Questions and Replies
26 March 2021 - NW180
Sarupen, Mr AN to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(1)With reference to the informal settlement on Main Reef Road, in Brakpan, Gauteng, known as Plastic City, (a) what steps are being taken by her department to hold the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality to account for failing to comply with the previous court orders to suitably rehabilitate the area and find alternative accommodation for the individuals living in the community in the evictions process, (b) what suitable alternative accommodation has been identified and (c) on what date will the metro initiate necessary steps to relocate the residents to a safe and clean living environment; (2) what steps are being taken by her department to ensure that the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality puts a stop to illegal mining activity in the area that has resulted in the collapse of the main arterial road in and out of Brakpan; (3) what steps are being taken by her department against the Ekurhuleni Metro to ensure that the living environment is safe for all residents considering this community lives on the Weltevreden Landfill Site for waste; (4) how is her department ensuring that the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality fulfills its obligations with regard to this community and the neighbouring community? NW183E
Reply:
The Minister is still awaiting the background information from the Gauteng Provincial Department of COGTA on the matters raised by the Honorable Sarupen, which is necessary for the Minister to provide responses to the questions posed. However, subsection (2) and (3) of the question are matters within the scope of work of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy as well as the Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries, respectively.
26 March 2021 - NW392
Nxumalo, Mr MN to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
(1)Whether, in light of the fact that inmates at Mangaung in Bloemfontein and Leeuwkop maximum-security prisons have called on the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) to exercise stronger oversight over warders, who have been accused of acting with impunity in their maltreatment of prisoners, as incarcerated persons should not be completely stripped of their rights and their safety must be of paramount concern while serving their sentences, his department has been actively involved in addressing concerns of prisoners and the JICS during the pandemic; if not, why not; if so, what are the details of the steps taken by his department in this regard besides the granting of early parole for non-violent offenders as was the case late last year; (2) Whether his department has been in communication with the Department of Health and those responsible for the vaccine roll-out regarding the vaccination of prisoners as overcrowding is the state of affairs across the Republic, which poses a serious health risk for both staff of the Correctional Services and inmates; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. The Department is not aware of officials who have been accused of acting with impunity in their maltreatment of inmates at Mangaung as well at Leeuwkop Correctional Centres. The offenders at Mangaung have access to JICS officials or platform to raise complaints and requests, including cases of assaults by officials. Departmental officials are employed to manage compliance with the Contract between Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and G4S Company.
The allegations in respect to Leeuwkop Maximum, this may have arisen from an incident where the DCS National Task Team conducted a search operation on 01 December 2020. All complaints emanating from this search operation were handled by the Head of Centre and the Independent Correctional Centre Visitor (ICCV) in line with the Complaints and Request Procedure of the DCS. The affected offenders were referred for medical examination and the South African Police Service (SAPS) were called for those who chose to lay criminal charges. The matter was also investigated by JICS.
(2) Yes, the Department has been in communication with the Department of Health and offenders are prioritised under phase 02 as Communicated by the President.
The following are other activities regarding vaccination rollout in Correctional Facilities:
- Training of DCS nurses that commenced from the 15 - 27 Jan 2021 by the National Department of Health was conducted;
- Vaccination fridges for the storage of vaccines and carriers for vaccine from the Pharmacy to the vaccine site are in the process of being procured.
- A list of consumable items was finalised and the pharmacy is in the process of procuring items that are not in stock; and
- Emergency medical services are available for management of emergency response.
END
26 March 2021 - NW733
Brink, Mr C to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(1) In light of the fact that the report of the auditor-general noted that irregular expenditure in her department increased from R1,318 billion in 2019 to R1,330 billion in 2020, what corrective measures have been taken to address irregular expenditure; (2) whether any person has been held accountable for her department’s failure to address irregular expenditure; if not, why not; if so, (a) who and (b) what action has been taken against the specified person(s)?
Reply:
1. The irregular expenditure cases are being investigated in line with the Irregular Expenditure Framework issued by the National Treasury in 2019. Upon finalization of these investigations, reports will be considered by the Loss Control and Asset Disposal Committee whereafter recommendations will be submitted to the Accounting Officer for further processing. At this stage, the department is not yet at the stage where it can concisely indicate how many cases will be recommended for condonement, and how many will be recommended for recovery in instances where loss was suffered by the department.
2. The final determination of irregular expenditure and the related outcomes such as recovery, condonement and consequence management can only be concluded once the investigation reports are finalized. These reports are currently being finalized.
26 March 2021 - NW640
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
What is the current statistics in terms of the employment of foreign nationals in the (a) trucking, (b) restaurant, (c) private security, (d) agriculture, (e) mining, (f) transport, (g) e-hailing, (h) delivery, (i) hair and beauty and (j) domestic industries?
Reply:
The Department of Employment and Labour maintains statistics of registered local and foreign nationals for the purposes of Unemployment Insurance Fund collection and payments, those who were recommended for individual or corporate work visas, Compensation Fund collection and payments and for monitoring transformation in the labour market through our Employment Equity Reports.
The Economic Sectors are broad and may not necessarily align with Honourable van der Merwe’s list as it also contains economic sub-sectors and or industries.
Our statistics may not provide a true picture of the total number of people employed in some of the economic sectors and sub-sectors as it is not possible to maintain statistics of those that are not registered especially undocumented foreign nationals.
26 March 2021 - NW717
Mphithi, Mr L to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
In view of the fact that her Office has been discouraged on the use of consultants by the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities due to severe budget cuts that require limited use of consultants, what steps has her Office taken to ensure that all targets and the mandate of her Office are met without the use of consultants?
Reply:
The Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has regularly indicated its concern with the use of consultants by the department due to budgetary constraints.
It must be emphasised that due to budgetary cuts, especially in the allocation for compensation of employees, it has impacted on the ability of the Department to recruit and hire suitably technically skilled persons to carry out certain specific tasks and activities. Unfortunately the Department has been placed in a situation where it is forced to use short-term, temporary skilled personnel to assist in these areas of work.
One such area is in the development of an evidence-based knowledge portal, which requires high technical skills in conceptualising and developing a model for an electronic platform. Furthermore there is also an element of IT Skills that are needed to develop and undertake the back-end processes of such an electronic platform. These skills are not available within the current personnel in the department. Thus the Department has been working with the University of Johannesburg since 2019 towards this end. However due to the budget reprioritisation process redirecting government spending towards the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, this project was reprioritised for implementation in the 2021/22 financial year.
In order to reduce the use of consultants, the Department has also embarked on collaborative efforts with UN agencies in an effort to increase its capacity on areas that requires technical expertise. Two technical experts have been secured from UNFPA in respect of the development of a comprehensive M&E framework for the Sanitary Dignity programme, and the development of a comprehensive M&E Framework for the National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence & Femicide.
It must be noted that in the use of these external technical expertise in these three programmes of the department, there is a level of ongoing skills transfer as well. However in achieving the majority of the targets in the Annual Performance Plan, the Department has been undertaking the work in-house, and meeting the necessary quarterly targets. The Department is therefore on course to meet its targets for the year with the work done by the officials in the department itself.
_________________________
Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date _____________________
26 March 2021 - NW486
Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)What (a) total number of children without birth certificates were paid grants by the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) in the December 2020 pay-run and (b) is the breakdown of the specified number for each province; (2) what (a) total number of children without birth certificates were paid grants by SASSA in January 2021 and (b) is the breakdown of the specified number for each province; (3) what (a) total number of these children had their grants stopped on 31 December 2020 due to SASSA enforcing its internal 3-month rule in terms of which the caregiver must submit the outstanding identity document (ID) and/or birth certificate or proof that she has applied to Home Affairs for these documents and (b) is the breakdown of the specified number for each province; (4) taking into account that the country is under lockdown level 3 to curb the spread of COVID-19 and the Department of Home Affairs is not processing new ID applications or late birth registrations, what are the reasons that SASSA allowed the grants to lapse at the end of 2020; (5) whether SASSA intends to reinstate these children’s grants; if not, why not; if so, for how long will they remain in payment before they lapse again?
Reply:
1(a) The total number of children in payment in December 2020 without birth certificates was 24 756.
(b) The numbers per province are indicated below:
Province |
Number |
Eastern Cape |
1 967 |
Free State |
161 |
Gauteng |
14 696 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
1 637 |
Limpopo |
275 |
Mpumalanga |
584 |
Northern Cape |
358 |
North West |
99 |
Western Cape |
4 979 |
2(a) The total number of children in payment in January 2021 without birth certificates was
28 178.
(b) The numbers per province are indicated below:
Province |
Number |
Eastern Cape |
2 064 |
Free State |
418 |
Gauteng |
15 852 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
2 080 |
Limpopo |
353 |
Mpumalanga |
665 |
Northern Cape |
1 124 |
North West |
193 |
Western Cape |
5 429 |
3(a) The total number of grants for these children which were lapsed at the end of December were 1 792.
(b) The breakdown per province is as follows:
Province |
Number |
Eastern Cape |
73 |
Free State |
155 |
Gauteng |
358 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
302 |
Limpopo |
37 |
Mpumalanga |
32 |
Northern Cape |
87 |
North West |
575 |
Western Cape |
173 |
4. Applications for social grants are accepted, where the applicant does not have the required critical documents, The applications are conditionally approved, with the applicant required to show proof of having applied for the required documentation, within a 3 month period of have applied for the grant. It is important to note that the applicant does not necessarily have to produce the required document within the 3 month period, but just produce proof of having approached the Department of Home Affairs to apply for the required documents. Should the applicant not provide that proof, then the grant is lapsed.
This action is taken to mitigate the risk of continuing to pay a grant to someone who does not qualify to obtain South African identity documents. However, SASSA is working closely with the Departments of Social Development and Home Affairs to determine alternative methods to mitigate these risks, without necessarily putting the responsibility on individual citizens.
The lapsings of the grants for the above children were initiated when the country was under level 1 of lockdown restrictions. However, as soon as the country moved back to level 3, discussions were entered into with the Department of Social Development to obtain approval to reinstate these grants. In addition, an agreement has been reached not to lapse any grants for any beneficiaries who do not have the relevant critical documents (both ID documents for adults as well as birth certificates for children) for as long as the state of disaster persists, regardless of the lock down level.
5. All 1 792 children’s grants which lapsed at the end of December were reinstated, with back pay for the month of January and paid in February 2021.
The total number of children’s grants for children without birth certificates in payment for February 2021 has increased to 29 064, as indicated below:
Province |
Number |
Eastern Cape |
2 074 |
Free State |
431 |
Gauteng |
16 585 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
2 108 |
Limpopo |
367 |
Mpumalanga |
671 |
Northern Cape |
1 153 |
North West |
203 |
Western Cape |
5 472 |
26 March 2021 - NW235
Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(a) What is her position regarding the claims that the failure to pay Izinduna in KwaZulu-Natal was a political issue rather than a budgetary one and (b) by what date is it envisaged that the matter will be brought before a court of law?
Reply:
a) The first Determination for the payment of headmen/women was issued in February 2014 and required such payments to apply with effect from April 2013. According to the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), due to budgetary constraints the province was only able to start paying headmen/women in line with this Determination as from December 2016. There is thus a backlog of outstanding payments for the period April 2013 to November 2016.
b) The KZN Department of Cogta points out that it is not in a position to estimate or speculate as to when the matter may be heard in Court for the following reasons:
- It is a Respondent in the matter and, accordingly, is not dominus litis (the initiator of the proceedings). It is the responsibility of the party who initiated the litigation to ensure that the matter is heard as early as possible;
- Even then, the scheduling of matters is the prerogative of the High Court, which is informed by the number of cases requiring to be set down, their state of readiness to be heard, the availability of Judges, amongst other factors.
26 March 2021 - NW451
Groenewald, Dr PJ to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(1)Whether, with reference to her stock replies to questions (a) 449 on 16 September 2019, (b) 1502 on 2 December 2019, (c) 130 on 19 March 2020 and (d) 918 on 25 May 2020, she exercises any executive responsibility over metropolitan municipalities in respect of firearms and ammunition of such metros that are stolen and/or lost by its metro police; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, by what date is it envisaged that the information requested in the specified questions will be made available; (2) whether she will make a statement on the matter
Reply:
1. The South African Police Service (SAPS) exercises executive authority over firearms and ammunition as regulated by the Ministry of Police, this includes the investigation of any loss or theft of such firearms and ammunition.
2. The Minister of Police may wish to make a statement on a matter.
26 March 2021 - NW601
Hendricks, Mr MGE to ask the Minister of Finance
In view of the Government’s plans to launch a state-owned bank and whilst interest-free banking services may be the first step to reduce the draconian interest choking every South African, (a) what total amount was budgeted to fund interest on debt in the (i) 1995 budget and (ii) latest budget and (b) has he found this to be in line with inflation and/or poor fiscal frameworks year after year?
Reply:
It is generally not possible in South Africa for the state, or any bank or company, to secure loan funding without paying interest except, possibly, for small amounts of concessional funding. No bank in South Africa is likely to lend to customers without covering the full cost of capital, including interest. Some institutions may be able to structure a small part of their loan market for non-interest or sharia-related lending but such lending is very limited, and uses other mechanisms to recover their costs.
The question of whether any state bank can lend at lower interest rates than commencial banks, and whether such a business model will be sustainable, and bring no additional risk to the fiscus, is a separate question that the management of each state bank has to consider, including the extent of non-performing loans and affordability of its customers. It is imperative that no state bank must be a burden on the fiscus and that all state banks must be able to generate sufficient own-revenue to fund their operations. State banks which engage in lending activities need to develop robust lending and risk management models, so that they do not depend on fiscal transfers, or impose losses on depositors. As such, no funds have been budgeted to fund any interest-free lending, by any bank.
a) The amount of funds budgeted to fund interest on the national debt is available in the annual Budget documentation, including the Budget Review.
(i) The total amount of funds that was budgeted to fund interest on the national debt in the 1995 Budget for 1995/96 was R39,5 billion.
(ii) The total amount of funds budgeted to fund interest on the national debt in the latest, 2021 Budget is R232,9 billion for 2020/21.
b) As announced in the 2021 National Budget, the cost of servicing government’s debt, at R232,9 billion or 11,3% of consolidated expenditure in 2020/21, and rising in the next few years, is not sustainable. Hence, in the 2021 Budget, government has undertaken several measures which are expected to stabilise government debt at 88,9% of GDP in the 2025/26 financial year, and for the ratio to decline thereafter.
26 March 2021 - NW769
Denner, Ms H to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
With reference to the call centre of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, what (a) total number of call centre agents are actively working for the call centre at any given time, (b)(i) total number of calls are received on a monthly basis and (ii) number of the specified calls are successfully resolved and (c) is the average time it takes to answer a ringing call that comes in to the call centre?
Reply:
a) There are 291 active call centre agents.
b) (i) The UIF call centre receives on average 253 312 calls per month.
(ii) 236 903 (93,5%) are successfully resolved by the 291 active call centre agents.
c) The average wait time call to be responded to is 28 seconds
26 March 2021 - NW309
Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
Since the Republic was placed under Adjusted Level 3 Lockdown on 29 December 2020, what is the total number of Public Service employees who have been or are currently absent from work, but are still receiving their full salaries?
Reply:
The total number of public servants absent since the Adjusted Level 3 Lockdown as from 29 December 2020 amounts to 322 818. The statistics as provided are up to and inclusive of 31 January 2021 (the latest date for which information is available). The figure is made up of employees utilising approved leave as provided for in the Public Service prescripts and as set out in the table underneath. It is important to note that when an employee is counted, it does not mean that the employee was on leave for the full period, e.g. 29 December 2020 to 31 January 2021. This means the person was on leave within the period indicated. Further, the person may have been on leave on more than one occasion in the period. In accordance with the leave provisions in the Public Service it is incumbent on employees to apply for leave and obtain approval prior to taking leave.
LEAVE TAKEN AS FROM 29 DECEMBER 2020 TO 31 JANUARY 2021 |
|
Leave Category |
Number Of Employees |
Adoption |
7 |
Family Responsibility |
13 307 |
Leave Without Pay |
929 |
Maternity |
1 513 |
Occupational Injuries/Diseases |
406 |
Paternity |
272 |
Permanent Incapacity Leave |
28 |
Pre-Natal |
632 |
Shop Steward/Office Bearer |
90 |
Sick-Full Pay |
48 576 |
Special |
13 518 |
Temporary Incapacity Leave |
198 |
Vacation - Full Pay) |
243 342 |
Total |
322 818 |
End
26 March 2021 - NW732
Brink, Mr C to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In light of the fact that the Auditor-General issued a qualified audit report against her department, citing, among other findings, irregular payments to undeserving recipients in the Community Work Programme (CWP), (a) on what date is it envisaged that the investigation into irregular payments that were made to (i) deceased participants and (ii) non-qualifying government employees in the CWP in the 2018-19 financial year will be completed and (b) what steps will her department take to recover the money that was lost?
Reply:
a) (i) and (ii) The validation and internal investigations into irregular payments were conducted in the 2017-2018 financial year to 2019-20 financial year. These validation and internal investigations were finalized on 20 September 2019.
b) The irregular payments for both ineligible deceased participants and non-qualifying government employees were recouped in Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of 2020-2021 financial year from the relevant Implementing Agents.
26 March 2021 - NW310
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
(a) What are the relevant details of the (i) progress made and (ii) implementation processes of the migration of early childhood development from her department to the Department of Basic Education and (b) will she furnish Ms A L A Abrahams with the framework with requested details?
Reply:
National Assembly Written Reply: 310 of 2021
a) The Department of Social Development is working with the Department of Basic Education on the ECD Function shift process. Both Departments recently briefed the Joint Portfolio Committees of Basic Education and Social Development, who noted the progress made by both departments in terms of the migration process and further called for a joint workshop to better understand the processes in terms of the policies and programmes of the ECD sector and the work being done by both departments to ensure that there is quality ECD services and support, being provided to the sector.
The following progress has been made in this regard:
(i) Diagnostic review: ECD diagnosis, validation and review Session with provinces were conducted to get a better sense of the status of ECDs and to determine the principles that would underpin the migration process. The findings thereof formed the basis for the establishment of 7 interdepartmental technical teams that are key in the migration process. These technical teams are;
(1) Human resources and Labour relations, (2) Finance and budgets,
(3) Legal and contracts,
(4) Movable and immovable assets,
(5) Data, information, monitoring & Evaluation,
(6) Stakeholder management and communication, and
(7) ECD programme implementation.
Governance structures: In addition to the 7 technical teams that have been established, an inter-departmental Project Management Team has been established and meets weekly. These structures have been decentralised at provincial level. In addition, the DGs meet on a monthly basis and joint meetings between Heads of Department of Basic Education and Social Development are held at least monthly to gauge progress with regards to each of the workstreams.
Legal and contracts: Concurrence was reached between the two departments regarding the scope of the function shift. Final proclamations, the President’s Minute and the President’s Note have been sent to the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor. Provincial proclamations have been shared with the State Law advisors in the provinces.
Human Resources (HR) and Labour relations: Both the departments have concluded arrangements HR at national level. The process of identification of human resources to be shifted with the function at provincial level is at different level due to its complexity. The social workers are generalists and are performing a range of functions in addition to ECD function. Progress in this regard is uneven, it differs from province to province.
Finance and budget: The budget lines that could follow the function has been identified and it includes grants & subsidies budget; Non Profit Organisation transfer budget; and capital asset budget. The budget relating to HR will be finalised after the HR matter has been finalised.
Data, information, monitoring & Evaluation: Identified databases, information systems, strategies and other information sets, programmes used to manage the function and analysed data on the scale of ECD provision in all provinces.
Stakeholder management and communication: The stakeholder engagement plan and communication strategy has been developed.
(ii) below are the envisaged timeframes the teams are working towards the implementation processes of ECD migration:
(b) The framework has been developed but cannot be availed as it is not yet for public consumption.
26 March 2021 - NW397
Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(1)Whether, with regard to section 211 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, that recognises the institution, status and role of traditional leadership in the Republic, her department has put any measures in place to ensure that the existing legislative imperatives and powers are used to effectively and visibly increase the role of traditional leaders as is contemplated in Chapter 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, particularly at local government level; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what are the details of the progress made with regard to the passing of the Traditional Courts Bill? NW403E
Reply:
1. Yes, the Department of Traditional Affairs, has put legislative measures in place to visibly increase the role of traditional leaders as contemplated in Chapter 12 of the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa through the enactment of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act, 2019 (Act No. 3 of 2019) (TKLA) which will commence on 01 April 2021.
To visibly increase the role of traditional and khoi-san leaders as envisaged in Chapter 12 of the 1996 Constitution, particularly at local government level, schedule 3, section 7 of the TKLA empowers traditional and khoi-san leaders to meaningfully participate in the affairs of District, Metropolitan and Local Municipalities. In this regard, the traditional and khoi-san leaders elected to participate in municipal councils are empowered by the TKLA to among others:
a) Address municipal councils on any matter directly or indirectly affecting or traditional and khoi-san communities in their areas of jurisdiction of the relevant municipal council. Furthermore, these leaders should prepare reports on all matters affecting traditional and khoi-san communities discussed in the council meeting within three weeks of the municipal council meeting and submit to the Local House of Traditional and Khoi-San leaders and traditional councils. These two roles allocated to traditional leaders by the TKLA ensure that traditional and khoi-san communities are well informed about the municipal affairs and can also participate effectively in municipal affairs through traditional and khoi-san leadership;
b) Make recommendations and propose appropriate interventions in respect of service delivery within the areas of jurisdiction of the relevant traditional or khoi-san councils to ensure that service delivery needs of traditional and khoi-san communities are attended to and included in the municipal integrated development plans (IDPs);
c) Facilitate the participation of the relevant traditional and khoi-san communities in the any affairs of the municipality that requires or allows for public participation, including the affairs of ward committees;
d) Participate in the development of policy and by-laws at municipal level;
e) Alert the municipality to any current or threatening hazard or calamity in their areas of jurisdiction which affects or may affect the municipal areas;
f) Support the municipality and ensure participation of traditional and khoi-san communities in the identification of the specific service delivery needs of their communities;
g) Support the relevant municipality in promoting integrated local economic development; and
h) Support the relevant municipality with the implementation of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013.
Furthermore, the TKLA allocates a role to traditional leaders by empowering the institution of traditional leadership to enter into partnership and service level agreements for the benefit of their communities. In this regard, the institution of traditional leadership is empowered through section 24 of the TKLA to enter into partnerships with municipalities, government departments and any person, body or institution for socio-economic benefit of their communities.
2. The Traditional Courts Bill is a Bill that resides within the mandate of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. The Honourable member is advised to direct the question to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
26 March 2021 - NW621
Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Given that the 2020-21 financial year is the final year of the contracts of implementing agents at the Community Work Programme (CWP), what (a) measures have been put in place by her department to ensure that the noncompliance by many implementing agents have been addressed and (b) will happen to implementing agents at the CPW at the beginning of the 2021-22 financial year, especially those that have been seen not to comply with their service level agreements?
Reply:
a) What measures have been put in place by her department to ensure that the non-compliance by many implementing agents have been addressed:
There were two main areas of non-compliance by the implementing agents. The first one had to do with providing supporting documents and invoices for money allocated to them for project implementation. The second one, also related to the first, had to do with reporting on their activities in relation to their Service Level Agreement.
In addressing the first non-compliance, the department implemented a process wherein the payments to NPOs fully accounted for any advances paid to them before further disbursements were made. The net effect was that for the year 2021, there was full compliance on all matter related to outstanding invoices. As a result of this practice, compliance related to invoices as measured by the suspense account is at 95%, with the balance being amounts disbursed later related to special projects.
In terms of previous year non-compliance, a special team comprised of NPOs and CWP staff was constituted to re-look and journalise the invoices related to financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20. This process yielded results that led to full accountability for these years. The Project is 90% complete, and what is left is eliminating any possible duplicate invoices and balancing to the financial system.
Regarding the non-compliance to the Service Level Agreement (SLA), various workshops were held with all the NPOs with the purpose of unpacking the SLAs and their responsibilities to that effect. All the reporting requirements were explained and the NPOs were assisted with the reporting templates. Currently there are no NPOs who are non-compliant as compliance to the SLA is linked to the financial accountability.
b) What will happen to the implementing agents at the CPW at the beginning of the 2021-22 financial year, especially those that have been seen not to comply with their service level agreements?
All the NPOs are compliant as stated above. Compliance with the SLA is linked to the NPOs’ eligibility to receive any funding from the department.
The contracts of all CWP Implementing Agents have been extended by six months starting from 01 April 2021.
26 March 2021 - NW362
Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Whether the Government has responded to the memorandum with demands received from the Khoisan group that has been camping at the Union Buildings for two years; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the memorandum as well as the response thereto?
Reply:
The Honourable Member is requested to note that the Government has engaged with Mr. Khoi-San SA and the accompanying Khoi-San group since their arrival at the Union Buildings towards the end of 2018, with a view to update them on how the issues they have raised were being addressed. The group raised the following complex matters which cannot be resolved overnight, but various departments have since been seized with them;
a) Introduction of the Khoi-San languages in schools in all provinces;
b) Access to land for the Khoi-San through finalisation of land claims that they submitted 22 years ago;
c) Recognition of Khoi-San as a group and as opposed to classifying them as Coloureds; and ensuring that they will participate in Census 2021 under that categorisation and not as Coloureds;
d) Review the Traditional Courts Act’s jurisdiction to include the Khoi and San;
e) Declaration of the place where Mr. Adam Kok died as a heritage site; and
f) Renaming of the Port Elizabeth Airport after one of the Khoi-San leaders.
The relevant details of the responses are attached hereto as Annexure A.
Annexure A
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NUMBER 362
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19 FEBRUARY 2020
a) Introduction of the Khoi-San languages in schools in all provinces:
Government has previously reported on the ground-breaking work done by the Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) to support the development and use of Khoi-San languages. This included the development of a Khoekhoegowab Glossarium which remains a valuable reference for language teaching, language acquisition and use, promotion, preservation and maintenance.
PanSALB is adapting the Khoekhoegowab Orthography rules into Nama Spelling and Orthography rules in order to train educators who will be able to educate children on the language and culture of the Khoi-San people. The San language is being gradually introduced in schools in the Northern Cape Province. The Department of Basic Education (DBE), in preparation for introducing the Nama language in schools with speakers of the language, developed the Grades 4-6 Toolkit. The Toolkit is being made available in the Nama language and the availability of the Toolkit is one of DBE’s concrete measures towards ensuring that the Nama language is offered in the schools.
b) Access to land for the Khoi-San through finalisation of land claims that they submitted 22 years ago:
Regarding the finalisation of land claims, this is work that is administered by the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), and through its various programmes, the Department has confirmed that the Khoi-San communities have successfully claimed land in many provinces. Where there are enquiries about specific claims on which feedback may not have been received, such details should be provided to DALRRD for follow up and actioning as appropriate.
c) Recognition of Khoi-San as a group as opposed to classifying them as Coloureds; and ensuring that they will participate in Census 2021 under that categorisation and not as Coloureds:
The group raised concerns with the usage of the word Coloured as they deemed it offensive and derogatory. They therefore demanded that it be scrapped and replaced with what they regard as a more appropriate word to describe them, which is Khoi-San. However, we cannot ignore the fact that in our country there are people who self- identify as Coloured. Scrapping the word ‘coloured’ can therefore not just be a unilateral decision of government given the profound implications this may have for those who self-identify as coloured. However, for purposes of the country’s next Census, Statistics South Africa has advised that the manner in which the question on race is posed will allow people to classify themselves in whichever group they identify with. Those who classify themselves as Khoi-San will thus indicate that and be coded as such.
d) Review the Traditional Courts Act’s jurisdiction to include the Khoi-San:
Regarding the demand on Traditional Courts, the Traditional Courts Bill, 2017(the Bill) is currently still before Parliament. This Bill was adopted by the Select Committee on Justice and Security on 18 November 2020. The Bill defines a traditional court as follows:
“traditional court’’ means a customary institution or structure, which is constituted and functions in terms of customary law, for purposes of resolving disputes, in accordance with constitutional imperatives and this Act, and which is referred to in the different official languages as—
(a) ‘‘eBandla’’ in isiNdebele;
(b) ‘‘Huvo’’ in Xitsonga;
(c) ‘‘Inkundla’’ in isiZulu;
(d) ‘‘iNkhundla’’ in siSwati;
(e) ‘‘iNkundla‘‘in isiXhosa;
(f) ‘‘Kgoro’’ in Sepedi;
(g) ‘‘Kgotla’’ in Sesotho;
(h) ‘‘Khoro’’ in Tshivenda;
(i) ‘‘Kgotla’’ in Setswana; and
(j) a tribunal for Khoi-San communities.
This definition recognises fora that may be existent in Khoi-San communities even if it is not called a traditional court but is a forum where disputes are resolved in the community. Therefore, Khoi-San communities will not be excluded from the operation of the Bill when it is finally enacted. However, should there still be concerns about the Bill, these should be raised through the transparent and participatory processes that underpin the manner in which Parliament works.
e) Declaration of the place where Adam Kok died as a heritage site:
On the demand to declare the grave of the late Adam Kok II as a heritage site, government has undoubtedly demonstrated its recognition of this great leader who is known to have fought against colonial encroachment in the central western regions of South Africa. As part of Heritage Day celebrations in 2018, our country witnessed the unveiling of a statue of Adam Kok II in Kokstad by the acting President at time, His Excellency Mr David Mabuza. The Department of Sports Arts and Culture will engage the South African Heritage Resources Agency to consider the grading and declaration of the graves of the late Adam Kok II and Adam Kok I.
This will be done within the context of the Khoi and San Heritage Route Project as well as the Resistance and Liberation Heritage Route Projects which are led by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The National Khoi and San Heritage Route is a national legacy project whose implementation was approved by Cabinet in June 2020. The route will identify, highlight, conserve, and promote the heritage of the Khoi, Nama, Griqua, Khorana, and San. This project contributes towards the acknowledgment of the previously neglected and marginalised South African communities.
f) Renaming of the Port Elizabeth Airport after one of the Khoi-San leaders:
On the possible renaming of the Port Elizabeth Airport after one of the Khoi-San leaders, the Department wishes to indicate that strides have been made in this regard. As from Tuesday, 23 February 2021, the Port Elizabeth Airport has been renamed by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and will from now on be known as Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport.
Government will continue to implement all these and other critical programmes to ensure that the plight of the Khoi-San communities is addressed.
End.
26 March 2021 - NW587
Stubbe, Mr DJ to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
With reference to her reply to question 1918 on 13 December 2020, what (a) is the (i) Rand value and (ii) distance in kilometres with regard to the (aa) backlog, (bb) resurfacing and (cc) rehabilitation of roads and (b) amount has been set aside for this purpose in the current budget?
Reply:
a) (i) & (ii) The rand value of the backlog is indicated in the table below:
No |
Type |
Kilometres |
Rand value (approx.)* |
1 |
Backlog of Resurfacing/Rehabilitation |
1352 |
R3.1 billion |
*costs for rehabilitation and resurfacing increase year on year
b). The budget that has been set aside to deal with the above is as follows:
No |
Type |
Budget |
Kilometres |
1 |
Resurfacing/Rehabilitation |
R248 million |
106 |
The budget of R248 million has already been spent in the current financial year (2020/2021) for rehabilitation/resurfacing of 106km. Resurfacing is one of different methods of rehabilitation hence the two have been merged.
26 March 2021 - NW682
De Villiers, Mr JN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
Whether (a) his department and/or (b) any entity reporting to him makes use of private security firms; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, in each case, what is the (i) name of each firm, (ii) purpose, (iii) value and (iv) duration of each specified contract?
Reply:
The NSG is one of the entities that reports to the Minister for Public Service and Administration and has its own premises that it leases from DPWI (PIC) situated at ZK Matthews, Trevenna Bld, 70 Meintjies street Sunnyside PRETORIA and utilise the following security firms.
(i) Name of the Company |
(ii) Purpose |
(iii) Contract Value |
(iv) Duration of the contract |
Phuthadichaba Trading Enterprise cc (Reg 2003/034074/23) |
To provide physical security services to safeguard NSG personnel and property |
R 17, 538, 566,28 |
Five (5) years (01 November 2018 – 31 October 2023) |
Vox Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd (Reg 2011/000797/07) |
To provide management and maintenance service for CCTV surveillance, Access Control and Intruder Alarm System |
R2,128,829.36 |
36 months (01 January 2020-31 December 2023) |
REPLY: PSC
The Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) has appointed private security firms for four Provincial Offices as set out in the table below:
i) Name of service provider |
ii)Purpose |
iii) Value |
iv) Duration of each contract |
Tyeks Security Services |
Alarm Monitoring and Guard Services (day and night) for the Eastern Cape Provincial Office |
R614 477.76 |
01 November 2019 to 31 October 2021 |
Divergent OPS (Pty) Ltd |
Alarm Monitoring for the Mpumalanga Provincial Office |
R40 986.00 |
01 March 2020 to 28 February 2022 |
National Security and Fire |
Alarm Monitoring for the Limpopo Provincial Office |
R44 683.35 |
01 November 2019 to 31 October 2022 |
Defensor Electronic Security System |
Alarm Monitoring for the Free State Provincial Office |
R11 098.41 |
01 October 2020 to 30 September 2021 |
REPLY: DPSA
a) Yes
Department of Public Service and Administration:
- Jackcliffy Trading Cc
- Security guarding services during week days, weekends, Public Holidays and nightshift.
- R2 589 998.80
- Two year contract
b) Thusong Service Centre
- Masutha Training & Security Services (Pty) Ltd
- Security Guarding Services during week days and on Saturday only.
- R4 524 399.72
- Three year contract
REPLY: CPSI
a) The CPSI does not make use of private security firms. The organisation has 3 permanently employed Security Officers on the staff establishment.
(i) N/A
(ii) N/A
(iii) NA
(iv) N/A
End
26 March 2021 - NW195
Stubbe, Mr DJ to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Whether, with regard to her reply to question 507 on 16 September 2019 and the follow up-question 180 on 19 March 2020, the firearm audit has been finalised; if not, why not; if so, will she furnish Mr D J Stubbe with a full, comprehensive copy of the report?
Reply:
(1) In terms of the Firearms Control Act No. 60 of 2000 an annual stock register must be provided to the Central Firearm Registrar at the end of each year. The South African Police Service (SAPS), Division: Firearms, Liquor and 2nd Goods and Central Firearm Registry conduct annual random inspections to confirm full compliance with the Firearms Control Act No. 60 of 2000. The SAPS inspection was last undertaken in September 2019.
(2) The audit conducted by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department took place over a lengthy period and was eventually concluded. However, as indicated above, this armory audit is conducted in terms of the legislation administered by SAPS and therefore, an accurate account of the audit can be requested from the Ministry of Police.
Background
PQ 195 emanates from PQ 129, which was published on 28 June 2019. Due to the unavailability of the information required to address PQ 129, two follow-up questions were posed by Honourable Waters and Honourable Dr Lotriet. The two questions respectively posed by Honourable Waters and Honourable Dr Lotriet are PQ 507, which was published on 23 August 2019 and PQ 180, which was published on 21 February 2020. In essence, PQ 507 and PQ 180 were a probe on the arms audit in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, which audit was in progress at the time when these questions were received.
The National Police Commissioner has been informed about the audit, and the national subcommittee has been established to resolve Official Institution’s Firearm related issues and is meeting on a regular basis. The meeting is chaired by Brig Bopape from SAPS’ Central Firearm Registry Unit and co-chaired by Brig Spies from the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) on behalf of all Metro Police Departments.
Based on the outcome of the audit, no action was needed against individuals within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since this matter is about the National SAPS Central Firearm Registry and the Official Institution Firearm register that needs to be updated and corrected by the SAPS.
The EMPD is currently updating and modernizing its firearm policy in order to align with various legislative prescripts.
26 March 2021 - NW676
Hinana, Mr N to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
Whether (a) his department and/or (b) any entity reporting to him makes use of private security firms; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, in each case, what is the (i) name of each firm, (ii) purpose, (iii) value and (iv) duration of each specified contract?
Reply:
(a) and (b) Yes, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD), Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) as well as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and Legal Aid South Africa make use of private security firms. The tables below provide details of the security firms per Department and entity reporting to me:
1. Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, OCJ and NPA:
MARCH 2021 TO DATE
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
(i) Name of Security Firms |
(ii) Purpose |
(iii) Contract value |
Duration of specific contract |
|
Start date |
End date |
|||
1. Mabotwane Security Services |
Security guarding and special services in various offices (DoJ&CD, NPA, OCJ) Gauteng and Western Cape provinces |
(Gauteng)
(Western Cape) |
01 March 2021 |
28 February 2022 |
2. Fidelity Security Services |
Security guarding and special services in various offices (DoJ&CD, NPA, OCJ) Kwa-Zulu Natal and Eastern Cape provinces |
(Kwa-Zulu Natal)
(Eastern Cape) |
01 March 2021 |
28 February 2022 |
3. PhepheMV |
Security guarding and special services in various offices (DoJ&CD, NPA, OCJ) Limpopo and North West |
(Limpopo)
(North West) |
01 March 2021 |
28 February 2022 |
4. Vhugi Protection Services |
Security guarding and special services in various offices (DoJ&CD, NPA, OCJ) Mpumalanga province and National Offices |
(Mpumalanga)
(National Offices) |
|
|
5. Zacks Business Enterprise |
Security guarding and special services in various offices (DoJ&CD, NPA, OCJ) Free State and Northern Cape provinces |
(Northern Cape)
(Free State) |
|
|
2. Legal Aid South Africa
Legal Aid SA has 118 contracts relating to security services with private security services providers for 118 of 129 of its offices. Security services of the remaining 11 offices are provided by respective landlords. The offices are made up of 64 local offices, 64 satellite offices and National office. The majority (115) of contracts are for alarm monitoring and armed responses and three (3) are for physical guarding of fixed properties and immovables at the National office and two (2) of its local offices. The total value of the contracts is R5 898 807, 38 with the average durations of 36 months. The table below provides a summary of the security contracts.
Profile of Legal Aid SA security contracts profile |
|
|
||||||
Region |
Physical |
Alarm monitoring |
Total |
Average duration of the contract |
||||
Number of contracts |
Total value of the contracts (Rands) |
Number of contracts |
Total value of the contracts (Rands) |
Number of contracts |
Total value of the contracts (Rands) |
|||
National Office |
1 |
3 737 009,50 |
0 |
- |
1 |
3 737 009,50 |
36 months |
|
KZN |
0 |
- |
21 |
295 898,99 |
21 |
295 898,99 |
36 months |
|
Limpopo |
0 |
- |
25 |
454 297,82 |
25 |
454 297,82 |
36 months |
|
WCNC |
0 |
- |
21 |
232 322,38 |
21 |
232 322,38 |
36 months |
|
Gauteng |
2 |
407 870,87 |
13 |
249 924,41 |
15 |
657 795,28 |
36 months |
|
EC |
0 |
- |
17 |
256 191,17 |
17 |
256 191,17 |
36 months |
|
FS |
0 |
- |
18 |
265 292,24 |
18 |
265 292,24 |
36 months |
|
Total |
3 |
4 144 880,37 |
115 |
1 753 927,01 |
118 |
5 898 807,38 |
|
|
A detailed spreadsheet with the name of each firm, purpose, value and duration of each contract is attached as Annexure A.
3. Special Investigating Unit
Region |
Description |
Appointed Service Provider |
Value |
Duration |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start Date |
End Date |
||||
1. Durban Office |
Security Guards Services at SIU Durban Office for a period of 10 Months |
Stallion Security (Pty) Ltd |
R396,858.53 |
1 June 2020 |
30 May 2021 |
2. Nelspruit Office |
Security guard Services for Nelspruit Office for a period of 12 months |
Fidelity Security Group (Pty)Ltd |
R342,233.40 |
1 August 2020 |
31 Jul 2021 |
3. Bloemfontein Office |
Appointment of security guard services for Bloemfontein office and for a period of 10 months |
Fidelity Security Group (Pty)Ltd |
R287,500.00 |
3 August 2020 |
2 May 2021 |
4. Mahikeng Office |
Appointment of service provider to render security guard services for Mahikeng office |
Mminatlou Security and Projects |
R466,273.08 |
1 September 2020 |
31 August 2021 |
5. Mthatha Office |
Appointment of service provider to render security services for Mthatha office |
Tyeks Security Services (Pty)Ltd |
R408,910.22 |
8 October 2020 |
7 October 2021 |
6. Pretoria Office |
Appointment of service provider to render security guard services for Pretoria office for a 12 months period |
Lenong Security Services cc |
R315,608.16 |
1 January 2021 |
31 December 2021 |
7. Polokwane Office |
Appointment of service provider to render security guard services for Polokwane office for a 12 months period |
Eager Beaver Projects(Pty)Ltd |
R238,146.00 |
01 November 2020 |
31 October 2021 |
8. East London |
Provision of Grade C Security Guards (Unarmed) for the SIU East London Office for a period of Ten (10) months. |
Xhobani Cleaning and Security Services |
R497 927.00 |
01 February 2021 |
30 November 2021 |
9. Bloemfontein Office |
Provision of armed close protectors for SIU employee on very high risk investigation, after SAPS security assessment recommendation |
Arcangel Group |
R277,828.50 |
29 January 2021 |
28 April 2021 |
4. Information Regulator
The Information Regulator does not use private security firms. Security services of the work premises are provided by the Landlord.
26 March 2021 - NW437
Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
What total number of (a) employees of the State have been found to be doing business with the State over the past five years and (b) the specified (i) employees were disciplined and (ii) hearings resulted in the dismissal of the employees?
Reply:
a) The number of employees found to be possibly conducting business with the State was 482 at the end of February 2021, with eight (8) employees reported to be conducting business with the State in an official capacity (thus, having been appointed by a competent authority, as allowed in terms of Public Service Regulations, 2016, regulations 13(c)).
A |
D |
|
Departments |
Number of Public Servants listed on CSD conducting business with an organ of state as at end of January 2021 |
|
1 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
39 |
2 |
Gauteng |
42 |
3 |
North West |
13 |
4 |
Eastern Cape |
71 |
5 |
Limpopo |
41 |
6 |
Mpumalanga |
43 |
7 |
Free State |
25 |
8 |
Northern Cape |
72 |
9 |
Western Cape |
18 |
Total Provincial Departments |
364 |
|
Total National Departments |
126 |
|
Grand Total |
482 (8 in official capacity) |
b) The specified:
(i) Employees disciplined:
Referred for disciplinary hearings |
37 cases in the South African Police Service (SAPS); One (1) case in the Department of Social Development; Five (5) cases in the Department of Employment and Labour; and 11 cases in the Northern Cape Department of Health. |
Outcome of disciplinary hearing |
One (1) employee was suspended for three months without pay at the Department of Employment and Labour. |
Criminal charges introduced |
12 cases were referred for criminal charges in the SAPS. |
(ii) hearings resulted in the dismissal of employees: To date there are no employees who were reported to be dismissed from their respective departments due to involvement in the conducting of business with the State.
End
26 March 2021 - NW248
Langa, Mr TM to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Whether she has been informed of the unstable water supply to the residents of the uMhlathuze Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and, more specifically, that the water has recently been found to be contaminated with diesel; if not, why not; if so, what steps has she taken to stabilise the water supply in the specified municipal area?
Reply:
Yes, accordingly, the incident was discovered on 01 January 2021 and reported to the Department of Water and Sanitation and other stakeholders as per the drinking Water Incident Management Protocol.
The Water Treatment Works (WTW) was immediately stopped and process units were backwashed, and the raw water sump was drained. The intensive monitoring programme to determine the extent of the contamination was instituted. A warning alert was sent to the public immediately to stop consuming water on 2 January 2021.
The WTW was recommissioned and determine suitable for operations as per the SANS 241:2015 on 03 February 2021.
26 March 2021 - NW680
De Villiers, Mr JN to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Whether (a) her Office and/or (b) any entity reporting to her makes use of private security firms; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, in each case, what is the (i) name of each firm, (ii) purpose, (iii) value and (iv) duration of each specified contract?
Reply:
Department: DWYPD |
Entity: NYDA |
|
(a) |
Yes, Her office makes use of private security firm. |
|
(b) |
N/A |
Yes, the NYDA makes use of a private security firm: |
(i) |
Idlangamandla Security Protection & Project cc |
Rise Security Services (Pty) LTD |
(ii) |
The purpose is to provide physical (guarding) services to protect the DWYPD infrastructure and assets. |
The purpose is to provide physical security services to twenty-one (21) NYDA branch offices and thirty-one (31) district offices in terms of access control, guarding, alarm services and emergency response to protect the NYDA infrastructure and assets. |
(iii) |
R2 378 660, 48 |
R18 551 388.66 |
(iv) |
24 months from 01 January 2021 – December 2022 |
36 months from 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2022. |
_________________________
Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date _____________________
26 March 2021 - NW768
Denner, Ms H to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
(1)What was the reason for the technical problems experienced by the call centre of the Unemployment Insurance Fund as announced on Tuesday, 2 March 2021; (2) whether the specified technical problems were resolved; if not, (a) what is the reason for the delay and (b) by what date will the call centre be operational again; if so, (i) how long did it take to resolve and (ii) from what date was the call centre fully operational again?
Reply:
- Telkom terminated the service of the 0800 call centre number as a result of the non-extension of the telephone line contract.
- This was resolved on the 4th March 2021 and the call centre was fully operational from the afternoon of 4 March 2021.
25 March 2021 - NW384
Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)What (a) total number of directors-general (DGs) in the national departments are currently acting in their positions and (b) is the name of each department in which each specified DG is currently employed; (2) whether the DGs who are in acting positions have the correct and/or relevant qualifications; if not, in each case (a) what are their names and (b) in what departments are they currently employed; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) (a) The total number of Directors-General in national departments who are currently acting is ten (10).
(b) National Departments with acting Directors-General:
- Department of Social Development
- Department of Water and Sanitation
- Department of Military Veterans
- Small Business Development
- The Presidency
- Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
- Communication and Digital Technologies
- State Security Agency
- International Relations and Cooperation
- Office of the Public Service Commission
(2) 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 requirement however, noting the definition, competency to perform the duties are.
(a&b) The names of the acting Directors-General and the Departments in which they are acting:
- Department of Social Development: Mr L Mchunu
- Department of Water and Sanitation: Mr T Belzar
- Department of Military Veterans: Mr DM Mgwebi
- Small Business Development: Mr L Mkhumane
- The Presidency: Ms L Mxenge
- Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
- Communication and Digital Technologies: Ms N Jordan-Dyani
- State Security Agency: Mr L Jafta
- International Relations and Cooperation: Nonceba Losi
- Office of the Public Service Commission: Ms IL Mathenjwa
End
25 March 2021 - NW314
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)What is the current vacancy rate in each government department for funded posts at (a) national and (b) provincial level, (2) whether he has found that the vacancy rate has had a negative impact on service delivery in the Republic; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what measures and/or mechanisms has his department put in place in order to address the negative impact of the vacancy rate?
Reply:
(1) (a) At national government, the average vacancy rate is 9%.
(b) At provincial government, the average vacancy rate is 12%.
Disaggregation per department is as per the attached Excel Spreadsheet.
(2) The vacancy rate does impact negatively on service delivery and this is not unique to the Public Service. Posts that remain unfilled do have an impact on the operational efficiency of an organisation. The average vacancy rate in the Public Service is approximately 12% which is above the set 10% target. The Department of Public Service and Administration monitors the vacancy rate and communicates with departments on the urgent need to fill vacant posts.
The Minister for the Public Service and Administration has addressed FOSAD on this matter and the Director-General of the Department of Public Service and Administration has presented the compliance report regarding the vacancy rate. Presentations made to FOSAD as well as the GSCID Cluster articulate the impact of vacant posts on service delivery and the non-compliance with legal prescripts, norms and standards on the filling of vacant posts.
The 2020/21 APP highlights Annual Compliance Report as one of the deliverables. This report identifies areas of compliance and non-compliance and most importantly, design technical intervention measures to support struggling departments. A partnership is being sought with the Auditor-General of South Africa to include vacancy management in the areas being audited as part of elevating the matter.
REPLY ORIGINATOR
Name: Mr M Wilson
Designation: Acting Deputy Director-General: Human Resource Management Development
Contacts: 082 903 0552
Recommended / Not recommended
Recommended / Not recommended
_________________
Ms Yoliswa Makhasi
Director-General: Department of Public Service and Administration
Date:
Recommended / Not Recommended
______________________
Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga, MP
Deputy Minister for the Public Service and Administration
Date:
Approved/ Not approved
____________________
Mr Senzo Mchunu, MP
Minister for the Public Service and Administration
Date:
25 March 2021 - NW869
Gwarube, Ms S to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
What is the breakdown of the R95 million allocated by the Government towards the development of COVID-19 (a) vaccines, (b) treatment and (c) therapeutics?
Reply:
The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) has committed an amount of ~R95 million for COVID-19 biomedical research and innovation activities covering in the following fields of research:
Research field |
Amount disbursed |
a) Prevention and vaccines |
R7 684 831 |
b) Repurposing of Drugs for Treatment |
R8 483 130 |
c) Convalescent sera |
R4 571 244 |
d) Understanding the disease |
R2 877 495 |
e) Diagnostics |
R16 491 509 |
f) Genomic Surveillance |
R36 338 830 |
g) Wastewater Surveillance |
R345 989 |
h) Surveillance /Epidemiology |
R2 128 665 |
i) 501Y.V2 variant |
R7 636 395 |
Total amount committed /disbursed |
R86 558 088 |
Amount still to be allocated |
R8 441 912 |
25 March 2021 - NW315
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)What is the average turnover rate for heads of departments and directors-general in government departments; (2) whether he has found that the turnover rate has had a negative impact on (a) service delivery in the Republic and (b) administration of the affected government departments; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what measures and/or mechanisms has his department put in place in order to address the negative impact of the turnover rate?
Reply:
(1) The quarterly (October 2020 to December 2020) turnover rate is 5,7%.
(2)(a) Turnover does have an impact on the delivery of services however there when a Head of Department exits office, an official is appointed in an acting capacity for business continuity.
(b) The departmental impact is that there is a required transition period in which the acting official needs to be briefed on the deliverables of a department to manage the responsibilities whilst in an acting capacity.
Regarding mechanisms, research has been undertaken on the turnover of Heads of Department and includes recommendations on their retention. The recommendations are to be presented to Cabinet once finalised.
End
25 March 2021 - NW900
Boshoff, Dr WJ to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
(1)Whether, with reference to the delayed distribution of laptop computers to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme students, any irregularities were found in the first round of bid evaluation and adjudication; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details of the specified irregularities; (2) whether the company to whom the tender would have been awarded, had the process not been terminated, had in fact complied with all requirements as set out for the bid evaluation criteria; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
(1) No irregularities were noted in the cancelled tender. The tender was cancelled in accordance with regulation 13 (1) (c) of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, as no acceptable bids were received. All 150 bid proposals were disqualified for not achieving the mandatory requirements of the tender.
(2) None of the proposals met the mandatory requirements as outlined in the bid document.
(3) No.
25 March 2021 - NW316
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
Whether his department has put in place measures and/or mechanisms aimed at ensuring that Batho Pele principles are fully entrenched in the public service; if not, why not; if so, what has been the impact of the specified measures and/or mechanisms on the public service and its ability to deliver services to our people?
Reply:
1. Yes, the DPSA has mechanisms to ensure Batho Pele principles are entrenched in the Public Service.
Chapter 10 of the Constitution mandates the MPSA to ensure professionalization of the Public Service with high standards of the professional ethics. To this effect, MPSA launched the Public Service Professionalization Consultation Process led by the National School of Government.
The Public Service Act 1994 empowers the MPSA to ensure transformation, reform, innovation as well as any other matters that improves the efficacy of the Public Service. Policy Frameworks such as The White Paper on Transformation of the Public Service (1995), The White Paper on Transforming the Public Service Delivery (1997) are central to the implementation of the Batho Pele Principles approach in the public service.
2. Amongst others, mechanisms to ensure Batho Pele principles are entrenched in the Public Service are:-
2.1. Public Service Charter (2013) which accelerates the Batho Pele policy as a social contract between the Public Service and organised labour in ensuring quality services to the citizenry.
2.2. National Batho Pele Forums consisting of both national and provincial departments coordinators.
2.3. Implementation of the “Khaedu” programme that is centred on the deployment of Senior Members Service employees to various frontline government department to monitor, ensure compliance and redress of the delivery of services to the people.
2.4. National Batho Pele Excellence Awards is one of the key mechanism that the DPSA host annually to celebrate those employees who has mastered the implementation of the Batho Pele principles.
3. Impact of the specified measures and/or mechanisms on the public service and its ability to deliver services to our people
3.1. The Department host the Integrated Government-Wide Public Service Month in September annually to lead the entire government in assessing the impact of public service delivery in line with the Batho Pele principles.
3.2. The major impact was demonstrated currently during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the public servants who are working in the front line were able to deliver quality public service by living the ethos of Batho Pele principles
END
25 March 2021 - NW899
Boshoff, Dr WJ to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
(1)Whether, in light of the contested period of administration at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, the Report of the Ministerial Committee on the Review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, investigating the administration phase of NSFAS has been completed; if not, why not; if so, by what date will the specified report be publicised; (2) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
(1) The Report of the Ministerial Committee on the Review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has been completed and submitted to the Minister. The Report will be published for public comment after a briefing and presentation to Cabinet.
(2) The Minister will make a statement after the briefing and presentation to Cabinet.
24 March 2021 - NW798
Breedt, Ms T to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether, with reference to her reply to question 2176 on 21 December 2020, she will (a) indicate on what date her department intends to promulgate the draft of the Animal Welfare Bill for public participation, (b) furnish Ms T Breedt with a copy of the socio-economic impact assessment that was submitted to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and (c) further provide a list of the members of the working group responsible for drafting the specified Bill; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
a) The date for the gazetting of the draft Animal Welfare Bill has not been set yet. However, as responded to Honourable Winkler to the same question under parliamentary question 2995 in 2020; due to a number of technical capacity constraints, complicated by the issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the envisaged introduction of the Bill to Parliament in the 2021/2022 financial year was postponed by a year. Consultation with stakeholders on the Bill will be undertaken during the 2021/2022 financial year.
b) The Socio-Economic Impact Assessment that was submitted to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation is hereby attached.
c) The Bill is drafted by the Animal Welfare Working Group, which consist of the following officials:
-
- Dr Mphane Molefe – DALRRD
- Ms Morongwa Senyatsi – DALRRD
- Dr Emmanuel Midzi – North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
- Dr Lea Shuda – Northern Cape Department of Agriculture and Land Reform
- Dr Christine Meintjes – KwaZulu Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
- Dr Themba Malatse – Limpopo Department of Agriculture
- Dr Faculty Baloyi – Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Dr Lungile Jali – Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform
- Dr Thelma Mokgophi – Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs
- Dr Jurgens Barnard – Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Dr Michael Swart – Western Cape Department of Agriculture.
It should be noted that the last two names on the list above have only recently joined the working group in 2020 and have not yet participated in the drafting of the Bill.
24 March 2021 - NW780
Mathulelwa, Ms B to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
By what date will she ensure that Harding Burgh Primary School in Matatiele is provided with proper classrooms and sanitation?
Reply:
The question has been referred to the Eastern Cape Department of Education and the response will be submitted as soon as it is received.
24 March 2021 - NW351
Spies, Ms ERJ to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What (a) total number of hectares of land is held in the name of traditional leaders for use by communities in Western Cape, (b) is the name of the responsible traditional leader in each of the areas and (c) government support has been provided in each area since 1 January 2014?
Reply:
a) There is no land held in the name of any traditional leader or traditional community in the Western Cape.
b) Falls away.
c) Falls away.
24 March 2021 - NW868
Van Der Walt, Ms D to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What (a) is the total number of schools for children with special educational needs (ELSEN) in each province, (b) are the norms and standards for funding the ELSEN sector and (c) is the current long-term plans of her department to improve the sector?
Reply:
a) Eastern Cape: 45; Free State: 21; Gauteng: 132; KwaZulu-Natal: 75; Limpopo: 35; Mpumalanga: 18; Northern Cape: 08; North West: 32; Western Cape: 67.
b) No, there are guidelines for the resourcing of inclusive education.
c) Yes.
24 March 2021 - NW808
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1) With regard to her reply to question 168 on 25 February 2021, what (a) are the details of the gender-based violence (GBV) programme found within the Life Orientation subject, (b) number of days and/or weeks are there that focus on GBV within the specified subject and (c) are the contents of the programme; (2) whether she will furnish Mr B B Nodada with the details of the programme?
Reply:
1(a) GBV is addressed through the provision of comprehensive sexuality education, access to sexual and reproductive health services implemented in secondary schools including a focus on prevention of alcohol and drug use and learner pregnancy (now also COVID-19) as risk factors to GBV. In primary schools, activities mainly focus on raising awareness of social justice and vulnerabilities such as reporting of abuse and support for GBV-affected learners.
(b) The Comprehensive Sexuality Education lessons broadly are delivered through a total of 80 lessons (implying 80 hours) in the Lifeskills and Life Orientation subject, throughout the schooling life from Grade 4 to 12. Of the 80 lessons, 29 (36%) of these specifically address GBV.
(c) In Primary Schools with younger learners, it starts with addressing bullying, safety of the body, protecting personal space, prevention of rape, reporting of sexual abuse and sexual harm, with the view of empowering the potential victim. Gradually, as the learners progress to higher grades, the topics in the Intermediate Phase begin to introduce issues of bullying, sexual abuse, sexual grooming, skills for bullies to change, this is coupled with identification and linking to services for learners at risk. In the Senior Phase, the lessons begin to introduce the construction of gender, consent, power and control in relationships as well as assertive communication. In the Further Education and Training (FET) phase, the lessons address in depth the issues of gender construction, consent, power and control in relationships as well as assertive communication. These messages communicate both to the potential victim and perpetrator with the view of challenging their attitudes in the communities.
2. Yes
24 March 2021 - NW288
Hill-Lewis, Mr GG to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
Whether her department has developed a plan for Erf 81, a site owned by the SA National Defence Force which is situated between Bo-Kaap and Tamboerskloof in the Cape Town City Bowl; if not, why not; if so, what is the (a) master plan for the specified site, (b) timeline for development and (c) plan of her department for the (i) long-standing informal structures and occupants on the north-east side of the site, (ii) occupants of the military buildings on the south-east side of the site and (iii) unlawful occupiers?
Reply:
The Erf in question is curently the subject of discussions at the Inter Ministerial Committee on Land Redistribution and the response will be provided once the discussions are finalised.
I
24 March 2021 - NW956
Van Der Walt, Ms D to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
With regard to legal cases that her department was involved in during the (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 financial years, what (i) was the cost in each case, (ii) was the total cost to her department, (iii) was the reason for each legal case, (iv) total number of cases did her department (aa) win and (bb) lose and (v) are the relevant details of any official of her department who was involved?
Reply:
Response
With regard to legal cases that her department was involved in during the (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 financial years
2018-2019 financial year
Answer: The Department had 38 cases on its litigation register at the end of the 2018/2019 financial year.
What (i) was the cost in each case, (ii) was the total cost to her department,
Answer: The Department did not spend on each case.In many of the cases the Minister is cited with the MECs and in such cases the cost is covered by the province.The Department spent R 1 459 000 in litigation cost in the 2018/2019 financial year.
(iii) was the reason for each legal case,
Answer: There were 8 cases relating to contractual disputes;9 cases relating to claims for injury or death of a learner; 10 cases relating to constitutional or administrative law issues;one case relating to pension payment of an educator; 2 cases relating to examination issues; 1 case each for defamation, copyright infringement and motor vehicle collision and five cases relating to labour disputes of educators
iv) total number of cases did her department (aa) win and (bb) lose
Answer: Many of the cases were ongoing or dormant, however the Department settled three cases, won one and did not lose any case.
(v) what are the relevant details of any official of her department who was involved?
Answer: There are no officials who were directly involved in any of the cases.
2019-2020 financial year
With regard to legal cases that her department was involved in during the (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20 financial years
Answer: The Department had 42 cases on its litigation register at the end of the 2019/2020 financial year
What (i) was the cost in each case, (ii) was the total cost to her department,
Answer: The Department did not spend on each case. In many of the cases the Minister is cited with the MECs and in such cases the cost is covered by the province.The Department spent R 12 853 000 in litigation cost in the 2019/2020 financial year.
(iii)What was the reason for each legal case,
Answer: There were 11 cases relating to contractual disputes; 10 cases relating to claims for injury or death of a learner; 6 cases relating to constitutional or administrative law issues; 1 case relating to pension payment of an educator; 7 cases relating to examination issues; 1 case each for defamation, copyright infringement and motor vehicle collision and 4 cases relating to labour disputes of educators
iv) total number of cases did her department (aa) win and (bb) lose
Answer: Many of the cases were ongoing or dormant, however the Department settled two cases and lost one.
(v) what are the relevant details of any official of her department who was involved?
Answer: There were no officials who were directly involved in any of the cases.
24 March 2021 - NW809
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What (a) is the plan of her department to reclaim money that was spent on fraudulent and/or overpriced irregular tenders of personal protective equipment and (b) amount has been (i) retrieved and (ii) lost?
Reply:
a) There has not been any money spent fraudulently on the procurement of personal protective equipment. The Department of Basic Education procured PPEs through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the Private Party as per Regulation 16 of the PFMA. As the Private Party cannot make use of the transversal contracts for PPEs and purchased PPEs from the open market, the Department has engaged with the Private Party with the assistance of National Treasury and has resolved any future pricing risk.
b)
(i) Not applicable
(ii) Not applicable
24 March 2021 - NW890
Ngcobo, Mr S to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Whether her department has recorded the total number of teachers who have been absent from schools since the reopening for the 2021 academic year; if not, why not; if so, what are the details of the (a) total number of teachers who have been absent and (b)(i) name of the affected school and (ii) school’s location in each case?
Reply:
(a), (b) (i) (ii) No. The National Department does not collect information on teacher attendance as part of its monitoring framework and therefore has not set up systems to collect such information on a regular basis. The Honourable Member is requested to direct the question to the Provincial Education Departments.
24 March 2021 - NW867
Van Der Walt, Ms D to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1) With regard to the prescribed maximum class size of 40 learners per class in the Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, (a) which schools do not comply with this prescript and (b) what are the reasons in each case for not complying; (2) (a) what actual steps have been taken to rectify the situation regarding classrooms and education, (b) by what date will the steps be implemented and (c) at what cost in each case?
Reply:
(1) and (2) The process to determine the learner-classroom ratio, as determined through the Regulations Relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, is conducted annually by provinces based on the learner enrolment received from Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) for that particular year. Provinces are currently conducting the analysis for inclusion in the User Asset Management Plans for the 2021-22 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), including the costing thereof. The main reason for schools not complying with the prescript, can include an increase in enrolment or an insufficient number of classrooms to cater for the number of learners. In both instances, mobile classrooms are provided to schools to address the influx. Further response to the question will be provided as soon as provinces conclude the analysis and submit the information.
24 March 2021 - NW866
Van Der Walt, Ms D to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1) With regard to the Volmink Report on the selling of posts, on what date was the investigation (a) commissioned, (b) finalised and (c) submitted to her; (2) whether the report will be (a) tabled to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and (b) made public; if not, in each case, why not; if so, in each case, on what date; (3) whether the illegal activity identified in the report has been stopped; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. With regard to the Volmink Report on the selling of posts, on what date was the investigation (a) commissioned, (b) finalised and (c) submitted to her;
ANSWER
a) The Ministerial Task Team (MTT) on the Selling of posts was commissioned in September 2014.
b) The MTT Report was finalised in April 2016 and
c) The report was handed over to the Minister on 20 May 2016. However, at the time of the handing over of this report, there were still some forensic investigations that were pending. They were later subjected to a second phase investigation of the MTT in order to complete the remaining Chapter 3 and Addendum V of the report. Chapter 3 and Addendum V of the report was finalised in June 2018.
2. Whether the report will be (a) tabled to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and (b) made public; if not, in each case, why not; if so, in each case, on what date;
ANSWER:
a) Subsequent to the release of the MTT Report on 20 May 2016, the Report was tabled at the Cabinet meeting to brief them on the report and its findings; the Portfolio Committee was also briefed on May 2016 and June 2017 about the findings and the actions to be taken by the Department to remedy the challenges emanating from the report. Lastly, presentations were made to both the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) and Heads of Education Committee (HEDCOM).
b) Yes, the MTT Report was gazetted and also made public on the Department of Basic Education’s website for easy access.
3. Whether the illegal activity identified in the report has been stopped; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
ANSWER:
The identified cases of the alleged illegal activities were sent to the affected Provincial Departments of Education (PEDs). Due to the fact that the PEDs are the Employers of educators in the respective provinces, they were requested to conduct investigations or follow-up investigations into these cases and provide reports on each of the cases to the DBE.
Since the provincial investigations were commissioned, the number of allegations subsequently dropped. Currently, the DBE has not received any further complaints of such illegal activities or allegations of individuals who participated in one or other form of corruption or selling of posts.
24 March 2021 - NW513
Marais, Mr EJ to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
Whether any staff member in his department (a) performed work in addition to the responsibilities related to his or her work, outside normal working hours, in the past five financial years and (b) has been performing such work during the period 1 April 2014 up to the latest specified date for which information is available; if not, in each case, how is it determined whether such work is being performed or not; if so, in each case, (i) what number of staff members and (ii) in what job or work categories are the specified staff members employed; (2) whether approval for such work was obtained in each case; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what is the policy of his department in this regard, (b) by whom are such applications considered and approved, (c) what number of contraventions of this policy were brought to the attention of the National Treasury in the past five financial years and (d) what steps have been taken against the transgressors?
Reply:
1. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has reported as follows:
a) In the past five financial years, since 2016, a total number of 180 employees requested permission to perform remunerative work outside the public service or normal working hours, in terms of the Directive regulated by the Public Service Regulations of 2016. However, it should be noted that some of these employees applied for an approval more than once as the approval is only valid for a period of a year from the date of approval.
b) The table below provides a summary according to job title or work category for 2016/17 to 2020/21 financial years:
Item No. |
Total number of applications received from officials requesting permission to perform work outside normal working hours |
(ii) Total number of officials permitted to perform work outside normal working hours |
||
(i) Job titles or Work Categories |
Number of Approved Applications |
Number of Disapproved Applications |
||
1. |
Accounting Clerks |
5 |
0 |
5 |
2. |
Administrative Clerks |
57 |
0 |
57 |
3. |
Administration Heads (level 9) |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4. |
Administrative Officers |
11 |
0 |
11 |
5. |
Assistant Directors |
14 |
0 |
14 |
6. |
Assistant Financial Operations Managers |
3 |
0 |
3 |
7. |
Assistant Master |
2 |
0 |
2 |
8. |
Assistant State Attorney |
0 |
1 |
1 |
9. |
Audit Manager |
1 |
0 |
1 |
10. |
Chief Accounting Clerk |
1 |
0 |
1 |
11. |
Chief Administrative Clerks |
4 |
0 |
4 |
12. |
Court Intermediaries |
4 |
1 |
4 |
13. |
Court Interpreters |
6 |
0 |
6 |
14. |
Court Managers |
7 |
2 |
7 |
15. |
Deputy Directors |
12 |
0 |
12 |
16. |
Deputy Master |
1 |
0 |
1 |
17. |
Directors |
4 |
0 |
4 |
18. |
E-Scheduler Clerk |
1 |
0 |
1 |
19. |
Family Advocate |
1 |
0 |
1 |
20. |
Human Resource Practitioner |
1 |
0 |
1 |
21. |
Internal Auditors |
3 |
0 |
3 |
22. |
Legal Administration Officers |
2 |
0 |
2 |
23. |
Maintenance Investigators |
2 |
0 |
2 |
24. |
Maintenance Officers |
2 |
0 |
2 |
25. |
Master: Supreme Court |
2 |
0 |
2 |
26. |
Messenger |
1 |
0 |
1 |
27. |
Principal Legal Administration Officer |
1 |
0 |
1 |
28. |
Provisioning Admin Clerks |
2 |
0 |
2 |
29. |
Registrar |
1 |
0 |
1 |
30. |
Registry Clerks |
2 |
0 |
2 |
31. |
Secretaries |
2 |
0 |
2 |
32. |
Senior Secretaries |
2 |
1 |
2 |
33. |
Senior Assistant State Attorneys |
2 |
0 |
2 |
34. |
Senior Communication Officer |
1 |
0 |
1 |
35. |
Senior Court Interpreters |
2 |
0 |
2 |
36. |
Senior Human Resource Officer |
1 |
0 |
1 |
37. |
Senior Legal Admin Officer |
1 |
0 |
1 |
38. |
Senior Training Officer |
1 |
0 |
1 |
39. |
Social Workers |
2 |
0 |
2 |
40. |
State Accountants |
3 |
0 |
3 |
41. |
State Law Advisors |
2 |
0 |
2 |
42. |
Vetting Administrator |
1 |
0 |
1 |
GRAND TOTAL |
174 |
6 |
174 |
2. As indicated in the table above, 174 of the application requests were approved and only six (6) were disapproved.
a) The Department is guided by the Directive on other remunerative work outside the public service issued by the Department of Public Service and Administration, together with the relevant legislation that include Public Service Act and Public Service Regulations. This directive is implementing section 30 of the Public Service Act (Act No. R103 of 1994). The Department may take appropriate disciplinary action in instances where contravention of the policy is established.
b) Applications are considered and approved or disapproved by the Deputy Director-General: Corporate Services in terms of the Departmental Delegations.
c) The Labour Relations Unit in the Department has confirmed that there was no disciplinary processes taken against any employee who contravened with the Directive on performing other remunerative work outside the public service without permission in the past five (5) years. And lastly, the Directive does not require the Head of Department to report to National Treasury on misconduct in relation to performing other remunerative work outside the public service. The Department reports statistical information to the Department of Public Service and Administration and Public Service Commission, as the normal process on reporting in terms of the relevant prescripts – in this instance, disciplinary matters by Director: Employee Relations.
23 March 2021 - NW703
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)Whether the Vangasali early childhood development campaign has been able to determine if any (a) previously registered, (b) conditionally registered and/or (c) or unregistered early childhood development centres in each province have (i) temporarily and/or (ii) permanently closed their doors since 27 March 2020; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what monitoring mechanism does her department have in place to determine what number of registered, conditionally registered and/or unregistered early childhood development centres in each province have temporarily and/or permanently closed their doors?
Reply:
(1) The Vangasali early childhood development campaign was not intended to determine if ECD services are temporary or permanently closed. It was aimed at confirming ECD services that are (a) registered (fully or conditional) and establish a database of those that are (b) unregistered in each province.
(i) National Treasury granted the department an allocation of R496 million as an ECD Employment Stimulus Relief Fund (ECD-ESRF). The allocation seeks to minimise the loss of income, support continued operation and reduce the risk of permanent closure. This is implemented through ECD Employment Stimulus Relief Fund (ECD-ESRF) with a focus on providing additional financial support towards the ECD workforce as part of a once-off temporary intervention, through ECD programmes. The ECD-ESRF will provide 108,833 ECD related workers with income support through about 28,283 existing ECD programmes (registered and unregistered centres and programmes) that applied to this Fund.
(2) The provincial departments of social development continue to submit monthly reports indicating the number of ECD programmes that have reopened. This include registered, conditionally registered and unregistered early childhood. These reports are consolidated and presented at Heads of Social development structure constituted by EXCO and provincial Heads of Department, chaired by the accounting officer of the department.
With the implementation of the ESRF, provincial social development offices will be monitoring the ECD programmes to determine whether the paid ECD programmes have reopened 60 days after receipt of the funds.
23 March 2021 - NW697
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)Whether, with reference to the findings by the auditor-general that some government employees applied for the Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD Grant), her department took any disciplinary and/or legal steps against the implicated government employees; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; 2) whether any steps have been taken to recover the monies from the implicated government employees; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether any systems have been put in place to ensure that no government employee will be able to fraudulently and/or unlawfully apply for and/or receive the SRD grant; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. As at the 28th of February 2021, a total of 39672 government employees had applied for the Covid 19 SRD grant. No disciplinary or legal steps have been taken against these government employees because investigations have not yet been concluded. Once the investigations are concluded SASSA will recommend to the relevant Heads of Departments to institute disciplinary action and also to recover money paid over to the individuals.
SASSA has received numerous complaints from people whose ID numbers were used to apply for the Covid 19 SRD grant without their knowledge. Some government employees submitted applications in order to test the system or to assist applicants to apply as all applications were submitted electronically.
The Auditor General flagged 241 government employees who received the Covid 19 SRD grant payment for May 2020. This happened at the inception phase when SASSA did not have access to all the relevant databases. Some of the databases were not up to date, partly because of the lockdown.
2. SASSA has not yet concluded the investigation into the cases that have been flagged by the Auditor General of South Africa. Once the investigations have been concluded, the fraudulent cases will be referred to the relevant government departments and SASSA’s Debt Management unit to recover the money from implicated people.
3. SASSA has implemented a system to ensure that government employees do not receive the SRD grant. Through this system, the applications of 39,672 government employees who applied for the SRD grant were declined.
Monthly, ID numbers of approved and new applications for Covid-19 R350 SRD grant applicants are matched against various databases such as the databases of government employees, namely PERSAL and PERSOL. If the ID number of the Covid SRD grant applicant appears in the databases of government employees, the application is declined.
SASSA is still awaiting the Government Employees Pension Fund database which will strengthen the ability to verify applicants.
National Assembly Written Reply: 697 of 2021
________________________
Approved by the Minister of Social Development
Date……………………….
23 March 2021 - NW766
King, Ms C to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
What measures will be put in place to (a) assist students who were unable to write exams due to the challenges brought by lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 with no access to (i) data, (ii) laptops and/or (iii) learning material and (b)(i) ensure that the specified students do not repeat the academic year and (ii) support the students during the continued lockdown?
Reply:
a) Universities have each put in place different measures to support students during the COVID-19 lockdown period that affected the 2020 academic year. The information provided below is not specific to any one institution, but rather provides a system overview. Specific information would have to be obtained from individual institutions.
According to the February COVID-19 lockdown monitoring report received by the Department, there were few students who remained disengaged from their studies. Universities adopted emergency remote multi-modal teaching and learning methodologies in line with their own resources and circumstances. In some institutions, this meant online learning and teaching support and in others the delivery of print-based teaching and learning materials. Many universities also assisted students with the acquisition of laptops and in the provision of data.
Universities also utilised different strategies for assessments and put in place a number of different strategies to engage students. These include:
- Designating the first two to three months of 2021 to be an adjustment period (a catch-up period) including the identification of students with one or two modules outstanding for the completion of their degrees with the focus to provide additional support to students who were left behind in 2020.
- Students received tuition and assistance and were also allowed the opportunity to resubmit assignments where applicable as well as sit for deferred activities or reassessments.
- Students who had not been in regular contact with lecturers were contacted through telephone calls, emails, and SMS.
- Student leaders in some institutions also assisted to contact students who had been out of regular contact with universities.
- Students who had struggled to engage with their studies during lockdown were able to return to campus when it was possible to return.
- Some institutions scheduled supplementary examinations for February - March 2021.
- Some institutions provided additional assessment opportunities for students who could not complete their assessments.
- Extensions for the submission of continuous assessment tasks for students who were delayed by the late arrival of laptops.
b) During the 2020 academic year, the Department monitored teaching and learning at universities through a monitoring report, which will be redesigned for the 2021 academic year. This will allow the Department to report at a high level on some of the indicators, including access to data and devices.
Three main types of programmes are offered at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges, i.e. NATED Report 191 Engineering Studies which are offered in Trimesters, NATED Report 191 Business and Services Studies which are offered in Semesters, and the National Certificate (Vocational) [NCV] which are offered as year programmes. In 2020, the Department took a decision to reduce the number of Trimesters offered from 3 to 2 and Semesters from 2 to 1 in order to cater for the loss of teaching and learning time during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown periods. The academic calendar for the NCV was extended.
For Report 191 programmes, those students who would not have managed to write their examinations in any of the trimesters and semester in 2020 would be accommodated in the normal academic trimesters and/or semesters in 2021. The NCV students who could not write their examinations in 2020 will have an opportunity to write their examinations during the supplementary period which runs from 08 March 2021 to 01 April 2021.
23 March 2021 - NW863
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
Of the applications received for the Early Childhood Development Employment Stimulus Relief Fund (ECD-ESRF), (a) what number of applications are ECDs that are currently closed and have committed to open within 60 days, (b) where are the ECDs located and (c) how will her department assist the ECDs within the prescribed period of 60 days?
Reply:
(a) Of the applications received, thus far no ECD programme has been identified as being closed with the requirement to commit to open within 60 days. However, the national Department of Social Development together with the provincial Departments of Social Development are currently in the process of conducting document and physical verifications. Thus, only after the conclusion of this process, the department will have an indication of the number ECDs that are currently closed and have committed to open within 60 days.
(b) Thus far, no ECD programme has been identified as being closed with the requirement to commit to open within 60 days.
(c) The Provincial Departments of Social Development will continue to provide assistance upon request where needed within their mandate to ECD programmes, including those, if any, that were closed and need assistance towards their re-opening.
23 March 2021 - NW702
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
With reference to the Vangasali early childhood development campaign, what (a) is the current status of (i) registered, (ii) conditionally registered and (iii) unregistered early childhood development centres in each province and (b) has she found to have been the (i) successes and (ii) challenges of the Vangasali early childhood development campaign to date?
Reply:
The Vangasali campaign is progressing fairly well and is scheduled to continue until at least end of March 2022. There are three phases to Vangasali, the first was data collection which happened between June and October 2020 and resulted in a database of 52,288 ECD services which includes centre and non-centre based services.
Phase 2 focussed on orientation of provincial, district and local officials from DSD and Environmental Practitioners at local level in preparation for phase 3.
The Phase 3 will then focus on the registration massification which will commence in 2021/22 financial year.
(a)Current status on registration:
PROVINCE |
(i) NUMBER OF FULLY REGISTERED |
(ii)NUMBER OF CONDITIONALLY REGISTERED |
(iii)NUMBER OF UNREGISTERED SERVICES |
EC |
1 174 |
1 816 |
1 685 |
FS |
310 |
972 |
1 674 |
GP |
1 242 |
624 |
13 717 |
KZN |
1 696 |
1 854 |
4 516 |
LP |
478 |
3 021 |
2 695 |
MP |
578 |
919 |
3 011 |
NC |
95 |
197 |
660 |
NW |
386 |
842 |
2 188 |
WC |
850 |
635 |
4 839 |
TOTAL |
6 423 |
10 880 |
34 985 |
(b)(i) The campaign was a success as the department was able to get the data base of the majority of ECD services that are not registered. This will assist the department in planning on assisting those services to be supported to register.
This database will be used in phase 2 of the project to drive registration massification and verify the existence of all these services.
Phase 2 began in October 2020 and builds on the great collaboration with Department of Health, Environmental Health Directorate that has been ongoing over the last four years. Phase 2 has so far resulted in the following:
- Orientation of 474 DSD officials and 160 Environmental Health officials on the Vangasali Registration Toolkit in all 52 districts/metropolitan municipalities
- Vangasali Social Service Professionals Manual on ECD Registration has been developed.
- 22,000 Standardised Vangasali ECD Registration Application Packs (available in 7 official languages) were printed and will be distributed to DSD Districts by end March 2021.
- ECD Registration Framework Rollout for ECD Service Assessment Visits has been developed
- Online ECD Registration Management Tool has been developed.
- Registration Jamborees have begun in 4 provinces and the remaining provinces will begin registration Jamborees this month once the ECD stimulus administration is complete. We are targeting 10,000 new ECD services to enter the registration system in the next 12 months.
Phase 3 of Vangasali is in the planning phase and involves bringing sector wide collaboration on resourcing and improving infrastructure at ECD services, drawing in the private sector, civil society and government resources into a focused effort on improving ECD services directly in line with norms and standards.
(ii) Some of the challenges that have been identified during the campaign include amongst the other:
- Duplications
- Missing information on the data base that makes it difficult to follow up on the service to be assisted.
The data has been cleaned to deal with the duplicates. The data is now instrumental during verification process on the ECD Stimulus Relief Package to check the applicants against the Vangasali data base.
23 March 2021 - NW765
King, Ms C to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
What total number of (a) students are financially excluded at each university for the 2021 academic year and (b) the specified students were funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme?
Reply:
(a) Institutions are currently finalising the 2020 academic year whilst others are busy with registrations for the 2021 academic year. At this stage, institutions are unable to provide data/information for 2021 until the above processes have been concluded.
(b) With regard to NSFAS students, the information will be available once registrations and funding decisions have been made including funding decisions appeals and the outcomes thereof.
23 March 2021 - NW836
King, Ms C to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
What (a) is the total number of learners who are not funded by National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for the 2021 academic year, (b) number of students have been funded by NSFAS for the 2021 academic year, (c) is the total number of students who have enrolled in each institution of higher learning for the 2021 academic year and (d) number of students have been financially excluded for the 2021 academic year?`
Reply:
(a) All continuing NSFAS qualifying students who meet the academic and financial criteria will be funded for the 2021 academic year.
(b) Funding decisions for first-time entering students are still in the process following the announcement of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation on 11 March 2021.
(c) The Department has not yet received enrolment data for 2021 from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Preliminary unaudited data will only be received at the end of April 2021.
Enrolments and registrations are still underway at many universities. The Department has not yet received enrolment data for 2021. Preliminary unaudited 2021 enrolment data will only be received at the end of April 2022 and final audited data at the end of July 2022.
Below are the approved Ministerial enrolment planning targets for 2020 and 2021.
Institution |
Projected Targets |
|
2020 |
2021 |
|
Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
35 498 |
37 027 |
University of Cape Town |
28 037 |
28 174 |
Central University of Technology |
18 255 |
19 098 |
Durban University of Technology |
30 219 |
30 439 |
University of Fort Hare |
17 310 |
17 673 |
University of Free State |
40 271 |
40 519 |
University of Johannesburg |
49 727 |
49 969 |
University of KwaZulu-Natal |
47 726 |
46 829 |
University of Limpopo |
21 995 |
22 561 |
Mangosuthu University of Technology |
12 980 |
13 391 |
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
29 792 |
30 461 |
North-West University |
63 065 |
61 054 |
University of Pretoria |
51 978 |
52 134 |
Rhodes University |
8 714 |
8 866 |
University of South Africa |
376 000 |
376 468 |
University of Stellenbosch |
31 690 |
32 380 |
Tshwane University of Technology |
61 814 |
62 439 |
Vaal University of Technology |
20 992 |
22 154 |
University of Venda |
16 992 |
17 332 |
Walter Sisulu University |
30 269 |
29 544 |
University of the Western Cape |
24 800 |
25 060 |
University of the Witwatersrand |
40 935 |
41 003 |
University of Zululand |
17 920 |
18 636 |
University of Mpumalanga |
4 218 |
5 217 |
Sol Plaatje University |
2 512 |
3 278 |
Sefako Makgatho Health Science University |
6 640 |
6 820 |
Total |
1 090 350 |
1 098 526 |
(d) Institutions have different financial clearance concessions in place to deal with outstanding debt before students are able to be registered and to continue with their studies. The registration at various institutions is currently underway as are consultations with students. This information can only be provided upon the conclusion of these consultations and finalisation of the registration processes at each institution.