Questions and Replies

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. (a) I have been informed by the Department that the total number of buildings which have been renovated and ready for use by Department of Social Development (DSD) is twelve (12) instead of thirteen (13). The Department has renovated all 12 buildings for use by DSD. Currently seven (7) buildings have been handed over to provincial and national Departments of Social Development and are in operation.

(b) The list of the seven (7) buildings, which have been completely renovated and are operational, is provided on table A below:

Table A

No.	PROVINCE	PROPERTY ADDRESS	STATUS
1.	Western Cape	Albertina: 8 Aalwyn Street, Cape Town	Operational
2.	Western Cape	Laingsburg: 39 Voortrekker Road, Cape Town	Operational
3.	Western Cape	Aurora: 44 Long Street, Cape Town	Operational
4.	Western Cape	Aurora: 42 Long Street, Cape Town	Operational
5.	Western Cape	Mooreesburg: 16 Tuin Street St, Cape Town	Operational
6.	Western Cape	Heidelberg: 92 Van Riebeek Street, Cape Town	Operational
7.	Gauteng	Salvokop, Pretoria	Operational

(c) The Department has handed over the buildings to the Western Cape Provincial Department of Social Development and National Department of Social Development (Salvokop) for operationalization. The Department, therefore, does not have information of service providers which have been appointed by DSD to operationalise the facilities.

(d) and (e) The Department is awaiting a signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) from the Gauteng Provincial Department of Social Development and the Provincial Department of Infrastructure Development. This will inform the timelines for occupation and use.

2 (a) and (b) The renovations of the remaining five (5) buildings in Gauteng commenced during the 2020/2021 Financial Year and have since been completed.

 

Reply:

ENTITY	AG ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS	CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT APPLIED	IF IT DID NOT TAKE PLACE, HOW IS IT ENFORCED
AFRIKAANSE TAALMUSEUM	The AG identified irregular expenditure during the audit as well as requested proof that an investigation was done regarding the previous irregular expenditure.	Although the AG has been asking for reports, letters and minutes relating to how the ATM handled identified irregular expenditure, in its recommendations, the AG did not mention any corrective steps it will be considering from their side against the Council or Management. This may be due to the nature of the irregular expenditure and the fact that it was due to administrative matters. Value for money was still achieved by the ATM. Corrective steps have been taken against officials.
NATIONAL MUSEUM	No findings applicable	N/A	N/A
WAR MUSEUM	no irregular or fraudulent expenditure incurred	N/A	N/A
UMSUNDUZI	Supply Chain Management	The UMsunduzi and Ncome Museum in order to remedy and to prevent the recurrent of this finding has appointed a Supply Chain Management Officer. With this appointment, the office of the CFO will be capacitated to deal with supply chain issues. To avoid further irregular payments and consequence management will be enforced.
FREEDOM PARK		Freedom Park has since constituted the Loss control committee to address the Irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure identified. The committee refer the investigated matters to Human Resources department for disciplinary process. Freedom Park has also concluded the forensic investigations to closure the raised irregular expenditures	Freedom Park has committed to continuously trained all the officials in SCM department and those officials who are responsible for the processing payments in Finance department. The SCM manager also conduct SCM policies and procures awareness on quarterly basis. Those who are charge with the responsibility of implementing consequence management will be accountable to the Executive Authority.
NELSON MANDELA MUSEUM	Nelson Mandela Museum has had no adverse findings with regards to its SCM processes and continues strengthening controls and processes to mitigate the risk flouting the PPPFA regulations.	N/A	N/A
PLAYHOUSE COMPANY	The Playhouse Company did not incur any irregular and fraudulent expenditure and the auditor general did not raise any findings in this regard. As such, no consequence management has been recommended.	N/A	N/A
SOUTH AFRICAN LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND	Please note that there has been no irregular expenditure or fraud at the SALB. Internal policies are aligned to National Treasury guidelines around this aspect and consequence management will be applied if these come to light.	N/A	N/A
ROBBEN ISLAND MUSEUM	The invocation of the Public Audit Amendment Act by the Auditor General, has not impacted Robben Island Museum on any issues currently.	N/A	N/A
SOUTH AFRICAN STATE THEATRE	Fraud was discovered in the prior years	Management immediately reported the matter to the relevant authorities, Council, the Minister of Arts and Culture, the SAPS (Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation), and the South African Revenue Services. The SAST instituted a forensic investigation, which was undertaken by an external and independent company, and the Auditor General was also informed. The AG supported the action taken and management will report back in the next audit to ensure that the consequence management taken is reflected in the audit report. The two employees that were involved in the fraud are no longer working at the SAST, one resigned while the other one was dismissed. Their provident fund payments have been attached and further criminal and civil proceedings are underway.
MARKET THEATRE FOUNDATION	History of irregular expenditure at MTF: 2019: R2,1 mil 2020: R35 887 2021: R201 775 Written warnings	Written warnings were issued for all incidences of irregular expenditure incurred in 2019 and 2020. The expenditure incurred in 2021 was approved by the Council of the MTF. Consequence management did take place iro all irregular expenditure in the past 3 years. No staff member has had repeat transgressions. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R16 370 was incurred in 2020 and the full amount was recovered from the staff members responsible. No fraudulent expenditure was incurred in the 3 years.
IZIKO MUSEUMS OF SOUTH AFRICA	The recommendations of the AG, as contained in the Management Report, are followed. However, no recommendations have been made with respect to consequence management of material irregularities	N/A	N/A
NATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FOUNDATION	The audit report has given management clear recommendation on implementing consequence management and also requested management to have timelines that must be followed. It further advise management to implement internal controls that will prevent non-compliance that lead to irregular expenditure or fruadlent one, though they clearly state in the report that their audit approach is not meant to detect fraud.	A forensic investigation was done in the past, in 2018/ 2019, when the irregular expenditure was incurred and also when there was suspicion of fraud and that resulted in the a number of executive leaving the NFVF. The NFVF continues to monitor irregular expenditure and investigate the SCM noncompliance that leads to irregular expenditure. If there is suspicion of fraud, the Council does take action to verify if indeed the fraud has taken place.	N/A
PAN SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGE BOARD	The AG has recommended that an investigation related to the identified irregular expenditure should be conducted and based on the result of the investigations, disciplinary steps to be taken against anyone to have the irregular expenditure or fail to comply with Treasury regulations. The AG further stated that in terms of section 225 of the IESBA code, they have a responsibility to consider reporting identified and suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations to an appropriate authority and they have escalated the matter to the Board for them to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to address the non-compliance.		The AG proposed that Accounting Officer should urgently develop, review and approve policies. Implement controls to avoid Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure; The appointment of a permanent committee to deal with all the irregular, fruitless, Wasteful and unauthorized expenditure will assist the AO to enforce the consequence management with recommendations.
BOXING SOUTH AFRICA	The AG has not suggested or provided guidance other than the recommendation as stated in the Management Report.	BSA has in the past not adequately addressed matters of consequence management	The entity report to the Board and sub-committee of the Board including the Audit & Risk Management Committee any non-compliant matters that may lead to or constitute Irregular Expenditure on a quarterly basis. 2. The Internal Auditor report quarterly the outcome of any investigations to the Audit and Risk Management Committee . 3. The recommendations of the investigations shall be implemented and reported by Management to the Board and the Audit and Risk Management Committee on a quarterly basis. 4. All officials implicated by the outcome of the investigation shall be subjected to BSA internal disciplinary process , whilst monies owed to BSA will be recovered in terms of the Debtors Policy
PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE OF THE FREE STATE	Nothing more than recommendations was proposed	N/A	N/A
NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL	The AG advised that officials should be kept abreast and informed of SCM and other relevant regulations to mitigate the risk irregular and fraudulent expenditure. b) In prior years consequence management was not possible due to implicated officials leaving the employ of the NAC.	The NAC is taking a proactive approach in ensuring officials are trained on SCM and other relevant legislation. This will ensure due-diligence and compliance in relation to SCM, funding approvals and other relevant regulations.	i) Ensuring consequence management in cases of non-compliance will is added to the performance contract of Unit Heads. ii) It is enforced through following procedures outlined in the NACs internal disciplinary policy.
SAIDS	The AGSA has recommended that Irregular expenditure be investigated to identify the root cause and the necessary steps to remedy the root causes be taken or measure be put in place to prevent similar incidents from taking occurring again.	The irregular expenditure was investigated, and it was found that there was no fraudulent and criminal conduct relating to the Irregular expenditure. The entity did NOT incur any financial losses as a result thereof. Training will be provided to the employees of the entity to improve their understanding and application of the PFMA and Treasury Regulations in relation to Supply Chain Management and Procurement.	N/A
DITSONG MUSEUMS OF SOUTH AFRICA	DMSA has a Financial Misconduct Disciplinary Committee which deals with all incidences of irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure and the recommendations are tabled at both Audit and Risk Committee (ARIC) and Council. However, this Committee was established before the revisions to the PAA came into effect.	Consequence management does take place and the actions taken are reported at both the Audit and Risk Committee, Council and a report is included in the Annual Financial Statements. (i) Action is taken against any staff member who has transgressed the PFMA and Treasury Regulations regarding irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure. (ii) Through verbal or written warnings and recovery of funds lost.	N/A
ARTSCAPE	The AG has identified cases of irregular expenditure and one case of fraud. This was brought to the attention of management and Council. It was recommended that the entity must attend to these cases through the Irregular Expenditure Framework. Artscape has disclosed such cases in the Annual Financial Statements and has submitted request for condonation to the National Treasury.	In one case where fraud was identified, the incumbent was charged, found guilty and was dismissed. Financial loss was also recovered from the said employee.	N/A

Reply:

(a). All Entities under the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture have qualified Curators.

(i) n/a

(ii) n/a

 

 

Reply:

The Department is in a process of arranging training with the National School of Government for all senior managers and the induction workshop on Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes will be presented to all staff.

Reply:

The projected 2021 average full cost of study as reported by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is R59 508.00 per annum for public universities. It should be noted that this includes both distance and contact students. It also includes students on the DHET Grant (capped funding) and the DHET Bursary (fully subsidised) funding. 

The projected cost for a student at a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college is R62 000.00 per annum which covers tuition and allowances. It is important to note that all TVET college students are provided with textbooks, consumables, and safety gear irrespective of whether or not a student is a NSFAS recipient.

Reply:

1. The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) confirms that Additiv Solutions (Pty) Ltd met all the requirements for support from the Photonics Prototyping Facility that is hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) National Laser Centre. As set out in the reply to question 404 in March 2021, the proposal was evaluated by the PPF Investment Committee, which includes industry experts and the DSI, and which evaluates and recommends proposals to be supported to the CSIR. Proposals are evaluated against the following criteria:

(a) Relevance and Impact (commercial relevance; feasibility; and significance of impact to the Photonics industry);

(b) Technical merit (clarity of objectives/motivation to use the PPF; novelty of technology; maturity of technology);

(c) Budget (alignment to tasks; and feasibility with existing infrastructure); and

(d) Management Plan (feasibility and efficiency of plan; and track record and team)

The proposal from Additiv Solutions (Pty) Ltd was evaluated by the PPF Investment Committee on 9 December 2019. The committee agreed that there was a clear need for lower cost 3D metal additive manufacturing machines, that the proposal met the requirements of technical merits, budget and the management plan. The proposal also met the requirements with respect to relevance and impact, but the committee did recognize that significant effort would be required with respect to market development and marketing, and that the prototype to be developed in this project would assist in this regard. The Committee agreed that the proposal from Additiv Solutions (Pty) Ltd therefore met the requirements for support from the PPF, and recommended it for approval.

2. The project was initially scheduled to be completed by 31 March 2021. However, there were delays with the procurement processes at the CSIR, which delayed the initial setup phase of the project. These delays were due to challenges with suppliers of hardware to the CSIR. The hardware necessary for this phase was delivered to the CSIR in December 2020 and February 2021 and this work is now completed. In the project scope, a prototype system had to be characterised, and then three subsequent "Beta" machines have to be characterised for Additiv Solutions. The prototype setup and characterisation is completed; the Beta 1 system is being characterised. This makes up the bulk of the work in the project and will completed by 31 May 2021. Additiv Solutions is also required to deliver 2 additional machines (Beta machines 2 and 3) to the PPF team for them to characterise the optical setup and complete all activities planned. This stage is dependent on Additiv Solutions and is expected to be completed by 30 June 2021. The project is on track, there are no remaining technical challenges.

3. This question relates to particular project at the CSIR. The Minister does not usually make statements on particular projects, and is not planning to do so in relation to the CSIR’s support to Additiv Solutions.

Reply:

(a)  The audited data for 2019 indicates that 1 074 912 headcount students were enrolled, representing an under-enrolment of -6 178 headcounts in relation to the projected target of 1 081 090 set for 2019. This represents a -0.57% deviation from the 2019 target. Universities are permitted to move within a 2% band of their planned targets.

(b)  The Department has not yet received the 2020 final audited data from universities. This is only due at the end of July 2021 once they have finalised their graduate numbers and their external auditors have undertaken the audit of the data to be submitted to the Department. Thereafter the Department can undertake the comparison between the 2020 enrolment planning targets and the actual 2020 enrolments. However, UNISA did signal to the Department last year that they had over-enrolled in 2020. The Department has had a number of discussions with UNISA on over-enrolments both in 2018 and in 2020. 

(c)  The Department has not yet received data for the 2021 academic year, as universities will still enroll students in the second semester. The 2021 audited data will only be received at the end of July 2022.

Reply:

The Department acknowledges that the current SAMRAD system has had some challenges and requires an overhaul. We have begun a process of procuring a Mining Cadastral System to ensure that there is a complete effective system in place.

Reply:

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) implemented the commando system which includes training and appointing locust contractors to control the locust outbreak. DALRRD provides these contractors with pesticides, protective clothing and spraying pumps for effective control of the locust outbreak before they reach the crop lands. In addition, DALRRD further appoints the aerial locust spraying contractors to assist within areas where the outbreak is out of control and un-accessible.

Reply:

The NSFAS cohort study considers any student who received NSFAS funding at any point in time during their studies. The database of students who had received NSFAS funding in all previous years of study is mapped to the Higher Education Management Information System dataset. The NSFAS cohort study published in March 2020 considered all cohorts that entered the public higher education sector, i.e. universities, for the first time from the 2000 to 2017 academic years. The study found that the dropout rate for the 2009 NSFAS cohort was 22.2%, which is 9% lower than the national cohort average of 31.3%.

It should be noted that in order to determine how students, including NSFAS students, are performing, at least 4 years of data is required for a 3-year qualification and 5 years of data for 4-year qualification. The Department is currently in the process of updating the cohort report for this year.

Reply:

One of the Petroleum refining companies has decided to close its refinery and convert is into an import terminal.

The Department believes that the refineries should remain operational not just used as storage, because this approach compromises the country with respect to numerous benefits such as employment creation, skills, enterprise development and other benefits that come with local manufacturing.

With respect to the pricing issue, the planned closure of the refinery will not affect pricing because the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) assumes that the product is being imported not produced locally.

Reply:

(1) The Department has developed a standardised organisational structure and Post Provision Norms (PPN) model for TVET colleges, which makes provision for a unit and funded post for Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) services within each TVET college. This model and standardised organisational structure is currently being implemented at a college level over 3 years in line with the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework budget. 

(2) The EHW unit at Head Office has been capacitating colleges whilst the PPN model was being developed and supporting the implementation of programmes in colleges.

Colleges were capacitated with 3-day EHW capacity-building workshops. There were 86 psychosocial interventions in TVET colleges. Processes of employee health and wellness were followed, which were agreed upon by labour structures within the Department.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and currently, the EHW unit has trauma counselled, tracked and traced 70 officials, and equipped colleges with various protocols in ensuring adherence to the prescripts of the Department of Public Service and Administration.

(3) The support functions and implementation of the EHW programmes does not depend on the establishment of an EHW unit, as it is the right of all members within the public service to be provided with health care services based on the Bill of Rights section 24 (a) and section 27 (i), as per the directive from the Minister of Public Service and Administration in Circular 1 of 2017 on Employee Health and Wellness.

(4) (a) The EHW programmes are based on the National Strategic Framework of Employee Health and Wellness of 2008. The programmes are as follows:

• HIV, AIDS, TB & STI programmes.
• The Health and Productivity Management programme focuses on the return on investment and other psychological, biological, medical and environmental challenges that impede officials to perform in the workplace. Implementation of this programme is done in tandem with leave determination policies, job access strategies, reasonable accommodation, employment equity and the Policy on the Implementation of Incapacity in the public service.
• The Safety Health Environment Risk and Quality (SHERQ) programme is directed by Regulation 53 of the Public Service Regulation that heads of departments must establish and maintain a safe and healthy work environment for employees of the department and a safe and healthy service delivery environment for members of the public. This programme does not operate in isolation but is implemented with the COVID-19 master plan and protocols, and reasonable accommodation and buildings, e.g. maintenance schedules of lifts and equipment by facilities management and the Departmental SHERQ policy.
• The Wellness Management Physical programme includes a sports policy whereby members of the Department can participate in healthy lifestyle programmes. Wellness Sporting Committees exist in colleges where a healthy lifestyle is promoted and ensuring that officials achieve a work-life balance. Daily body-mass-index screening is done as part of this programme.
• The Financial Wellness programme comprises of National Treasury workshops for Departmental officials, including colleges, on savings and managing finances.
• The Wellness Management Psychosocial programme cuts across all EHW interventions, implemented in conjunction with other Departmental programmes and customised for officials. Scheduled 8 of the Labour Relation Act is invoked in cases that need ill-health retirement.
• The Organisational Wellness programme incorporates SHERQ as the environment can incapacitate a person; hence, reasonable accommodation is implemented in various ways and can lead to officials being re-allocated to other work or work terrain appropriate for wheelchair-bound officials.

(b)   The EHW programmes are being utilised and programmes are in place within the EHW work plans.

Reply:

(1) (a) The assumption that the rapid expansion of the tertiary system was not followed by the implementation of financial support is not a true reflection of the interventions that the Department has put in place to try to meet the system expansion. Government’s expenditure goal is to spend 1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product on university education. Given the trajectory seen over the past ten years, this target was achieved during the 2018/19 financial year. However, it is not clear if it will continue to be achieved.

(b)  Funding for the university sector is part of the budgetary processes of government and therefore competes with other government priorities such as health, social welfare, etc.

(2) The Department is aware of the systematic challenges and remains committed to being responsive to the constantly changing landscape within the post-school education and training system. The funding model or regulations are updated when the need arises. Post 1994, the Department revised the funding framework (Annexure A) and is in the process to develop a policy framework on fee regulation to manage the funding model accordingly to ensure it remains relevant. A policy review on student funding is also underway as requested by Cabinet.

Reply:

PetroSA has plans in place that are targeting a new imported Liquefied Natural Gas supply to replace the depleting indigenous gas produced from its offshore gas fields for the last 30 years. Gas imports for the production of synthetic fuels are planned to start in 2022. The potential for longer term gas supply from newly discovered offshore gas fields is also being considered.

PetroSA is reviewing the potential to convert the Mossel Bay site to a ‘carbon free’ blue hydrogen production facility which will be explored in more detail when operation on imported Liquefied Natural Gas is completed. Operation on Liquefied Natural Gas will also enable PetroSA to recommission the Methcap renewable power facility installed to produce power from biogas which was in operation from 2004/5 until November 2020 (i.e. green electricity).

PetroSA fuel produced from processing of gas meets most of the CF2 specifications. However, capital investment will be required to meet the anticipated South African Clean Fuels 2 specifications.

PetroSA’s depleted offshore gasfields are also identified as the most promising carbon dioxide storage opportunity in South Africa to facilitate a lower carbon footprint. The ‘Atlas on geological storage of carbon dioxide in South Africa’ was completed together with the Council for Geoscience and major industry players highlights PetroSA’s existing infrastructure potential in this regard.

Reply:

The root causes could not be determined, this matter is not within the competency of the DMRE. Following the investigations that were undertaken by the Department’s Regional Office, it is evident that the incident took place on an area that was not authorised by the Department. It is alleged that the contractor who opened the borrow pit was contracted by the Department of Public Works for purpose of using the materials for road construction. Furthermore, the Department also learnt that upon completion of their activities, the contractor apparently had an intention to rehabilitate the area, it is alleged that the community did not support the issue of rehabilitation on the basis that the borrow pit will serve as water storage for their animals (cattles). Following the delisting of these activities In terms of the EIA Regulations, 2017 as amended and the associated Listing Notices, read also with section 106 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development, Act 28 of 2002, the Department of Public Works is now no longer required to apply for both the Environmental Authorisations/Mining Authorisations from this Department. Given this exemption, this Department is not a competent authority to deal with this matter.

(b) Considering that there were no Environmental Authorisations issued by the Department, the onus lies with the Department that appoints the contractor to ensure that the area is rehabilitated in a safe manner.

(c) See the previous remarks

(d) The Department is not an appropriate institution to determine this issue but the relevant Department can furnish clarity in this regard.

Reply:

The setting of prices falls within the ambit of the private sector. South African Tourism does engage the sector to consider special offers as part of the promotion activities they conduct i.e. Sho’t Left programme. Furthermore, The Minister of Tourism called for the sector to consider two-tier pricing model i.e one for Domestic tourist and one for International tourist. It has been encouraging to see a growing number of business responding to this call. For long term purposes, the policy review policy panel is also considering wether there is a need for a policy pronouncement on pricing.

(a) – (e) Not applicable

Reply:

The Department of Tourism does not have the mandate on measures such as the Temporary Employer Relief Scheme (TERS). However, the Department of Employment and Labour have been engaging social partners at Nedlac and the tourism sector is also represented in those discussions. It is suggested that the Honourable member refers her question to the Minister of Employment and Labour.

1. – (2) Not applicable

Reply:

No measures have been taken to make the grading system free and compulsory. The Minister has appointed a Policy Review process which will review all the areas of work by the department and this will include Grading.

(b) – (e) Not applicable

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration has not introduced rationalisation of the Public Service headcount. Headcount increases have not been the main driver of the wage bill. Rationalisation of the Public Service headcount may adversely affect service delivery to citizens in critical sectors such health, education and policing amongst others. The 2021 Budget Review, has indicated that the government wage bill must be managed within the Fiscal Framework which assumes that compensation budget ceilings will be maintained.

Not applicable in terms of the response in (a).

End

Reply:

1. No employees of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has been implicated, therefore the Department did not take any disciplinary and/or legal steps. Discipline management is a decentralised function and therefore the responsibility of each department to enforce the disciplinary code and take the necessary legal steps to recover public funds. The DPSA is only mandated to take action against its own employees when found guilty of wrongdoing through a disciplinary process.

2. The DPSA did not recover monies from the implicated public service employees. Before monies can be recovered from employees, an investigation must be finalised with sufficient evidence of criminality collected and recommending for monies to be recovered. The recovery of monies will then be effected through a court order. The mandate to investigate fraud, corruption and crime belongs solely to the South African Police Service, or under special circumstances to the Special Investigative Unit (SIU). The DPSA, including the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU), does not have a mandate to investigate crime or to recover monies from employees.

3. The DPSA established that all cases regarding government employees receiving Social Relief of Distress grants (SRD) were referred to the Fusion Centre, with a process embarked upon to analyse the data and to refer established cases to investigators. The Fusion Centre is an Anti-Corruption Task Team initiative, where resources of law enforcement agencies are pooled and coordinated to investigate and prosecute priority corruption cases. The DPSA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Financial Intelligence Centre (who are involved in the Fusion Centre) in terms of which the DPSA will assist any investigations by identifying Public Service employees in corruption cases. In this regard, the DPSA will assist with the identification of Public Service employees from the SRD Grant cases, and after investigations established criminal conduct involving public service employees, the PAEIDTAU will monitor if national and provincial departments are taking disciplinary steps against the identified employees. The Department of Social Development will have to implement measures on their systems to prevent government employees to be able to fraudulently and/or unlawfully apply for and/or receive the SRD grants, as those systems are not managed or maintained by the DPSA.

End

Reply:

a) Measures to maximize communication with DIRCO

Communication between the Department of Tourism and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is institutionalised and effective. The department works with DIRCO on matters pertaining to the implementation of tourism Bilateral and Multilateral Relations and Cooperation. The department working with South Africa Tourism and DIRCO provides support to South Africa’s missions to support tourism growth in pursuit of economic diplomacy.

b) (i) and (ii) How is communication monitored and measured?

Through management reporting.

c) (i) an ( ii) Success and failures of the (aa) past three financial years and (bb) since 1 April 2021

(aa) Since the establishment of the standalone Department of Tourism the two departments work well together resulting in, amongst others, the identification of Tourism as a pillar of Economic Diplomacy.

(bb) Since the onset of COVID-19 both departments adjusted well to working remotely and have kept constant virtual contact.

Reply:

The National Department, in cooperation with Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), submitted approved business plans to the National Treasury for the new financial year with the subsequent release of funds to provinces in April 2021. Amidst COVID-19 restrictions and to ensure learners receive meals, the Programme is implemented using three feeding modalities (i) feeding learners attending school (ii) collection of meals by learners not attending school due to rotation, and (iii) collection of food item/parcels by learners and/or parents. Provinces monitor and support schools. 

Reply:

The numbers referenced in the document are BAS Payment numbers.

Please find attached the extract of BAS payments made by the National Department of Human Settlements and Water and Sanitation to Travel with Flair. These payments were consolidated payments which included other items and or services that were not Covid-19 related.

(a) PM-2420322, Total payment of R487 735.00 of which R103 000.00 was Covid related.

(b) PM-2420317, Total payment of R437 710.00 of which R126 875.00 was Covid related.

(c) PM-2420328, Total payment of R496 715.20 of which R59 830.00 was Covid related.

(d) PM-2420330, Total payment of R272 005.00 of which R135 000.00 was Covid related.

(e) PM-2420329, Total payment of R492 595.00 of which R253 750.00 was Covid related.

(f) PM-2420326, Total payment of R199 105.00 of which R125 750.00 was Covid related.

In all cases the Covid-19 related expenditure (in red text on Annexure A) is referring to “Consumables: Medical Kit”. Based in this payment information, the National Treasury cannot completely determine whether these payments constitute irregular expenditure.

The National Treasury will, however, request the Department of Human Settlements and Water and Sanitation to provide the details of the transactions to determine whether the transactions complied with National Treasury Instruction No. 05 of 2020/2021 which was applicable at the time of the transactions.

Reply:

The Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) section 5 mandates National Treasury to fulfil its responsibilities in terms of Chapter 13 of the Constitution and MFMA, to the extent necessary to comply with this requirement, the National Treasury may monitor and assess compliance by municipalities and municipal entities with the act; and any applicable standards of generally recognised accounting practice and uniform expenditure and revenue classification systems amongst others.

The National Treasury performs assessments on the establishment and the functioning of the audit committees in municipalities. The focus is on the Non-delegated municipalities, because of the size of their budgets and the types of services provided. The assessments are utilised to develop support programmes for audit committees and internal auditors in these municipalities. The review is performed annually and focuses on:

• Establishment, membership and appointment
• Skills, experience and training
• Meetings of the committee
• Resources
• Relationship with council and management
• Oversight responsibilities
• Audit Committee assessments
• Reporting

In terms of the oversight responsibilities of ensuring that management implements corrective action of previously reported findings by both Auditor-General and Internal Audit units, the National Treasury’s assessment found that the majority of the committees do track management’s efforts to implement corrective action, however, there is room for improvement on the rate at which management implements the recommendation from the auditors. This is one of the root causes for recurring or repeat findings from the auditors.

Reply:

The National Treasury receives limited financial information from each of the municipalities and we therefore recommend that this detailed information is sourced directly from the finance division of the City of Ekurhuleni who is best placed to give the explanations required.

Reply:

National Departments

1. Table 1 below provides the total Rand value of invoices older than 30 days that were not paid as at 31 December 2020.

Table 1: National Departments: Rand value of Unpaid Invoices as at 31 December 2020

No.	National Department	Rand Value
1	Cooperative Governance	R 17,850
2	Police	R 71,674
3	Home Affairs	R 636,813
4	Statistics South Africa	R 832,404
5	Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities	R 1,712,016
6	Mineral Resources and Energy	R 4,311,452
7	Public Works and Infrastructure including PMTE	R 51,673,929
8	Water and Sanitation including Trading Entity	R 357,636,505
Total Rand Value	R 416,892,642

Provincial Departments

(2)(a) Table 2 below provides the total Rand value of invoices older than 30 days that were not paid as at 31 December 2020.

Table 2: Provincial Departments: Rand value of Unpaid Invoices at the end of December 2020

No.	Provincial Government	Rand Value
1	Northern Cape	R 517,636
2	Western Cape	R 600,546
3	Limpopo	R 28,471,372
4	Mpumalanga	R 97,788,753
5	Kwazulu-Natal	R 104,363,510
6	Free State	R 112,778,551
7	North West	R 351,858,302
8	Gauteng	R 389,973,533
9	Eastern Cape	R 2,114,327,450
Total Rand Value	R 3,200,679,654

b) Table 3 below provides a list of provinces that are worst performing in terms of payment of suppliers within the prescribed period.

Table 3: Worst performing provincial departments in each province at the end of December 2020

No.	Provincial Government	Rand Value 31 December 2020	Worst offenders (Department)	Rand Value 31 March 2021	%
1	Northern Cape	R 517,636	Education	R 517,636	100%
2	Western Cape	R 600,546	Education	R 600,546	100%
3	Limpopo	R 28,471,372	Health	R 18,000,716	63%
4	Mpumalanga	R 97,788,753	Health	R 97,788,753	100%
5	Kwazulu-Natal	R 104,363,510	Education	R 71,235,451	68%
6	Free State	R 112,778,551	Health	R 64,549,129	57%
7	North West	R 351,858,302	Health	R 327,595,920	93%
8	Gauteng	R 389,973,533	Health	R 342,257,759	88%
9	Eastern Cape	R 2,114,327,450	Health	R 2,025,125,297	96%
		R 3,200,679,654		R 2,947,671,207	92%

Provincial departments of Health and Education contributed 92% of the total rand value not paid by provincial departments as at December 2020.

Reply:

a) Total number of complaints received by the department in each month in the past three financial years.

Period/ Month	TOTAL NUMBER OF TOURIST COMPLAINTS MANAGED
	2018/ 2019	2019/2020	2020/21
April	8	9	34
May	4	6	25
June	2	5	40
July	4	7	20
Aug	6	4	33
September	2	3	42
October	14	12	54
November	2	3	30
December	2	2	6
January	9	15	28
February	11	25	24
March	1	33	40
Total	65	124	376

(b) Refunds, rescheduling of reservations, service levels, alleged non-compliance with COVID19 protocols and acts of discrimination.

c) The Tourism Act, 2014 (Act No. 3 of 2014) makes provision for the Department of Tourism to put systems in place for dealing with complaints lodged by tourists in respect of tourism services, products or facilities. The Regulation on the Prescribed Manner and Procedure for Lodging and Dealing with Tourism Complaints outlines the process to be followed when managing tourism complaints.

The main focus is on mediation and amicable resolution of tourist complaints and that has proved to be effective. In cases where mediation fails, complaints are referred to other relevant structures for further intervention where applicable.

d) (i) and (ii) Database and records of all complaints received, managed and referred are kept and updated.

Reply:

In terms section 51(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, the responsibility to, amongst others, manage revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities lie with the accounting authority. The executive authority of the South African Post Office is the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, who has the responsibility to oversee any plans to return the Post Office to solvency. The National Treasury cannot take over the functions of the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, and the accounting authority, who is the board of the Post Office.

Reply:

a) What are the next immediate steps of the specified process.

SA Tourism conducted a study to determine the readiness of trade (supply side) to participate in future shows and buyers (demand side) to place business in the market (demand side).

Further studies were conduced to determine the viability of a Hybrid model which comprises of virtual & physical format of the trade shows. The outcome indicates that tangible ROI from meeting engagements needs to be derived for exhibitors and buyers.

The team is currenly finalising the proposed approach and dates for both Africa’s Travel Indaba and Meetings Africa to be hosted in 2021.

b) What are the (i) timelines, (ii) time frames and (iii) deadlines in this regard.

Given the current situation due to the global pandemic, physical participation, vaccine roll-out and travel restrictions, this is an ongoing evaluation to determine when the trade show can be hosted. No date has yet been established for the hosting of the show.

c) Changes in the form and content of:

(i) Africa’s Travel Indaba and (ii) Meetings Africa

The proposed approach is a Hybrid model which comprises the hosting of the platform in a combination of physical and virtual formats. Details will be communicated once finalized

(ii) The Welcome Programme

The Welcome Program seeks to inspire and educate South African tourism role players and ordinary South Africans to deliver exceptional visitor experience. This is done through authentic interactions and the delivery of great customer service.

As an extension of the Welcome Program is the “Make Someone’s Day” initiative, which is positioned to showcase and highlight the importance of trade in the tourism value chain. We create and sustain partnerships with the trade through information sharing, toolkit developments, training and fact sharing, including implementing key ports of entry activations.

d) Contents of the Partnership Policy that has been developed.

SA Tourism recognises the important role of strategic Partnerships in furthering the discharge of its legislative mandate by broadly leveraging opportunities, spend, reach and influence beyond traditional tourism source markets with a direct measurable correlation with tourism destination choice (destination brand strength), travel decision and transactions (arrivals) and in-market spend (GDP contribution).

The aim of this Policy is accordingly to regulate the participation of SA Tourism in any Partnerships by providing clear governing principles relating thereto in order to ensure that such Partnerships further entity’s legislative mandate, are aligned to its strategic objectives, add value and are conducted in a consistent and fair manner. The Partnership Policy focuses on five categories:

• National Imperative Marketing Partnerships
• Tourism Targets and Brand Strength Driver Partnerships
• Market Development Driver Partnership
• Bid Support Partnerships
• Trade Partnerships

Reply:

a) On 2 December 2009, Cabinet resolved that departments must implement mechanisms to ensure that payments to suppliers are paid within 30 days from the date of receiving an invoice. On 22 November 2010, Cabinet reiterated its decision taken on 2 December 2009 regarding the payment of invoices.

b) In addition, the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD) resolved that the National Treasury must provide the Forum with regular reports on the extent of compliance by departments with the requirement to pay suppliers invoices within 30 days.

c) In November 2011, National Treasury published a Treasury Instruction Note No. 34 which emphasised the importance of the payment of suppliers timeously and enjoins departments to submit reports to their relevant treasuries each month with information related to the:

• number and value of invoices paid after 30 days from the date of receiving invoices;
• number and value of invoices that are older than 30 days which remained unpaid; and
• reasons for late and / or non-payment of the invoices.

The National Treasury Instruction Note 34 further requires accounting officers to put systems in place to enable tracking of invoices received.

d) Since 2012, the National Treasury has been actively monitoring compliance with Treasury Regulation 8.2.3 and report quarterly on the level of non-compliance with the requirement to pay suppliers within 30 days as well as the recommendations to improve the level of compliance to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) to present to the FOSAD. The National Treasury also submits an annual report to the Standing Committee of Public Accounts, Standing Committee of Finance and Cabinet. These reports are also shared with the Public Service Commission and Department of Small Business Development.

e) The National Treasury in its continued effort to assist public sector institutions to meet their contractual obligations and to remind heads of institutions of this requirement, issued a treasury circular on 23 March 2018 to urge heads of institutions to put measures in place to pay valid invoices and claims as required by the legislation, strengthen internal controls and monitor the implementation thereof, institute disciplinary steps against those employees who undermine the legislative requirement or set internal controls, and to remind relevant authorities that failure to take disciplinary steps against those employees constitute non-compliance and misconduct.

f) Some of the initiatives that the National Treasury took to address this matter are as follows:

• The National Treasury in collaboration with DPME visited all provincial departments of Health to understand challenges that are faced by these departments in paying legitimate invoices within 30 days and to develop action plans to address identified challenges and improve compliance levels;

• The National Treasury embarked on roadshows in certain provinces to encourage government departments at various levels to adhere to commitments made on payment of invoices within the stipulated 30-day period as a critical element to support SMMEs who do business with the state;

• The National Treasury established a hotline where queries related to non-payment of invoices are received from suppliers. The National Treasury assists suppliers by following up with transgressing departments on reported late payment of invoices and provides feedback on to the supplier on (i) reasons for the delay and (ii) date payment will be effected. At a provincial level, the process is handled by the Office of the Provincial Accountant-General.

• The National Treasury is in the process of finalising a guideline on payments within 30 days to assist accounting officers with measures to implement to improve the level of compliance and pay invoices on time and also improve their internal control systems in relation to processes and procedures to be followed when effecting payments.

g) Whilst it is not currently a legal requirement that public entities must settle their invoices within 30 days, it is considered a best practice. When amendments are effected to the Treasury Regulations, public entities will also be legally required to pay their invoices within 30 days from date of receipt of an invoice.

Reply:

(a) and (b). The Minister and Department of Health have advised the country that the implementation of the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) is the most effective way of preventing the spread of COVID-19. To that end, the Department of Basic Education has developed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Management and Containment of COVID-19, which are used in the basic education sector.  Learners, teachers and non-teaching staff are provided orientation on the SOP.  Schools ensure that the SOP is adhered to, and that the COVID-19 cleaning and sanitising resources are available.  The wearing of face masks is mandatory in schools.  Screening is conducted for learners, staff and visitors.  All these measures continue to be emphasised so that schools remain a much safer environment for all.   

Reply:

As the two Co-chairpersons, we have had a series of meetings with both the Technical Team and the IMC members to put together a discussion document and Action plan on policy intervention areas, short term, medium and long term measures.

We have submitted to Cabinet, policy areas that some of the IMC member department and intervention that we will be focusing on.

As for the Department of Employment and Labour, we committed to:

• participate in the joint inspections that were to be conducted in the various sectors of our economy where we received or continue to receive high presence of undocumented foreign nationals.
• Coordination of the Trucking and Road Freight Industries stand-off and ensuring the participation of the various stakeholders in the established Bargaining Council to resolve their disputes.
• To develop and present a Draft National Labour Migration Policy as a sub-theme of the broader National Employment Policy that we have been tasked to develop.
• To present Draft legislative provisions to realise proposals outlined in the Draft Policy.

We have done our part and I have instructed the Director General of the Department to convene a Technical Task Team meeting of the IMC to gather progress report from each of the member departments. We will be approaching the IMC to secure a sign-off on the second progress report that we are going to table to Cabinet somewhere in June 2021.

Reply:

1. The nature of operations of the Fund is such that it collects and processes large volumes of personal information of its clients (beneficiaries, and Medical Service Providers). The threat in the Annual Performance Plan was highlighted in the context of the risk of potential breach of personal information. In the event that such personal information is not adequately and safely managed/stored, it might fall into wrong hands and with the potential of being abused/misused.

2. Yes. The Act has proven to be an important safeguard against abuse of personal information. The Fund has developed and is implementing a compliance plan.

Reply:

1. Unpaid Invoices

The accounting officer for a department, trading entities or constitutional institutions are required in terms of section 38(1)(f) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) to settle all contractual obligations and pay all money owing, including intergovernmental claims, within the prescribed or agreed period. Treasury Regulation 8.2.3 provides that “Unless determined otherwise in a contract or other agreement, all payments due to creditors must be settled within 30 days from receipt of an invoice or, in the case of civil claims, from the date of settlement or court judgement”.

Accounting authorities of public entities are required in terms of section 51(b)(iii) to manage the working capital of the public entity efficiently and economically.

A National Treasury Instruction Note No. 34 was issued to accounting officers of departments requesting exception reports to be submitted to their relevant treasuries on (a) number and value of invoices paid after 30 days from the date of receiving invoices, (b) number and value of invoices older than 30 days that has not been paid and (c) reasons for the late and/or non-payment of the invoices.

The National Treasury established a Call Centre to allow suppliers to log and report non-payment of invoices by government institutions for the National Treasury to take steps in ensuring that such suppliers are paid and make necessary follow-up with those respective institution to determine root cause for the non-payment of reported invoices that remain unpaid and facilitate and fast track the payment of those invoices with the relevant institution, the Call Centre can be accessed on the following address: [email protected].

Similarly, section 65 (2) (e) and 99 (2) (b) of the MFMA requires the accounting officer of the municipality and municipal entity to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all money owing by the municipality be paid within 30 days of receiving the relevant invoice or statement.

Information on invoices specified in the list will be followed up with the relevant institutions to ensure that payment is made.

2. Payment of unpaid invoices

Accounting officers, accounting authorities, municipal managers and accounting officer of municipal entities are entrusted with financial management responsibilities in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, Act No. 1 of 1999 (PFMA) and Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003 (MFMA) to ensure that all contractual obligations are met and that payment to suppliers are made on time. Accountability arrangements in terms of these two pieces of legislation require each institution to plan, budget, contract and pay for goods delivered and services rendered, and it is, therefore, the responsibility of the institution to ensure that all valid invoices paid on time.

The National Treasury does not make payments to supplier’s invoices that remain unpaid by other organs of state due to accountability arrangements embedded in the PFMA and the MFMA. The Call Centre is used to assist suppliers to ensure that organs of state adhere to legislative requirements and honor their contractual obligations.

Reply:

The Department of Employment and Labour has conducted two (2) investigations relating to farmworkers. These were at farms in the Western Cape Province. The findings are that (a) a total number of 194 farmworkers were defrauded of their benefits by their employers. The first employer deducted 5% of the COVID-19 TERS benefit claiming that it was to be used to cover bank charges and administrative costs. In the second investigation it was found that the employer should not have applied for the benefit as no employees were eligible as their contracts had expired and they were no longer in the service of the employer (b) Both incidents were reported to the SAPS and fraud cases were opened for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Reply:

a. After looking at the sectors mentioned by the honourable member, it was agreed that there needs to be an act that provide for quotas for nationals v/s non-nationals in those sectors. The officials have been tasked with a job to develop a bill to that effect.

b. For now they are being renewed until such time that the asylum seeker backlog has been cleared. Then a decision will be made. Remember that these permits were a results of the backlog which DHA could not handle.

c. The aim of the inter-ministerial committee is to advise Cabinet on what to do with the issue of migration seeing that most of the people asking for asylum are in fact just economic migrants.

END

Reply:

Learners transported per quarter
PROVINCE	NEEDS
	No. of Learners in Need	No. of Learners being Transported	No of Learners not being Transported
Eastern Cape	111 127	124 727	0
Free State	12 045	8 948	3 097
Gauteng	161 375	160 439	936
KwaZulu Natal	179 318	62 070	117 248
Limpopo	49 892	47 276	2 616
Mpumalanga	63 000	62 160	840
North West	72 210	63 636	8 574
Northern Cape	27 256	25 372	1 884
Western Cape	60 215	61 498	0
TOTAL	736 438	616 126	135 195

Reply:

Please see the attached reply to question 100 attached as Annexure A

Reply:

a) The CCMA has noticed an emerging trend where political parties with established labour desks/advice offices are representing parties in CCMA processes, making use of the expanded representation provision as per CCMA Rule 25(6). This trend is likely to continue as worker representativity across various workplaces is declining with vulnerable workers seeking or forming new associations to assist them.

b) The participation of political parties in CCMA processes may be perceived as political interference by the public, posing a risk to the perceived objectivity and independence of the CCMA

Reply:

According to the data reported by Statsa in the quarterly labour force survey (QLFS) during quarter 1 of 2020, almost 71.7% of the unemployed youth remain unemployed for more than 1 year, whilst 28.3% remain unemployed for less than 1 year.

Reply:

Please see the attached reply to question 542 attached as Annexure A.
 

Reply:

a. After looking at the sectors mentioned by the honourable member, it was agreed that there needs to be an act that provide for quotas for nationals v/s non-nationals in those sectors. The officials have been tasked with a job to develop a bill to that effect.

b. For now they are being renewed until such time that the asylum seeker backlog has been cleared. Then a decision will be made. Remember that these permits were a results of the backlog which DHA could not handle.

c. The aim of the inter-ministerial committee is to advise Cabinet on what to do with the issue of migration seeing that most of the people asking for asylum are in fact just economic migrants.

END

Reply:

According to the data collected through Learner Unit Record Information System (LURITS), there were approximately 301 217 undocumented immigrant learners in South African schools, in 2020. However, it is not known whether their parents were documented or not as it is not compulsory for parents to submit documentation before their children are admitted to a school. There is court case judgment regarding this matter. 

Reply:

a) No, the Department has not calculated the estimated additional costs due to B-BBEE legislation and/or regulations. Compliance with B-BBBEE and/or regulations is a legal requirement under the PPPFA.

b) No, compliance with local content requirements are a legal requirement under the PPPFA.

By complying with B-BBBEE and local contents requirements, the Government promote and drives economic transformation, which in turn contribute to economic growth. B-BBEE and localisation add value to our society through its commitment to skills development together with the contribution to social development and transformation.

The Department through the IPP Office publishes quarterly reports for IPP projects connected to the grid. These reports include economic development achievements in line with commitments made by IPPs. The reports can be accessed here: https://www.ipp-projects.co.za/Publications

 

Reply:

a) The total combined power output/capacity of the three (3) floating Liquefied Natural Gas (“LNG”) Turbine, or Powership, projects appointed as Preferred Bidders under the Risk Mitigation Power Producer Procurement Programme (“RMIPPPP”) is 1 220 MW, broken down between the 3 follows:

• Karpowership SA Coega, 450 MW
• Karpowership SA Richards Bay, 450 MW
• Karpowership SA Saldanah, 320 MW

b) Regarding (i) and (ii), the power procured under the RMIPPP will be dispatchable and the Seller (the IPP) will be compensated for availability(capacity) for energy output generated following a Dispatch Instruction from the Buyer. The cost of the bid by the bidder is inclusive of grid connection costs. The cost per KWh in April 2021 terms and assuming a 75% load factor is as follows:

• Karpowership SA Coega, R1,359 / KWh
• Karpowership SA Richards Bay, R1,389 / KWh
• Karpowership SA Saldanah, R1,616 / KWh

Reply:

 

a) The Department is using successes achieved and lessons learnt from Phase 1 of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) - Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI), to plan for Phase 2 of the Initiative.  In order to address COVID-19 related challenges on teaching and learning, there will still be a bias towards supporting educators through Education Assistants.  General School Assistants will also be provided to assist schools to implement the necessary health, safety and hygiene measures.  The details regarding implementation, will be announced once funding has been confirmed and planning finalised.

(b) The PYEI - BEEI is part of a temporary relief programme to alleviate the impact of COVID-19, for which limited funding was provided.  The established management and governance structures in the Provincial Education Departments will continue to support teachers, learners and schools.  Through the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC), the sector mobilises communities to support education as a societal matter.

Reply:

(1) Northern-Cape Department of Social Development does not owe any rental to anyone for the Williston offices - as the Department owns the office building in Williston.

(2) (a) We do not owe money to municipalities in the Northern Cape. (b) None. (c) None.

National Assembly Written Reply: 944 of 2021

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

Reply:

1(a) The total number of doctors contracted nationally currently stands at 290. These doctors supplement the capacity provided by the Department of Health

(b) Every client who is seen by a contracted doctor comes with a referral form, which details the history of the condition, as well as the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. This assists the assessing doctor to make a recommendation based on both the presentation by the client as well as the documents provided.

Where the doctors undertake file based assessments, they have access to the clinical file which contains all the information related to that client. Where the information on the file is inadequate, then a telephonic interview is conducted.

The above measures all assist in ensuring that informed recommendations are made.

2(a) With the removal of duplicates on the lists and re-instatements that occurred in January 2021, the baseline for the Region was reduced to 13 488. Out of this baseline of 13 488, by end March 2021 a total of 12 344 clients had been booked for assessments, 10 458 assessments (77%) had been conducted and 9 260 applications processed on the system.

The contracts of 28 medical doctors have been approved for the Northern Cape and all are currently conducting medical assessments throughout the Region.

(b) During this project, a total of 10 458 assessments translating to 77% of the baseline were conducted. Staff worked over-time (after-hours & week-ends) to ensure that this target was reached.

3. While the file based assessments have been conducted for the care dependency grants, there has been a slow response to the request for the care giver to return to complete the application process. Of the 11 243 which were lapsed at the end of December, only 5 865 have returned as disability grant recipients as at 31 March 2021.

4. It is not possible to indicate in advance what the amount is that will be spent on overtime for the staff, as the amount to be paid depends on the number of hours worked as well as the salary level of each particular staff member. There is not a standard amount per staff member.

Each region has to manage the overtime within the regulations, which stipulate that no staff member may earn more than 30% of his/her salary in overtime payments and no staff member may work more than 10 hours overtime per week; as well as within the available budget.

5.(a) No support offices have been opened to support the local offices, However, where possible, previously utilised service points are used to provide the services to limit the number of clients who have to report to a local office.

(b) A total of 1 013 volunteers are assisting with multiple services offered by SASSA, including assisting with queue management at local offices, post offices and other grant access points. These volunteers assist greatly in ensuring that social distancing is maintained while the clients are in the queues. However, there are certainly areas where there are insufficient volunteers.

National Assembly Written Reply: 494 of 2021

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

Reply:

(1) A manual collateral management system is in place. This process involves the Portfolio Management and Valuations-, Legal- and Finance teams in consultation with the respective deal teams and the collateral will be valued by external valuers. A process has started to upgrade to an automated system.

(2) The Report of the Mpati Commission of Inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), together with its recommendations, was adopted in full by the PIC Board and is being implemented. The Report contains more than 300 recommendations. As at December 2020, 16.36% of the recommendations were fully implemented and 52.12% partially implemented. Implementation is continuing on those that are still open.

(A detailed presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance on the implementation of the recommendations is available on the PIC website under “Presentations”)

Seeing that some recommendations require additional work to be done, a few of which by external parties, it is difficult to put a timeframe to the finalization of all recommendations.

Reply:

Cognisance of the Auditor-General’s findings is taken. It must however, be noted, that the mandatory investigative processes need to be undertaken by the relevant authorities, such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and in some cases, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). Once these investigations have been completed, the necessary information will be obtained by the DPSA, and will be communicated to the relevant department/s. The DPSA, through the Technical Assistance Unit will ensure that it keeps abreast of the developments so as to offer support to departments and monitor the management of disciplinary actions instituted against those public servants who are found guilty.

End