Questions and Replies

Reply:

a) There was an elaborate process that culminated in a narrow criterion, determining whether the property was vacant or underutilised (partially vacant). The process involved a desktop spatial analysis; physical verification; desktop agricultural potential analysis; verification of land restitution claims; and final verification utilising local departmental knowledge. Each one of these steps contain detailed activities that can be outlined should that be considered necessary. The focus, for purposes of this question, will be restricted to the desktop spatial analysis.

The desktop spatial analysis included the identification and sourcing of data sets; definition of the terms vacant and partially vacant (underutilised); defining the parameters to identify vacant and partially vacant agricultural state land; mapping agricultural state land; and performing a desktop Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis on the data.

Identification and Sourcing of Data

The datasets listed below were identified and obtained from the identified data custodians:

• Cadastral data from Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development;
• Deeds Registration data from Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development;
• Land parcels identified as vacant by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure;
• National Land Cover for the year 2017 from Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development;
• South African Protected Areas Database for the year 2018 from Environment, Forestry and Fisheries;
• Indigenous Forests Inventory from Environment, Forestry and Fisheries;
• Land Capability (Terrain Capability) from Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; and
• Traditional community boundaries from Traditional Affairs.

Definition of Terms and Parameters for determining Vacant Land

• The term vacant refers to a piece of land that is not occupied or not being used for any specific purpose whilst the term partially vacant refers to a property when only parts of it have been classified as vacant.
• The 2017 Land Cover dataset, which was used, is a national land cover classification generated using multispectral satellite imagery with a multi-temporal analysis technique, produced by National Geospatial Information within Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
• The table below shows the selected land cover classes from the national land cover data which were utilised to identify agricultural land as vacant or not vacant.

Selected Land Cover Classes, 2017

No	Land Cover Class	Classification
1	Natural wooded	Vacant
2	Shrubland	Vacant
3	Grassland	Vacant
4	Waterbodies	Not vacant (depending on coverage)
5	Wetlands	Not vacant (depending on coverage)
6	Barren land	Vacant
7	Cultivated	Not vacant
8	Built-up	Not vacant
9	Mines and quarry	Not vacant
10	Planted Forest	Not vacant

• Indigenous forest dataset was used to classify properties located in indigenous forest as not vacant.
• The Protected Areas Database was used to classify properties located within these areas as not vacant.
• Although terrain capability is one of three building blocks (soil, climate and terrain) for land capability, only terrain capability was used in this analysis. Terrain capability includes aspects such as slope gradient, slope direction, slope shape, ground roughness, altitude and streams (drainage network). Land with a terrain capability value between “Very Low and Low to Moderate” was subtracted from vacant and partially vacant land.
• Land that is located within traditional community boundaries was regarded as not vacant.
• State land acquired in terms of the Pro-active Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) and by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, was regarded as not available for redistribution.
• Land that is claimed in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act was regarded as not available for redistribution, depending on the phase of the claim and options selected by the claimants.

Criteria Used

• In view of what has been explained above, the ultimate criteria that was determined is that:
  • • • • The land cover class is either grassland, barren land, shrubland or natural wooded;
        • the property is located on suitable terrain capability;
        • the property is less than 10% within an indigenous forest;
        • the property is less than 10% within a protected area;
        • the property is not located in an area which is likely being used for communal grazing;
        • the property is not part of Pro-active Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) land or State land acquired by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights for settlement of claims;
        • the land parcel is not un-registered;
        • the aggregated vacant or partially vacant land available per property is bigger than 50 hectares; and
        • The property is not claimed in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act.

b) The final list was a product of collaboration amongst various business units of the Department in the manner outlined in the table below:

Desktop Spatial Analysis:	Chief Directorate: Property Management and Advisory Services
Desktop Agricultural Potential Analysis:	Directorate: Land Use and Soil Management
Verification of Land Restitution Claims:	Commission on Restitution of Land Rights
Final Verification utilising local departmental knowledge	Provincial Shared Services Centres

c) No personal communication was sent out to farmers, however there were media briefings that were generally accessible to the public.

Reply:

Honourable Member, the said Regulations do not make provision for a National Procurement Officer.

Rand Water was appointed to provide programme management for the provision of water tanks, water tankers and augmentation of water resources such as the equipping of boreholes as part of the COVID-19 intervention. Rand Water utilised its internal staff for the procurement of all goods and services for the implementation of the COVID-19 Intervention Project on behalf of the Department of Water and Sanitation. Further, Rand Water’s emergency procurement processes were applied for the procurement of goods as per the Disaster Management Act, 2002 and the Water and Sanitation Emergency Procurement Covid-19 Disaster Response Directions issued in terms of Regulation 10(8) of the Regulations issued under section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002). The Government Gazette containing the Directions referred to is attached as Annexure A.

Reply:

a) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development supplied 400 000 disposable masks, 200 000 reusable masks and 400 000 bars of soap for farmworkers.

(b)(i) The total number of black farmers who benefitted is unknown as the masks and bars of soap were mainly given to Organised Agricultural formations to distribute to farming operations irrespective of the race of farmers involved.

(ii) The expenditure was as follows: R13 700 000.00 – Masks.

R4 052 000.00 – Bars of soap.

Reply:

a) The vaccination programme is aims reduce the morbidity and mortality of Covid-19. Fundamentally, it is to ensure community survival and manage economic survival. It will do through two main objectives. In the short term it is to manage severity of disease and reduce mortality by vaccinating the most vulnerable (health care workers, elderly and those with co-morbilidies); and in the medium term to build herd immunity by vaccinating everyone else.

(i) Phase 1 of the programme is targeting health care workers. This phase will be completed by end April 2021. Phase 2 of the Programme will be completed by the end of quarter 2 of the 2021/22 financial year. Phase 3 of the Programme will be completed by the end of the 2021/22 financial year.

(ii) We are estimating that on average we would vaccinate 50,000 persons per day in quarter 1; progressively increasing to on average vaccinating 135,000 persons per day in quarter 4.

b) The National Department of Health promulgated the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Regulations in December 2017. These regulations make provision for a licensing and inspectorate processes and also stipulate the minimum requirements to become an EMS provider for both the public and private sectors. The process of accreditation of EMS providers in compliance with the EMS Regulations is ongoing at provincial level. Only those EMS providers and ambulance units that meet the requirements are issued license token and allowed to operate within the respective health districts.

In addition, the National Department of Health (NDOH) together with the Office of Health Standards and Compliance (OHSC), in consultation with the National Committee for EMS (Provincial EMS Managers) developed the draft Regulations relating to Standards for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to facilitate standardization and equitable services in the provision of public and private EMS countrywide by all accredited EMS providers – now published for public comment. The proposed regulation will not only maintain a standard of service delivery but will also improve the quality of service as well as maintaining a minimum standard of service delivery. It will enhance the EMS Regulation, by detailing the standards required in the provision of a high quality EMS. It will also assist in refining the licensing and inspection process of the EMS Regulations by the respective provincial Licensing and Inspectorate Authorities.

A 5 year quality improvement plan is embedded in the assessment tool – the Ideal EMS Framework – with systems in place for district, provincial and national monitoring which includes the Office of Health Standards Compliance when these regulations are promulgated.

EMS will also form an integral part of the Quality Learning Centres (QLCs) envisaged in the Presidential National Quality Improvement Plan to create centres of excellence in each province. These QLCs are the spearhead for improving service delivery in preparation for NHI.

END.

Reply:

I have been advised by the SAPO as follows:

1. (a) The Reygersdal branch’s electricity was disconnected due to cable theft in the area.

(b) The electricity was disconnected in mid-January 2021.

2. The electricity has since been restored.

3. The disconnection of electricity due to cable theft can not be predicted and planned for due to its nature. However, in instances where cable theft unexpectedly occurs, the Municipality is contacted to ensure urgent restorative maintanance to avoid prolonged disruption of services.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

The following information has been received from the Provincial Departments of Health:

1. The following table reflects the details in this regard:

PROVINCES	(a) number of the specified KN95 masks were imported for use and/or supply to SA healthcare workers	(b) total amount paid to the suppliers of these masks during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Eastern Cape	900,000	R38,270,000.00
Free State	450,000	R20,501,000.00
Gauteng	12,165,760	R114,863,550.03
KwaZulu-Natal	The only KN95 masks received were all donated stock.	R0.00
Limpopo	600,002	R16,500,025.00
Mpumalanga	450,000	R20,501,000.00
Northern Cape	280,000	R11,028,800.00
North West	165,000	R2,863,500.00
Western Cape	600,000	R28,715,000.00

(2) During the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic the only supplier contracted as part of the transversal contract was for Respirators that complied with the N95 (United States NIOSH-42CFR84) standard. The USA government during this period placed an embargo on the exportation of N95 respirators due to the demand for these in the USA. This situation impacted on the availability of N95 respirators in South Africa.

To manage the procurement of PPE, in this case respirators within the context of a global shortage, Treasury Notes 3 and 5 of 2020/21 made special provisions for the procurement of PPE in an emergency. National Treasury issued Treasury Note 3 of 2020/21 to allow for a central procurement mechanism which would have assisted provinces. However due to objections raised by stakeholders this note was repealed and replaced by Treasury Note 5 of 2020/21. Treasury Note 5 of 2020/218 then enabled local procurement of PPE within the framework of emergency procurement under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), as amended, and up to a value of R30 million on a decentralised basis by provinces.

(3) The Infection Prevention and Control guidelines developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic recommends the use of respirators in environments where aerosol generating procedures are performed.

These respirators or filtering facepiece respirators (FFR), are subject to various regulatory standards around the world. These standards specify certain required physical properties and performance characteristics for respirators to claim compliance with the particular standard.

• N95 (United States NIOSH-42CFR84)
• FFP2 (Europe EN 149-2001)
• KN95 (China GB2626-2006)

Noting that all of the above standards are comparable as per the below table.

The National Department of Health Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) policy includes Class B devices as registered by SAHPRA and specifically references half face particulate respirators as Class B: “N95”, “KN95”, “FFP2”, and “FFP3” single use disposable filtering facepiece respirators categorised as Class B medical devices by SAHPRA.

All respirators either procured or donated were submitted to the Protechnik Laboratory to assess their compliance with the equivalent South Africa standard: SANS1866-2:2018, SANS50149:2003, SANS50143:2003. Respirators that did not comply with the specified standard were repurposed to be used as surgical masks in low risk infectious areas or in instances where these were purchased the supplier claimed to meet these standards the respirators were returned to the supplier for possible replacement or refund. Any of the respirators that were inadvertently distributed to a setting where it was recommended that a respirator was required these were recalled and replaced with respirators that were compliant with the specified standard. Noting that the laboratory test results were used to assess the compliance of respirators that claimed compliance of the KN95 (China GB2626-2006) specified standard and not all KN95 were found to be non-compliant.

(4) 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.

• 1. 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.
  2. Failed tests require a second batch of randomly selected (or the same) respirators be sent for formal testing as per point 6.
  3. 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).
  4. 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:

(a) The tender specification of Travel With Flair (TWF) is attached as Annexure A.

(b) The tender was awarded to Travel with Flair on 16 October 2017.

(c) & (d) From the commencement date of the tender until to date the department paid R401 113 751.00. This is a total amount spent inclusive of local accommodation provided, international accommodation provided, local air transport, international air transport, local land transport, community events management, conferences, seminars, departmental functions, information sessions, training sessions, departmental management meetings (away from department’s offices and usually with other spheres of government), travel agency service fees, travel agency back office processing fees and travel agency conference and events management fees.

(e) to (h) There were no deviations processed. The personal protective equipment paid for were part of the costs of community events the company coordinated or managed on behalf of the department. This was to ensure that the events comply with requirements of the guidelines issued by the Department of Health and SAPS as well as the disaster management regulations on Covid-19 issued by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,

 

Reply:

According to the Provincial Departments of Health in the country –

(a) Most (4,601 including hospitals, clinics, mobiles and correctional centres report to DHIS) facilities have full capacity for ART treatment for HIV/AIDS in the Republic. All primary health care facilities and hospitals have full capacity for anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS in the Republic. However, small facilities often do not have more than 1 person trained to provide anti-retroviral treatment. Mobile health facilities do not have the full capacity for ART.

The table below indicate the number of Mobile health facilities per province.

Province	Number of mobile health facilities
Eastern Cape	177
Free State	135
Gauteng	106
KwaZulu-Natal	193
Limpopo	144
Mpumalanga	114
Northern Cape	54
North West	54
Western Cape	174
TOTAL	1,151

Where, mobile clinic facilities are not providing service, clients are referred to the nearest facility that provides for this service.

(b) (i) No patients were turned away from health care facilities without ARV treatment.

(ii) No facilities were affected in the country.

(c) All patients who visited health facilities received ART.

END.

Reply:

Honourable Member, it is important to distinguish the functions of various government departments and the different spheres of government when it comes to access to water and sanitation services.

• The Department of Water and Sanitation is the custodian of water and in terms of the National Water Act is responsible for ensuring that water as a resource is allocated equitably and used beneficially in the public interest, while promoting environmental values.
• Schedule 4B of the Constitution places the function of provision of water services to local government (municipalities).
• Section 154 of the Constitution places a responsibility on national and provincial government to support and regulate local government in carrying out this mandate.
• Section 3 of the Water Services Act outlines the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” and places the responsibility on Water Services Authorities to ensure that they develop a Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) to ensure the realisation of this right.
• Section 4 of the Water Services Act sets conditions for the provision of water services.
• Section 9 of the Water Services Act prescribes that the Minister may from time to time develop compulsory national norms and standards for water services which outline the exact levels of services that municipalities must provide.
• Section 10 of the Water Services Act provides norms and standards for setting tariffs for the provision of water services.
• Section 11 of the Water Services Act mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”
• Section 84(1) d of the Municipal Structures Act mandates that municipalities are responsible for the provision of potable water and domestic waste water disposal systems.

1. Phase 1 of the Driefontein Scheme was implemented by uThukela District Municipality and is now complete, whilePhase 2 is in progress. Phase 3 (i.e. Spioenkop-Ladysmith Scheme) consists of both economic and social components and requires contributions from beneficiaries of the project who are able to pay for services. As the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) does not cover costs pertaining to the economic component, the municipality had to come up with about R1 billion co-funding.

The municipality entered into negotiations with Umgeni Water with the aim to secure assistance with co-funding and the implementation of the project. After conducting due diligence, Umgeni Water decided to conduct further detailed feasibility studies on the project. To this end, Umgeni Water has appointed a professional service provider to undertake the pre-feasibility study. The detailed feasibility study of the uThukela DM Regional Bulk Water Supply Scheme (uTDM RBWSS) will include:

• Water resource modelling for the Upper uThukela Catchment,
• A pre-feasibility analysis to identify options for supply
• A detailed Feasibility Study of the most appropriate option for future bulk water supply to uThukela District Municipality.

(a) The total costs for the project can only be determined once the detailed feasibility study has been concluded because the information required to calculate costs will be obtained from the outcomes of the study.

 

(b-c) The funding allocations and the source of funding will be determined from information generated during the implementation readiness study. The implementation readiness study is dependent on conclusion of the detailed feasibility study will be determined once the total costs have been determined.

(d-g) The information on the proposed period of construction, including completion dates of a bulk raw water pipeline and the source of raw water and proposals for the filtration of the bulk raw water can only be determined once the detailed feasibility study has been concluded.

(2) The expenditure on water distribution infrastructure from inception up to 31 January 2021 is R102 400 021.

(3) The sources for the bulk distribution network are nine (9) production boreholes. The boreholes are being used as an interim source until long-term sustainable bulk water resource has been developed.

 

(4) The Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant allocations given to the Driefontein Water Complex Project since the 2010-11 financial year are as follows:

Financial year	Allocations
2010/11	R 11 470 200
2011/12	R 22 302 100
2012/13	R 16 308 355
2013/14	R 56 726 749
2014/15	R 80 977 114
2015/16	R 20 801 030
2016/17	R 64 000 000
2017/18	R 28 000 000
2018/19	R 45 000 000
2019/20	R 10 000 000
2020/21	R 39 399 000
Total	R394 984 548

Reply:

Yes, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that is currently being used to vaccinate healthcare workers is still part of a study.

The vaccine was used in a large international Phase 3 study which enrolled nearly 40,000 participants. The study showed that, in South Africa where we have the 501Y.V2 variant, the vaccine reduced severe disease by 81.7% and moderate disease by 64%. The Phase 3a study provided evidence of efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Because there is often a time lapse between a Phase 3 study being successfully completed, and the registration of a product for use outside of a clinical trial, an open label study is often used to bridge this gap. Phase 3b studies, the context in which this vaccine is being used, allows for early access to the vaccine and also enables the collection of additional data on safety, efficacy and how to introduce a new product. In a phase 3b study, although evidence of safety and efficacy is confirmed, informed consent must be obtained. In a phase 3b study, placebo is not used in the study and does not involve experimentation with any unproven vaccines.

A medicine is registered based on the evidence of safety and efficacy obtained from Phase 3 studies. The use of a registered medicine does not require informed consent, although as with any medicine, patients must understand what the vaccine is for, whether there are any specific side effects, and they must be willing to take it.

A phase 3b study and a vaccine roll-out both involve wide-scale implementation of Covid-19 vaccines, they differ only insofar as the type of regulatory approval required as well as the informed consent and information collected from those being vaccinated

END.

Reply:

As it stands all appointments made by this person were performed in line with the law and delegations and therefore they are all valid until declared invalid by a court of law. In addition, each appointment made creates a contract of employment and rights for employees in terms of the Labour Relations Act of 1995 and other labour legislation. The individual employees’ rights cannot be diminished by just one incident that has no bearing on their employment.

The dismissal of the person is regarded as a deterrent to all employees to act within the prescribed legislative framework and the organisation cannot conduct a witch-hunt where no allegation or evidence of wrong-doing exist. Such an approach will have a destabilising effect on the organisation. In this regard, it should be kept in mind that the recruitment and selection process is not undertaken by a single person, but by a Selection Committee comprising of at least three members and is guided by the Public Service Regulations, 2016, as amended, and the Departmental Policy on Recruitment and Selection. When the allegations came to the attention of the Executive Authority, the former employee was removed from all recruitment and selection processes within the organisation.

Since the dismissal of the former employee, the organisation has been at pains to institute additional controls in the human resources management environment to overcome the challenges identified in the recruitment and selection process, this includes but is not limited to a comprehensive legislative and policy framework checklist that accompanies each recruitment and selection process, as well as the review of human resources management policies.

Whistle-blowing Guidelines are in place to encourage and enable employees to raise serious concerns about fraud and corruption within the organisation or with the independent Audit Committee. All complaints are handled professionally and in line with the prevailing prescripts.

Reply:

The findings outlined in the Interim Report into Allegations of Racial Discrimination by Medical Schemes are very disconcerting. As part of the processes to better understand the findings, the recommendations emanating from these and also to determine the most appropriate actions required to ensure that the findings do not occur again, we had a briefing session with the Section 59 Panel on the 22nd December 2020. Given the nature of the findings and that the report is interim, there are no immediate actions being implemented. However, once all stakeholders have made their inputs and comments on the report and it is then finalised by the Panel, it is expected that the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) will submit the final report to the Department.

One of the proposed interventions identified in the Interim Report is that the Department has to ensure that the CMS and the Boards of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) determine the action plans they would be considering, particularly in relation to the Panel’s recommendations as to the two regulatory authorities and their areas of lack of oversight and guidance on matters pertaining to Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Additionally, it is expected that the CMS would investigate the provisions of Section 59 of the Medical Schemes Act, and where necessary propose legislative amendments (including supporting regulations) pertaining to schemes and administrators. This includes providing clear and consistent guidance to their regulated entities on current procedures followed by schemes to enforce their rights in terms of section 59 of the Act. I will also be requesting the CMS Board to provide me with regular updates on all actions taken to address the findings and progress on interventions implemented.

END.

Reply:

(1) (a) and (b)

Yes consideration was given to concerns raised not only by the Portfolio Committee but previously by the Minister and the Defence Force Service Commission.

Combat Boots

The SA Army engaged the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on the improvement projects of uniform and combat boots. The boot project of Special Forces was revived and improved as it was found to be suited for use by the SA Army. Development of the proposed boot for the SA Army with wearer trials of the new combat boot commenced on 01 December 2020.

The new boot roll-out will commence from 01 July 2021 to all SA Army members within the SANDF with priority given to operationally deployed Units and Individuals, replacing the current combat boot. This roll-out is pending the availability of funding to support and implement this project.

(1) (b): Camouflage Uniform

The improvement of the textile used for the cut, manufacture and trim of camouflage uniform is also being done in collaboration with the CSIR.

The first concept uniform designs will be presented to the SA Army Council by 30 March 2021 for approval.

Wearer trials for the new uniform design will commence from end June 2021 and a phased full roll-out is scheduled from December 2021 pending the availability of funding for this project.

A well-deserved funding injection of the budgetary allocation to the SA Army will aid in addressing the replacement of the current combat dress system with the quality available within the market through collaboration with the CSIR.

Reply:

In order to respond to this Question, information must be sourced from the provinces. The Department is still in the process of sourcing this information and as soon as all the information is received, the Minister will provide the response to the Question.

END.

Reply:

According to the North West Provincial Department of Health, Mokgareng Clinic has never been without medicines.

The Clinic has enough glucometers to assist diabetic patients. There may be times when one glucometer may be without batteries and because there is enough of them, the staff is able to continue with the work while the dead batteries of one glucometer are being replaced. The National Department of Health, working with the Provincial Department and the District will continue to monitor medicine as well as equipment availability in all facilities including for Mokgareng Clinic.

END.

Reply:

The functions and operations of the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) are provided for in the provisions of the Medical Schemes Act (131 of 1998). The primary function of the CMS is to provide regulatory oversight over the medical schemes industry. The CMS’ annual performance plan, including the targets outlined in this plan, are developed and finalised by the CMS’ executive team in full consultation with the Board. These plans are intended to address the challenges that the industry is facing, especially beneficiaries. The budget for the CMS is determined through an analysis of the previous year’s expenditure including any emergent projects – this budget is based on the provisions of the CMS Levies Act (58 of 2000). The CMS budget is based on the quantum of the levy that they can raise based on the number of principal members registered with medical schemes; and the number of medical schemes members is causally linked to the level of economic growth and performance.

The resource constraints plaguing the CMS are multifaceted and include a funding model that is heavily reliant on levies, regulatory tariffs that have not kept pace with consumer price index increases over time and the overall poor performance of the economy in recent years. To assist the CMS in addressing their budgetary constraints, the National Department of Health has been engaging with CMS to develop a new funding model that is more sustainable and reduces reliance on the fiscus, innovatively minimises reliance on medical scheme member levies and progressively increases the quantum of the budget that comes from regulatory tariffs (i.e. fees charged for accreditation of administrators, managed care organisations and registration of schemes and rules). Other innovative revenue generation considerations include raising additional revenues from Board of Trustee and Principal Officer training sessions as well as from webinars and conferences.

 

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to correct the impression that Government is considering medical schemes for facilitating National Health Insurance (NHI). The administration of National Health Insurance (NHI) is not going to be outsourced. There is no contemplation of subcontracting any administrator/s or schemes to manage the affairs of the NHI Fund.

END.

Reply:

1. The following are the projects financially supported in the year under review.

LIST OF CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROJECTS FUNDED DURING 2020/21
#	Name & surname	Date of Approval	Budget	Duration of the Project	Active/Non Active
1	Mr Barney Mokgatle	18/05/2020	R300.000	Not yet started	Non-Active
2	Mr Molaodi Sekake	18/05/2020	R100.000	18/03/2021 – 30/09/2021	Active
3	Ms Rosemary Gray	18/05/2020	R100 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
4	Mr Barney Mokgatle	18/05/2020	R300 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
5	Mr Mandlakayise Dube	18/05/2020	R350 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
6	Ms Fikile Hlatshwayo	18/05/2020	R300 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
7	Mr Mothobi Mutloatse	18/05/2020	R380 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
8	Mr Reedwaan Vally / New Africa Books	18/05/2020	R1,100 000	20/09/2020 – 31/03/2021	Active
9	Congress Mahlangu and Andre Marais / Reading Incubator SOECA	18/05/2020	R1 000 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
10	South African Book Development Council (SABDC)	18/05/2020 Has received annual funding for the period under review	R 2 500 000	20/12/2020 – 25/02/2021	Active
11	Nonhlanhla Matshazi / Londilox	18/05/2020	R2 000 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
12	South African Literary Awards (Raks Seakhoa)	13/03/2020 Has received annual funding for the period under review	R1 500 000	20/12/2020 – 31/03/2021	Active
13	Roshnie Moonsammy (Afro Arts SA) / African Women Writers Network project	13/03/2020 Has received funding in the period under review	R750 000	Not yet started	Non-Active
14	UKZN Time of the Writer Festival	13/03/2020	R800 000	01/07/2020 – 31/12/2020	Active
15	KZN Music Imbizo	24/08/2020	R1060,000	31/03/2021	Completed
16	Crown Gospel Awards	22/08/2020	R2000,000	31/03/2021	Active
17	Africa Rising International Film Festival (Streamed)	25/06/2019	R1,200,000	03/2019 – 05/2021 (2 yrs)	Active
18	Fashion Industry Awards (online launch)	01/09/2020	R500,000	15/02/2021	Active
19	Groovafest	17/12/2020	R1 000 000	31/03/2021	Active
20	Fashion Heritage Social Entrepreneur capacity building (online program)	01/09/2020	R1000 000	31/03/2021	Active
21	Content Creation/Innovative Hubs (Animation)		R 3 000 000	Not Started	Non Active
23	Emerging Creatives capacity building program (virtual & steamed)	22/09/2020	R1190 000	31/03/2021	Active
24	Dr Wally Serote Reading Incubator		R 1 000 000		Active
25	BOM Music Development Incubator Programme		R1 000 00		Completed
26	Playhouse company Incubator		R1 000 000		Active
27	Arts in Motion Incubator Programme		R1 000 000		Completed
28	Arts Cape Incubator		R1 000 000	Not started	Non Active
29	Reading Incubator & Athlone Hub		R 700 000		Active
30	Training program (Amambazo Mobile Academy)	16/07/2018	R12 million	30/06/2021	Non Active
31	INDONI SA		R10 milliom	Not Strated	Non Active
32	Covid Book and Women Network	-	R840 000	Not sarted	Non Active
33	South African Roadies Association (SARA) International Relations	21/12/2020	R1,265,000	31/03/2023	Active
34	CCIFSA	08/05/2020	R2.5millin	31/03/2021	Active
36	Northern Cape Provincial CADP		0.00		Active
37	Eastern Cape Provincial CADP	26/02/2020	450,000	31/03/2021	Active
38	Western Cape CADP	09/03/2021	450,000	31.04/2021	Active
39	Limpopo Provincial CADP	01/11/2019	0.00	30/05/2021	Active
41	North West CADP	08/03/2020	300,000	30/04/2021	Active
42	Gauteng Provincial CADP	10/03/2020	300,000	31/03/2021	Active
43	Mpumalanga Provincial CADP	01/11/2019	0.00	30/05/2021	Active
44	Free State Provincial CADP	01/11/2019	0.00	30/05/2021	Acrive
45	KZN Provincial CADP	26/02/2021	450,000	31/03/2021	Active
47	National Arts Festival		R3,5 million		Completed
48	Mai Mai	17/11/2020	R2. million	31/03/2021	Active
49	South African National Book Development Policy Consultative Session (s)	-	R1 300 000	Not started	Non Active
50	Downtown Studios	15/06/2020	R6 million	31/03/2020	Active
51	District Six	-	R3 million	Not started	Non Active
52	African Book Design Fair	-	R300 000	Not Started	Non Active
53	Spoken Word Youth Performance Poetry ( Hear my Voice)		R500 000		Active
54	Public Art project in Tembisa, Gauteng	30/06/2020	R250,000	31/03/2020	Active
55	Public Art project at Emakhazeni, Mpumalanga	30/06/2020	R500,000	31/03/2020	Active
56	SAMIC Conference	-	R604 000	Not Started	Non Active
57	Public Art project at Salt River, Western Cape	30/06/2020	R400,000	31/03/2021	Active
58	Public Art project at Eluthuthu, Eastern Cape	30/06/2020	R500,000	31/03/2021	Active
59	Gateways Public Art at Several Municipalities	30/06/2020	R500,000	31/03/2021	Active
60	KZN_ Wushini		R400 000	Not started	Non Active
61	LP_TLZ Development Projects		R400 000	Not stared	Non Active
62	MPUMALANGA_ Emthojeni			Not started	Non Active
65	Writers Guild of South Africa	October 19	R700 000	2019 -2021	Active
66	Siters Working in Film and TV	0ctober 2019	R246 000	2019 -2021	Active
67	South African Guild of Actors	19/07/2019	R300 000	31/03/2021	Active
68	South African Screen Federation (SASFED	19/07/2-19	R1 000 000	31/03/2021	Active
69	Independent Black Filmmakers Collective (IBFC)	1+9/07/2019	R964 750	31/03/2021	Active
70	South African Arts & Culture Youth Forum (SAACYF)	03=09=2019	R1,7 million	31/03/2020	Completed
71	Open Design Afrika	02/09/2020	R300 000	31/03/2021	Completed
72	The Village Knockout Foundation	22/11/2021	R516 850	31/03/2021	Active
73.	Marang Youth Development	22/11/2021	R600 000	31/03/2021	Active
74.	Somelezi Development & Project	22/11/2021	R638 000	31/03/2021	Active
75.	The Filed Band Foundation	22/11/2021	R700 000	31/03/2021	Active
76	Sizovelela Community Development	22/11/2021	R572 000	31/03/2021	Active
77.	Make It Happen (NPO)	22/11/2021	R500 000	31/03/2021	Active
78.	Unity and Cultural Diversity Council (NPO)	22/11/2021	R554 000	31/03/2021	Active
79.	Steelpan and Marimba Youth Development	03/02/2021	R590 000	31/03/2021	completed
80.	Ndwanenhle Rural Development	15/12/2020	R583 150	31/03/2021	Completed

2 . (a) 44 applications / projects are still active and the (b) names are reflected in the table above

Reply:

In order to respond to this Question, information must be sourced from the provinces. The Department is still in the process of sourcing this information and as soon as all the information is received, the Minister will provide the response to the Question.

END.

Reply:

This question was previously responded to during a Portfolio Committee meeting. Nevertheless let us repeat our previous explanation as it suggests there is a lack of understanding of scientific terminology.

Excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the total number of deaths reported in a specific time period and “expected” number of deaths in the same time periods.

The total number of deaths refers to the total number of people that died during a defined period of natural causes. The expected number of natural deaths is an estimate derived through modelling data, so it is not based on any confirmation of the actual cause of death. The model basically assumes that the trend in the number of deaths due to natural causes is similar to pre-COVID. Hence the excess deaths is an estimate as the difference between the total number of natural deaths and the estimated number of natural deaths. This exercise is useful for the purposes of assessing trends in mortality but cannot be used as an official statistics since it is based on an estimate. In the excess deaths estimate we cannot identify actual persons that may have died due to COVID.

(a) The Minister cannot update the official COVID death statistics based on an estimate of deaths. The official statistics is based on deaths of persons that are confirmed to have died due to COVID. This statistics is not an estimate.

(b) The official statistics of deaths due to COVID is an accurate representation of deaths in the country as each death reported is linked to the identity of a specific individual that died due to COVID. The excess deaths report from the MRC is an estimate that cannot be linked to the identity of a specific individual hence cannot form part of the official statistics.

END.

Reply:

1. Honourable Member, as you have correctly indicated, the challenges in the Ndlambe Local Municipality (LM) are as a result of a debilitating drought in that area of the Eastern Cape. The Department of Water Sanitation (DWS) is engaged in ongoing efforts to assist the municipality with challenges relating to the provision of water. To this end, there are ongoing bilaterals with the municipality through a Joint Operations Committee (JOC) and Project Steering Committee (PSC).

The DWS has provided financial support of R80 million to the municipality to alleviate the impact of the drought for the following projects which are expected to be completed by June 2021:

• Construction of a 2Ml/day Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Plant (SWRO)
• Construction of a 3Ml/day Waste Water Reclamation (WWR) plant next to the current Waste Water Treatment Works in Port Alfred.

Further, the DWS has allocated R5.19 million for the supply and delivery of standby generators at strategic points to lessen water interruptions when there are power failures in the area. The funds will be utilised for:

• • Retrofitting and plumbing at households to try and minimize the water losses
  • installation of zonal water meters
  • installation of valves and pressure regulating valves that are to do water balances and pressure regulation which will also lessen water losses
  • Construction of a 4.4km pipeline WTW emergency water supply scheme for Bathurst

A further amount of R30 million has also been allocated to finish the work on the Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis (BWRO) plant in Port Alfred which was designed to purify the brackish water from the Sarel Hayward Dam as well as to complete the work on the pipelines from Cannon Rocks to Alexandria which will assist in pumping more water to Alexandria.

It is important to note that in addition to funding received from the DWS, the Ndlambe LM also receives funding through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). The municipality is implementing a separate project to refurbish Alexandria’s current well field resources and to construct a BWRO plant at Cannon Rocks which will augment Alexandria’s water by 1Ml/day.

2. Amatola Water was appointed as an Implementing Agent by the Ndlambe LM to construct and complete the BWRO plant, and the pipelines from Cannon Rocks to Alexandria. The Water Board has not been appointed to do augmentation of water resources and they are not doing any work on Bathurst. The entity is providing water to Bushmans River and Kenton on Sea by means of well fields and a Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Plant (SWRO) plant located at the Bushmans River.

The Amatola Water Board has approached the DWS to initiate a feasibility study for water augmentation throughout the Ndlambe LM area of jurisdiction, which is still under consideration. The Water Board is also implementing a Rapid Response Project in Alexandria utilising drought funding allocated by the DWS. The aim of the project is to find additional ground water for Alexandria and to connect it to the water distribution system.

3. An investigation was done in 2004, which considered sourcing water from the Fish River as part of a holistic study, the Albany Coast Situation Assessment. The recommended option was for the Glen Melville (Fish River) to be considered as a last resort, and only in the long term when local resources have been fully exploited, and also only if sea water desalination is not economical at that stage. Therefore, the current plan is to consider other alternative possible water sources for Ndlambe Local Municipality.

4. As indicated above, the DWS is currently funding the construction of the Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) and Waste Water Reclamation (WWR) plant to augment water supply to Port Alfred and Bathurst.

The construction of the WWR plant is a pilot project for future water resources for the rest of the province of the Eastern Cape. At least two thirds of the water augmented by a municipality should reach the Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW’s) and be reclaimed, and be purified to acceptable quality for domestic use. The cost of reclamation and purification of waste water is far less than the cost of purification of sea water. If this pilot project proves to be successful it may be implemented at all the towns within the Ndlambe Local Municipality.

(a) A Waste Water Reclamation plant costs about R7 per 1ml/day and the running cost is in the order of R7/m³. Therefore, the total cost depends on the size plant needed.

(b) The design and tender processes may take up to 6 months and the construction time estimation is 4 to 6 months, depending on the size of the plant and where it is situated; which would add up to an estimated 12 months for the whole process.

Reply:

(a)​  The overall percentage (%) rate for vacant posts in State Hospitals is 13%. The table below indicates the (%) rate of vacant posts in State Hospitals per Province as at end February 2021.

Province	% Vacant posts in Hospitals
Eastern Cape	13%
Free State	21%
Gauteng	11%
KwaZulu Natal	14%
Limpopo Province	7%
Mpumalanga	12%
North West	14%
Northern Cape	17%
Western Cape	15%
Overall Total	13%

(b) The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients without comorbidities reported as at 14 April 2021 is as below, please note that the comorbidities indicator is not covered as the current reporting classification does not include it:

 

PROVINCE	TOTAL RECOVERIES
	14 April 2021
Eastern Cape	184,064
Free State	79,579
Gauteng	405,110
KwaZulu-Natal	319,830
Limpopo	60,970
Mpumalanga	74,225
North West	61,631
Northern Cape	33,215
Western Cape	268,249
Total	1,486,873

END

Reply:

1. The Commander in Chief requested medical support from the Republic of Cuba to assist in curving the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. In response to the Commander in Chief’s request, the Cuban Government offered a team that consisted of a Medical Health Care Brigade. The Department of Defence (DOD) was allocated with military health care professionals. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) chattered an aircraft to transport the Cuban medical practitioners, who arrived in South Africa on 27 April 2020.

In adherence to the World Health Organisation COVID-19 regulations, the DOD established a quarantine centre for personnel entering the borders of the Republic of South Africa (RSA). The Cuban Medical Health Brigade was quarantined at the identified centre. On completion of the quarantine, there was a delay in securing accommodation in the different Provinces due to the Level 5 national lockdown.

Consequently both military and the civilian Medical Health Brigade from Cuba were transported in the SANDF chattered aircraft at the cost of R8, 227, 060. 00, and on arrival they were accommodated and quarantined at the identified quarantine centre at the cost of R22, 000, 000.

2. The DOD chattered an aircraft to transport the Cuban Medical Brigade in order to assist with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic within the SANDF. Therefore with the pandemic having affected the whole country, the department carried the cost. In the interest of the national objective to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOD paid for accommodation, chattering and quarantine.

Reply:

I have been informed that the Housing Development Agency responded to a request for information by the Honourable Member on 9 April 2021.

 

Reply:

I have been informed by the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality that the main cause of the water outages in eThekwini in early January 2021 was the lack of capacity within the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality to deal with mechanical and electrical failures. There was a delay in the awarding of the maintenance contracts which are now in the final stages of procurement and should be awarded within the next month.

I am further informed that electricity outages result in a shortage of supply when there is load shedding. Therefore, the unit that deals with electricity issues in the municipality has been approached to find a way of excluding Wiggins and Durban Heights Waterworks from load shedding. I have been advised that it has now been agreed that the two works will be excluded from load shedding when ESKOM imposes levels below Level 3 load shedding.  

Reply:

a) The amount spent by the Department of Human Settlements on the Breaking New Ground (BNG) television show hosted by the SA Broadcast Corporation (SABC) was R11 417 699.00 for the 2020/21 financial year.

No	Description	Amount (Rands)
	SABC 2 Airtime through GCIS	7,335 199.00
	BNG TV Production through GCIS	4,082 500.00
	TOTAL	11, 417 699.00

(b) Tsalena Media was appointed through the Government Communication Information System (GCIS). The terms of the agreement can be obtained from GCIS.

Reply:

The following tables reflect the details in this regard.

NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (NDOH)

NAME OF COMPANY	PURPOSE OF CONTRACT	VALUE OF CONTRACT	DURATION OF CONTRACT
RRA TRADING	Security Guarding	R13 366 618.60	36 Months - All Forensic laboratories and MBOD/CCOD (01 April 2020 – 31 March 2023) 12 Months - Civitas Building ( 01 April 2020 – 31 July 2021)

NATIONAL HEALTH LABOTORY SERVICE (NHLS)

NAME OF COMPANY	PURPOSE OF CONTRACT	VALUE OF CONTRACT	DURATION OF CONTRACT
Eldna Security Services	Not Applicable (NHLS insourced the security from February and March 2018)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

OFFICE OF HEALTH STANDARDS COMPLIANCE (OHSC)

NAME OF COMPANY	PURPOSE OF CONTRACT	VALUE OF CONTRACT	DURATION OF CONTRACT
Eldna Security Services	Security Guarding	R2 765 088.00	36 Months (10 October 2020 – 10 October 2023)

SOUTH AFRICAN HEALTH PRODUCTS REGULATORY AUTHORITY (SAHPRA)

NAME OF COMPANY	PURPOSE OF CONTRACT	VALUE OF CONTRACT	DURATION OF CONTRACT
Tyeks Security Services	Security Guarding	In a process of procuring security service for 2021/2022 financial year	Not Applicable

SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

NAME OF COMPANY	PURPOSE OF CONTRACT	VALUE OF CONTRACT	DURATION OF CONTRACT
Fidelity Services Group	Security Guarding	R 32 000 000.00	36 Months (01 June 2019 – 31 May 2022)

END.

Reply:

(a) There are permanent boards for the Amatola Water, Bloem Water, Mhlathuze Water, Overberg Water and Rand Water. The terms of these Water Boards are indicated in the table below:

Water Board	Term of office of the Board
Amatola Water	Appointed in 1 March 2021 with term ending at the end February 2025
Bloem Water	Appointed in April 2019 with term ending at the end of March 2023
Mhlathuze Water	Appointed in December 2018 with term ending at the end of November 2022
Overberg Water	Appointed in April 2019 with term ending at the end of March 2023
Rand Water	Appointed in October 2018 with term ending in September 2022

(b) The selection processes of members of permanent Boards for Lepelle Northern Water, Magalies Water, Sedibeng Water and Umgeni Water are underway. It is envisaged that the appointment processes will be finalised by the end of June 2021, should Cabinet concur with the recommendations tabled before it. The current status of the interim boards and selection processes of permanent boards is indicated below:

Water Board	Current Leadership Status	Measures in place to appoint permanent Boards
Lepelle Northern Water	Interim Board was appointed in May 2020	The selection process is underway and due to be finalised by end of June 2021
Magalies Water	Interim Board was appointed in July 2020	The selection process is underway and due to be finalised by end of June 2021
Sedibeng Water	Interim Board was appointed in May 2020	The selection process is underway and due to be finalised by end of June 2021
Umgeni Water	Interim Board was appointed in August 2020.	The selection process is underway and due to be finalised by end of June 2021

Reply:

(a)(b) (i)(ii) Refer Annexure A

Reply:

1. Mr Mooketsi an employee of the Department of Education, Gauteng who was out on bail for an unrelated armed robbery case was arrested  in Springs in possession of an R4 Assault Rifle and 3 x empty R4 magazines. 

2. Mr Mooketsi was charged and appeared at the Springs Magistrate Court on February and April 2020 respectively.  He was remanded in custody pending his next court appearance on 04 May 2020.  The case was then postponed to 20 August 2020 for trial.  The accused was found guilty and sentence to 6 years imprisonment.”

Reply:

(1) The Minister for the Public Service and Administration (MPSA) can only respond to formal demands tabled by labour in the Public Service Coordinating Council (PSCBC). At the time of this reply, the unions to the PSCBC had not formally tabled their demands as per Council processes. Therefore the MPSA has not been informed of any wage increase demand of up to 10% during the upcoming round of wage negotiations.

(2)(a) The union parties to the PSCBC tabled their demands in relation to the upcoming round of wage negotiations on first March 2021 and they are attached as annexure to this reply.

(2(b)(i)(ii) The information requested is not available for the reasons indicated above.

(3) The process of engagement between parties in the PSCBC on wage negotiations occurs under the purview of the PSCBC. The employer will negotiate on the basis of fairness, equity, sustainability and affordability.

End

Reply:

a) All the DGs and HoDs who were required to sign performance agreements for the 2020/2021 performance cycle have submitted.

(i) Out of the 54 national departments and Offices of the Premier, 39 DGs were required to and signed performance agreements. The remainder of the DGs comprises of 13 acting DGs and two (2) newly appointed. These officials only have to sign performance contracts three months after assumption of duties.

(ii) The 68 HoDs who were required to sign performance agreements have submitted it. At the provincial level, 24 were acting HoDs, three (3) newly appointed, one (1) on special leave and one (1) on precautionary suspension.

b) In terms of section 7(b) of the Public Service Act 103 of 1994, each individual Executing Authority has all the necessary powers to manage performance in their respective departments.

End

Reply:

In the course of the investigation into the affairs of the Gauteng Department of Health concerning irregularities in the appointment of a service provider to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) informed The Presidency that a senior Presidency official may have committed misconduct in violation of the Public Service Act, 1994.

The SIU consequently recommended the instituting of disciplinary proceedings against the official. In terms of possible misconduct identified by the SIU, the official has been placed on precautionary suspension in accordance with paragraph 2.7 (2), Chapter 7 of the SMS Handbook, pending an internal investigation into the official’s alleged misconduct. The outcome of the internal investigation will determine the cause of action to be taken by The Presidency in compliance with the law.

Thank You.

Reply:

The 2019/20 Financial Disclosure Period:

1. By 31 August 2020, The Presidency had a [1]100 % compliance level in terms of all staff members submitting their financial disclosures.

The Breakdown is per financial disclosure category:

a) Members of the Senior Management Service - All 58 submitted their financial disclosures by 30 May 2020.

b) Members in the Middle Management category (MMS12) – all [2]27 submitted their financial disclosures by 31 July 2020.

c) Members in the Middle Management category (MMS11) – all 51 submitted their financial disclosures by [3]30 August 2020.

d) Members in the OSD12/Higher category – All 12 submitted their financial disclosures by 31 July 2020.

2. All designated employees submitted their financial disclosures. Please note that the report is on employees’ compliance to the timelines of the Financial Disclosure Framework and not the content/Financial information that was disclosed.

Thank you.

1. The 100% compliance level pertains to all employees who were employed by The Presidency during the official disclosure period and not employees who joined The Presidency after the disclosure period. All employees who submitted their financial disclosures are employed in terms of the Public Service Act, thus, in all categories there is no definition of a ‘political appointee’. ↑

2. A member who joined The Presidency in July 2020, submitted his disclosure in August 2020. So in total all 28 MMS12 members submitted their financial disclosures. ↑

3. Please Note that the Financial Disclosure Framework indicates that a newly appointed designated employee should disclose his/her financial interest 30 days after assumption of duty. An employee became part of MMS11 in October 2020, meaning that currently The Presidency has 52 MMS11 members. The Ethics Office could not register the employee on the Financial Disclosure System in 2020 due to intermittent problems with the system and not due to failure by the employee to disclose his financial interest. ↑

Reply:

(1)  Ms Khusela Sangoni has been placed on precautionary suspension with effect from 02 February 2021 pending an investigation. The investigation is mandated to be completed within 60 days from date of inception.
 
(2) As stated in 1 above, Ms Khusela Sangoni has been placed on precautionary suspension until the finalisation of the investigation. She has not been transferred or seconded to any other department.
 
(3) Ms Khusela Sangoni has retained all her allocated privileges since the precautionary suspension

a) Her suspension is in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.7(2) of Chapter 7 of the SMS Handbook, with full pay. The precautionary suspension does not constitute a punishment.

b) She receives her salary at the end of the month, where she will be paid her salary in full.

Thank you.

Reply:

The GCIS did not spend any funds for the flighting of PSA’s. The Public Service Announcements were flighted by all major media houses free of charge both on TV and on Radio.

a) ENCA flighted 11 spots and the total value of the PSA’s was R125 250.00

b) SABC 1, 2 & 3 flighted a total of 14 spots and the value of the PSA’s was R300 750.00. The cost breakdown per station is not available.

c) Same as above.

d) (i) No PSA’s were placed

(ii) Digital media platforms

The GCIS received ad grants from Facebook, Twitter as well as Google for use in COVID-19 awareness campaigns. This was a global campaign from the platform owners to assist Governments across the world in sharing COVID-19 information

Facebook: 4 ad grants totalling US$ 88 031 or roughly R1,3 million to use on GovernmentZA page. Spent to date: R680 000

Twitter: received ad grants from Twitter totalling R381 000 - Spent to date: R381 000

Google: Initial grant for the search campaign totalled US$5,5 million that was set to expire on 31 December 2020. This was extended until 31 December 2021. An addition grant of US$2,5 million was received in March 2021. Total grant: US$7,5 million or roughly R115 million. Spent to date: R77 000 000

Thank you.

Reply:

(1) (a) (i) The number of public servants who took early retirement since the start of the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020 at national level was 2 879.

(1) (a) (ii) The number of public servants who took early retirement since the start of the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020 at provincial level was 2 005.

(1) (b) The breakdown of the relevant number of early retirements in each government department is depicted in the table below:

 

Number of Public Servants that retired early by department from 27 March 2020
National/Provincial department	Total
Total	4,884
Eastern Cape	Total	322
	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	8
	Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism	2
	Education	215
	Health	54
	Office of the Premier	3
	Provincial Treasury	4
	Roads and Public works	6
	Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	20
	Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture	2
	Transport	8
Free State	Total	135
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	3
	Education	105
	Health	10
	Police, Roads and Transport	7
	Social Development	10
Gauteng	Total	207
	Agriculture and Rural Development	1
	Economic Development	4
	Education	87
	Health	107
	Human Settlements	6
	Social Development	2
KwaZulu-Natal	Total	502
	Agriculture and Rural Development	15
	Arts and Culture	1
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	2
	Education	368
	Health	101
	Office of the Premier	2
	Public Works	2
	Social Development	3
	Transport	8
Limpopo	Total	360
	Agriculture and Rural Development	5
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	5
	Economic Development, Environment and Tourism	1
	Education	283
	Health	48
	Office of the Premier	1
	Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure	11
	Social Development	3
	Transport and Community Safety	3

Mpumalanga	Total	139
	Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	5
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1
	Community Safety, Security and Liaison	1
	Culture, Sport and Recreation	2
	Education	93
	Health	28
	Provincial Treasury	2
	Public Works, Roads and Transport	7
National	Total	2,879
	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	30
	Basic Education	4
	Correctional Services	382
	Employment and Labour	7
	Energy	2
	Environment, Forestry and Fisheries	1
	Government Communication and Information System	2
	Health	2
	Higher Education and Training	110
	Home Affairs	36
	Human Settlements	2
	International Relations and Cooperation	8
	Justice and Constitutional Development	45
	Military Veterans	2
	Mineral Resources and Energy	4
	National Treasury	9
	Office of the Chief Justice	9
	Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	2
	Police	2,127
	Public Service and Administration	2
	Public Works and Infrastructure	44
	Social Development	1
	Sport, Arts and Culture	4
	Statistics South Africa	3
	Water and Sanitation	41

North West	Total	106
	Agriculture and Rural Development	1
	Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation	3
	Community Safety and Transport Management	4
	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	2
	Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism	1
	Education	69
	Health	20
	Provincial Treasury	1
	Public Works and Roads	5
Northern Cape	Total	34
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	1
	Education	26
	Health	4
	Roads and Public Works	1
	Social Development	1
	Sport, Arts and Culture	1
Western Cape	Total	200
	Agriculture	1
	Community Safety	1
	Cultural Affairs and Sport	1
	Education	119
	Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	2
	Health	60
	Provincial Treasury	7
	Social Development	6
	The Premier	3

(1) (c) (i) The number of teachers who took early retirement during this period was 1 274

(1) (c) (ii) The number of nurses who took early retirement during this period was 214

The information indicated above was obtained from PERSAL as on 1 March 2021.

End

Reply:

The Department, through the Acting Chief Director: Legal Services, is in constant communication with Mr Tjad Clark to obtain certain information related to the application required in order to implement the judgment. Thus far progress has been made and the relevant section is tracing the application as per clarification received from Mr CLark.

END

Reply:

1. Yes, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) allocated funding from existing grants within the department in support of service delivery programmes as well as to augment the resources made available by affected organs of state from their own resources on the efforts to combat the spread of covid-19 pandemic. The details of the disaster management funded initiatives for the augmentation of the response capacity to the COVID-19 pandemic in each province and the costs thereof since 25 March 2021 are as follows:

An amount of R466 392 000 (R466.4 million) from the Provincial Disaster Relief Grant was transferred in March 2020 to the Departments of Health in all provinces primarily for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Ventilators.

Table 1: funding allocation to Provincial Departments of Health for Covid-19 response measures: Provincial Disaster Relief Grant- 2019/2020 FY

No.	Province	Amounts allocated to Provincial Departments of Health
	Eastern Cape	R 44 551 000
	Free State	R 12 429 000
	Gauteng	R115 996 000
	KwaZulu-Natal	R138 918 000
	Limpopo	R 42 449 000
	Mpumalanga	R 33 993 000
	Northern Cape	R 6 224 000
	North West	R 18 540 000
	Western Cape	R 53 292 000
	Total	R466 392 000

An amount of R150 970 000 (R151 million) from the Municipal Disaster Relief Grant was transferred in May 2020 to 246 municipalities in all provinces primarily for Covid-19 response measures. The priority areas for allocated funding were (i) Sanitation, (ii) Waste Management, (iii) Decontamination of specific selected public spaces, (iv) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and (v) Hygiene packs.

Table 2: funding allocation to 246 municipalities in all provinces for Covid-19 response measures: Municipal Disaster Relief Grant- 2020/2021 FY

No.	Province	No. of municipalities funded	Amounts allocated to local municipalities within respective provinces
	Eastern Cape	37	R42 787 000
	Free State	22	R 8 610 000
	Gauteng	8	R 5 276 000
	KwaZulu-Natal	53	R47 499 000
	Mpumalanga	17	R 9 596 000
	Limpopo	27	R14 579 000
	Northern Cape	31	R 3 137 000
	North West	22	R11 559 000
	Western Cape	29	R 7 927 000
	Total	246	R150 970 000

In May 2020, The National Treasury has given the Department of Cooperative Governance approval for municipalities to reprioritise their 2019/20 Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocations, for urgent repairs to water and sanitation infrastructure, to improve their functionality in reliable delivery of basic services. A total of 335 projects were reprioritised to the value of R1.6 billion, with 187 projects under construction and 51 completed to date (See attached document for provincial details).

The reprioritisation by municipalities in 2020/21 financial year has been very low, with only 109 projects registered for implementation. The approval granted by the National Treasury in July 2020 indicated that of municipal MIG allocations can be reprioritised for urgent repairs to water and sanitation infrastructure to improve functionality of infrastructure, and a further 10% for sanitisation of public transport facilities, which includes repairs to municipal owned quarantine sites. The total value of these projects, as per municipal

applications, is R474, 595,236. A total of 50 projects are currently under implementation and 9 are completed to date (See table below for provincial details).

 

 

In terms of sub-question:

a) Cabinet.

b) The National Corona-Virus Command Council (NCCC) receives reports from the NATJOINTS and the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MACs). It considers the reports and deliberates on the required regulations and formulates a recommendation to Cabinet.

c) The following factors, amongst others, play a key role in the determination of the regulations:

(i) the extent of the rate of infection (e.g. number of active cases per 100 000 population, rate of increase / decrease of active cases etc).

(ii) the readiness of the health system to cope with the number of infections (e.g. availability of hospital beds, number of health care workers infected etc.);

(iii) the advice and analysis of the Minster of Health’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC), made up of a wide range of science and health experts and the NATJOINTS, made up of the Directors-General of the respective national sector departments.

d) The scientific evidence is quality assured by the MAC against peer reviewed publications of research conducted, where such publication is available.

e) The decisions of Cabinet on the content of the regulations are drafted in the correct layout by legislative drafters, which are legally vetted by the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser, before it is signed by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs for publication in the Gazette to give it the force of law.

(2)(a) All approved regulations are published in the Government Gazette. Before the publication in the Gazette, where major changes to regulations are to come into effect, often the President addresses the nation on those changes. After the publication in the Gazette, the Minister of COGTA leads media briefings involving other relevant ministers on the contents of Regulations.

(b) Section 34 of the Constitution guarantees the right of access to courts. The courts have remained operational during the declaration of the national state of disaster. To manage the spread of the virus, directions were issued by the

Minister of Justice and Correctional services and directives were issues by Heads of Courts.

Thank you.

Reply:

1. a) No employee of the Department of Public Service and Administration performed work outside normal working hours in addition to the responsibilities related to their work in the past five financial years.

b) The functions and performance of all employees are governed by their Job Descriptions, Employment Contracts, Performance Agreements and regular Performance Assessments as per applicable Directives, laws and policies.

b. (i) Zero (0);

(ii) Not applicable.

2. No such requests nor approvals were made by any employee as the Department does not have such a policy.

a) The Department does not have a policy that requires employees to perform work outside of normal working hours additional to their responsibilities as this would be irregular and violates the principles of fair labour practice.

b) Not applicable.

c) Not applicable.

d) Not applicable.

End

Reply:

1. (a) National Corona Virus Command Council (NCCC), amongst its responsibilities, ensures that the regulations required to address, prevent

and combat the spread of COVID-19 are reasonable and justifiable. In addition, the measures introduced were necessary to save lives.

(b) (i) The records of the NCCC meetings are kept by the Cabinet Secretariat;

(ii) The records, by virtue of it being a Cabinet structure, is secret and is not as accessible to members of the public.

2. The records of the NCCC meetings are kept by the Cabinet Secretariat

a) The records are kept electronically;

b) The records, by virtue of it being a Cabinet structure, is secret and is not as accessible to members of the public.

Thank you.

Reply:

1. (a) A detailed template was sent to all institutions to gain an understanding of the current levels of student debt and the categories of students that carry debt, including NSFAS students. This information was due on 26 March 2021. It should be noted that eligible NSFAS qualifying continuing and returning students with debt are allowed to register and will receive their allowances in the first week of April 2021, dependent on academic results and registration data received from institutions.  No eligible NSFAS applicants and NSFAS returning students in TVET colleges are required to pay registration fees. The first payment of allowances for 2021 was made from 05 March 2021, upon receipt of registration data, for colleges that disburse allowances to students. However, in respect of the rest of the institutions, payments were made on 19 March 2021 upon receipt of their registration data.

(b)   This information will be available from NSFAS on 31 March 2021 as NSFAS is still awaiting academic results from some institutions to conclude 2021 funding decisions for returning and continuing qualifying NSFAS students. Funding for NSFAS returning students is dependent on academic progression. The Department has established that about 10% of TVET college student debt is recoverable and 90% is unrecoverable. However, in an effort to avert exclusion of students due to an inability to afford fees, TVET colleges writes off 90% of the student debt which is not recoverable.   

2. (a) The table below reflects the 2020 Ministerial approved enrolment planning targets for First Time Entering Undergraduates (FTEN) and total undergraduate enrolments.

 

TVET College	Continuing Student	New Applicant	Total
Boland	2 138	2 729	4 867
Buffalo City	1 602	2 076	3 678
Capricorn	4 441	4 514	8 955
Central Johannesburg	1 780	3 329	5 109
Coastal KZN	3 425	5 392	8 817
College of Cape Town	2 348	2 821	5 169
Eastcape Midlands	1 834	2 700	4 534
Ehlanzeni	2 180	3 694	5 874
Ekurhuleni East	2 061	4 966	7 027
Ekurhuleni West	4 209	5 320	9 529
Elangeni	3 261	3 311	6 572
Esayidi	3 163	3 306	6 469
False Bay	1 695	1 951	3 646
Flavius Mareka	1 184	2 937	4 121
Gert Sibande	3 474	4 271	7 745
Goldfields	872	1 843	2 715
Ikhala	1 750	2 096	3 846
Ingwe	2 375	2 558	4 933
King Hintsa	943	1 429	2 372
King Sabata Dalindyebo	2 363	3 043	5 406
Lephalale	1 077	1 287	2 364
Letaba	1 846	1 860	3 706
Lovedale	1 385	1 477	2 862
Majuba	5 397	5 773	11 170
Maluti	2 158	3 303	5 461
Mnambithi	1 335	1 805	3 140
Mopani South East	2 226	2 936	5 162
Motheo	1 770	5 175	6 945
Mthashana	1 706	1 783	3 489
Nkangala	3 401	3 362	6 763
Northern Cape Rural	688	2 119	2 807
Northern Cape Urban	1 405	2 288	3 693
Northlink	4 129	4 298	8 427
Orbit	2 222	2 307	4 529
Port Elizabeth	1 631	2 412	4 043
Sedibeng	3 480	4 759	8 239
Sekhukhune	1 523	2 197	3 720
South Cape	1 417	2 877	4 294
South West Gauteng	4 066	5 330	9 396
Taletso	1 094	2 300	3 394
Thekwini	1 845	2 592	4 437
Tshwane North	2 920	4 230	7 150
Tshwane South	2 131	3 177	5 308
Umfolozi	3 034	3 606	6 640
Umgungundlovu	1 883	2 226	4 109
Vhembe	5 150	6 167	11 317
Vuselela	1 524	2 586	4 110
Waterberg	1 598	1 836	3 434
West Coast	1 625	3 421	5 046
Western	2 702	3 447	6 149
Total	115 466	157 222	272 688

 

(b) It should be noted that the Department has only received preliminary data from universities on their 2020 enrolments and this is therefore subject to change. There may have been institutions that have over-enrolled slightly on their enrolment plans and the impact on NSFAS is not yet known.  More reliable data on enrolments will be received from universities at the end of April 2021. Once they have identified all their graduates, the Department will receive the final audited data at the end of July 2021. Preliminary data indicates that UNISA is the only institution that has exceeded its FTEN 2020 enrolment plan target. The approved enrolment target for FTEN students for UNISA was 57 703. According to UNISA’s first submission of HEMIS data, the University has enrolled 77 840 FTEN students. According to data received from NSFAS on 23 March 2021, the entity has funded 74 427 FTEN students in 2020. 

(3) The Commission completed its report and handed it to the former President on 31 August 2017. Government considered the report through an Inter-Ministerial Task Team and agreed with many of the recommendations, some of which are either currently being planned or implemented. Four recommendations made by the Commission were not accepted:

- Community Education and Training only concerns itself with adult basic education;

- A universal model of Income Contingent Deferred Loans underwritten by government;

- Funding (loans) should be extended to cover students studying at private higher education institutions; and

- University students should not pay application fees nor registration fees.

(4) Government’s policy remains the provision of fully subsidised free higher education and training for poor and working-class South Africans. Cabinet has requested an urgent review of government policy on student financial aid, which must be completed within the next three months. The focus will be on sustainable modelling of NSFAS as well as to explore a different public-private sector mechanism to enable better support for the “missing middle” income bracket.

Reply:

The political and administrative levels in municipalities must work together to improve on service delivery. Instability at any of the levels is has a negative impact on the ability of the municipality to perform its functions. All councillors are obliged to abide by the Councillor Code of Conduct (Schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000). The following clauses are pertinent:

2. A councillor must:

a) perform the functions of office in good faith, honestly and a transparent manner; and

b) at all times act in the best interest of the municipality and in such a way that the credibility and integrity of the municipality are not compromised.

11. A councillor may not, except as provided by law

a) interfere in the management or administration of any department of the municipal council unless mandated by council;

b) give or purport to give any instruction to any employee of the council except when authorised to do so;

c) obstruct or attempt to obstruct the implementation of any decision of the council or a committee by an employee of the council; or

d) encourage or participate in any conduct which would cause or contribute to maladministration in the council.

When the Code is breached, the recourse lies with the Municipal Council and the provincial MEC for Local Government.

1) The municipal council may

a) investigate and make a finding on any alleged breach of a provision of this Code; or

b) establish a special committee. to investigate and make a finding on any alleged breach of this Code; and ii. to make appropriate recommendations to the council.

2) If the council or a special committee finds that a councillor has breached a provision of this Code, the council may

a) issue a formal warning to the councillor;

b) reprimand the councillor;

c) request the MEC for local government in the province to suspend the councillor for a period; d. fine the councillor; and e. request the MEC to remove the councillor from office

3) The MEC for local government may appoint a person or a committee to investigate any alleged breach of a provision of this Code and to make a recommendation on whether the councillor should be suspended or removed from office.

4) If the MEC is of the opinion that the councillor has breached a provision of this Code, and that such contravention warrants a suspension or removal from office, the MEC maya. suspend the councillor for a period and on conditions determined by the MEC; or b. remove the councillor from office.

In terms of the amendments to the Municipal Structures Act, an MEC for local government will be able to remove a councillor from office for a breach of the Code and that councillor will not be eligible to become a councillor for a period of two years.

Political infighting requires all politicians and the intervention of their political parties to resolve their issues. All political office bearers have the responsibility to ensure communities are served effectively, efficiently, and respectfully.

Reply:

1. Each department is required to verify the payroll reports on a monthly basis to ensure that every employee receiving payment from the department is eligible for such payment.

a) The capturing, maintenance and verification of data on PERSAL is a decentralised responsibility of each relevant Head of Department. Therefore it is the responsibility of each Head of Department to assign a designated employee as a PERSAL controller to manage data accuracy. PERSAL controllers in every department are accountable for institutionalizing, maintaining and communicating procedures to ensure continuous control over access, security and maintenance of data records within their departments.

b) Treasury Regulations prescribe the verification of payroll reports to ensure that only legitimately employed persons receive payment. According to Treasury Regulation 8.3.4:

“For all employees, the person in charge at the respective pay-points must certify on the date of payment that all persons listed on the payroll report are entitled to payment. Employees paid by cheque must sign the payroll report when collecting their cheques.” Regulation 8.3.4 further specifies “These payroll reports must then be returned to the Chief Financial Officer of the department within 10 days and the accounting officer must ensure that all pay-point certificates have been received on a monthly basis.”

2. There is no specific set date for the complete phasing out of manual submission as the relevant technology platform is currently not capable of on-boarding all government departments at the same time. The introduction of electronic payslips is therefore, being rolled out in a phased approach. The migrating of departmental users to an electronic payslip platform requires a close partnership between the PERSAL controllers at National Treasury, department specific HRM employees working on PERSAL, Government Information Technology Officer (GITO) per department, the account management team at SITA as well as their mainframe team. This process impacts the on-boarding process as it depends on the readiness of specific departments to move to an electronic payslip platform at different times depending on the time departments receive the proposal from SITA, process it and verify employees and their respective email addresses to ensure the correct payslip goes to the correct employee. It has also been indicated by some departments that not all employees have access to emails which impacts on their ability to access electronic payslips.

3. The automation of leave is part of the functionality to be provided by the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS). National Treasury, which is the lead department in the IFMS Programme, is currently in the process of appointing a service provider to design the system to meet the requirements of the Public Service. Once this has been completed and the IFMS implemented, the system will address, amongst others, the automation of leave.

In view of the above, it is not possible to indicate at this stage on which date manual leave forms will be phased out and replaced with an electronic system.

End

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) forms part of the National Vaccine Rollout Committee led by the Department of Health. The Committee acts as a coordination mechanism that oversees the vaccine rollout in both the public and private sectors as government implements the National Vaccine Rollout Strategy, which was presented to Parliament.

In preparation for the Phase Two of the Rollout strategy, the DPSA has developed and presented the Project Plan to the Workplace Vaccination Work Stream of the rollout Committee, which outlines the rollout strategy for essential workers in the public service. This Project Plan is being consulted on with critical stakeholders for finalisation. The relevant details will therefore be made public and shared with Parliament once the plan has been finalised following the consultations.

End

Reply:

The information was obtained from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mpumalanga Province.

The municipality has been implementing a project for the development of groundwater supply scheme for Moloto with the aim of addressing the chronic water shortage faced by the above-mentioned village. The details of the project are as follows:

Name of Project: Moloto Village Ground Water Supply Scheme

Project scope: The project scope is as follows:

• Drilling and equipping of 10 boreholes (estimated yield 4.5Ml/day)
• Equipping of existing boreholes with electrical pumps
• Construction of Water Treatment Package Plant
• Construction of two (2) high lift pump stations.
• Construction of two (2) bulk water supply lines to the existing 5.0Ml concrete reservoir.
• Construction of a pump house, near the existing concrete reservoir.
• Eskom connection.
• Installation of automatic pump control units.
• Installation of pipe line appurtenances.
• Perimeter fencing.
• Water Use Licence (WUL) application.

Project Budget: The total budget for the full scope of works is R 28 579 251.05.

Project Start Date: 28 February 2019

Project completion Date: The project is projected to be completed as soon as Eskom completes the re-installation of the vandalised Eskom Kiosk.

Number of planned beneficiaries: The project is envisaged to serve a population of 20 966 persons

Project funding source: The project is funded through the Water Services infrastructure Grant (WSIG)

Currently, the project progress is at 90% with the outstanding works of ESKOM connection, testing and commissioning. The ESKOM connection was done last year but the connection equipment and a transformer were subsequently stolen just after installation while Eskom was in the process of completing the installation.

Following a number of meetings between ESKOM and the municipality, a consensus was reached to put security measures to protect the infrastructure before ESKOM can replace the stolen items, of which the municipality did in October 2020. Therefore, it was then expected that ESKOM will replace all the stolen items and energise the boreholes however to this end, this has not been done even after numerous letters, and telephonic conversations to follow-up on the matter.

The recent report from ESKOM is that they are still in a process of procuring the stolen items. Once installation is completed in June 2021, the community of Moloto will have sustainable water supply.

In addition, the Municipality has completed the construction of a 5Ml reservoir to augment the water storage capacity and has also started with the implementation of the Moloto Water Infrastructure (Water reticulation) project of which the inception meeting was held on 04th March 2021. The project is under construction and will be implemented in 3 phases. Phase one is projected to be completed by 30 March 2022. A total of 4 770 households expected to benefit from the project.

Based on the above the municipality has a plan to address the water challenges faced by the residents of the Moloto village.

 

Reply:

(1) In terms of Section 36 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 with respect to Accounting Officers; every department and every constitutional institution must have an accounting officer and the head of a department must be the accounting officer for the department.

(2) In terms of Section 37 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999, deals with acting accounting officers and stipulates when an accounting officer is absent or otherwise unable to perform the functions of accounting officer, or during a vacancy, the functions of accounting officer must be performed by the official acting in the place of that accounting officer.

(a) Nationally: There are nine (9) acting Accounting Officers (In the Presidency the acting DG is also the formally appointed accounting officer).

Provincially: There are twenty seven (27) acting Accounting Officers.

(b) In terms of the regulatory framework, Regulation 63 (2) of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 states that, “an employee directed to act in another post in terms of section 32 (2) should have the necessary competency for the post to which he or she is appointed to act”. As defined in the Public Service Regulations, 2016, Competency means the combination of knowledge, skills, behaviour and aptitude that a person can apply in the work environment, which indicates a person's ability to meet the requirements of a specific post. For purposes of business continuity meeting qualifications for a post for purposes of acting is not a requirements however, noting the definition, competency to perform the duties are.

End

Reply:

The labour unions involved in this matter have made an application for leave to appeal the Labour Appeal Court judgement. The matter is therefore still before the courts. Under the circumstances, it is advised that at this stage the Minister for the Public Service and Administration is unable to respond to the questions posed.

End

Reply:

We have not scheduled a DDM visit to the Sekhukhune District yet and therefore have not had engagement with the Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality.

However the Provincial Department of COGTA, working with the Sekhukhune District Municipality has engaged the municipality to discuss service delivery issues. In villages that do not have any water infrastructure, the Municipality supplies them with water through water tankers as per Ward councillor’s request.

Some of the projects that are currently being implemented in the Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality are:

No.	Project Name	Targeted Village/s	Current Status
1	Mogorwane Water Supply Scheme	Mogorwane	Planned for completion and commissioning before end of May 2021
2	Mashabela Water Supply Scheme	Mashabela	Partially functional
3	Glencowie, GaMoloi, Cabrief, New Stand and Pelepele Park Water Reticulation	Glencowie, GaMoloi, Cabrief, New Stand and Pelepele Park Water	Functional
4	Makgeru Schoonoord Bulk Water Supply Scheme. The total project cost is R210 396 563.42	Different villages within Makgeru and Schoonoord areas	The project is 90% complete. It is scheduled for completion on 15 September 2021. To date, expenditure on local empowerment is as follows: A total of R8 131 729.58 was spent on 25 Local contractors / suppliers. A total of R55million has been spent on local labourers; R1 839 000 has been spent on providing accredited training to about 400 local people.
5	Construction of water reticulation pipelines in GaMogashoa (Senkgapudi) and Manamane The total budget is R144 467 205.32	GaMogashoa (Sekgapudi) and Manamage	The projects are at 74% complete. Scheduled completion dates are 24 June 2021 and 28 May 2021. To date, expenditure on local empowerment is as follows: GaMogashoa (Sekngapudi) – R3 688 900 has been spent on 10 local companies and R1 326 000 has also been spent on 34 local labourers. Manamane – R2 627 925.83 has been spent on 13 local companies and R871 050 has been spent on 32 local companies.

Reply:

a) No, the said person is not an employee in the Department of Public Service and Administration.

b) N/A

c) N/A

End

Reply:

The Department of Higher Education and Training has no jurisdiction over the appointment of healthcare professionals or nurses. This is the responsibility of Provincial health Departments and this question should be re-directed to the National Department of Health.