Questions and Replies

Reply:

The forensic investigation does not have any individuals as its target, but if this deep probing which is being conducted currently in the Compensation Fund, unfolds such that it leads to individuals wherever they are, whatever the positions they occupy, that will be revealed, the findings will be there, and recommendations will be made.

Reply:

1. The Department of Employment and Labour is not privy to information relating to the usage of Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) and Temporary Employment Services (TES) for recruitment purposes by other government departments.

The position of the Department with regard to the PEAs and TES is as follows: DEL registers Private Employment Agencies and Temporary Employment Services organisations in terms of section 13 (4) of the Employment Services Act, No. 4 of 2014 and also regulates their functioning.

Currently, as part of the transitional process, the PEAs are regulated in terms of section 24 of the Skills Development Act, No. 97 of 1998 as amended and Regulation 608 of June 2000. The New Regulations for PEAs and TES in term of the Employment Services Act are currently with the State Law advisors for final certification before the Minister can publish them in the Government Gazette.

The rest of the questions (1) (a), (b) and (2) are therefore not applicable

Reply:

Period: 29 May 2019 to 31 May 2019 Category Minister Deputy Minister Department Catering R- R- R151 523 61 Entertainment R- R- R1 487 61 Accommodation R- R- R841 845 07 TOTAL R- R- R994 856 29 Period: 1 June 2019 to 31 March 2020 Category Minister Deputy Minister Department Catering R- R- R6 594 805 62 Entertainment R50 757 11 R8 259 05 R98 278 10 Accommodation R- R0 R41 972 768 95 TOTAL R50 757 11 R8 259 05 R48 665 846. 67 Period: 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 Category Minister Deputy Minister Department Catering R- R- R1 087 776 99 Entertainment R28 431 70 R2 736 25 R46 798 98 Accommodation R- R- R15 580 929 05 Total R28 431 70 R2 736 25 R16 675 505 05 Period: 1 April 2021 to 15 March 2022 Category Minister Deputy Minister Department Catering R- R- R2 639 747 61 Entertainment R15 653 60 R772 60 R57 559 00 Accommodation R- R- R38 122 160 47 Total R15 653 60 R772 60 R40 819 467 08

Reply:

Late in 2020 or early 2021, the Manager for Kokstad Labour Centre received a call from former speaker of Umuziwabantu Local Municipality, Cllr Mzwandile Nyathi requesting the intervention of the Labour Centre) on a complaint of workers who were retrenched by their employer, Dropper Pride without proper adherence to UIF prerequisites.

The Dropper Pride’s owner’s name was Calum and the company was specialising on a forestry sector. He indicated that he had decided to close the company due to financial difficulties and ultimately retrenched the workers.

Guidance was given to him regarding the required documentation to enable his workers to apply for UIF. Consequently, Honourable speaker, Cllr Nyati e-mailed the UI-19 forms with relevant supporting documents of the retrenched workers. Further arrangements were made for workers to deposit their UIF applications in the box next to entrance door of the office as the satellite office within the premises of Department of Home Affairs, in ward 1 of Umuziwabantu Local Municipality was closed due to Covid-19 regulations.

Another alternative given was the official fetching the forms from the clients in the premises of the satellite office

All these options enabled the clients to submit their UIF applications and eventually the clients were helped and received their UIF monies.

The intervention of Kokstad Labour Centre was after the retrenchment has already completed by the Dropper Pride.

Secondly, the Social Distress Grant is a form of relief scheme that administered entirely by South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), in which each beneficiary receives R350.00 if his / her application is successful.

The Department has an MoU with SASSA in which the clients’ database of DEL is shared with SASSA for enabling the effective operations for the grant. The database enables SASSA to see the status of a client in relation to employment / unemployment.

If SASSA system says the client still has UIF money in DEL, the client after he / she has verified with DEL can write a letter or affidavit that disputes that to SASSA in which the latter will process the client’s application for a grant.

In essence, the Social Distress Grant complaints and queries are not supposed to be taken to DEL but to SASSA with appeals if need be.

Reply:

On the 16 February 2022, Compensation Fund appeared before Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). Compensation Fund attracted the attention of SCOPA because of poor audit outcomes. Some Hon. Members from the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour attended that SCOPA hearing.

A lot of things were said in that hearing, but the issue of Director General and Chief Financial Officer writing to SCOPA and stipulating reasons why they should be kept in government employment never arose. The Hon. Member may have taken her notes inaccurately in this particular regard. What came close to what the Hon. Member is asking, is that SCOPA requested the Minister to submit performance assessments of the Director General and those of the two Commissioners to SCOPA and that was done.

Reply:

Employers register their employees with the Department of Employment and Labour through declarations to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. This information is shared with the Statistics SA as one of the data sources used by Statistics SA. More information on how StatisticsSA collate their data can be obtained directly from them.

Reply:

1(a) Rising unemployment interventions

Hon. Chabangu, let us start by understanding the nature of unemployment in South Africa, even if briefly. Unemployment in South Africa is deep-seated. Unemployment in South Africa is structural. Unemployment in South Africa is systemic. It is further hard hitting to some racial groups and sectors. For instance, if you are black in South Africa you are likely to be unemployed. If you are a woman and again black, you are likely to be unemployed. If you are young and black, again you are likely to be unemployed. And this trend expands to settlements. If you are in the rural area you are likely to be unemployed. If you are in the township again you are likely to be unemployed. This is because of our history of segregation. This is also about the intricacies of the economy. It is therefore not a challenge of quick simple solutions, as some may want others to believe, because it is historical, systemic and complex. But this government is up to the task, as explained below.

The call to address unemployment in general and especially amongst the youth, is a cross cutting matter that requires interventions amongst all spheres of government departments at all levels, employers, trade unions, civil society including political parties. The Department of Employment and Labour, has introduced a number of programmes and interventions to address unemployment in general and specific programmes to assist young people that include the following:

(i) Branch Public Employment Services

• For the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, more than 281801 work seekers were provided with employment counselling services, to assist work seekers cope with unemployment and also to assist them to find work and self-employment opportunities. Working with employers more than 131 522 job opportunities were registered on the DEL ESSA database. This resulted in more than 67 058 permanent job placements. More than 936 621 work seekers were also registered, on the ESSA database, 423 298 were below 35 years.
• The Department also champions the Pathway Management Network process, which with the Presidential Stimulus funding created more than 673,514 job opportunities. This programme has facilitated entry into first time job opportunities, and is a stepping stone to the labour market.

(ii) Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)

During the financial year 2022/2023, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) planned to recruit about 15 000 learners. The UIF through its Labour Activation Programme (LAP) enters into funding agreements with implementing partners to train and guarantee employment of learners at the end of the training period.

The following are some of the initiatives aimed at alleviating unemployment under the UIF:

• R 551 million set aside for the three projects to benefit 19 921 beneficiaries in KwaZulu-Natal in the following skills disciplines: 14 771 Chief Food Handlers; 5 000 Enterprise Development (mixed farming systems); and150 Fibre Optic Technicians.

• R 201 498 000 worth of funding Agreement signed for job placement of 7 810 unemployed beneficiaries in Kwazulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, North West and Western Cape

• R 10 136 175 150 worth of funding agreements to train and place 150 unemployed beneficiaries in jobs in the Western Cape in the following fields of Horticulture 30, Generic Management 30, Early Childhood 30, Clothing Manufacturing 30, and Tourism 30.

- Implementation of an Equine Business Management Learnership project to train and create jobs for 50 unemployed beneficiaries in the Eastern cape on a co-funding basis at a total budget of R 20 000 000.00 (twenty million rand). the UIF contributes R 15 000 0000 and the partner contributes R 5 000 000 towards the costs.

- Funding Agreement to fund a Youth Technology Development Project targeting to train and create jobs for 500 unemployed youth at a total budget of R 96 760 750.00 (ninety-six thousand seven hundred and sixty thousand, seven hundred and fifty rand) where the UIF contributes R 70 151 543.75 (seventy million, one hundred and fifty one thousand, five hundred and forty three rand, seventy five cent) and the partner contributes R 26 609 206.25 (twenty-six million, six hundred and nine thousand, two hundred and six rand, twenty five cent). This project is implemented in the Eastern Cape Province.

- Funding agreement amounting to R 238 506 003.75 to implement a programme to train and place 5 000 unemployed beneficiaries as Assistant Chefs, Cook Convenience, Fast Food, Table Attendant and Barista programmes and place them in jobs in post the UIF Funding in Gauteng, KZN, North West, and the Western Cape over three years. This is a co-funded project where the UIF contributes R 220 618 053.47 (Two Hundred and Twenty Million, Six Hundred and Eighteen Thousand and Fifty-Three Rand, Forty-Seven Cents only) and Summit R 17 887 950.28 (Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty Rand, Twenty-Eight Cents only)

(iii) The Compensation Fund

Through the Vocational Rehabilitation Programme, the Compensation Fund supports COID Persons with Disabilities (Injured workers who have acquired a permanent disablement) to be upskilled and re-skilled. Through this programme,

• a total of 41 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)were enrolled on various Vocational Training Institutions, and 32 PWDs were registered in the artisan and farming incubation programmes, respectively, during 2021/2022.
• The support is further extended to the dependents of COID Persons with Disabilities, Dependents of Fatally injured workers and the General Youth pursuing undergraduate qualifications related to Health Professional and related clinical science, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Engineering, Statistics & Data Science, Actuarial Science, Maths & Science Education, Accounting, Psychology, Economics, Geography, Quality Control and Environmental Health. In addition, continuing students registered for Advanced Diploma/ Honours in Accounting Science (Stream: Certificate in The Theory of Accounting (CTA). For the financial year 2021/2022, the Compensation Fund funded 1177 students enrolled at Post School Education and Training Institutions.

(b) Strategies in place

• We have worked with NEDLAC social partners to develop the country’s Economic and Reconstruction and Recovery Plan that is currently being implemented. We are also involved in negotiations to conclude a Social Compact as instructed by the President.
• Employment Services interventions are guided by the Employment Services Act that is aligned to ILO conventions C88 and C181. The Branch has also introduced a National electronic system called Employment Services South Africa (ESSA) and Standard Operating Procedures that guides all Labour Centres on how to go about registering work-seekers, work and learning opportunities, counselling and placement into opportunities.
• We have published a Draft National Labour Migration Policy and Draft Employment Services Amendment Bill aimed at improving the governance and data administration, preserving employment for South Africans through measures that will limit employment of foreign nationals, and promoting employment of South Africans in other countries so as to acquire skills and to lower unemployment levels in our country. The NLMP is aligned to the ILO Convention C97.
• We have invested a lot of efforts in the research and drafting of a National Employment policy that is to be released for public consultations once we have exhausted internal government policy processes. The NEP is aligned to ILO Convention C122.
• We have a Labour Activation Strategy and Standard Operating Procedures that guides the implementation of the programme

We will continue to reconstruct this country. We will continue to transform this country. We will continue to develop this country. It is a revolution that we are still involved in. It is not an event with a commencement date and an end date. The aim is to continue to radically change our country and never stop in doing so!

Reply:

Automation is an enabler of innovation and not the other way round, it is important to understand that fact. After we have understood that, we must then grasp other facts that, economies are stimulated and driven by innovation. If we speak about change, change should not be for the sake of change but it should be adapted to the needs of the economy and its population. There is a notion that has become a cliché that speaks about change because somewhere someone is talking about change rather than change dictated by our own environment.

Albeit, we must agree that education and training institutions are central in driving skills that are needed by the changing economy. That is why my Department and the Department of Higher Education are always in constant collaboration on critical skills that are needed by the economy. As result, there is a critical skills list that speaks to the demand of our economy. This assists us in better responding to the needs of the labour market.

In responding to the 4th Industrial Revolution, the Honourable member will know that the President has established a commission amongst the others the Commission is to assist the government in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital industrial revolution. The Commission will further identify relevant policies, strategies and action plans that will position South Africa as a competitive global player.

The work of the Commission will be tabled at NEDLAC for further discussion on how to come up with policies that will respond to the changes in the labour market as well as how to upskill, reskill and produce future skills that will be needed by the economy.

As a country that is grappling with unemployment, we must ensure that change does not exclude our people in the world of work but enhance their productivity, mobility and speaks to the needs of the population.

END

Reply:

1. The Department of Employment and Labour, embarked on a number of programmes to assist youth that are facing unemployment. For the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, a total of 257 474 work seekers were provided with employment counselling services them to cope with unemployment and to find work and self-employment opportunities. Working with employers, a total of 124 101 job opportunities were registered on the Employment System South Africa (ESSA) database. This resulted in 58 626 permanent job placements. More than 900 000 work seekers were also registered on the ESSA database.

2. The Department also works closely with the Presidency in championing the Pathway Management Network process. The Presidential Stimulus funding created more than 840,000 job opportunities. This programme has facilitated entry into first time job opportunities, and is a stepping stone to the labour market.

3. The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), concluded agreements on training projects aimed at creating jobs in the fibre optics, food handling and mixed farming sectors.

The UIF, through its Labour Activation Programmes (LAP), has set aside R551 million for the three projects to benefit 19 921 beneficiaries comprising 70% former UIF contributors who lost their jobs and 30% new labour market entrants to undergo training in the following skills disciplines:

14 771 Chief Food Handlers;

5000 Enterprise Development (mixed farming); and

150 Fibre Optic Technicians.

4. The Compensation fund

Through the Vocational Rehabilitation Programme, the Compensation Fund supports COID Persons with Disabilities (Injured workers who have acquired a permanent disablement) to be upskilled and reskilled.

Through this programme, a total of 41 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)were enrolled on various Vocational Training Institutions, and 32 PWDs were registered in the artisan and farming incubation programmes, respectively, during 2021/2022.

The support is further extended to the dependents of COID Persons with Disabilities, Dependents of Fatally injured workers and the General Youth pursuing undergraduate qualifications related to Health Professional and related clinical science, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Engineering, Statistics & Data Science, Actuarial Science, Maths & Science Education, Accounting, Psychology, Economics, Geography, Quality Control and Environmental Health. In addition, continuing students registered for Advanced Diploma/ Honours in Accounting Science (Stream: Certificate in The Theory of Accounting (CTA)are also being supported.

For the financial year 2021/2022, the Compensation Fund funded 1177 students enrolled at Post School Education and Training Institutions.

Reply:

1. The DEL has 1951 inspectors. Currently, there are 166 vacancies and 1785 warm bodies.

2. Currently, there are around 14,3 million people that are employed in SA (as in November 2021 in terms of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey). The Department has an establishment of 1 951 Inspectors as at in February 2022. This, against a total number of 14,3million employees, provides a ratio of 1 inspector to 7330 employees. This is in line with industrialised economies as per International labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines. The inspectors are always able to detect and deal with non-compliance during inspections. As at the end of quarter 3 in the 2021/22 Financial Year, the following are the relevant details:

Number of inspections	177700
Number compliant	134 832
Number noncompliant	42868
Number of notices issued	42430

42 868 workplaces were found to be noncompliant and 42 430 were issued with notices. The achievement is 99% against a standard of 95%

Reply:

The National Minimum Wage is enforced through the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Act 7 of 2018: s65 to s75.

All the employers that transgressed the NMWA were brought to book.

As at the end of quarter 3 in the current financial year; the following was the outcome in this regard:

Number of BCEA and NMWA inspections conducted	126 261
Number found to be non-compliant	6 060
Number of notices issued	6 060
Amount of money recovered due to underpayment of the NMW	R19 684 305.00
Number referred for prosecution due to failure to comply with expired notices	809

:

Reply:

a) The total number of inspectors posts is = 1 951

• The total number of filled inspectors’ posts as at on the 30th of March 2022 is = 1 785
• The total number of inspectors vacant posts is = 166.
• A vacancy rate of 8.50%
• The rate of filled posts is at 91.50%

b) The standard set is that 100% of all vacancies are expected to be filled within 4 months of being vacant.

The following table depicts the status quo with regards to progress on the filling of vacancies per province:

	EC	FS	GP	KZN	LP	MP	NC	NW	WC	TOTAL
Total vacancies	10	11	72	16	13	8	9	9	18	166
Number of vacancies advertised	2	1	33	7	3	4	2	2	6	60
Number of vacancies at shortlisting stage	4	2	11	0	0	3	3	6	4	33
Number of interviews conducted	2	4	14	2	0	0	2	0	1	25
Number in the process of being filled/issued with letters	2	4	14	7	10	1	2	1	7	48

Reply:

The Compensation Fund Board has been established in terms of section 12 of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act as an Advisory Board to advise the minister on policy matters.

It is not an Accounting Authority of the Fund and as such not involved in the day to today operations of the Compensation Fund.

Reply:

The Fund requests for and collects all outstanding information. The outstanding information will either relate to medical information from medical service providers or information from the employer, member or beneficiary to support the claim further.

Requests are sent, together with periodic follow up reminders, to the employer for the outstanding information. All parties, however, are responsible to ensure that the Fund receives any requested information.

Reply:

The 1 303 609 claims that were migrated from the old systems included claims that were finalised and those that were still current at the time of migration. These claims have been finalised and the Fund is presently dealing with current claims.

Reply:

The Department is aware of the tension between workers from Zimbabwe and Lesotho in the Robertson area that is approximately 40 kilometres outside the town of Worcester. In the Departments’ engagement with the Municipality and Law Enforcement, we were informed that employers are using unregistered Labour Brokers to recruit workers from Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

The DEL met some of the employers through the assistance of the Municipality and informed them that from the week of 11 April to 14 April we will be inspecting, through a blitz inspection programme, approximately 200 farms in the area to determine compliance with labour laws, including the registration of Labour Brokers as Temporary Employer Services. This will be done in collaboration with the Dept. of Home Affairs and the South African Police to ensure the smooth progress of the event. Any non-compliance found will be dealt with in terms of the prescripts of the law.

Reply:

a) The total number of incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault that were reported in the department for the past three financial years:

(i) Sexual Harassment

2018/2019- 0

2019/2020- 2 cases were reported.

2020/2021- 0

2021/22 to date- 5 cases were reported.

(ii) Sexual Assault

2018/2019- 0

2019/2020- 0

2020/2021- 0

2021/22 to date- 0

b) Number of cases which were:

(i) Opened and Concluded

Sexual Harassment

2018/2019- 0

2019/2020- 2 cases were opened and concluded.

2020/2021- 0

2021/22 to date- 2 cases were opened and concluded

(ii) Withdrawn

Sexual Harassment

2018/2019- 0

2019/2020- 0

2020/2021- 0

2021/22 to date- 0

(iii) remain open or pending based on incidents:

Sexual Harassment

2018/2019- 0

2019/2020- 0

2020/2021- 0

2021/22 to date- 3 cases reported and investigation is ongoing.

c) Sanctions meted out against each person found guilty:

Sexual Harassment

2018/2019- 0

2019/2020- 1 case (Dismissal).

2020/2021- 0 (No cases reported).

2021/22 to date- 1 case (FWW) and 1 not found guilty by the chairperson.

END.

Reply:

674. (1) (a) Total number of employers registered with Bargaining Council = 93:

Total employees in the Sector = 2 064

(b) Total number of employers belonging to party Employer Organisation that are registered and compliant = 58:

Total number of employees employed by the party employer

Organisation = 1 402

(c) Total number of employers based in Gauteng = 26

Total number of employees based in Gauteng = 505

(2) Breakdown of party trade union membership per province:

• Western Cape: 681
• Eastern Cape : 32
• Kwa Zulu Natal: 128
• Gauteng : 331

 

END

 

Reply:

OFFICE	Financial Year	a) Make	b) Model	© Year Manufacture	Price	Purchase Date
Minister	2019/20	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2020/21	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Office	Financial Year	a) Make	b) Model	(c) Year Manufacture	d) Price	ee) urchase Date
Deputy Minister	2019/20	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2020/21	Audi Q5 4.0 TDI	Audi Q5 TDI Quattro 5 Line Tronic	2020	R748 018. 65	18 Oct 2021

Reply:

a) The percentage of finalised medical invoices that were paid within 40 days is 87% (464 532 invoices out of a total of 533 211 invoices received) as at 31 December 2021.

b) The total number of claims (invoices) rejected by the Compensation Fund in the 2021-22 financial year is 39 057.

Reply:

a) Compensation Fund has developed an Audit Action Plan to remedy the negative audit outcomes. The aim is not to deal with the symptoms of these audit outcomes, but to drill down to the root causes of them. The root causes of the audit disclaimer are not as a result of a specific person but the systemic issues related to business processes, skills shortages, ICT systems and policies. Action Plan that is currently in place, one of its key objectives is to remedy the defects that lead to the negative audit outcomes.

b) No backlogs have been reported as a result of infrastructure challenges and poor network challenges.

Reply:

a) What total number of:

(i) And (ii) Inspectors in the employ of the Department, including vacancies:

Province/Office	Filled posts	Vacant funded posts	Total posts
Eastern Cape	211	12	223
Free State	170	13	183
Gauteng	345	82	427
KwaZulu Natal	410	16	426
Limpopo	174	21	195
Mpumalanga	147	10	157
Northern Cape	87	8	95
North West	128	17	145
Western Cape	201	18	219
Head Office	18	1	19
Total	2089	198	2089

 

b) On what date is it envisaged that each positions will be filled?

Posts should be filled over the next 6 to 12 months.

About 50% of these posts are already at one or the other stage of recruitment and selection.

Reply:

The claims processors and client service officers utilise the contact details on the claim forms to contact the employer, medical service providers and/or claimants in order to obtain information required to finalise claims.

Reply:

1. Yes, Honourable Mkhonto, Labour Inspectors visited farms in the financial year 2020-21. A total of 1150 inspections were conducted and only 169 workplaces were not compliant with the labour legislations.

Legislation	Number of Inspections	Compliant	Non-compliant	Number issued with Enforcement document
EE	72	21	51	51
BCEA	877	836	41	41
OHS	87	39	48	48
UI	46	27	19	19
COIDA	67	57	10	10
TOTAL	1149	980	169	169

2) Labour inspectors intend to conduct 1 174 inspections in the farming sector during the financial year 2022/23.

Reply:

a. Total number of claims registered on CompEasy as between October 2019 and 04 March 2022: 329 655. The claims are registered by employers, labour centres and third parties but we do not keep reports per category as all claims are considered valid registered claims if they meet the requirements of the law.

 

Reply:

a) Total number employers registered on CompEasy is 28 596 that includes users linked to multiple organizations.

b) Employers registered on the previous system (Umehluko): 45 336

Reply:

The Compensation Fund does not outsource the management of the Call Centre, Help Desk, CompEasy and other call centre mailboxes.

The claim registration process is automated through the CompEasy system where employers can register claims on their own. Where manual claims are submitted, these are sent to the Labour Centres by employers.

Reply:

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is one of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations whose mandate is to advocate for decent work at the workplace. It carries out this mandate through a number of interventions which include setting and supervision of international labour standards, policy and technical advice, capacity building and advocacy. One area of technical support that the ILO provides to its member States is the review of labour administration systems as embodied in ministries responsible for employment and labour, and other related institutions, with a view to assessing their performance and ability to discharge their mandates, implement policies and laws within their remit, and to provide services to the public.

I would like to hasten to indicate that, in the performance of this review function, the ILO does so on the basis of requests from individual member States who are entitled to such support by virtue of their membership to the Organization. The reviews are not being done on behalf of my Department, since we do not have the power to influence the ILO to do these on our behalf, neither do we have the authority to decide whether reviews should be undertaken in other member States.

In addition, the ILO does not currently have any official benchmarking methodology which would enable the Organization to objectively compare national labour administration systems in the member States. These systems differ rather substantially in terms of their mandate, political systems they operate in, and forms of public administrations which make any direct comparison difficult, if not impossible.

However, the ILO Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) as well as its accompanying Recommendation 1978 (No. 158) provide a useful guidance by establishing some basic criteria that any labour administration system should draw from, such as, effectiveness, coordination, involvement of social partners, sufficient funding and material means, availability of qualified and independent staff, etc. These two international standards also provide other details concerning the role of labour administration in the areas such as labour standards, labour relations, employment and research and give guidelines on the organization of a national system of labour administration.

I therefore would like to indicate that the main purpose of the reviews is not to compare the different countries, but to assess their systems in the context of their individual circumstances, using international standards as a form of guidance.

I would like to inform this Honourable Member that my Department has gone through a process of review twice, in 2010 and in 2016. A number of findings were made and useful policy advice proffered resulting in significant changes in the Department. The findings touched on institutional shortcomings, performance management deficits, insufficient use of existing technologies, and inadequate human resources policies.

Based on the 2010 review recommendations, the following have been achieved:

a) Creation of the labour inspection and enforcement branch;

b) Strengthening of the oversight role of CCMA and NEDLAC by the Labour Market Policy / Industrial Relations Branch;

c) Passing of the new Public Employment Services Act, 2014;

d) Increase in the number of labour inspection staff and change in their terms and conditions of employment, including their qualification requirements; and

e) Development of a national labour inspection framework.

Another review was made in 2016/17 to assess the implementation of the recommendations of the 2010 review. Satisfied with the rate of implementation of the past recommendations, a set of new recommendations were made, which include:

a) Strengthening of the employment promotion mandate of the Department to coordinate other government departments;

b) Addressing the existing vacancy rate and filling of positions at the technical level;

c) Revision and strengthening of the performance management system;

d) Strengthening of data collection, research, and analytical capacity on labour market and employment conditions, as well as on performance of the Department;

e) Strengthening of social dialogue around labour inspection; and

f) NEDLAC and CCMA be encouraged to make their skills available in the resolution of disputes which have been prevalent in society.

According to the information that I got from open sources in ILO / Pretoria, similar reviews have been undertaken in some countries in Eastern and Southern Africa since 2010; namely; in Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Findings are generally the same, pointing to common weaknesses found in labour ministries in most countries. These include weak institutional structures; low resource allocation; poor coordination mechanisms between the headquarters and the field offices; poor working conditions for staff; unsatisfactory legal enforcement and sanction capacity; and insufficient articulation of employment policies.

Specific recommendations have been made to address the findings with due regard to country specificities. These have generally covered restructuring or creation of new departments or units; reforms of public employment services; strengthening of the coordination function and role by the headquarters; enhancement of the enforcement capacity; support by labour administration to social dialogue institutions for enhanced policy dialogue; development of human resource policies, including improvement in working conditions, career advancement and initial and continuous training; labour law reforms; improved performance management; and ratification of relevant ILO conventions.

I thank you

Reply:

The Compensation Fund received 223 644 return of earnings in the 2020-21 financial year.

Only companies who employ a person are required to register with the Compensation Fund in terms of section 80 of the COIDA and submit Return of Earnings in terms of section 82 of COIDA. Employers who meet the requirements of submission of return of earnings and do not do so, are levied penalties and referred to the Inspection and Enforcement Branch in the Department of Employment and Labour.

The Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) Branch of the Department of Employment and Labour conducts inspections for the assessment of employer compliance against a number of legislations; namely, Employment Equity, Occupational Health and Safety, Unemployment Insurance, Basic Conditions of Employment as well as the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (COID).

The reported number of 2 million inspections includes all inspections against the abovementioned legislations and not just those of the Compensation Fund against the COID Act. In addition, the Inspectors visit and inspect workplaces, one registered employer can have multiple workplaces from which his/her business operations are carried out.

Reply:

In terms of the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) as amended (1 November 2019), specially on section1 prescript 12 months’ period for which a beneficiary can claim and the Fund to accept claims within the prescribed period of 12 months.

Should the client not apply within the prescribed period, the claim is rejected by the Fund. However, the client can appeal against that decision if the client has satisfactory reasons why their claim should still be positively considered. The appeal process is extensively covered in the UI Act.

Reply:

(a) None. The latest report (ie. for January 2022) on the list of invoices paid after thirty (30) days, and invoices older than thirty (30) days but not yet paid from receipt by the Department reflects as a ‘NIL’ report, and by taking in to consideration that the current month is February 2022, the received invoices would currently be within thirty (30) days. Hence, there are no invoices that are more than 30, 60, 90 or 120 days within the Department of Employment and Labour.

(b) In relation to the 'NIL' report, there is no total outstanding amount.

(c) Since there is no outstanding amount, the above question is not applicable.

REPLY: The Entities: https://pmg.org.za/files/RNW183-220225.xlsx

 

 

Reply:

Honourable Member, there is no positive trace results of such a correspondence or memo from the records, from the Ministry and Office of the Director General. The conclusion therefore is that such correspondence was not received.

Reply:

The company is located at 3 Sparrow Close, Magaliessig Ext 22, Benrose, Gauteng.

There is only one director namely: Sujata Singh

The company was contracted period 23 July 2018 to 22 July 2022. The contract period was for 36 months and extended for an additional period of twelve months. The current addendum contract duration is valid from 22 July 2021 to 21 July 2022.

The annual cost of the contract is stipulated below:

Year 1: R14 464 700.00

Year 2: R15 187 935.00

Year 3: R15 947 331.75

The total cost of the contract is R45 599 966.75 and the amount for the current addendum is R 25 934 535.00. An amount of R60 069 112.64 has been paid to Vindhya since inception of contract.

total return on investment of money saved for the UIF by the company’s risk management services; if not, why not, in each specified case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;

The service provider delivered all the services contracted by UIF to provide support and maintenance to the existing and new UIF Systems. The service provider delivered the projects in the agreed time frames and requirements. The allocated consultants by the service provider went beyond the expectation of the UIF to ensuring that the pandemic projects (COVID 19 TERS and WABU) are implemented in tight frames. On a daily basis the COVID 19 TERS processing of applications and payments are conducted after hours to ensure that the clients are paid within shortest time period as possible. Therefore, the Fund has received return on investment on the current contract.

 

 

3

Reply:

Ministerial Advisers are appointed on a five (5) year contract basis, linked to the term of the Office of the Minister.

Dr Jonathan Lewis and Ms Onke Mjo are the Advisers attached to the Minister of Employment and Labour.

Among many, their responsibilities are:

 To contribute in the development of pieces of legislation as well as policies

 To play a role in the interpretation of the laws and advise where there may either be deficiencies, insufficiencies, gaps or over-elaboration, redundancies and irrelevancy.

 To assist in the process of reviewal of any statutes as and when that may be deemed to be necessary

 To advise on cross-cutting or transversal government positions to ensuring integrated governance

 To advise as to how best government policies could be implemented

 To work on Cabinet Memoranda to ensuring that they remain consistent with the direction that government has elected to take

 To provide support and serve as a resource to the Executive Authority when meeting both departmental, national and international stakeholders

 To monitor and observe both the internal and external environment relevant to the portfolio and advise the Executive Authority while providing responses to what may be needing such

 To scrutinise Departmental submissions addressed to the Minister and provide appropriate advice to the Executive Authority

 To write speeches for the Minister and conduct some relevant research

 To ensure that Minister’s views are communicated widely by contributing in developing media statements and giving a helping hand on fourth estate enquiries

 To perform such tasks as may be appropriate in respect of the exercise or performance of the Executive Authority’s powers and duties

When it comes to qualifications, please see below:

Dr Lewis

Matric
Bachelor of Arts
Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy

Ms. O Mjo

Matric
Bachelor of Arts: Human Movement Studies
Honours Bachelor of Arts: Exercise Science
Postgraduate Higher Diploma: Education

Pertaining to salaries, they are stipulated below:

Dr. JP Lewis
R1 614 972.00

Ms. O Mjo
R1 388 640.00

Ministerial Advisers are provided for in the Ministerial

 

Reply:

a) The panel of six forensic investigation firms have been appointed and contracting negotiations concluded. Firms will be commencing with the work from January 2022, though the initial planning is being conducted in December 2021.

 SNG Grant Thornton/TSF Africa Forensics

 Abucus Pty (Ltd)

 Nexus Forensic Services

 Stone Turn Group South Africa Pty (Ltd)

 BDO/Hidden Links

 Bowman Gilfillan Incorporated

Find here: Terms of reference 

Reply:

Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is still contracted with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Among others, SIU is conducting the investigation on possible acts of corruption, fraud, maladministration and negligence. There is some progress that has been recorded in these investigations. But there remains more work that is still underway.   As a matter of fact, UIF and SIU met on the 3rd December 2021 to see to it, as to how best to tighten up the loose ends In that meeting, a decision was taken that a Steering Committee be established that should work through all the cases that are on record to provide progress on investigations The findings and/or outcomes of these investigations shall be communicated to the Hon. Member (a) when they are completed and (b) when they do not pose any potential damage either on any ongoing disciplinary process or to any other further investigation that may be deemed necessary

Reply:

A company that opts for mandatory Covid-19 vaccine policy, such a policy should be in consultation with the employees or their organisation(s). It is in their consultative process with employees or their organisation where they will have to deal with all the details and the implication of their policy choice. Should the employees or organisation(s) feel that the policy choice is unfair, they have the right to challenge such a policy.

 

Reply:

The panel of six forensic investigation firms have been appointed and contracting negotiations concluded. Firms will be commencing with the work from January 2022, though the initial planning is being conducted in December 2021.

Reply:

1. The official unemployment has increased by 0.5 percentage points from June 2020 at 34.4% to September 2021 at 34.9%. It is recorded as the highest since 2008, as the first QLFS was conducted. It appears like there is no dent of boom in the unemployment figures, as illustrated over time in Figure 2 below.

Reply:

1. UIF appointed Vindya Systems in July 2018 to support and maintain the UIF claim management system which was developed in Java. NB: that was before. Their scope of work is not to update the risk register as that is done by risk management directorate. Every month the risk register is updated by ICT risk officer and Risk Management Directorate.

2. Due to pressures to process payments the shortcomings were identified while the Fund was paying claims and continued to be addressed. The scope of work was to enable the employers to apply online since applying on email was having huge delays.

The shortcomings of the systems which were identified were addressed on the system release of the 21 September 2020. The short comings include integration with Correctional services, DPSA, live link with Home Affairs and the link with SARS.

Also the link between the DEL and Home Affairs was not sending the updates captured on Saturdays and Sunday because the old configuration of sending updates was Mondays to Fridays. The system was initially intended to be used to process claims of those who were already in the systems i.e the UIF beneficiaries which was having less risk as UIF was processing such claims.

3. The major risk identified was that employers who were not UIF contributors were also claiming at the beginning of TERS as result out of 16 000 employees applied for only 57 that were meeting all requirements to qualify for TERS. The departmental management together with UIF then took a decision not to punish employees because their employers didn’t contribute for them. That decision opened the UIF to lot of fraudulent claims as it meant that any company can claim for people that never worked for if as long as they managed to source ID numbers. More than 90% of wrongly paid people result from this decision which was not taken by ICT management of the company maintaining the system.

4. The above serves as a statement on the matter

Reply:

a) what is the rationale behind the regulations?

The Minister of Employment and Labour has not issued any a regulation on the 19th October 2021. The Compensation Commissioner issued a notice to prescribe administrative rules for the payment of claims using the Account Verification System. The notice highlights the intention by the Compensation Fund to strictly enforce the payments of claims to claimant’s bank account using validations that come with the Account Verification System.

This notice is part of the Compensation Fund’s efforts to strengthen systems of internal control the Fund by the implementation of Account Verification System (AVS).

b) what are the reasons that the Compensation Fund is determined to stifle third-party pre-funding administrators?

There is nowhere in the notice published on the 19th October 2021 where reference is made to third party pre-funding administrators.

Reply:

(a) Yes, at the Department under Compensation Fund in the Western Cape province (b) the Department has zero tolerance on all employees who conspire to defraud UIF

(i) The name of the official is Ms Pumla Kenya working as a Nurse at the Compensation Fund

(ii) The official unlawfully received TERS benefit to the amount of R7 594.62 and used it

(iii) The matter was investigated and referred to the Hawks for prosecution. The matter is currently in court, however the funds were fully recovered from the official. The disciplinary measures were not taken because the employee immediately resigned after the commencement of the investigation.

Reply:

1. Within this Covid-19 Ters Benefit, a special category of Charitable Industries was opened at UIF, which included Religious Bodies who have been able to apply for the Covid-19 Ters Benefit on the basis of all insured workers, meaning institutions that had registered could then apply.

However, to date no formal queries nor complaints were received that faith based organisations are experiencing problems with TERS.

From 27.03.2020 TO 15.10.2020, all employers / employees that meet the requirements as stated in the directive, including those from faith based, qualified and were paid TERS.

From 16.10.2021, it is sector based as per the directives. However, there is a bullet that states any industries and business establishments that form part of the value chain of the above qualify too.

2. According to UIF records under the Charitable Industry:

A Number of 2 666 Religious Bodies applied for this benefit.

An amount of R 516 272 762.64 was paid out to these Charitable bodies.

It is not clearly outlined in any communication that faith based do qualify outright. However, that the directive clearly states that those that lost income and are contributors to UIF is sufficient and was basis for all to apply.

3. As stated the directive allows for discretion of the UIF to include or not, however no communication clearly states that. As stated above, the category that accommodates churches already exist.

Reply:

FOSKOR MINING PHALABORWA INSPECTIONS:

COMPENSATION FOR OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND DISEASES ACT, NO 130 of 1993

Inspections were conducted at Foskor Mining Phalaborwa from 12/08/2019 to 16/08/2019.Thirty eight (38) employers were inspected to determine compliance with COID Act. Twenty-four (24) employers complied and Fourteen (14) employers were found not complying with the COID Act. Compliance orders were issued and the employers complied before the expiry of the compliance order.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT, NO. 63 OF 2001 AND UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS ACT, NO. 4 OF 2002

Thirty-Three (33) inspections were conducted for the financial year 2019/2020 at Foskor Mining Phalaborwa from the period of 12/08/2019 to 16/08/2019 to determine the level of compliance with UI legislation. Eleven (11) employers complied and Twenty-two (22) employers were found not complying. Compliance orders were issued and the employers complied before the expiry of the orders.

 

BASIC CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT ACT, NO 75 OF 1997 (BCEA) AND NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE ACT (NMWA), NO 9 OF 2018

Employers contracted to the mine were inspected in 2020/21 and 2021/22 to determine compliance of contractors with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the National Minimum Wage Act.

Seven (7) employers were inspected in 2020/21. Five (5) complied and two (2) were found not complying. Compliance orders were issued and the employers complied after 14 days.

Three (3) employers were inspected in 2021/22 and all complied.

The mine has a collective agreement providing for more favourable terms of employment than basic conditions of employment which are not enforceable in terms of the BCEA and NMWA and therefore it was not prioritised for inspection to establish compliance with these legislations.

More inspections to establish compliance with the BCEA and NMWA by employers contracted to the mine are planned for Q4 of 2021/22.

GRAVELLOTE CHARCOAL MINE

No recent inspections not conducted; planned for 3rd week of January 2022

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT, NO 85 OF 1993 INSPECTIONS

The two workplaces (Foskor Mining and Gravellote Charcoal mine) constitute a ‘mine premise/s’ as defined in section 102 of the mine health and Safety Act, Act no.29 of 1996.

It is declared that the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act no.85 of 1993, as amended are not applicable to the workplaces as defined for in the provisions of Section 1(3)(a) of the Occupational health and safety Act, no.85 of 1993.

In terms of the above judicial confirmation, it is declared that the OHS Act, does not have jurisdiction to enforce compliance on the working conditions within the mine premises, and any further engagements on the health and safety conditions in the mine premises should be directed to the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.

Reply:

Hon. Member, part of the information relating to your question has been gathered. But we are still trying to obtain more information from other stakeholders operating in this space. Once we have all the data, we shall reconcile the information, package it, of course guided by the pieces of legislation that govern the operations.

Reply:

a) number of applications have been

(i) received

• KZN: 276 employers registered and applied for 7321 employees while 50 employers have not yet applied for their employees.

• Gauteng Province: 83 employers registered and applied for 1368 employees while 26 employers have not yet applied for their employees.

(ii) approved in terms of the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Destroyed, Affected or Looted Workplaces: Temporary Financial Relief Scheme since the scheme was established

• Information is not yet available, that work is still in progress.

(b) is the value of benefits paid to date? NW2420E

• This shall be furnished as soon as payments have been made.

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

END

 

Reply:

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

END