Questions and Replies
15 March 2021 - NW666
Walters, Mr TC to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional AffairsQUESTION
Whether (a) her department 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:
(a) Yes, the Department of Cooperative Governance makes use of use of private security firms
(b) N/A
(i) |
(ii) |
(iii) |
(iv) |
Wenzile Phaphama Security Services |
Security Services for provision of 24/7 guarding services in five Departmental buildings. |
R 33 769 546,72 |
3 years (1 June 2018-31 May 2021) |
Delco Distributors |
Provides rented security equipment such walkthrough metal detectors and X-ray machine in four Departmental buildings |
R 385 825,20 |
12 months (1 April 2020 - 31 March 2021) |
15 March 2021 - NW634
Arries, Ms LH to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional AffairsQUESTION
Whether she has been informed that the George Municipality in the Western Cape had sold land to developers that was meant for middle-income housing; if not, why not; if so, what measures has she taken to prevent municipalities from disposing of land that could be used for low-cost housing?
Reply:
No, the Minister has not been informed that the George Municipality has sold land to developers that was meant for middle-income housing.
In terms of section 9(1)(b) of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform must monitor compliance with the development principles and norms and standards for the performance of land use management functions.
15 March 2021 - NW552
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What is the breakdown of the total number of learners in each (a) Grade and (b) province who have been unaccounted for in the period 15 March 2020 to 15 February 2021?
Reply:
Learner drop-out statistics are not available at this point. Based on the information provided by the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) during the DG's weekly one-on-one virtual meetings with PEDs, provinces are still collating the drop-out statistics. As they work out drop-out-statistics, PEDs are identifying learners who do not physically come to school, but have not dropped out, because they are learning from home. These are learners who have comorbidities or other illnesses, as well as those who are in the home education programme.
15 March 2021 - NW664
Sarupen, Mr AN to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Whether (a) her department 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:
a) For the office accommodation the Department of Basic Education has signed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement for its head office. The agreement provides security as part of the services provided.
- Sethekgo Private Party,
- The Private Party security services are provided for the securing of the perimeter, CCTV monitoring and access control to the building,
- The Department pays a single unitary fee to the Private Party,
- The PPP agreement is for a 25 year period.
For the Administrator at the North West Provincial Education Department the response is as follows:
i) Wise Training Centre.
ii) To provide protection for the Administrator as an intervention due to the
North West Province which was placed under Administration, Section100 (1) (b).
iii) R206 906.00
iv) 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021.
(b) Umalusi:
(i) Rise Security Services (PTY) LTD
(ii) The security company provides perimeter security services, access control to the building as well as emergency reaction unit.
(iii) Contract value is R3,276,136.00
(iv) Contract period 01 October 2018 -30 September 2021
(b) SACE
The South African Council for Educators makes use of a private security company for its Head Office in centurion and for its Limpopo Provincial office makes use of the school security (Tom Naude).
(i) For the SACE Head Office in Centurion WANGIS security services provides the service; (ii) The security contract entered into with the provider is to offer security services by securing of the perimeter and access control for the SACE building. (iii) R 437 400 (iv) The contact is for a 12-month period
(i) For the SACE Limpopo provincial office – School security (Tom Naude). (ii) The security agreement entered into with the school security is to offer security services by assisting with access control. (iii) R10 000 MONTHLY (iv) The contract is for the duration of our lease agreement 2 years.
15 March 2021 - NW715
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(a) What number of learners who are eligible for learner transport do not benefit from the service and (b) what is the reason for this situation?
Reply:
a) There are 751 318 Learners who are in need of Learner Transport nationally; and 616 126 of these learners are being transported, which leaves out 135 192 Learners who are eligible for learner transport and are not benefiting from the service.
b) The reason for not transporting these learners is purely attributed to insufficient funding, as the demand for learner transport exceeds the budget allocated; which result in the exclusion of a number of qualifying learners.
12 March 2021 - NW63
Motsepe, Ms CCS to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
What (a) total amount has the National School of Government spent on consultants in the period between 1 January and 31 December 2020 and (b) are the relevant details of the (i) name of each specified consultant, (ii) work done by each consultant and (iii) amount paid to each consultant?
Reply:
The National School of Government reporting to the Minister of Department of Public Service and Administration
(a) Spent a total amount of R15,089,360.38 on consultants for the period between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. It should be noted that whilst the details below are reflected as payments to consultants, they do not necessarily represent the outsourcing of services for which the NSG employs people to render. For example, internal audit services are outsourced hence they appear below, inclusive of fees paid to external members of the audit committee.
Further, it should be noted that the NSG operates a Training Management IT
system which requires specialists to manage linked to the term of the contract of the software solution. Also included are the services of a temporary nurse who was contracted to provide screening services for COVID-19. Finally, we also reflect fees paid to independent contractors who are an extension of training arm. Money paid to these independent training contractors are recovered through the training fees charged to learners.
i.e. 2019/20 – 01 January 2020 – 31 March 2020 = R 9 667 710,85
2020/21 – 01 April 2020 – 31 December 2020 = R 5 421 649,53
(b) Relevant details: IT Related – Outsourced services
(i) Name of Consultant |
(ii) Work done |
(iii) Amount paid |
2019/20 January – March 2020 |
2020/21 April – December 2020 |
The Training Room online |
Management of the Moodle eLearning platform |
R1,467,226.18 |
R290,151.17 |
R1,177,075.01 |
Esoftware Solutions |
Management of the Training Management System |
R736,894.16 |
R383,523.86 |
R353,370.30 |
Bytes System Integration |
Outsourced ICT services |
R2,021,343.81 |
R500,656.89 |
R1,520,686.92 |
(b) Relevant details: Professional Services
(i) Name of Consultant |
(ii) Work done |
(iii) Amount paid |
2019/20 January – March 2020 |
2020/21 April – December 2020 |
Lunika Incorporated |
Internal auditing services |
R587,867.36 |
R222,701.39 |
R365,165.97 |
Nkosi |
Audit Committee Member |
R39,861.00 |
R12,978.00 |
R26,883.00 |
Peense |
Audit Committee Member |
R81,576.00 |
R81,576.00 |
R0.00 |
Shikwane |
Audit Committee Member |
R54,721.00 |
R54,721.00 |
R0.00 |
Van Der Nest |
Audit Committee Member |
R12,978.00 |
R12,978.00 |
R0.00 |
(b) Relevant details: Research
(i) Name of Consultant |
(ii) Work done |
(iii) Amount paid |
2019/20 January – March 2020 |
2020/21 April – December 2020 |
Blue Oceans Information Solution |
Research and Development Consultants |
R338,100.00 |
R0.00 |
R338,100.00 |
De Waal Research |
Research and Development Consultants |
R18,960.00 |
R0.00 |
R18,960.00 |
Kula Development and Business |
Research and Development Consultants |
R149,130.00 |
R0.00 |
R149,130.00 |
Lokisa Human Development Solution |
Research and Development Consultants |
R21,000.00 |
R0.00 |
R21,000.00 |
(b) Relevant details: Nurse – Covid-19 screening
(i) Name of Consultant |
(ii) Work done |
(iii) Amount paid |
2019/20 January – March 2020 |
2020/21 April – December 2020 |
Revolution Human Capital |
Professional nurse – covid-19 screening at the department |
R117,142.19 |
R0.00 |
R117,142.19 |
(b) Relevant details: Training related (recovered from training fees)
(i) Name of Consultant |
(ii) Work done |
(iii) Amount paid |
2019/20 January – March 2020 |
2020/21 April – December 2020 |
Various Experts as per attached spreadsheet (attached) |
Training of National and Provincial departments and Local Government |
R9,387,290.68 |
R8,107,934.54 |
R1,279,356.14 |
(b) Relevant details: Verification Agencies
(i) Name of Consultant |
(ii) Work done |
(iii) Amount paid |
2019/20 January – March 2020 |
2020/21 April – December 2020 |
Honeycomb Bee Rating |
Verification of B-BBEE status |
R51,750.00 |
0.00 |
R51,750.00 |
SA Qualifications Authority |
Verification of qualifications |
R3,520.00 |
R490.00 |
R3,030.00 |
End
12 March 2021 - NW238
Majozi, Ms Z to ask the Minister of Police
Whether has he been informed of the alarming statistics of the recent 2021 survey carried out by a statistics website, Numbeo.com, which ranked six South African cities among the global top 20 of the most dangerous cities (details furnished); if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) how is his department planning to ensure that the Republic forges a better reputation in the global communities and (b) what are the details of the implementation strategy of such efforts?
Reply:
Yes, the Management of the South African Police Service (SAPS) is aware of the recent, 2021 survey, which was carried out by a statistics website, Numeo.com. The cities identified in the survey, according to the rankings, are as follows:
Pretoria |
Number 3 |
eThekwini (Durban) |
Number 4 |
Johannesburg |
Number 5 |
Pietermaritzburg |
Number 7 |
Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) |
Number 14 |
Cape Town |
Number 16 |
It should be noted that the Crime Index is based on surveys from visitors to the website. To generate a current index, data up to 36 months old is used and includes only cities for which there are at least a certain number of contributors.
The table below provides a perspective on the number of participants over a 36 month period:
Pretoria |
280 |
eThekwini (Durban) |
240 |
Johannesburg |
676 |
Pietermaritzburg |
81 |
Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) |
103 |
Cape Town |
510 |
Although the content of the survey is noted, the number of participants is indeed marginal if measured against the total population of each of these
The SAPS initiated the Safer Cities Project in collaboration with Strategic stakeholders, such as municipalities and went beyond the above mentioned six cities to also include Emalahleni, Polokwane, Rustenburg, Mangaung and Kimberley.
In the above cities, with the exception of Pietermaritzburg, the initiation process has been concluded, led by the SAPS Management and in some instances by the Minister or Deputy Minister of Police, who engaged with provincial and local government to brief them on the project and agreed on joint mechanisms for the development and implementation of a Safer Cities Project.
The implementation strategy entails the development of project and implementation plans by the provinces, with their respective cities. The city of eThekwini (Durban) has gone beyond the initiation phase and has developed a project plan with an implementation plan.
One of the milestones achieved by the city of eThekwini (Durban) is the establishment of an integrated Fusion Centre, which was launched on 20 November 2020. The other cities are expected to finalise their project plans with implementation plans, in the 2021/2022 financial year. This strategy is being rolled out with the District Development Model, in respect of planning and budgeting for the project.
The objectives of the Safer Cities Project (strategy) are:
A country free of crime and violence.
People feeling safe, within the city or district precinct.
Increased economic growth of the city.
Integrated functional governance system.
Public confidence and trust in the governance of the city/district.
Reply to question 238 recommended/
GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021-03-04
Reply to question 238 approved
MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 12/03/2021
12 March 2021 - NW422
Majozi, Ms Z to ask the Minister of Police
What have been the findings of the task team he appointed to investigate stock theft in the Free State amid an increase in the crime which he described as eConomic sabotage;
Reply:
(1) During the intervention it was discovered that the Stock Then information Centre was not in place. The following government departments and organisations are represented in the Stock Theft information Centre:
The department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) Stock Theft and Endangered Species Units.
Red Meat Organisations.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Live Stock Farmers, National Agricultural Farmers Union (NAFU).
Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU).
The purpose of the Stock Theft information Centre, is as follows:
The sharing of intelligence between communities and detectives
Providing feedback, with regard to stock theft cases.
Creating community awareness, with regard to relevant legislation, e.g. the Animal Identification Act, the Stock Theft Act and the Meat Safety Act, etc.
Joint visits to livestock and meat disposal points.
Discouraging the community not to mediate serious stock theft court cases.
(2) The SAPS 1s continuously monitoring the stock theft trends and where a similar trend is noticed, various approaches are put in place after analysing the facts. There are currently four task teams operating in identified stock theft hotspots in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, in various districts.
Reply to question 422 recommended
GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021-03-04
Reply to question 422 approved
MIISTER OF POLICE
GEERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 12/03/2021
12 March 2021 - NW286
Terblanche, Mr OS to ask the Minister of Police
What (a) are the academic qualifications and (b) is the practical experience of the (i) Commander of the National Forensic Science Laboratories and (ii) commanding officers of the respective forensic laboratories in the Republic;
Reply:
(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii) The academic qualifications and the practical experience of the Commander of the National Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and commanding officers of the respective forensic laboratories in the Republic, are reflected in the table below:
Occupation |
Senior Member |
Qualification |
Experience |
Component Head: FSL |
Major General Ngokha |
Diploma in Management B. Tech Management B. Com Honours Management Diploma in Applied Management BSc (Chemistry and Biochemistry) |
DNA expert Facility Manager of the Laboratory Chemistry Manager Head of the FSL |
Section Head: Ballistics |
Brigadier van Niekerk |
Diploma Datametrics: Unisa AFTE: Board |
35 years’experience in Forensic Ballistics |
Section Head: Chemistry |
Brigadier J Allen |
BSc (Chemistry andBiochemistry) BSc Hons (Biochemistry) |
29 years’ experience at the FSL. |
Find here: Table continuation
12 March 2021 - NW388
Majozi, Ms Z to ask the Minister of Police
(1) In light of the fact that the SA Police Service (SAPS) in Gauteng has come forward and reaffirmed its commitment to decisively deal with taxi violence and find SAPS members who are involved in illegally providing taxi operators and and hitmen with firearms (details furnished), what measures has the SAPS in Gauteng put in place to curb corruption and discourage it all together; (2) whether he will furnish Ms. Z Majoizi with figures that will give a clear and contextual image of the progress made in his regard; if no, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The performance of remunerative work by employees of the South African Police Service (SAPS) is regulated by National Instruction 4 of 2012, which prohibits the performance of any remunerative work in the taxi industry.
Paragraph 3 of National Instruction 4 of 2012, Performance of Remunerative Work, lists the prohibitions on the granting of approval to an employee, to perform certain types of remunerative work or to perform certain a4iv•rties for gain. The tax‹ industry is listed in paragraph 3(a), which reads: Approval may not be granted to an employee to perform any remunerative work •f such work or activity is in any manner connected to the taxi industry. This includes, but is not limled to, the operation of a taxi service by the employee, himsel or herseP or by employing another person, or the performance of remunerative work for a taxi association, group of taxi owners or operator or for a single taxi owner or operator.
Any information, relating to the involvement of SAPS membem in the taxi industry. is followed up immediately by the Provincial Investigation Team.
de following measures are in place, with ægafd to the management of SAPs fileams:
O III SAPS fireams are accounted for, on a regular basis, by means of physical inspections.
o All SAPS fifBarITIS aæ dot paen marked and tested, in tems of the lntegrated BalliStiCS Identification System (IBIS) and record is kept for comparison with exhibits, recovered at crime scènes.
In order tg corruption, the following measures have been implemented:
- All the SAPS personnel, who are attached to the Taxi Violence Investigation Unit, are vetted and lifestyle audits are conducted on a regular basis.
- Corruption cases are investigated by the Anti-Corruption Unit.
- Allegations of corruption are investigated departmentally, independently from the criminal case.
- Employees face dismissal if found guilty on corruption charges.
- Employees are sensitised about the consequence of committing serious misconduct.
» Roll out of the National Instruction on ethics and integrity management.
- Trainees are subjected to integrity management to eliminate the potential risk of corruption.
The following SAPS members were convicted and dismissed for their involvement in taxi violence:
Station and Cæe Number |
Charge |
Name of SAPS Member |
SAPS Flrearm used |
Outcome |
Gemiston CAS 289/11/2015 |
Murder x 2 and attempted murder |
Thulani Wiseman Madidie |
No |
Guilty- 2 x life imprisonment |
Pretoria Central CAS 1541/09/2013 |
Murder |
Lungisani Arnold Mgaga |
Yes |
Guilty- life imprisonment |
Roodepoort CAS 579/10/2018 |
Murder |
Sibusiso Shongwe |
No |
Guilty- life imprisonment |
12 March 2021 - NW278
Steyn, Ms A to ask the Minister of Police
For each police station in the Free State, what total number of vehicles are (a) allocated to each police station to support service such as (i) visible policing, (ii) rural safety, (iii) police detectives and (iv) instances where vehicles have been boarded and/or made redundant and (b)(i) operational and (ii) out of service in each of the specified categories?Reply
Reply:
(a)(i)(ii)(iii(iv)(b)(i)(ii)
A total of 104 out of 111 police stations in the Free State, fall within the rural safety category, this includes rural and the combination of urban/rural, in terms of the classification. A total of 100 out of 104 rural police stations have vehicles, which are allocated and dedicated to rural safety. All vehicles in the Visible Policing and Detective environments are regarded as operational. The details are reflected in the table below:
12 March 2021 - NW354
Mazzone, Ms NW to ask the Police
Whether the VIP Protection Service assigned to Mr J S Malema incurred any expenses on and/or around 5 February 2021 to accommodate the attendance of (a) Mr Malema and/or (b) any of the persons in his delegation at the meeting with the Former President, Mr J G Zuma, at his Nkandla homestead; if no, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the details of the expenses incurred in terms of (i) transporting Mr Malema and/or his guest, (ii) the expenses incurred in additional members of the VIP Protection Unit(s) assigned to Mr Malema and (iii) any other relevant costs relate to the tea party?
Reply:
(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) Not applicable Mr Malema is no longer protected by the South African Police Service (SAPS), Very Important Persons (VIP) Protection Services.
Reply to question 354
GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2021-03-04
Reply to question 354 approved
MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 12/03/2021
12 March 2021 - NW496
Mazzone, Ms NW to ask the Minister of Police
(1) Whether he gave assurances to the former President, Mr J G Zuma, that he would be the person carrying out an arrest if the courts decide to issue a warrant of arrest, as a certain person (name furnished) stated on Twitter on 18 February 2021; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether he has found that his visit to the former President, who faces imminent arrest for refusing to appear before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State in contravention with a Constitutional Court order, on 18 February 2021 conflicted in any way with his position as the Minister responsible for the Police Service, who would be responsible for enforcing the law and carrying out the arrest; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? NW552E
Reply:
1.Ministers don't effect arrest, if warrant of arrest is issued, it will follow the normal cause of procedures.
2. No. As explained above, ministers don’t carry out any arrests
Reply to question approved
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
MINISTER OF POLICE
Date: 2021/03/12
12 March 2021 - NW495
Mazzone, Ms NW to ask the Minister of Police
(a) What was the purpose of his visit to the Nkandla homestead of the former President, Mr J G Zuma, on 18 February 2021 and (b) in what capacity did he visit the former President;
Reply:
(1) Was to see former president Zuma and have a wide range of various discussions.
2(a)(i) Did not fly to Nkandla so no cost incurred.
2(a)(ii) Did not calculate on this one but used the normal transport I use when doing my political movement work.
2(b) Same as I always use.
2(c) Used the police cars I always use not sure the status either own or hired by police.
2(d) No accommodation used.
2(e) No gifts.
2(§ I have no knowledge of such details, those are administrative.
Reply to question 495 approved
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
MINISTER OF POLICE
Date: 12/03/2021
12 March 2021 - NW420
Terblanche, Mr OS to ask the Minister of Police
What steps has the SA Police Service taken since 1 April 2020 to capacitate its Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units to provide efficient and effective assistance to victims of family violence?
Reply:
An allocation of 312 trainees was eamarked to be placed at the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units. To date, a total of 288 of the trainees have been placed at various units and the remaining 24 posts are in the process of been fillad laterally. The FCS was allocated a further 70 posts in Phase 1 of the Post Promotion process, for the 2020/2021 financial year and these post are yet to be filled.
12 March 2021 - NW106
Joseph, Mr D to ask the Minister of Police
Whether he arid/or the National Commissioner laid formal charges against a certain person (details furnished) for statements made alleged to have been threatening to the members of the SA Police Service, their families and De State; 1 not, what is the position in this regard; If so, what are the relevant details
Reply:
An extension of 14 days is requested, in order to ob6in more information on the statement that was allegedly made by the said political party leader.
Reply to question 106 recommended /not recommended
GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2101-03-04
MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 12/03/2021
12 March 2021 - NW305
Terblanche, Mr OS to ask the Minister of Police
Whether, with reference to the judicial decision on the SA Police Service’s (SAPS) procurement, his department will institute any consequence management against senior managers of the SAPS involved in the scathing judgment handed down by Judge Dennis Davis in the Pretoria High Court on 13 January 2021 related to the illegal procurement of items that will benefit the ruling party and not the citizens of the Republic; if not, why not, if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
Internal investigations are continuing as they get finalised, the recommendations and direction will be given which path to follow, including the consequence management, if needs be.
Reply to question 305 approved
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
MINISTEROF POLICE
Date: 12/03/2021
12 March 2021 - NW57
Mente-Nkuna, Ms NV to ask the Minister in The Presidency
What (a) are the relevant details of the communications expenditure on COVID19,
Reply:
The Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) implemented a multimedia communication campaign in respect of COVID-19 aimed at informing citizens and creating awareness about the Pandemic. Various Media Platforms were utilized in order to ensure that all segments of the population are reached. To date the ad spend summary is as per the below table:
GCIS COVID 19 AD SPEND SUMMARY (Media Buying) |
|||
PUBLICATION |
APPROVED ORDERS (COMMITTED AMOUNT) |
INVOICES RECEIVED |
COMMITMENTS BALANCE |
TV |
R22 818 029,00 |
R18 399 325,50 |
R4 418 703,50 |
Radio |
R16 893 447,51 |
R15 090 006,14 |
R1 803 441,37 |
Production/Creative Agencies |
R 6 000 000,00 |
R5 915 799,38 |
R84 200,62 |
Outdoor |
R13 303 730.21 |
R7 905 850,75 |
R4 400 879,46 |
TOTAL |
R59 015 206.72 |
R47 310 981,77 |
R10 707 224,95 |
(b) proportion of black-owned advertisement agencies and/or companies were used
- Molibiz - 100% Black owned and 75% black woman owned.
- Cut-2-Black – B-BBEE Status level 1 of contributor.
(c) proportion of the budget that went to black-owned media for
(i) radio
- Of the R16 893 447.51 spent on Radio, R2 746 592.37 which translates to 17.5% of the total radio budget was spent on black owned media owners/stations.
- Of the total budget R10 996 477,80 was spent on SABC and on 60 community stations translating to 65% of the total radio budget.
Please see the below table for reference.
RADIO AD SPEND |
|||
SUPPLIER |
ORDER AMOUNT |
% SHARE |
BEE STATUS |
Mediamark (Igagasi FM, Kaya FM, |
R1 268 185,38 |
7.5% |
All 3 stations are 100% black owned |
Motswako Media |
R457 988,00 |
3% |
100% black owned |
MSG Group Sales |
R620 572,61 |
4% |
100% black owned |
YFM |
R399 846,38 |
3% |
|
Total black owned media owners/stations |
R2 746 592.37 |
17.5% |
|
SABC Radio |
R10 036 477,80 |
63% |
Public Broadcaster |
Community Radio (60 stations) |
R960 000.00 |
5.6% |
|
Total SABC & Community |
R10 996 477,80 |
65% |
|
Other commercial radio Media owners / stations |
R3 150 577.34 |
17.5% |
|
Total Radio Adspend |
R 16 893 447.51 |
|
(ii) television broadcasters
Of the R22 818 029.00 spent on television broadcasters, R9 580 374.00 was spent on black media owners as per the below table which translates to 41% of the total television budget. Furthermore, R12 499 355.00 of the R22 818 029.00 was spent on free to air and public broadcasters which translates to 54% of the television budget. The distribution of the budget is as follows:
SUPPLIER |
Total cost |
BLACK OWNED |
SABC TV |
R 12 499 355,00 |
Public Broadcaster |
ETV/ ENCA |
R 8 453 374.00 |
Free to Air / Black owned |
MVM Multimedia |
R 828 000,00 |
Black owned (Soweto TV) |
Zallywood |
R 299 000,00 |
Black owned (Tshwane & Gau TV ) |
(iii) outdoor
Of the total R13 303 730.21 which was spent on Outdoor Media for this campaign, R10 413 674.17 was spent on 22 Black Media owners for the procurement of Billboards, Wall Murals and in taxi television. This translates to 78% of the total budget and the table below depicts the distribution of the budget amongst the approved suppliers:
BLACK OWNED OUTDOOR MEDIA OWNERS |
||
Global Touch |
R 997 000,00 |
Black owned |
Huffing Post |
R 733 643,65 |
Black female owned |
Esona Communications |
R 518 693,00 |
Black female owned |
Luvuno Media |
R 45 670,00 |
Black owned |
Owakhe Media |
R 422 050,00 |
Black owned |
Platinum Outdoor Media |
R 195 000,00 |
Black owned |
Kemvest |
R 217 494,90 |
Black owned |
Bahn Media |
R 128 620,00 |
Black owned |
Rivoni Advertising |
R 572 284,00 |
Black owned |
Kwame Media |
R 304 750,00 |
Black owned |
The Guyz Media |
R 282 900,00 |
Black owned |
BLK Mercury |
R 106 925,00 |
Black owned |
Outsmart Outdoor Media |
R 619 655,12 |
Black female owned |
Hluma Media |
R 213 854,00 |
Black owned |
Sumep Media |
R 1 132 119,00 |
Black owned |
Kena Media |
R 2 052 074,95 |
Black owned |
Placement Media |
R 314 709.00 |
Black owned |
Tswalanang |
R 308 200.00 |
Black owned |
Keys Communications |
R 525 992.17 |
Black owned |
Indaba Billboards |
R 140 061.00 |
Black owned |
Tema Media |
R 245 732.00 |
Black female owned |
Sondlo & Knopp |
R 336 246,89 |
Black owned |
Total AD Spent on Black Outdoor Billboard Owners R10 413 674.17 |
(d) Total amount was spent in production of video adverts for both television and social media?
A total amount of R3 562 544,46 was spent on the production of video adverts for TV and Social Media.
Thank You.
11 March 2021 - NW242
Chirwa-Mpungose, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Health
Whether he has been informed of the role that Dr Wouter Basson played during apartheid in fermenting plans to kill black persons; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the reasons that justify his continued registration as a medical practitioner in the Republic?
Reply:
According to the Acting Registrar of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), Dr. Wouter Basson is still on the register of medical practitioners in terms of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974) (“the Act”). The Acting Registrar further indicated that Dr. Basson is legally entitled to remain on the register of medical practitioners until he is removed from the register in terms of section 19 of the Act.
The HPCSA charged Dr. Wouter Basson with, and found him guilty of, unprofessional conduct on 18 December 2013. Dr. Basson was, inter alia, charged and found guilty of the following charges – Coordination of the production of drugs.
Having been found guilty of unprofessional conduct on 04 February 2015 and during the sentencing proceedings, Dr. Basson applied for the recusal of two of the members of the professional conduct committee arguing bias. The professional conduct committee which consisted of three members dismissed Dr. Basson’s application for recusal of two of its members. Dr. Basson thereafter applied to the High Court for the review and setting aside the dismissal of his application for the recusal of two members of the professional conduct committee.
The High Court dismissed Dr. Basson’s application for the review and setting aside the professional conduct committee’s refusal of his application for the recusal of the two members of the professional conduct committee.
Dr. Basson appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of his review application, and the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld his appeal on 17 January 2018 and directed that the matter be remitted back to the High Court for a decision on the review application.
On 27 March 2019, the High Court granted the application for the review and setting aside of the professional conduct committee’s refusal of the application for recusal of two of its members.
The HPCSA unsuccessfully applied for leave to appeal the decision of the High Court. The HPCSA then unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal. The HPCSA applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court, and on 05 February 2020, the Constitutional Court dismissed the HPCSA’s application for leave to appeal the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Dr. Basson’s successful recusal of the two members of the professional conduct committee vitiated the entire professional conduct proceedings with the result that the professional conduct proceedings against Dr. Basson will now have to commence de novo (afresh) before the newly constituted Protecting the public and guiding the professions President: Prof M S Nemutandani, Vice President: Dr. S Sobuwa, Acting Registrar/CEO: Dr. MA Kwinda professional conduct committee and the HPCSA is preparing to commence these proceedings against Dr. Basson afresh.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW531
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Health
(a) On what date did the shipment of Cuban COVID-19 medicine worth R235 million reach our shores, (b)(i) what quantity of the medicine was destroyed and (ii) how was the medicine destroyed and (c)(i) who will be held accountable for such a huge loss and (ii) how will the loss be recompensed?
Reply:
The Department of Health has not been involved in the procurement of a “Cuban Covid-19 medicine” hence we cannot respond to this question. It must be referred to the Department of Defence.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW170
Opperman, Ms G to ask the Minister of Social Development
What (a) is the total number of people living with disabilities who did not receive their SA Social Security Agency grant payouts at the Upington Post Office for January 2021 and (b) are the reasons behind these non-payments?
Reply:
a) There were no approved social grant beneficiaries who were not paid at the Upington Post Office in January 2021. All beneficiaries who were entitled to the grant were paid.
b) At the end of December 2020, SASSA lapsed a total of 1 672 temporary disability grants as the period for which the grant was approved had expired; and 68 care dependency grants, where the beneficiary had turned 18 years of age during the course of 2020. These clients in the Upington area were not paid in January 2021, and need to re-apply for the grant, if their disability or medical condition still prevents them from working and thus earning an income with which to support themselves.
SASSA has implemented a specific process for the clients who previously received the care dependency grants, where the grants lapsed at the end of December 2021, in order to limit inconvenience as much as possible. A care dependency grant lapses at the end of the month in which the care dependent child turns 18. However, as a result of measures implemented to reduce the spread of the corona virus in 2020, care dependency grants which should have lapsed were kept in payment until the end of the year.
When a care dependency grant lapses, the young person, who is now an adult, has to apply for a disability grant in his/her own name (the care dependency grant is paid to the care giver of the child). The application for a disability grant requires a new medical assessment, in line with the Provisions of the Social Assistance Act, 2004. However, in order to limit inconvenience, as a care dependent child is supposed to have a permanent, severe disability, the medical assessments for the disability grant application are being done off the file, using the previous medical report. Only where the previous medical assessment is not available, or where the information is inadequate, will an arrangement be made for the young person to be brought to the office for an assessment.
Once the assessment is completed, the care giver of that young person will be contacted to complete the application process as the procurator of the young person.
The above process has been implemented in order to prevent people with severe disabilities form having to come to SASSA offices to complete the application process.
The paper-based assessment process will be utilised as a permanent method of attending to disability grant applications, where the client was previously a care dependent child.
Lastly, I would like to inform the Honourable Member’s attention to the current language that is consistent with the White Paper is persons with Disabilities not “people living with disabilities”.
11 March 2021 - NW555
Mphithi, Mr L to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
(1)What is the status of the post of Chief Director: Governance and Compliance; (2) whether the post has been advertised; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, by what date does her Office expect to complete the process?
Reply:
1. The post of Chief Director: Governance and Compliance, Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is funded, vacant and in the process of recruitment;
2. The post has been advertised with a closing date of 12 March 2021 and the selection and appointment process is expected to complete by 31 July 2021.
_________________________
Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date _____________________
11 March 2021 - NW413
Chirwa-Mpungose, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Health
Whether he will furnish Ms N N Chirwa with the full, relevant details on the final agreement stages with the pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson, that he alluded to on Wednesday, 10 February 2021, in the Portfolio Committee on Health with regard to the (a) date on which the meetings between the specified company and the Government took place, (b) issues that were negotiated during all the proceedings with the company and (c) way forward in relation to procuring the specified vaccine; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
As I had indicated previously the discussion held between Johnson&Johnson is subject to a non-disclosure agreement that government had to sign off on before discussions regarding access to them could be held. While we would certainly prefer to disclose as much information as possible this condition of non-disclosure is in place from all manufacturers. Nevertheless we can share some information with the Honourable Member.
(a) There were six formal meetings between Johnson&Johnson and the Department of Health between June 2020 and December 2020. In the period 1 January 2021 and 1 March 2021 there have also been six formal meetings. In addition, there has been significant exchange of email correspondence between officials and Johnson&Johnson.
(b) While there were various issues discussed in the meetings over the past 9 months the key issues are the following:
-
- The characteristics of the vaccine-type of vaccine, storage, mechanism of action, dosing, administration requirements;
- The anticipated date for completion of the phase 3 study;
- The anticipated quantity of vaccine that can be delivered and the timelines for delivery;
- The price of the vaccine;
- The conditions in the advanced purchase agreement including liability, payment conditions, delivery dates, penalty clauses;
- Access to the excess Johnson&Johnson trial doses following the pausing of the Astra Zeneca vaccine rollout;
- Structure of the phase 3b study, logistics, reporting co-ordination, dose delivery dates.
- The proposed contractual agreement from Johnson&Johnson has been reviewed by National Treasury and concurrence has been obtained. The agreement has been signed off for 11million doses with an option for an additional 20m doses based on availability of stock. The Johnson&Johnson vaccine is the most cost-effective vaccine for the following reasons:
- it provides high level of protection against hospitalisation and death from clinical studies in South Africa;
- It is effective against the 501Y.V2 variant;
- Single dose vaccine;
- It is stored at fridge temperature;
- Price is lower compared to other vaccines
END.
11 March 2021 - NW267
Thembekwayo, Dr S to ask the Minister of Health
Whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been found to be effective against the variant of the coronavirus detected in the Republic; if not; why not; if so, on what date(s) (a) were the tests concluded and (b) was the specified vaccine approved?
Reply:
a) On 29 January 2021 Johnson&Johnson released the results of their phase 3a clinical trial done in various countries including South Africa. The results of the trial indicate that the vaccine is 85% effective against preventing hospitalization and severe Covid-19 and 100% effective against death. The vaccine is also effective against the 501Y.V2 variant which is predominant in South Africa and was 57% effective in preventing moderate to severe symptoms.
b) The Johnson&Johnson vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States of America. We anticipate that Johnson and Johnson will also submit a similar application to SAHPRA for consideration.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW533
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Health
(1)Which vaccines will be rolled out to health-care specialists as compared to citizens; (2) whether he will furnish Ms H Ismail with the full list of the names of the suppliers of the vaccines; (3) whether he has found that his department has sufficient cold storage facilities to store the incoming vaccines effectively; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (4) whether he will furnish Ms H Ismail with a list of essential workers who will be prioritised for the vaccines?
Reply:
1. We are currently providing healthcare workers with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Thereafter we will access the Pfizer vaccine for healthcare workers and persons eligible for phase 2. The commercial stock of Johnson and Johnson vaccines will become available in mid quarter two. Thereafter the rollout programme will be based on these two vaccines;
2. Johnson&Johnson Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals;
3. A team has been investigating the cold storage capacity in South Africa and has been able to quantify the storage capacity across the country. The Johnson&Johnson vaccine is stored at fridge temperature for which there is adequate storage capacity. The Pfizer vaccine is stored at -70 degrees hence there is need for specialised storage facilities which we have secured. The team has been planning the logistics related to the storage, delivery and administration for each of the vaccines. South Africa has a vaccine programme that delivers close to 20m doses of vaccines annually so there is existing infrastructure, systems and human resources. This programme is on a much larger scale however vaccinations are not new for the department.
4. The Department did provide an initial list of essential workers that would make up phase two which included civil servants in particular sectors of the economy. Subsequently we have received representation from a number of sectors motivating for inclusion as essential workers. We are engaging with these matters and will provide a final list in the next couple of weeks.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW409
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Health
Whether, given that a number of interns and community service doctors were not paid salaries for January in Gauteng, were there other doctors in these categories who were not paid and/or experienced any delays throughout the Republic from 1 January 2020 to date; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) total number and (b) were the reasons for the delays and non-payment?
Reply:
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the 2020 learning programs at Higher Education Institutions, resulting in Medical Students completing their final year studies late in December 2020. There was also a recorded delay for serving medical interns who were transitioning to community service: medical officer posts from 1 January 2021. The delayed completion, impacted on the finalization of the professionals registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), which is amongst others, one of the requirement for commencement of duty in a health facility.
Despite all these challenges, Provincial Departments of Health made provision to ensure viable appointments of health professionals (i.e. medical interns and community service doctors) are captured and finalized as soon as all the required documents are receipt.
The National Department of Health hereby confirms that Provincial Departments of Health across all Provinces, despite the challenges outlined above, managed to capture and finalize appointments of medical interns and community service and salaries have been paid successfully in this professionals bank accounts during the periods 31 January 2021 to 15 February 2021.
The only remaining challenge was in the Northern Cape where one medical intern and one community service doctor, who commenced duty from 1 January 2021 have not yet received salary due to the fact that at the time of capturing the appointment on the PERSAL System, the Northern Cape Provincial Treasury deactivated the appointment functionality in the Province for all Departments due to over expenditures encountered.
The Acting Head of Health Department (HoD) engaged the Acting Head of Provincial Treasury on the matter. The Province have since been given back the appointment function on PERSAL temporarily. The appointments have now been captured on the System and emoluments are due to be paid by 15 March 2021 backdated to January 2021 to the affected doctors.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW368
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Health
Whether, in light of the fact that new vaccines are additionally contaminated with aluminium, mercury and possibly formaldehyde, his department has ensured that the manufacturers of the vaccines disclose what other toxins they contain; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The current Covid vaccines assessed by SAHPRA and approved for emergency use do not contain any of these mentioned materials. In general, as part of the quality review of manufacturing, formulation and control of the vaccine, SAHPRA checks for all excipients and any possible impurities from these and from active substances used as well as their interactions and degradation products and establish if they are in acceptable safe limits, if not they are not approved.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW556
Mphithi, Mr L to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
(a) Who has she found to have been responsible for wrongly allocating funds to Programme 4 instead of Programme 5 in Quarter 3 and (b) what steps will her Office take to ensure that these errors do not recur?
Reply:
a) The officials responsible for the misallocation is the Director Finance, Senior State Accountant and the Accounting Clerk. The misallocation does not relate to allocation of funds. It relate to a payment of an invoice that was erroneously paid from programme 4 instead of programme 5.
b) The 3 officials take responsibility for the honest mistake as this is the first time such a mistake occurred in the past 9 financial years and the Director Finance already had a discussion with the other 2 officials regarding the seriousness of misallocation of amounts and indicated that the 3 of them must take the responsibility for the mistake and going forward all payments must be thoroughly checked to ensure that similar cases will not recur.
_________________________
Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date _____________________
11 March 2021 - NW251
Chirwa-Mpungose, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Health
In light of the constant mutations of the coronavirus which poses challenges for effective vaccination, what steps has he taken to ensure that the vaccines that the Government has now ordered will be effective against the different variants of the coronavirus?
Reply:
Government is constantly engaging experts and scientists to keep abreast of any new variants that are emerging and the efficacy of the various vaccines that are currently available on the global market. This includes getting clinical and scientific advisories from relevant Ministerial Advisory Committees. Furthermore, part of our risk management strategy includes ensuring that we actively engage with various vaccine manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that the population has access to a diversity of vaccines as part of the vaccination roll-out campaign.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has as its mandate, a responsibility to ensure that vaccines approved for use are efficacious. In this context SAHPRA requires that all vaccine manufacturers provide evidence of the efficacy of their vaccines against variants.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW257
Mohlala, Ms MR to ask the Minister of Health
What (a) total number of posts are vacant at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria, (b) are the reasons that his department has struggled to fill the specified vacancies and (c) impact has he found the vacancies have on the ability of the specified hospital to provide quality health care?
Reply:
a) According to the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health, (a) the number of vacant funded posts as at 25 February 2021 is 544 posts. The breakdown is as follows:
Row Labels |
Number of Posts |
Administration Staff |
34 |
Allied Professionals |
79 |
Allied Support Staff |
6 |
Clinical Professionals |
119 |
Management Professionals |
1 |
Nursing Professionals |
238 |
Support Staff |
67 |
Grand Total |
544 |
The process of replacing vacated posts is a decentralised function and the Hospital Management ensures that vacated posts are filled continuously on a monthly basis with priority given to core functions (i.e. health professions categories).
(b) Some of the reasons that the Hospital has struggled with to fill the specified vacancies include but not limited to a recurring challenge of limited skills of Specialised Nurses Categories in the Country (limited resources available). The recruitment of Clinicians is also a challenge as some of the candidates prefer to work in other Academic and Tertiary Institutions like Steve Biko Academic Hospital and Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital lose out because of their geographic area. The Hospital is also affected by the budget reductions under Cost of Employer (COE) experienced in the public health sector and the filing of most or all the 544 posts will result in over-expenditure.
(c) To mitigate this challenge, management appoints experienced Professional Nurses in those speciality areas who are capable of dealing with work demands. Continuous support is given to these nurses through training programmes and supervision. The Hospital has further put in place mechanisms to minimise the impact of vacant posts on service delivery through task sharing, overtime and rotation of staff.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW408
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Health
What (a) is the rate of HIV/Aids transmission from mother to child that his department recorded in the past year, (b) has his department identified to be the most contributing factor to this rate and (c) measures has he implemented to ensure that this does not persist?
Reply:
(a) Data from the District Health Information System (DHIS) indicate that in the calendar year 2020, infant PCR test positivity rate is 0.51% at birth, 0.69% around 10 weeks and 0.23% at 18 months;
(b) Mother-to-child-transmission of HIV remains multi-factorial and thus interventions are developed at each possible point of infection. It could be (1) high viral load due to new infection during prenatal and post-natal period or pregnant women not virally suppressed, (2) pregnant women who are not aware of their HIV status, (3) women who develop drug resistance/ or treatment failure;
(c) The PMTCT guideline was revised in 2019 to address the mother to child transmission of HIV by introducing the following interventions:
- HIV negative pregnant women are retested for HIV at every basic antenatal care visit and at labour and delivery, and those who test HIV positive are initiated on ART immediately;
- Maternal viral load monitoring for pregnant HIV positive women done at ANC, at the time of delivery and another viral load monitoring at 6 months post-delivery to identify mothers who are at higher risk of transmitting HIV to their infants/babies;
- Enhanced infant prophylaxis where HIV exposed infants whose mothers has high viral load or the viral load is unknown receive HIV prophylaxis until their mothers are virally suppressed thus reducing the risk of transmission.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW557
Mphithi, Mr L to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Given the impact that COVID-19 has had on youth and unemployment, what measures has her Office put in place to address the challenge of youth unemployment?
Reply:
Covid-19 is having massive implications for the economy, mainly hitting hard the unemployed youth. As a result, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), an agency reporting to the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) has put in place the following measures in the 2020/ 2021 financial year up to 31 December 2020 (Q3):
(ii) The Youth Micro Enterprise Relief Fund, which provided relief funding to 1104 youth entrepreneurs;
(iii) The NYDA Grant programme, which provided 930 youth entrepreneurs with start-up and survivalist funding. Of the grant recipients 63% were male and 37% were female and most grants were disbursed in Gauteng at 18%, Mpumalanga at 15%, Eastern Cape at 15% KwaZulu Natal at 12% and Limpopo at 12%. The least were disbursed in North West at 9%, Western Cape at 7%, Free State at 6% and Northern Cape at 6%;
(iv) The NYDA Job Placements programme, placed 1845 young people into jobs, with more females than males placed at 63% females vs 37% males placed. Gauteng had the highest placements at 28% and Northern Cape at 25%, whilst Limpopo was at 9%, KwaZulu Natal at 14%, Free State at 0%, Eastern Cape at 8%, Mpumalanga and North West at 11% and 6% respectively;
(v) 1575 youth have been supported through non-financial business development interventions;
(vi) 1164 young people have been capacitated with skills to enter the job market; and
(vii) 2095 young people have been capacitated with skills to participate in the economy.
It is worthy to note that, the DWYPD developed a Cabinet approved National Youth Policy (NYP) 2020-2030. The NYP 2030 was launched on the 05th of March 2021 and, amongst others, proposes policy priorities to tackle long term structural and systematic youth unemployment. Key amongst these are measures to ensure economic transformation, entrepreneurship support, and provision of second chance opportunities for improved participation and inclusion of vulnerable youth.
_________________________
Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date _____________________
11 March 2021 - NW414
Chirwa-Mpungose, Ms NN to ask the Minister of Health
(1)Given that his department had stated on more than one occasion that the decision to opt for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was because it was immediately available, on what date(s) did the procurement take place; (2) with regard to other vaccines, (a) on what dates did the Government procure the different vaccines and (b) from which manufacturers in each
Reply:
1. The terms sheet with the Serum Institute of India was signed on the 7th January 2021.
2. The terms sheet for Pfizer was signed on 15 January 2021. The terms sheet for Johnson & Johnson was signed on 05 January 2021.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW370
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Health
Whether any long-term safety studies have been done to ensure that the vaccines do not cause (a) cancer, (b) seizures, (c) heart disease, (d) allergies and (e) autoimmune diseases seen with other vaccines; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The COVID 19 vaccines were developed over 12 months in order to respond to the global crisis relating to the COVID 19 pandemic. The clinical trials that were done in the development of the vaccines did not identify cancer, seizures, heart disease, allergies and autoimmune disease as adverse events. There is also no data to suggest that vaccines in general cause any of these conditions. Nevertheless we have implemented a pharmacovigilance programme to monitor any adverse events should they arise and will take the appropriate steps should they arise.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW258
Mohlala, Ms MR to ask the Minister of Health
Whether he has been informed that the Themba Hospital at the Kabokweni informal settlement in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality in Mpumalanga has an intermittent water supply, which makes it difficult for all involved at the specified hospital to adhere to COVID-19 protocols; if not, why not; if so, what steps has he taken to ensure that the hospital has a sufficient water supply?
Reply:
According to the Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Health, the Department has noted water challenges in Kabokweni and Themba Hospital due to lack of / failure to provide bulk water supply from City of Mbombela municipality. The Department has subsequently installed two boreholes and procured two water tankers to supply the hospital with water in order to address water shortages at the facility. The Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport and City of Mbombela they are also assisting the Department with their own water tankers.
It must be noted that these tankers will remain in the hospital until Municipality bulk water supply is restored.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW508
Faber, Mr WF to ask the Minister of Health
(1)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. (a) Yes
(b) Yes, information available from 2017/2018 – 2020/21
Financial Year |
Applications Received |
Applications Approved (i) |
Job categories of approved applications (ii) |
2017-18 |
12 |
1 |
Environmental Health |
2018-19 |
7 |
5 |
Health Attaché’; Environmental Health, Supply Chain Management, Stakeholder Support and Liaison Demand and Acquisition (Supply Chain) |
2019-20 |
9 |
5 |
Internal Audit (X3) Admin Clerk Intern |
2020-21 |
6 |
3 |
Stakeholder Support and Liaison (HIV/AIDS) Demand and Acquisition (Supply Chain) Environmental Health. |
2. Fourteen (14) applications were approved from 2017/18 – 2020/21.
a) Permission to perform remunerative work outside employment is granted in terms of section 30 of the Public Service Act, 1994, as amended;
b) RWOPS applications by employees at salary levels 2-14 are approved by the Director General. Applications by employees at level 15 are approved by the Executive Authority;
c) A total of 2 applications were found to have a conflict of interest in 2019/20 and 1 employee was found to have conflict of interest in 2020/21.
d) Disciplinary measures were initiated against the transgressors.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW369
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Health
In light of the fact that viruses mutate frequently and that chances of any vaccine working for more than a year is unlikely, (a) what assurances can he give that the COVID-19 vaccines will work and (b) for what period will the vaccines work?
Reply:
a) Vaccines are approved for use after clinical trials are successful and the data is assessed by regulators. Regulators must consider claims of the efficacy of the vaccine as part of the market authorization. SAHPRA will perform this function in South Africa hence all vaccines we procure will be efficacious.
b) The regulator and research will conduct regular assessment of the vaccine against new and emerging variants. The timelines for the effectiveness of the vaccine is dependent on various factors including the type of variants that emerge and the rate of these mutations.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW505
Walters, Mr TC to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
(1)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) In its records the Department of Employment and Labour found no employee who (a) performed work in addition to the responsibilities related to his /her work, outside working hours, in the past five financial years
(b) There are no employees who have been performing such work during the 01 April 2014 up to current.
(i) Zero number of staff members
(ii) Zero number of job or categories of specified staff.
(2) No approval was granted (a) if cases of this nature are received the Department of Employment and Labour utilise Section 30 of the Public Service Act, 1994 and Guide on other Remunerative work in the Public Service (b) if applications of this nature are received they then get considered by the Ethics Office and approval if there is any need for permission to be granted that is done by the Accounting Officer and the Executive Authority respectively, (c) Zero as the Department did not have cases,(d) No transgressors identified. If any transgressors are found disciplinary action get instituted.
11 March 2021 - NW596
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Whether, with regard to COVID-19 that left nearly half of the Republic’s mothers and children going hungry last year, as revealed in the 2020 South African Child Gauge report, presented by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town (details furnished), her Office has conducted a study of its own; if not, why not; if so, what were the findings of the study?
Reply:
The Department conducted an electronic survey during April/May 2020, to determine the initial impact of the lockdown on the lives and livelihoods of women. This survey was not able to reach a sufficiently large enough number of respondents across the country to make any conclusive findings. It was further limited to access to some women’s organisations only who responded but they too were unable to reach women in the community level because of level 5 lockdown restrictions. However the survey findings enabled the DWYPD to facilitate that GBVF and the services thereof, be included in the regulations as essential service.
The DWYPD also collaborated with UN Women on the various surveys through CATI (use of cellular mobile technology) approach to reach a few thousands of respondents. The findings indicate that hunger by women and children was a growing problem at the start of the lockdown but eased somewhat with the provisions of the food parcels to indigent households and the social protection relief measures put in place by Government.
_________________________
Approved by Minister
Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP
Date _____________________
11 March 2021 - NW429
Mkhonto, Ms C N to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
(1)What (a) is the total number of health and safety labour inspectors in the Republic and (b) number is located in each province; (2) whether he has done any assessment of the effectiveness of the labour inspectors; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. (a) Total number of health and safety inspectors in the republic?
Province |
# Inspectors (includes vacancies) |
TOTAL |
674 |
(b) Number of inspectors per Province?
Provinces |
Number of Inspectors (includes vacancies) |
EC |
66 |
FS |
70 |
GP |
118 |
KZN |
167 |
LP |
62 |
MP |
39 |
NC |
27 |
NW |
47 |
WC |
78 |
TOTAL |
674 |
This number includes the five hundred new inspectors that have just joined the Department
2. The only assessment that has been done so far relates to the degree to which the inspectors are able to achieve their targets as well as the quality of work that they produce with specific regards to OHS inspectors, the majority of them are new and are still undergoing training, mentoring and coaching.
Inspectors are required to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Standard Operating Procedures when conducting inspections and reporting thereof.
In observing the inspections conducted and the notices served, the provinces are deemed to be effective in their reach and in terms of their footprint. Inspectors have risen to the ocassion over this period of COVID-19.
Table: Total number of OHS inspections for Public and Private sector (April 2020 to January 2021)
Province |
Total Inspections |
Number Compliant |
% Compliant |
Number Noncompliant |
% Compliant |
% Non-Compliance |
EC |
2228 |
1585 |
71 |
643 |
71 |
29 |
FS |
4948 |
2825 |
57 |
2123 |
57 |
43 |
GP |
2200 |
1947 |
89 |
253 |
89 |
12 |
KZN |
4476 |
2357 |
53 |
2119 |
53 |
47 |
LP |
1059 |
405 |
38 |
654 |
38 |
62 |
MP |
1904 |
643 |
34 |
1261 |
34 |
66 |
NC |
846 |
356 |
42 |
490 |
42 |
58 |
NW |
1412 |
808 |
57 |
604 |
57 |
43 |
WC |
5180 |
2690 |
52 |
2490 |
52 |
48 |
TOTAL |
24253 |
13616 |
56 |
10637 |
56 |
44 |
11 March 2021 - NW293
Wilson, Ms ER to ask the Minister of Health
(1)With reference to his reply to question 628 on 25 November 2020, and in view of the fact that Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) has been banned in 34 countries around the world because of the severe health risks it poses to persons, in particular to unborn foetuses and animals, and with evidence also showing that mosquitoes have become immune to DDT and pyrethroids, what are the reasons that the Republic is still using DDT; (2) whether his department has an awareness programme in place that advises citizens on the (a) use of DDT and (b) effects thereof on their health; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. The UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) DDT Expert Group in its eighth meeting reaffirmed the continued need for DDT for IRS (Indoor Residual Spraying)-based malaria vector control in specific settings. South Africa is one of these settings in which DDT is indicated for malaria control owing to high level pyrethroid resistance in the major malaria vector mosquito species Anopheles funestus. Two factors support the continued need for DDT. Firstly, an anticipated resurgence in malaria cases and deaths, as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and cyclone Eloise, necessitates the use of DDT as a highly effective insecticide with proven efficacy over a very long period. Secondly, in South Africa DDT plays a role in resistance management via a mosaic strategy that also utilizes pyrethroid insecticides. New vector control products and tools are on the horizon and are expected to provide new modes of action for IRS as supplementary methods, but continued financing will be essential to support the epidemiological trials necessary to inform international and local policy.
2. In 2011, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a review on the human health effects of DDT and its metabolites in relation to DDT use for malaria control. The conclusions were that relevant exposure scenarios for the general population in countries using IRS are not of concern, because DDT and DDE (Dichloro-Diphenyldichloro-Ethylene) serum levels in sprayed households were generally below potential levels of harm. Recent findings showed weak associations between exposure to DDT and its breakdown product DDE and symptoms and diagnoses of allergies from an IRS area in Vhembe, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Another recent study reported that prenatal exposure to DDT, in Limpopo, a communitybased education programme was developed to reduce insecticide exposure from IRS. Community presentation through drama and song were implemented in 16 IRS pilot villages. The results showed an increase in the attendees’ knowledge of precautions to take before and after spraying, suggesting that the approach has promise to limit exposure to IRS insecticides.
It is especially important to note however that all insecticides have potentially harmful effects on human health, but their use is nevertheless necessary for the control of malaria, a potentially fatal disease. It should also be noted that malaria vector control via the use of insecticides, especially DDT, has reduced malaria incidence in South Africa by at least 95%, enabling South Africa to adopt an elimination strategy that will ultimately require fewer amounts of insecticide as malaria control becomes more targeted.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW10
Marawu, Ms TL to ask the Minister of Finance
(1)Whether the National Treasury approved the funding of the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; if not, what remedies will he implement; if so, what procedure was allowed; (2) what is the total value of irregular expenditure on the COVID-19 funds; (3) whether any person has been arrested or taken to court for corruption in the procurement of personal protective equipment; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. National Treasury does not need to approve donations to public entities. Treasury Regulation 21.2.1 permits accounting officers to accept gifts, donations and sponsorships.
2. National Treasury is not able to quantify the irregular expenditure at this point. Irregular expenditure is incurred when the resulting transaction is recognized in the financial records of a department, constitutional institution or public entity in accordance with the relevant Accounting Framework. For a department or a government component applying the Modified Cash Standards (MCS) to incur irregular expenditure, the non-compliance must be linked to a financial transaction. Although a transaction may trigger irregular expenditure, a department or government component will only record irregular expenditure when a payment pertaining to the non-compliance is actually made (i.e. when the expenditure is recognized in accordance with the Modified Cash Standards). For a government component, a constitutional institution, a trading entity or a public entity listed in Schedules 2 or 3 to the PFMA applying Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to incur irregular expenditure, the non-compliance must be linked to a financial transaction. Although a transaction may trigger irregular expenditure, a constitutional institution, government component, trading entity or public entity will only record irregular expenditure when a transaction is recognised as expenditure in the Statement of Financial Performance in accordance with GRAP or IFRS, whichever is applicable. The National Treasury only receives applications for condonation of irregular expenditure once it is declared as such and this is usually for previous financial years as a result of audit findings.
3. The National Treasury supports the work of the Fusion Centre with the review of bid processes followed. The reviews are conducted on cases referred and based on an assessment of specific procurement processes followed by a given institution in line with the principles of the definition of emergency procurement and its adherence with various COVID Emergency Instruction Notes. Findings are then submitted to the Fusion Centre for further handling. Further detail on the outcome of cases investigated can be provided by the Fusion Centre.
The Centre is compromised of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), State Security Agency, SA Revenue Service, the Hawks and the Financial Intelligence Centre, and acts as the coordinating body of law-enforcement agencies tasked with looking into Covid-19 related graft.
11 March 2021 - NW600
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Health
(1)What impact did COVID-19 have on HIV programmes on low-income and middle-income areas; (2) whether there were notable disruptions to the antiretroviral therapy provision; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) It should be noted that HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support services in public health services were not shut down during the hard lock down for Covid-19 restrictions. Health care facilities remained opened as essential services during this time. However, due to restrictions of movement, the performance for HIV testing subsequently decreased as community testing stopped.
Facility staff were deployed and assigned to do Covid-19 activities, HIV activities were not fully covered.
HIV and other PHC services were negatively impacted by deployment of facility staff as they were assigned to Covid-19 activities. The effect was noted in the delivery of services, which negatively affected the clinical assessment, registration of new HIV patients, and they could not be initiated on ART.
The staff members who contracted Covid-19, were not replaced and facilities were closed for decontamination over a period of time as prescribed by guidelines for decontamination. These activities affected delivery of services, as facilities were closed. Some of the reasons given were that patients were locked down as taxis were not available (not working) and law enforcement officials were stopping clients from moving around without asked for reasons (therefore couldn’t come to health facilities).
Lack of public transport and patients’ fear of contracting Covid-19 when visiting the facilities led to patients not accessing HIV services. There was a decline in new patients initiated on ART and total number of patients remaining on ART (TROA) during Covid-19. The programme experienced high missed appointments and high lost to follow up (LTFU) of patients.
Proactively, before the hard lockdown, the HIV programme enrolled all stable patients on ART in the external pick up points for collection of treatment at facilities closer to their homes and work.
In some areas, where there was support of development partners, medication was delivered to client’s homes.
(2) There were notable disruptions:
1. There was a shortage of drugs supplies in some facilities due to an influx of clients from other facilities (could have been closed due to Covid-19 or patients went to nearest facility as there were restrictions on traveling or could have moved to other province and were locked down in there). These actions affected the ordering of ARVs and planning of facilities as they received more patients than planned.
2. There was a notable disruption to the antiretroviral therapy provision in the country that resulted from failure of suppliers to deliver on time and courier services shut down due to Covid-19 restrictions.
3. The locking of international borders led to low production, due to lack of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), this negatively affected delivery of ARVs to the country.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW407
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Health
Whether there are any plans in place to combat the spike in cases of rabies in the Republic which have led to some fatalities; if not, why not; if so, what are the full, relevant details?
Reply:
In 2020, a total of seven cases of human rabies was laboratory confirmed in South Africa, six of which originated in eThekwini District, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province and one in Limpopo (LPP) Province. This compares to 10 laboratory-confirmed human cases in 2019.
In addition, three children were identified in 2020 who had dog bites/exposure and died of clinically compatible rabies disease. These cases could not be confirmed in the laboratory and were classified as probable cases in the provinces of KZN (n=1), LPP (n=1) and Eastern Cape (n=1).
To date, for 2021, 1 case of human rabies was reported from eThekwini, KZN.
The provinces that reported rabies cases during 2020 and 2021 have put in place prevention activities and plans. KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo have put the following measures in place:
Actions taken in KZN
- A circular informing all districts was released;
- There are On-going health education and awareness campaigns, which is being among the affected communities;
- There is ongoing training of Health Care Workers;
- Rabies meetings were held by eThekwini District with role players;
- A One health approach is in place, in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD);
- Alerts were sent out by DALRRD with real time surveillance maps and
- Animal rabies vaccination campaigns were completed in the affected areas.
Challenges identified by eThekwini District
- Patients presented late to health care facilities for medical help.
- Cultural beliefs resulted in delayed health seeking behavior by patients.
- Patients did not complete their vaccines according to the schedule given.
- There were delays in reporting on the notifiable medical conditions (NMC) system by health practitioners.
The DALRRD is responsible for controlling rabies in animals; most human rabies cases were as a result of dog bites. The DALRRD have also been experiencing challenges such as:
- too many stray dogs were roaming in the community;
- dog owners were not vaccinating their dogs on time;
- there was a need for further rabies education in the community and
- a high number of government vehicles were hijacked while rendering animal health services, including dog vaccinations.
Eastern Cape noted that despite the Covid-19 response having priority, the following were conducted:
- Routine surveillance of animal bites in humans were conducted (which was a proxy for suspected human rabies);
- Healthcare workers at the facility level were trained on case management;
- Treatment protocols were developed and distributed to health facilities;
- routine surveillance of rabies among animals by Veterinary Services are ongoing.
- Health promotion activities were conducted in high risk areas, especially when there were animal cases reported by Veterinary Services.
Rabies control in Limpopo are as follows:
- Health talks for the communities were conducted in collaboration with DALRRD.
- The DALRRD also vaccinated dogs; this is ongoing.
- Annual rabies awareness days were celebrated every year jointly with DALRRD.
- Politicians were engaged in promoting rabies prevention messages in the community.
- The province ensured that rabies post exposure prophylaxis was available in facilities.
- Refresher training for health workers were conducted and is ongoing.
- Health education on rabies were conducted for traditional healers.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW599
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Health
What (a) is the rate of HIV/Aids transmission from mother to child that his department has recorded in 2020, (b) has his department identified to be the most contributing factor to this rate and (c) measures has his department implemented to ensure that this does not persist?
Reply:
Please refer to Question 408 and its response.
END.
11 March 2021 - NW532
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Health
(1)(a) Whether he will furnish Ms H Ismail with a list of all the additional sites that are being used to administer the vaccines; (2) what are the reasons that children are not prioritised in the vaccine roll-out plan; (3) whether he has found that the vaccines that have already been developed will be effective against the different variants of the Coronavirus that is estimated to be 50% more transmissible; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. The list of vaccination sites for the Sisonke phase 3b study is attached;
2. The vaccine has not been study in children hence we are not sure about the efficacy and safety of these vaccines in children;
3. We have good evidence from clinical trials to support the efficacy of the Johnson&Johnson vaccine against the 501Y.V2 variant. In vitro studies suggest that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are effective as well against the 501Y.V2. We are awaiting the data relating to the effectiveness of the Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik V vaccines against the 501Y.V2. In terms of Astra Zeneca and Novovax the studies to date suggest these vaccines have diminished effectiveness and the Ministerial Advisory Committee does not support the use of these vaccines at this stage.
END.
10 March 2021 - NW553
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What is the breakdown of the total number of learners in each (a) Grade and (b) province who have dropped out of school in the period 15 March 2020 to 15 February 2021?
Reply:
Learner drop-out statistics are not available at this point. Based on the information provided by the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) during the DG's weekly one-on-one virtual meetings with PEDs, provinces are still collating the drop-out statistics. As they work out drop-out-statistics, PEDs are identifying learners who do not physically come to school but have not dropped out because they are learning from home. These are learners who have comorbidities or other illnesses, as well as those who are in the home education programme.
10 March 2021 - NW604
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What plans will her department implement to accommodate learners who (a) did not write the National Senior Certificate examinations and (b) dropped out of Grade 12 in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Reply:
There were 28 758 learners that registered for the examination but did not write all six subjects in the final October/November 2020 examination, which represents 4.7% of the learners that enrolled. This absenteeism rate is extremely low compared to previous years. However, all learners who registered for the October / November 2020 NSC examinations will be allowed to write the May / June 2021 examinations. These learners will be supported through the Second Chance Matric Programme, so that they are adequately prepared to write the examinations in May / June 2021.
10 March 2021 - NW512
Marais, Mr EJ to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
Whether any staff member in her 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 her 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?NW568E
Reply:
(1)(a) Yes
(b) Yes, approval for Other Remunerative work has to be obtained and the approval is valid for 12 months (i) 120 since 01 April 2015 (ii) Line function and Administration components of the Department.
(2)(a) Yes, the policy of the Department that is followed is prescribed by the Public Service Regulations, 2016 and administred according to the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Guide on Managing other Remunerative Work in the Public Service. Disciplinary steps may be considered if approval by the Director-General was not obtained.
(b) The appointed Ethics Officers in the Department receive the applications for processing and forward it to the Director-General for approval/disapproval
(c) None
(d) Not applicable
10 March 2021 - NW592
Ngcobo, Mr S to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1) With regard to the degrading state of toilets, taps running dry, lack of scholar transport, dilapidated classrooms and lack of food for learners in rural areas which was reported by teacher unions in KwaZulu-Natal who conducted oversight visits as thousands of learners returned to schools, how is her department addressing the persisting deplorable state of affairs in schools; (2) whether any schools have been refurbished during the period that learners and teachers were at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic; if not, why not; if so, (a) what total number of schools and (b) in which areas?
Reply:
The question has been referred to the Kwa Zulu Natal Department of Education and a response will be submitted as soon as it is received.