system for the High Courts of South Africa. It provides Law Practitioners with the opportunity to file documentation electronically online anywhere and anytime without being physically present at court. It also affords Law Practitioners the ease of managing their court appearance diaries and court evidence instantaneously online.

Within the court room and chambers, Judges shall make use of the Court Online system to adjudicate disputes electronically. Office of the Chief Justice has partially implemented the Court Online system in the Gauteng Division of the High Court. Case-Lines as a stand-alone solution for evidence management was successfully piloted in these courts. The aim is to roll-out this electronic platform to other service centres during the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) period.

b) Provision for virtual hearings have further been made in the Directives issued by the Heads of Court/Judges President in line with the Superior Courts Act, 2013.

c) The Draft Court Online (E-Filing) Court Rules, drafted by the Judiciary and supported by the Office of the Chief Justice, are currently before the Rules Board. These rules will institutionalize Court Online (E-Filing) and are a major step in the digital transformation of courts and court processes.

d) The Office of the Chief Justice has further provided Judges and officials with ICT solutions to enable the courts to operate virtually. Amongst others, these measures included the provision of enhanced end user equipment, increased bandwidth for internet as well as increased data access.

e) Licenses have been provided for modern enterprise video communications/video conferencing platforms such as MS Teams or Zoom, along with concomitant storage space for the recording of proceedings, to enable virtual hearings to be conducted at the Superior Courts.

f) To improve network access, Wi-Fi was expanded at all Superior Courts.

g) All Constitutional Court hearings are currently livestreamed on the Judiciary YouTube channels.

h) In order to assist with readiness for digital transformation and improved service delivery, the Office of the Chief Justice is implementing the ICT Infrastructure Refresh Project, which would focus on the replacement of old hardware infrastructure. It is further supported by the recently installed Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems which ensures continuous availability of ICT systems and virtual platforms during power interruptions.

Reply:

a) As part of monitoring of administrative support to the courts the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) has included a Key performance indicator on the Annual Performance Plan which is monitored monthly. The Department has set a target that in less than 0.3 % in criminal cases the main cause of postponement of the case should relate to the unavailability of court administrative officials essential to a court sitting relating to Indigenous language as well as Foreign language interpreters as well as court recording system operators.

The performance in relation to this indicator for the period 1 April - 30 April 2021 is a National average of 0.14% against the 0.3% target.

See breakdown into regions and District and regional courts as per table below:

b) The Department is appointing interpreters as and when positions become vacant. The Regional Heads have delegations to advertise and fill the vacancies where required. Currently, the Department has a vacancy rate of 7.7%. The table below depicts the number of positions on the establishment, number of posts filled as well as the number of vacant positions:

Job Title	Filled Posts	Vacant Posts	Total Posts	Vacancy Rate
Court Interpreter	1 262	88	1 350	6.5
Senior Court Interpreter	396	49	445	11.0
Court Interpreter Principal	63	8	71	11.3
Assistant Director: Court Interpreting	32	1	33	3.0
Deputy Director: Court Interpreting	6	1	7	14.3
TOTAL	1 759	147	1 906	7.7

In relation to Foreign Language Interpreters and Sign Language Interpreters, they are sourced from the database as and when they are required, paid a daily allowance for appearance in court.

Reply:

1. As at 25 May 2021, 55 TRC cases have been referred to the DPP Offices in the jurisdictions where the crimes were committed. These cases are all being investigated by the DPCI. A further 59 cases have been identified as warranting investigation, which will be referred to the regions once there is the necessary capacity in the NPA / DPP Offices.
2. Cases are referred to the DPCI either because of the public interest which they attract or due to requests being made by relatives of the victims or other interested parties. The cases are referred merely upon request and are not subject to any pre-evaluation process.
3. Yes, I will make a statement.

Reply:

a) (i) The dispute between LexisNexis and the Department is with regard to the interpretation of clause 12.19 of RFB 2019 03 which requires the service provider to provide a shared one license accessible from all domains (DOJ&CD, OCJ, Constitutional Court, Legal Aid SA, NPA, The Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit) for online (internet) services.

LexisNexis interpreted clause 12.19 of the bid to require a shared license from all domains which in their view is different from a concurrent user access which is attached to a domain.

The Department’s interpretation is that clause 12.19 of the bid required a shared one license accessible from all domains for online (internet) services which was clearly explained during the briefing session (question and answer session) to mean a concurrent user access attached to a domain. These questions and answers were provided by the Department in writing to all the bidders including LexisNexis.

(ii) The Department engaged with LexisNexis on the 12 March 2021 and urged them to restore the services and the services were restored on the same date.

b) The services were restored with immediate effect and there was no need for any contingencies.

c) The services were restored with immediate effect and officials have access.

Reply:

SANRAL participated in the Technical Task team, led by the Director-General of Transport, to present various options to Ministerial Committee, which was led by the President and included the Ministers of Finance and Transport as well as the Premier of Gauteng. The Technical Task team concluded their work some time before lockdown in 2020. The decision is now in the hands of Cabinet.

In the meantime, SANRAL has to continue to operate within existing financial constraints and in line with National Treasury budget approval.

 

Reply:

1. The Magistrates Commission confirms that it has received a number of serious complaints against KwaZulu Natal Regional Court President. On 31 August 2018, the Commission resolved to charge him. A charge sheet with 50 counts of misconduct was personally served on the KZN Regional Court President on 04 September 2018. An amended charge sheet with a total of 162 charges was served on him via his attorney on 30 March 2021. He has been provisionally suspended from office which suspension was confirmed by Parliament on 9 October 2018. He is subjected to a disciplinary hearing which will be commencing within the next two months.

(a) No.

Reply:

The Department of Employment and Labour can amplify the reply further but it suffices to state that our President, Mr. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, established an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) led by the Department of Employment and Labour, which amongst others has been tasked with the responsibilities of dealing with challenges facing the Road Freight Industry Logistics.

As the Department of Transport, we have published Government Gazette 44484 dated 23 April 2021 proposing an insertion of Regulation 116A into the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000. For ease of reference, the aforesaid draft provides as follows:

116A. Authority of a Professional Driving Permit issued in a foreign Country

(1) the Authority provided by a professional driving permit issued in a foreign country shall apply in respect of a vehicle registered in the country that issued any such permit.

(2) A permit referred to in sub-regulation(1), shall not apply to a vehicle registered in the republic.

The Draft Amendments will therefore effectively ban drivers who hold a Public Drivers Permit (PDP) issued by a foreign country from operating vehicles registered in South Africa.

Reply:

1. There are plans in place to rehabilitate the rail infrastructure in various corridors across the country. In the City of Cape Town specifically, the Central Line Corridor which carries the majority of residents in the city from their places of residence to work is a flagship project announced by the President where the entire line is earmarked for major rehabilitation covering the following:

• Removal of illegal settlements from rail servitude;
• Rehabilitation of the Power Supply System;
• Rehabilitation of the Perway Infrastructure;
• Modernisation of the Signalling Infrastructure;
• Repair of station facilities for customers.

Apart from the Central Line the following corridors are also earmarked for resumption of services and rehabilitation of infrastructure:

• Cape Town – Simonstown (WNB & ATL)
• Cape Town – Strand

In Johannesburg a number of corridors are also being rehabilitated for the MTEF period:

• Leralla – Johannesburg
• Johannesburg – Naledi
• Residensia – New Canada
• Kwesine – Germiston
• Randfontein – Johannesburg

2. In order to protect the existing infrastructure from further deterioration and destruction the following preventative measures will also be put in place to address recurrence:

• Close off the corridor through Walling
• Provision of Street to Street access to pedestrians to cross the railway line
• Upgrade of the Security Interventions across the corridor incorporating the community involvement approach where community members volunteer their services to provide intelligence to the SAPS, CPF and PRASA Protection Services on crime incidents along our corridors.

Reply:

1. Matters related to vehicle licensing falls under Schedule 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and are therefore within the purview of provinces. The Department must first seek concurrence of the respective provinces on this matter and only then can a decision be taken accordingly.

2. In view of the above, the Department recently held a meeting with the Committee of Provincial Heads of Departments of Transport and the Private Charter Passenger Association (PCPA). The latter made a broad representation regarding the impact of Covid19 on the Charter and Coach operators due to lockdowns and subsequent travel restrictions. As part of their submissions, they alleged their members were unable to generate any income during lockdown level 5 and 4, since all borders were closed and tourism activities suspended. The Department sought concurrence of the respective provinces, since vehicle licensing matters are provincial in scope. Once concurrence has been received from provinces, if at all, the Department will only then proceed to issue a Direction under regulations 4(7) made under section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002).

Reply:

1. None
2. Disciplinary processes are implemented in conjunction with Labour Relations at Head Office and through the Desk as and when a transgression arises.
3. There are currently no pending cases of any nature
4. There are currently no disputes
5. There are currently no disputes

Reply:

The National Treasury, annually as required by section 8 of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999 (PFMA), prepares consolidated financial statements (that include a statement of financial position or balance sheet) for national departments and Parliament (including the National Revenue Fund, State Debt and Loans Accounts) as well as for National public entities separately and these two sets of consolidated financial statements are then audited and tabled in Parliament. The consolidated financial statements are prepared separately for both national departments and public entities since these two types of institutions use two separate accounting frameworks. The latest sets of consolidated financial statements that were tabled in Parliament are for the 2019/2020 financial year. The consolidated financial statements are published on the Office of the Accountant-General website and can be obtained from https://oag.treasury.gov.za/Publications/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2FPublications%2F04%2E%20Consolidated%20Financial%20Statements&FolderCTID=0x0120007EBBC03F454D95408FB944B7B07F6166&View={EA6E6B15-593D-4839-A804-A91A49CB20A0}

Reply:

Yes. The draft 2021 “List of Qualifying Physical Impairment or Disability Expenditure” (draft 2021 Disability List) was prepared by SARS following proposals made by a stakeholder who represents a special needs school for learners with disabilities and, in addition, represents an association of independent schools. These independent schools provide general education together with interventions required as per the disability of each learner.

The guiding principle for qualifying expenses has always been to determine what additional expenses the person with a disability would incur, without which the person would not be able to perform activities of daily living. The amendments proposed in the draft 2021 Disability List were intended to assist schools and parents in more accurately drawing the distinction between expenses for education in the ordinary course, which would be incurred irrespective of whether the learner was living with a disability or not, and expenses for interventions required in consequence of disability, the latter of which would enjoy a tax privileged status under the Income Tax Act, 1962.

The stakeholder put forward the proposition that it was feasible for the schools to itemise their invoices and/or provide a letter to SARS separating the expenses for general education from those incurred in consequence of a disability, with the latter qualifying for tax relief. This appeared reasonable from the facts presented and the draft 2021 Disability List was accordingly prepared and workshopped with various stakeholders representing persons with disabilities before being published for general public comments.

Concerns were, however, raised by the public at large and some other schools. SARS has always been empathetic insofar as expenses required in consequence of disability are concerned and so decided to withdraw the draft 2021 Disability List in order to permit more time to engage with relevant stakeholders, consider the comments/suggestions raised, and clarify the intent behind the draft changes. It is only once this process has concluded that a further draft may be published.

Reply:

1. After liaising with my officials, I confirm that the letter referred to was received and not responded due to the transition from manual processing of documentation to electronic.

2. The National Treasury was not consulted with prior to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans undertaking the visit to Zimbabwe with the ANC delegation using the SAAF Falcon 900.

3. Furthermore, the National Treasury was not part of the determination of the costs to be paid by the ANC but did receive proof that R105 545 was paid to the Department of Defence for this purpose.

4. The National Treasury has and will always engage departments and entities to ensure that they comply with the provisions of legislation that require consultation and concurrence of the National Treasury. As you may be aware, this matter has been handled and finalised by the President in terms of remedial actions.

Reply:

(1) The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has not abandoned its inquiry into Musa Group. The section 417 enquiry is chaired by a Commissioner and run by legal teams on behalf of the liquidators. Currently the forensic accountant is analysing the information gathered during the first part of the enquiry.

(2) Following the completion of the section 417 enquiry and the receipt of the Commissioner’s report, the liquidators and the PIC will be in a position to decide what legal and other steps should be taken.