Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. (a)(b)(c) and (2) investigations are still on going.

Reply:

There is no disproportionate secrecy applied by the State Security Agency with regard to the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) which oversees the State Security Agency. Section 4(1) of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act, 1994 (Act 40 of 1994) (“the Act”) makes it mandatory that the JSCI shall, in the performance of its functions, have access to intelligence, information and documents in the possession or under the control of a Service, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law or the common law, but subject only to the stated conditions in the Act.

Progress reports on implementation of the High Level Review Panel Report were presented to the Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Inteligence (JSCI). The Honourable D Kohler, Member of Parliament can access these progress report from the JSCI.

Reply:

Reply to this Parliamentary Question has been logged with the Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI), which has also received briefing on the Progress with regard to the implementation of the recommendations in the High Level Review Panel Report.

Reply:

Reply to this Parliamentary Question has been logged with the Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI).

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

(1)(a) The signed Business Case was received by SCM on the 9 March 2018. This is a date in which vests were deemed necessary equipment for staff in the SABC News Division.

(1)(b) Mayehlome Communications

(1)(c) A total of 100 vests with various sizes were purchased

(1)(d)

 

Bullet proof vest Sizes	Number	Price per Unit (Excl. VAT)	Price per Unit (Incl. VAT)	Total Price
Medium	25	R9,305.88	R10,701.76	R267,544.05
Large	25	R9,667.35	R11,117.45	R277,936.31
X-Large	25	R10,175.28	R11,701.57	R292,539.30
XX-Large	25	R10,978.53	R12,625.31	R315,632.74
TOTAL PRICE				R1,153,652.40

(1)(e) The vests are to be distributed equitably to all SABC News offices and not assigned to individual reporters.

(2) Yes, the wage bill for July 2020 was R11 million which was R9 million actual paid, plus a further R2 million for accrued expenses and not R4 million as alleged.

(2)(a) During the hard lockdown period, journalists were complemented by the independent contractors, and this is the period that more COVID-19 cases were reported in the News Division, and freelancers were utilised.

(2)(b) The nature of the SABC news operation is such that services of independent contractors are indispensable.

(2)(c) The total independent contractors spend from April to October 2020 is R58.4 million.

(3)(a) Total = R65 351 000.00

(3)(b) Total breakdown is as per attached Annexure A.

4. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SABC used the Nasrec Sentech DR site for a period of about 6 months free of charge. This was the agreement between SABC and Sentech which was extended to the end of September 2020.

5. The SABC has a Wellness Centre which conducts wellness programmes for all SABC employees.  Individual counselling is also available for employees with such needs.  An assistance programme will be rolled out for all employees affected by the Labour Relations Act section 189 process. 

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

(a) The Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality relies on raw water supply from the Mkhombo Dam which is located North West of Siyabuswa. The dam level has drastically declined to approximately 2% due to severe drought being experienced in the Eland River Catchment Area. In order to assist in addressing the drought at the municipality, the following measures have been put in place and/or are proposed:

(i) As a short term relief measure, the Department has allocated 64 water storage tanks for the Dr JS Moroka Municipality. The interventions included the supply, delivery and installation of the water storage tanks in areas identified by the Municipality. However, due to inadequate sources of bulk water supply as a result of the ongoing scourge of drought in the Western Highveld, the municipality is unable to fill up the installed water storage tanks regularly.

(ii) In the medium term, there is a joint partnership intervention with the Mpumalanga Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Nkangala District Municipality to support the Dr JS Local Municipality with the drilling of 19 boreholes through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant at an estimated cost of R12,2 million. The boreholes are expected to be completed within the 2020/21 municipal financial year.

Furthermore, there are approved interventions in place that are currently being undertaken and implemented as a matter of urgency to address the current water supply shortages in the Dr JS Moroka local municipality due to the prevailing drought that include:

• Refurbishment of the bulk pipelines from Mthombo Balancing Dam to the Weltevreden Water Treatment Plant raw water abstraction works;
• Refurbishment of the Mthombo Weireir.

These interventions will provide 6 mega litres of water per day on completion. The cost of the interventions were assessed and quantified to be R40.5 million, and were recommended by the Department of Water and Sanitation for implementation under the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. The expected completion date for these interventions is 30 September 2021.

(iii) In the long term, the bulk water requirements for the Mathanjana Cluster in the Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality shall be addressed through the Rust de Winter Bulk Water Supply Scheme. The proposed bulk water scheme project is at the Implementation Readiness Study and will be completed within the current financial year. The project implementation is expected to start in 2021/22 national financial year. The scheme is intended to serve the western part of the municipality, targeting a population of 88 000, projected over a 20-year horizon.

Reply:

(1) The South African Government remains committed to providing support to the persons and households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and has introduced a number of measures including the declaration of a state of disaster under the Disaster Management Act, 2002, to support households affected by the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with specific reference to persons and/or households renting accommodation. The intent of the Residential Rent Relief Scheme (RRS) is to provide temporary financial relief for residential low-income tenants and landlords in circumstances where tenants have been unable and are unable to meet their rental obligations as a consequence of financial distress associated with the COVID-19 lockdown. While the assistance is targeted to the tenant, a landlord will receive a secondary benefit in the form of security of income.

(2)(a) Funds should benefit all the tenants occupying affordable rental housing whether in the unsubsidized and state subsidized rental sectors.

(b) No funds have been used to date.

(c) No allocations have been made to date. A detailed policy framework for the Residential Rent Relief Scheme Programme is currently being developed by the National Department of Human which will provide guidelines.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

The person in question is not an employee of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

Reply to this Parliamentary Question has been logged with the Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI), which has also received briefing on the Progress with regard to the implementation of the recommendations in the High Level Review Panel Report.

Reply:

(1)(a) The maximum capacity of the Teebus Tunnel is 40 m3/s.

(b) The volumes being diverted vary per operational year. The table below indicates the volumes (million m3/annum) diverted over the past six years:

Year	2014-2015	2015-2016	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020
Volume Million m3/a	757	779	756	727	774	801

(2) The maximum transfer capacity through the tunnel is only implemented when both Gariep and Van Der Kloof dams are spilling in order to maximise the use of water resources and improve the water quality. The monthly transfers are based on the water requests from the Great Fish Water Users Association (GFWUA), Lower Sundays River Water Users Association (LSRWUA) coupled with domestic water use and calculated dilution requirements to maintain the acceptable water quality provided to the LSRWUA.

(3)(a) The total volume of water from the scheme that has been allocated per annum is as follows:

• Great Fish River Water Users Association: The farms in the northern part of the valley between Teebus and Elandsdrift have an allocation of 13 500 m3/ha/a, while those between Elandsdrift and Middleton receive 12 500 m3/ha/a, with a total water allocation of 426 million m3/a for the scheduled area of 32 565 ha. The allocations apply at “farm gate”. An additional provision of 25% (106 million m3/a) has been allocated for canal distribution losses.

(b) For the Lower Sundays River Water Users Association, the current scheduled area for the LSRWUA is 18 845 ha at 9 000 m3/ha/a (170 million m3/a).

(c) For the Glen Melville Dam 1.1 million m3/a is allocated to supply Grahamstown.

(d) The Lower Fish Permit Area is part of the Great Fish River Water Users Association with the scheduled area of 32 565 ha, amounting to an allocation of 426 million m3/a.

Reply:

(1) Yes.

(2) Below is the table outlining the number of social housing units in each province and municipality since the inception of the social housing programme.

Province and District Municipality	No. of Projects Awarded	Prior to 2014*	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
GP	30	607	423	1423	698	2198	1575	2140	278
City of Johannesburg	14	586	341	1423	267	475	981	258
City of Tshwane	8	21	82		281	853	288	822
Ekurhuleni	5				150	100	246	592
Mogale City	1					770	60	300
Merafong	2							168	278
KZN	7		520	623	888	551
Amajuba	1			253	550	149
eThekwini	6		520	370	338	402
EC	8	531	368	150	250	72	522	452
Buffalo City	2	184					102
Nelson Mandela Bay	6	347	368	150	250	72	420	452
WC	6	370	128	672	329			304
City of Cape Town	6	370	128	672	329			304
FS	4		614	82	173	250	187
Mangaung	4		614	82	173	250	187
MP	2			104				114
Nkangala	2			104				114
NW	1				720	448
Matlosana	1				720	448
Total	58	1508	2053	3054	3058	3519	2284	3010	278
Cumulative Number		1508	3561	6615	9673	13192	15476	18486	18764

Reply:

(a) what is the status of the pilot studies on the Scripted Lesson Plans (SLPs), and (b) have the final SLPs been approved:

The Grades 4 - 12 Scripted Lesson Plans have been  piloted and approved by the DBE. These are available on the DBE website.

(c) by what date does her department intend to roll out the SLPs nationally?

The SLPs are a teacher tool used to guide the provision of CSE content in the classroom. The roll-out in high HIV burden districts was planned to start in 2020. However, this has been deferred to 2021. 

Reply:

(a) According to information received from the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Human Settlements, there are six (6) Housing Projects outstanding since 2016.

Data on the Housing Subsidy System (HSS) captured by the Eastern Cape Province indicates that there are 72 projects within the Buffalo City Municipality, with 27 457 beneficiaries registered on them. Of these 72 projects, 27 projects have already been completed since April 2016.

A total of 45 projects have a “running” status which implies that some expenditure has been incurred. These are at various stages of progress but are yet to be completed.

A total of 17 895 housing units have been delivered in terms of the completed and partially completed (running) projects, as at 30 September 2020. This implies that 9 562 units are in projects that are to be completed in the coming years from the 45 (running) projects.

(b) The reasons for the delays in the housing projects are:

• Lack of integrated planning between the Province and Metropolitan Municipality for the provision and linking of bulk infrastructure and the top structure development;
• Delays in electricity connection leading to deferrals in occupation and sometimes illegal invasion;
• Delays in beneficiary verification in cases where the applicant is deceased and heirloom is not confirmed;
• Untraceable beneficiaries as well as illegal occupation of the completed units, especially those that are 95% completed, awaiting final inspections and electricity connection;
• Poor performance of contractors

c) The Eastern Cape Provincial Business Plan (as revised) has indicated that 1 253 houses are planned to be delivered in Buffalo City Municipality during the current (2020/21) financial year. In the financial year 2021/22, 1 377 units are planned to be built by the Buffalo City Municipality, and in the 2022/23 financial year 1 380 units are planned to be constructed.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Deputy Minister as follows:

a) No payments were made in the current financial year as well as in the previous financial years.

b) Not applicable.

 

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

1. Government departments owe money to two divisions of the SABC that is TV Licences and Advertising. The following is in accordance with the TV Licence database:

(1)(a) A total of 20 National departments have outstanding TV licence fees balances. 126 Provincial departments have outstanding licence fees,

(1)(b) A total of 249 municipality accounts owe television licence fees

(1)(c) A total of 57 SOEs have outstanding TV licence fees on their accounts.

The following with regard to SABC Sales (Advertising):

National Department: 3

Provincial Departments: 24

Municipalities: 6

SOEs: 8

(2)(a) National/Provincial Departments

Department	Segments	Province
Government Communications	National	National
National Department of Health	National	National
Department of Trade and Industry	National	National
Department of Education Polokwane	Provincial	Limpopo
Free State Department of Health	Provincial	Free State
KZN Department of Health	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Education and North West	Provincial	North West
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature	Provincial	Eastern Cape
Free State Department of Provincial Treasury	Provincial	Free State
Department of Health North West	Provincial	North West
KZN Department of Transport	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Public Works Polokwane	Provincial	Limpopo
Department of Community Safety and Liaison	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Co-operative Governance - KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Kwa-Zulu Natal Education Department	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Health Mmabatho	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
The office of the Premier KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
KZN Provincial Treasury	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Premiers Office Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga
Eastern Cape Provincial Treasury	Provincial	Eastern Cape
North West Legislature	Provincial	North West
Department Sport, Art and Culture - Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga
Department of Human Settlements KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Agriculture KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Social Development KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Department of Agriculture Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga
Department of Human Settlements Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga

(b) Municipalities

Department	Segments	Province
Ethekwini Municipality	Municipality	Kwa-Zulu natal
Mopani District Municipality	Municipality	Limpopo
Thabo Mofutsanyana District	Municipality	Free State
Umzinyathi District Council	Municipality	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Maluti A Phofung Local Municipality	Municipality	Free State
Nkangala District Municipality	Municipality	Mpumalanga

(c) State Owned Entities

Names	Segments	Province
Compensation Funds Pty Ltd	SOE	National
Legal Aid South Africa	SOE	National
South African Social Security Agency	SOE	National
Sassa Province of the Eastern	SOE	Eastern Cape
Western Cape Conservation Board	SOE	Western Cape
Small Enterprise Finance Agency Ltd	SOE	National
Ithala Soc Ltd	SOE	Kwazulu Natal
Auditor-General	SOE	National

3. (a) TV License

Departments	Amount Owe
National Departments	R1 688 295.30
Provincial Departments	R18 694 129.47
Municipalities	R6 302 170.10
SOEs	R1 595 601.76

 

Sales Advertising

Departments	Amount Owe
National Departments	R13,139,832
Provincial Departments	R 9,221,629
Municipalities	R 2,343,711
SOEs	R 4,535,975

(b) The debt is for TV licence and sales (Advertising)

(c) Sales Advertising

 

Department	Segment	PROVINCE	TERMS	Total Outstanding
Ethekwini Municipality	Municipality	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	1,179,182
Mopani District Municipality	Municipality	Limpopo	30 days	950,000
Thabo Mofutsanyana District	Municipality	Free State	30 days	89,944
Umzinyathi District Council	Municipality	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	58,538
Maluti A Phofung Local Municipality	Municipality	Free State	30 days	54,165
Nkangala District Municipality	Municipality	Mpumalanga	30 days	11,881
Total Municipality				2,343,711
Government Communication And	National	National	30 Days	12,272,622
National Department of Health	National	National	30 Days	840,823
Department of Trade and Industry	National	National	30 Days	26,388
Total National Departments				13,139,832
Department of Education Polokwane	Provincial	Limpopo	30 days	1,904,762
Free State Department of Health	Provincial	Free State	30 days	862,500
KZN Department of Health Communication	Provincial	Kwazulu Natal	30 days	708,996
Department of Education and North West	Provincial	North West	30 days	701,247
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature	Provincial	Eastern Cape	30 days	659,749
Free State Department Of Provincial Treasury	Provincial	Free State	30 days	575,000
Department of Health North West	Provincial	North West	30 days	453,282
KZN Department of Transport	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	421,274
Department of Public Works Polokwane	Provincial	Limpopo	30 days	416,566
Department of Community Safety and Liaison	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	405,375
Department of Co-operative Governance - KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	381,967
Kwa-Zulu Natal Education Department	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	373,371
Department of Health Mmabatho	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	215,296
The Office of the Premier KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	186,818
KZN Provincial Treasury	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	163,254
Premiers Office Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga	30 days	158,107
Eastern Cape Provincial Treasury	Provincial	Eastern Cape	30 days	126,500
North West Legislature	Provincial	North West	30 days	105,727
Department Sport, Art And Culture - Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga	30 days	97,257
Department of Human Settlements KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	91,931
Department of Agriculture KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	82,189
Department of Social Development KZN	Provincial	Kwa-Zulu Natal	30 days	65,723
Department of Agriculture Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga	30 days	51,957
Department of Human Settlements Mpumalanga	Provincial	Mpumalanga	30 days	12,782
Total Provincial Departments				9,221,629
Compensation Funds Pty Ltd	SOE	National	30 days	3,760,219
Legal Aid South Africa	SOE	National	30 days	359,649
South African Social Security Agency	SOE	National	30 days	172,638
SASSA Province Of The Eastern	SOE	Eastern Cape	30 days	96,773
Western Cape Conservation Board	SOE	Western Cape	30 days	56,870
Small Enterprise Finance Agency Ltd	SOE	National	30 days	36,819
Ithala SOC Ltd	SOE	Kwazulu Natal	30 days	29,360
Auditor General	SOE	National	30 days	23,649
Total SOE				4,535,975
TOTAL ALL GOVERNMENT				29,241,147

Note: For more information of sales (advertising) attached is the spreadsheet

Attached is a PDF documents with regards to how long is the TV license debt outstanding

(d) The SABC continues to follow its collection processes to collect outstanding debts by communicating these balances to the departments and SOEs. However, “special” additional campaigns commenced in the month of October with priority on SOEs. Intervention through the Group Chief Executive Officer’s communique is planned for distribution in the months to follow to all the departments and municipalities.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

The SABC confirms that Mr Manamela left the employ of the SABC in 2013. He resigned with immediate effect and stated reasons for leaving as career progression. Furthermore, the SABC confirms that no investigation was ever conducted against Mr Manamela. The SABC has no record of an allegation or complaint of the 31 ghost employees as stated in the question.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

(1) PR WORX

(2)(a) R2,3 million including VAT

(2)(b) To further add to the SABC’s turnaround strategy, addressing and better managing its reputation and corporate image is a priority for the broadcaster. The SABC therefore sought a suitably qualified and competent firm as the reputation management; corporate image building; and market research services that the SABC required, were not available from an internal skillset and resource perspective.

(3) Proper procurement processes were duly followed to appoint the PR company. The SABC went on an open and competitive tender via the SABC website and E-tender portal. A compulsory briefing session took place with all interested agencies on 20 February 2020. The tender closed on 4 March 2020. The evaluation process commenced on 10 March 2020. All due diligence was performed and only when the SABC was satisfied that it had found a suitable service provider that understood the scope of work, and possessed the necessary experience to effectively execute the stipulated reputation mandate, was the contract awarded on 29 June 2020. The SABC then entered into an agreement with PR Worx as the agency of choice on 2 July 2020 for a 12-month period.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

(1)(a) The average percentage water loss per annum in terms of the allocation to the Great Fish River Water Users Association in terms of the allocation is as follows:

Annual allocation (Mm3 )	Average annual water loss (Mm3)	Percentage (%) water losses
426	106.5	25%

(b) The average percentage water loss per annum in terms of the allocation to the Lower Sundays River Water Users Association in terms of the allocation is as follows:

Annual allocation (Mm3 )	Average water loss (Mm3)	Percentage (%) Water Losses
170	19	11.3%

(c) The average percentage water loss per annum in terms of the allocation to the Glen Melville Dam in terms of the allocation is as follows:

Annual allocation (Mm3 )	Average annual water loss (Mm3)	Percentage (%) Water Losses
110	16.5	15%

(d) The average percentage water loss per annum in terms of the allocation to the Lower Fish Permit Area forms part of Greater Fish River Water User Association (GFRWUA), therefore GFRWUA’s water loss also incorporates the Lower Fish Permit Area.

(2)(a)&(b) The short-listed Water Use Efficiency (WUE) interventions which were identified and screened as part of Water Reconciliation Strategy for the Algoa Water Supply System - Orange River Project/Nooitgedacht Low-Level Scheme are as follows:

(b)(i) The lining of the 500 km earth canals in the GFRWUA (Intervention 1) is not recommended to be considered further for the purposes of this study, as the relative cost of water saved of this intervention is far too high. The lining of prioritised “hot spot” canal sections (about 10% of the total 500 km earth canals) is likely a more feasible option as this will potentially lead to substantial volumes of water saved at a relative lower cost. The compulsory removal of overgrown riparian vegetation in and along the GFRWUA earth canals and ongoing maintenance is recommended.

(ii) Improved measuring and monitoring in the GFRWUA and Lower Sundays River Water User Association (LSRWUA) areas of jurisdiction. Although the potential water saved as a result of the implementation of this intervention was not quantified as part of this study, this intervention will lead to improved management and operation of the system and improved compliance to water allocations and water requests made, and will potentially reduce losses in the process.

(iii) Glen Melville Dam obtains its water from the Orange Fish River Scheme. It is an off-channel storage dam. Water is diverted via the Hermanuskraal Weir via the Ecca Tunnel. When Glen Melville Dam is at 50% of Full Supply Capacity (FSC), water is released from Elandsdrift Weir on the OFS into the Great Fish River to fill Glen Melville Dam to 100% of FSC. This operational procedure occurs 2 or 3 times per annum, depending on the water usage. The GFRWUA and the LSRWUA has no inputs to the operations and maintenance of the Lower Fish Permit Area and fall directly under DWS.

(iv) The Lower Fish Permit Area forms part of Greater Fish River Water User Association (GFRWUA) and Lower Sundays River Water User Association (LSRWUA), and therefore the interventions in GRWUA and LSRWUA are applicable in Lower Fish Permit Area.

(3) The Department of Water and Sanitation, through its National Water Resources Infrastructure (NWRI) branch conducts the Water Resources upgrades in respect of infrastructure related to the Great Fish River Water Users Association, Lower Sundays River Water Users Association, Glen Melville Dam and Lower Fish Permit Area. Currently, the rehabilitation of Darlington Dam is the major project that is being planned.

Reply:

According to the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health,

a) The project of refurbishing the eight (8) wards as, indicated in the response to Question 2743 by Ms N Chirwa was successfully completed and the wards are fully operational. Below are the dates of occupation achieved for each of the wards:

 

Ward 1: 13 July 2020

Ward 2: 08 July 2020

Ward 3: 31 July 2020

Ward 4: 28 August 2020

Ward 5: 13 July 2020

Ward 6: 08 July 2020

Ward 7: 28 August 2020

Ward 8: 28 August 2020

b) The refurbishment project was done at a cost of R186,000,000.

END.

Reply:

I have been advised by the SAPO as follows:

(1)(a)(i) Available staff members within the SAPO Regions (even from other Business Units) are being utilised to assist with queue management, and the scanning of beneficiaries to ensure that they all have correct SMSes and proper identification documents to speed up the payment process.

(ii) There is no backlog in essence, as all validated beneficiaries (appropriate SMSes and Identification) and the allocated queue numbers (branch capacity) for that specific day are assisted. Cash ordering for payments at branches are done in accordance with predictive models of number of SASSA beneficiaries to collect their payments from the particular Branch on a daily basis. Many clients, however, arrive at Post Offices, having not yet applied for the SRD, not yet approved or prematurely on receipt of only their registration SMSes. The queue management is assisting in this regard and also to educate and inform beneficiaries on what to do.

(b) With the screening of beneficiaries whilst in queue, preference is normally given to those who possess appropriate SMSes to collect their grants. Queue card number systems have also been introduced in Regions which has improved the operations and cash handling and have reduced the influx of beneficiaries without appropriate SMSes.

(c) SRD Grant payments are done continuously throughout the month, except during the first 3–4 days when regular social grants are being paid.

(2)(a)(b) SAPO Branches are generally able to deal with the demand for a specific day, taking into consideration the number of beneficiaries the branch is able to assist per day. Beneficiaries who are not assisted on the day are given a number to return and are then prioritised in the queue. Some SAPO Branches may have been closed due to operational or financial reasons and clients are then referred to the nearest alternative available branches.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

The South African High Commission in London’s contract with its service provider, which hosted the website, expired in August 2020 and it took longer than expected to enter into a contract with a new service provider and to update the content. However, the new website (www.southafricahouse.uk) has been operational since November 2020 and allows High Commission staff to manage the content directly. Civic and immigration documentation is now available for download directly from the website.

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

1. (a) 87

(b)(i) 0

(ii) 29

2. (a) There was no reason for the department to be represented in these matters as they related to the operations of the SABC.

(b) (i) 0

(ii) R 65 351 000.00

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department and Entities as follows:

Department of Communications and Digital Technologies

(1)(a)(i) 3

(1)(b)(i) 4

(2)

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Director-General: Communications and Digital Technologies (New)	The post of DG: DCDT is new from 1 April 2020 following the merger of the DoC and DCDT	1/4/2020 (Post was advertised and recruitment process has commenced)	Transferred to another Government Department	N/A	N/A	N/A
DDG: ICT Policy and Strategy	1/7/2015	15/8/2015 (Post was advertised and recruitment process has commenced)	N/A	Found guilty of misconduct at disciplinary hearing and was dismissed.	N/A	N/A
CD: Postal Services	1/4/2017	1/4/2018 to 31/3/2020	Appointed in a higher post in another Government Department	N/A	N/A	N/A
CD: Communications and Marketing	27/6/2014	N/A (Post was advertised and recruitment process is pending)	N/A	Found guilty of misconduct at disciplinary hearing and was dismissed.	N/A	N/A
CD: SOE Communication and Branding	03/08/2018	06/08/2018 to 05/08/2019	Appointed in a State-Owned Entity	N/A	N/A	N/A

ENTITIES:

SENTECH

(1)(a)(iii) Three (3)

(b)(iii) Three (3) Chief Financial Officer; Executive: Finance; and Executive: Broadband.

(2)

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Chief Financial Officer	30/04/2020	1/5/2020	Career growth	N/A	N/A	N/A
Executive: Finance	30/11/2019	01/12/2019	Career growth	N/A	N/A	N/A
Executive: Broadband	New position created in 2019	18/06/2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

NEMISA

None

BBI

(1)(a)(i)(ii) One (1) i.e. the Company Secretary

(2)(b)(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) The position of Company Secretary became vacant after 31 August 2019, following the resignation of the incumbent. (b) (ii) The position was filled by an External Attorney (“Juristic Person”) from 1 November 2019 to 31 May 2020 following an Open Tender process. When the contract for the External Attorney came to an end, the tender was re-advertised as per the requirements of the PFMA and National Treasury regulations. The tender closed on 22 June 2020, and the adjudication is in progress to appoint a new External Attorney as the Company Secretary (“Juristic Person”), for a 12-month period.

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Company Secretary	2019-08-31	2019-11-01	Resignation pending Disciplinary Enquiry (Poor performance and absenteeism were the main charges)	N/A		N/A
Executive Human Resources	2020-08-31	2020-09-01	End of Contract - Retirement	N/A	N/A	N/A

ICASA

1. (a)(i)(iii) 5 (five)

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Executive Corporate Services	01 July 2020	01 July 2020 (Post was advertised, and recruitment process has commenced)	N/A (End of contract)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Chief Financial Officer	16 March 2020 due to suspension	17 March to 04 September 2020	N/A the incumbent CFO is back at work	N/A.	Precautionary suspension/leave pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings that were instituted against him.	N/A
Chief Operations Officer	01/09/2017	N/A position frozen	COO became CEO of ICASA	N/A	N/A	N/A
General Manager: Compliance and Consumer Affairs	01/06/2019	Resignation	Incumbent had eight (8) months remaining of her five (5) contract and opted for early retirement.	N/A	N/A	N/A

SABC

(1) (a)(i)(ii) and (2)(b) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) One Executive position in the SABC is currently vacant – Group Executive: Governance & Assurance. This position became vacant on 31 January 2019 and was filled by a person in an acting capacity. The position became vacant due to the incumbent being dismissed for incapacity.

USAASA

(1)(a)(iii) Two (2)

(1)(b)(iii) Two (2)

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Chief financial officer	17/10/2019	18/10/2019	Expiry of contract	N/A	N/A	N/A
Executive Manager: Corporate Services	01/06/2017	01/05/2020	N/A	The Executive Manager: Corporate Services was dismissed based upon a number of charges. However, he was reinstated following a CCMA award, but elected to settle on the remainder of his contract.	N/A	N/A

SITA

(1)(a)(iii) Two (2)

(1)(b)(iii) Two (2)

(2)

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Executive Strategy Management	Position was created in June 2017 never been filled	01/07/2017	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Executive: Service Management	Position created in 19/02/2020	01/04/2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

FPB

(1) (a)(i)(ii) and (2)(b) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) There is one Executive Vacant Position, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The position is currently filled by the Chief Operations Officer (COO) who is acting as the CEO.

(2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) see table below:

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL (b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Chief Executive Officer	December 2017	Secondment from DCDT 03/2017, Secondment 2018. Acting 08/ 2018 -12/2019. January 2020 till present.	N/A	N/A	Allegations of abuse and gross negligence. During the suspension, he resigned.	N/A

ZADNA

(1) (a)(i)(ii) and (2)(b) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) None

SAPO

(1) (a)(i) Seven (7)

(b)(iii) Seven (7)

(2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) see table below:

POSITION (a)	DATE VACATED (i)	DATE FILLED BY A PERSON IN AN ACTING CAPACITY (ii)	REASONS FOR RESIGNATION (b)(i)	REASONS FOR DISMISSAL(b)(ii)	REASONS FOR SUSPENSION (b)(iii)	REASONS FOR SPECIAL LEAVE (b)(iv)
Group Chief Executive Officer	01/08/2019	1/08/2019 4/12/2019 14/09/2020	Early retirement	NA	NA	NA
Chief Operations Officer	01/08/2019	1/08/2019 21/02/2020	NA	NA	To enable independent investigation into serious allegations of misconduct contained in a Whistle Blower Report. Investigation completed and disciplinary processes commenced.	NA
Group Executive Sales	01/06/2018	01/06/2018	Early retirement	NA	NA	NA
Group Executive Governance	01/05/2018	01/07/2018	Voluntary resignation	NA	NA	NA
Groups Executive Strategy & Sustainability	07/07/2018	07/07/2018	Voluntary resignation	NA	NA	NA
Group Executive Human Resources	01/02/2019	01/02/2019 18/09/2019	Voluntary resignation	NA	NA	NA
Group Executive Supply & Chain Management	03/12/2019	05/12/2019	NA	NA	To enable independent investigation into serious allegations of misconduct contained in a Whistle Blower Report. Investigation completed and disciplinary processes commenced.	NA

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

1. Honourable member, I told the committee what I know according to information at my disposal.  If some people have information to the contrary, then they are duty bound to bring it out into the open.  I suggest you approach them to provide proof of their statements. Honestly, I don’t know what they are talking about.

2. The total investigation around the whole Bushiri matter are being conducted by a Joint Team of the whole Justice, Peace and Crime Prevention Cluster. When it is completed, the country shall be informed accordingly.

END

Reply:

All 412 Offices of the Department of Home Affairs are capacitated to receive applications for the category of Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status and are henceforth dispatched to Head Office for further processing. There is a back office unit at head office, Rectifications and Amendments Unit that implements the gender marker on the system to amend the status of transgender people by changing their gender on their respective identity documents, provided the applicants meet the requirements as per the regulations and standard operating procedures has been followed

END

Reply:

(1) They were found to have been issued in June 2016 with permanent residence permits in terms of a provision in the Immigration Act 13 of 2020 they did not qualify for, not having met its requirements. The application did not, inter alia, comprise of proof of the financial guarantees (prescribed minimum net worth in the amount of R12 million plus an undertaking that the applicant will pay R120 000 to the Director-General).

(2)(a) A Non-Profit organisation was used to process the application, despite the fact that it is not regarded as a business.

(2)(b) The investigation is proceeding into the application and adjudication methods and disciplinary proceedings will be initiated on completion of the evidence collection process.

(3)(a) Inspectorate is engaged nationally in the detection of illegal immigration activity through investigations, joint operations with other law enforcement agencies and inspections of entities including businesses.

(3)(b) It is not apparent what reports are being referred to and therefore the question is not substantiated.

(3)(c) In mitigation, the Department has prioritised modernisation of its visa and permitting system to ensure that all priority categories of face value documents are subject to independent clearance phases through the use of an electronic Visa Adjudication System (VAS). Ongoing development of the VAS system is being undertaken to incorporate all categories of visas and permits and thus eliminate manual files and work processes.

(3)(d) The abuse of the asylum system in the main stems from porous borders and the delays in finalizing asylum applications. In this regard the department is finalizing the operationalization of the BMA, whilst amendments were made on the Refugee Act to allow proper capacity at SCRA and RAASA to be able to conclude asylum applications within the prescribed turnaround times.

END

Reply:

(a)(i) As at 30 June 2020 there were 3656 cases at RSDO level.

(a)(ii) The total number of cases at the Refugee Appeal Board (Now Refugee Appeals Authority) is 123 424 as at 18 September 2020

MONTHS		APRIL 2020 TO SEPTEMBER 2020
		No. of Cases heard	No. of Cases finalized and decisions issued	No. of cases Confirmed as unfounded	No of cases upheld	No of condonations dismissed	No of condonations granted	No of no show cases	No. of Cases referred back to RROs (RSDO)	No of cases cancelled
DESMOND TUTU		0	376	14	34	0	0	5	115	323
MUSINA		0	100	51	12	0	0	6	0	31
DURBAN		26	308	39	61	0	0	1	0	207
CAPE TOWN		137	114	21	11	0	0	0	0	82
PORT ELIZABETH		30	83	31	9	0	0	0	0	43
TOTAL		193	981	156	127	0	0	12	115	686

(a)(iii) The Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) has a backlog of 38185 cases for all the five centre with the majority of cases being at the Desmond Tutu RRO. These are active cases.

(b)(i) The Refugee Appeal Board (Now Refugee Appeals Authority) finalised 981 cases.

(b)(ii) SCRA has finalised 4672 cases.

NO OF CASES REVIEWED	UPHELD	SET ASIDE	REFERRED BACK	TOTAL FINALIZED	COMMENT
4672	4096	400	176	4672	These cases were only attended to at the Desmond Tutu RRO during the level 3-2 lock down.

END

Reply:

(1)(a) There were about 7 times in October where system was offline, impacting all Live Capture offices nationwide and there were also incidents affecting individual offices which caused downtime and these include photo booth not working, camera functionality etc.

(1)(b) The current report configuration does not store the downtime in hours but SITA has been requested to create this reports effective 1st of December 2020.

(1)(b)(i) State Information and Technology Agency system downtime,

There are a couple of issues that cause offline or refer to an office as offline. It can be infrastructure issues like cable theft, dependent on as external service provider, Server issues, power outages and application issues or office equipment issues.

(1)(b)(ii) power outages

A consolidated report from SITA is not available for this metric. SITA has been requested to make this report configuration effective 1st of December 2020. There were approximately 20 calls logged for office equipment like FLO (Front Line Officer), Photobooth and some scanners, which did not affect the whole office operations entirely.

(1)(b)(iii) faulty office equipment,

Workstations hardware for Live Capture System (Modernised offices) are actively supported through a 3 year warranty system; and are refreshed every 4 years as per the Tech Refresh Plan. When a workstation required replacement, there is a process to replace computers and peripheral devices that are stored for such purpose both at Head Office and Provincial Head Quarters.

(1)(b)(iv) last-mile connectivity problems and/or (v) any other specified reason

A consolidated report from SITA is not available for this metric. SITA has been requested to make this report configuration effective 1st of December 2020.

(1)(b)(v) Not applicable.

(2) No there is no mechanism in place to proactively inform citizens before travelling as outages are not known upfront or predictable. However Provincial Managers do engage local media to inform Public where major downtimes are experienced and clients are redirected to other offices

(3) The Department is still investigating various options to proactively engage citizens regarding the state of offices.

END

Reply:

(a) SITA was notified on Friday 13 November 2020 about the faulty data line in Nigel office and were supposed to dispatch the Telkom technician to the site but that did not materialise. Later that day after a remote diagnosis SITA called the DHA Regional IT Officer informing her that there is no sound from the office’s router, they suspected that it was switched off and then asked her to confirm if it had power. It was confirmed to SITA that power was on for the router and pictures were sent as proof and that is when the latter confirmed that it implies that there was nothing wrong on their side with reference number: Ref 20894281

On Monday,16 November 2020 the Regional IT Officer revisited Nigel to check the equipment in liaison with the departmental HQ networks technician and that is when it was confirmed that indeed the router was not responding as the Network Card slot was dead. The card slot was changed but unfortunately that slot was not configured as the password to configure was not working, all passwords were tried and still did not work. On the 17 November 2020, the networks technician managed to crack the password, did new configurations on the other slot and inserted the router as they had removed it on 16 November 2020 and that caused a delay. The matter was resolved late and thus clients could not be assisted and were only attended to on 18 November 2020.

(b) SITA and the internal DHA IT Infrastructure team were responsible for resolving the problem.

(c) In Terms of the Service Level Agreements between SITA and DHA the following are adhered to:

• Mean time to respond is 4 Hours
• Mean Time to Resolve is 16 Hours

(d) The penalties are applied when Service Level Agreements are not met by the service provider in this case the responsibility was on both DHA IT and State Information Technology Agency and the contracts management team will advise on the penalties to be levied if any, due to shared responsibilities.

(e) The allocated and limited number of mobile units have a set schedule and were already deployed as confirmed with various stakeholders as they relieve the offices when there is high influx of clients for management of queues.

END

Reply:

Honourable Member, the provision of water to communities is the responsibility of Water Services Authorities (municipalities). The electrification of the boreholes in Redirele Village, including the maintenance of boreholes is the responsibility of Kgetleng Rivier Local Municipality (KRLM).

I wish to point out that the legislative mandate of the Department of Water and Sanitation is to ensure that the country’s water resources are protected, managed, used, developed, conserved and controlled sustainably for the benefit of all people and the environment.

The Water Services Act, 1997 refers to municipalities as Water Service Authorities (WSAs) responsible for distribution (reticulation) of water and to supply sanitation services. The Water Services Act in section 3 outlines the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” and places the responsibility on Water Services Authorities to ensure that they develop a Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) to ensure the realisation of this right.

Section 11 of the Water Services Act, 1997 mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

Reply:

I have been advised by the SAPO as follows:

Yes, the SAPO has held a membership at the Irene Country Club.

a) Initial membership commenced on 30/09/2012

b) The membership was from 30/09/2012 to 01/08/2020, for the approximately 8 years.

c) The total cost broken down into annual payments is as follows:

Year	Amount	Type
2012/2013	R79 036.80	Annual Membership
2013/2014	R87 679.68	Annual Membership
2014/2015	R87 679.68	Annual Membership
2015/2016	R66 112.90	Annual Membership
2016/2017	R71 102.55	Annual Membership
2017/2018	R75 368.70	Annual Membership
2018/2019	R70 079.67	Annual Membership
2019/2020	R80 591.62	Annual Membership
TOTAL	R617 651.60

SAPO further wishes to state that the last payment at the Irene Country Estate was in August 2019 and is terminated and will not be renewed under the circumstances.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

According to the records received from the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health and confirmed by the PERSAL System –

a) there were only 6 students employed as medical interns, after completion of their studies, during the past three years period (i.e. 2018 to 2020) and no other professions including administration categories were placed or appointed for Internship at the Hospital during the said reporting period;

b) the medical interns were placed under supervision in the eight domains of medical rotation, i.e General Medicine; General Surgery; Paediatrics; Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Anesthesiology; Orthopaedics; Psychiatry; Family Medicine/Primary Care) as prescribed by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and their log-books were signed off at the end of their two years of the internship period;

c) all medical interns in the Public Service are remunerated in accordance with the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD) for medical practitioners and as such all the six (6) medical interns at Jubilee Hospital were remunerated accordingly and did not receive a stipend

END.

Reply:

When level 5 lockdown was implemented on 27 March 2020, there were approximately 20 000 identity documents applications at the Department’s Back Office processing facility.

When the Department re-opened to capture first time applications, it was initially necessary for operations to be conducted with the most essential staff only to adhere to the limitations of the Disaster Management Act protocols (social distancing, wearing of masks, washing of hands as well as ensuring sufficient ventilation).

Furthermore, the Department’s operational facilities are generally open plan offices, consequently, as and when there are confirmed Covid-19 cases, the Department has to release officials who were in contact with a positive case, who must then isolate and are not available for duty, which also causes delays in the finalising and issuing of Identity documents.

END

Reply:

• We made an announcement through a government notice on 24 October 2020 to resume all services except Citizenship applications at the Civic Service Branch of the Department. The Department thereby issued a circular to all staff members, regarding Administrative Protocols for the Lockdown, Containment and management of the COVID-19 in the Department under lockdown level 1.

• As a result, the Department has recalled 100% staff capacity, mainly in areas where there are backlogs in order to eliminate such backlogs. Under this circumstance, strict adherence to the lock down level 1 protocols is practiced to contain the spread of COVID 19 by ensuring that officials adhere to the protocols in the workplace by maintaining social distancing, adhering to personal hygiene practices (wearing of masks, sanitizing, washing of hands etc.), and further ensuring sufficient ventilation in all workspaces.

 

• The Department furthermore engaged its stakeholders in the value chain of its products and services, in particular GPW (Government Printing Works) and Skynet courier services, to work overtime during the week as well as over the weekends to assist the Department in eliminating such backlogs.
• Moreover, the Department has a Business Recovery Plan to deal with backlogs accumulated during lockdown period.

END

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

1. There are two recognised unions, namely, BEMAWU and Communications Workers Union.

2. Prior to its deregistration, MWASA was not recognised by the SABC.  MWASA failed to fulfil the 500-membership threshold. The threshold was decided upon through a process of negotiation between the SABC and unions that were seeking recognition within the SABC.

MWASA had a limited organisational rights collective agreement because of its failure to secure the 500-member threshold. MWASA has since been de-registered by the Labour Registrar and thus no longer has a relationship with the SABC.

3. SABC believes the collective bargaining process between the parties which preceded the conclusion of the recognition agreements was fair as it culminated in the conclusion of the two recognition agreements with the two unions currently recognised by the SABC which were in line with the applicable provisions of employment law. SABC can confirm that to date neither CWU nor BEMAWU have challenged the fairness or otherwise of the recognition agreement.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

The Department of Human Settlements has not been made aware or received reports of “underhanded practices” referred to in the question.

I would be grateful if the Honourable Member could provide me with more information on this matter for my department to investigate it further alternatively, the Honourable Member is urged to report such incidences to the law enforcement agencies.

Reply:

The KwaZulu Natal Provincial Department of Health provides students with bursaries with a view that they will return and serve back to the Department, this is done in good faith and is dependent on the Department having the necessary funding to employ the said bursary holders. Unfortunately, the KZN Department of Health is experiencing financial constraints and so is the entire Public Service.

It must be mentioned that the categories mentioned above which are Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics are not the only group of students that were funded by the Department and are yet to be placed for employment.

There are currently 39 bursary holders for Medical Orthotics and Prosthetics that are yet to be placed.

The KZN Health Department has confirmed that it is working with the Office of the Premier and KZN Treasury to find a solution in this regard.

END.

Reply:

1(a) Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) has a Chairperson and 2 members at head office Pretoria (3). Admin Support staff at head office Pretoria is a total twelve (12).

There are no SCRA members at the regions, members at the head office from time to time visit the five centres on rotational basis., process is underway to appoint 2 Members for Desmond Tutu RRO; 1 for Cape Town and PE RRO; 1 for Durban RRO for a period of two years to attend to the backlog. Over and above that 2 additional Members shall be appointed for a period of five years to be based at the SCRA head office.

(1)(b) The Refugee Appeals Board (currently Refugee Appeals Authority) have the following staff in numbers :

• Pretoria: 1 Member and Chairperson and 13 Admin staff/Officials,
• Cape Town: 1 Member
• Musina, Port Elizabeth and Durban have no staff

(2)(a)(i) SCRA has 29579 cases as at 11 November 2020

(2)(a)(ii) The total number of appeals is 123 424 as at 18 September 2020.

(2)(b)(i) It will take about 2 years to clear the SCRA backlog.

(2)(b)(ii) Based on the Auditor General’s 2019/2020 report if the current capacity of RAASA remains the same, it would take more than 60 years to clear the backlog. However currently, a plan is in place to increase the Authority’s capacity with 36 members, this will mean that the backlog can be cleared within 4 years.

(3)(a)(i) 317245

(3)(a)(ii) The total number of appeals rejected over the last 10 years is 13 572.

(3)(b)(i) Failed Asylum Seekers are either given an order to leave the Republic of South Africa or are detained for the purposes of deportation.

(3)(b)(ii) The records of failed Asylum Seekers who have been deported is as follows :

2015 - 1

2016 - 113

2017 - 561

2018- 110

2019 - 69

2020 - 22

It is only in recent years that we have been doing a breakdown of the analysis of deportees prior status.

END

Reply:

a) The department continues through its inspectorate to actively conduct inspections and operations in partnership with other law enforcement agencies to deal with all transgressors of immigration legislation. The department has continued with its enforcement and deportation functions throughout the period of the lockdown.

b) With regard to the issues relating to migrant employment the Minister of Employment and Labour and the Minister of Home Affairs co-chair an inter-ministerial committee on migration which is preparing a programme to address these issues which include, amongst others, policy directives, international benchmarking and enforcement responses.

END

Reply:

(a)(i) Private Office of the Minister

(a)(i) Full Names	(b)(i) Job Title	(b)(ii)Relevant details of the annual salary	(b)(iii) Highest qualification
	Food Services Aid II	R184,359.00 per annum	Standard 8 (Practical) Certificate
	Domestic Worker	R122,595.00 per annum	Grade 11 Certificate
	Special Adviser IV	Total Cost-to-Employer (TCE) package R1,978,533.00 per annum	Bachelor of Journalism and Media Studies Degree, Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources
	Assistant Appointment Secretary	TCE package R733,257.00 per annum	Baccalaureus Artium Degree in Politics Philosophy and Economics
	Secretary/Receptionist	R265,302.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Parliamentary and Cabinet Support	TCE package R1073,202.00 per annum	Master's Degree in Public Management
	Media Liaison Officer	TCE package R1,073,202.00 per annum	Honours Degree in Journalism and Media Studies
	Branch Administrator	R316,791.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Domestic Worker	R122,595.00 per annum	Grade 11 Certificate
	Food Services Aid II	R173,703.00 per annum	Certificate Form III
	Private Secretary	TCE package R936,177.00 per annum	Standard 8 Certificate
	Driver/Messenger	R221,382.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Chief of Staff	TCE package R1,308,345.00 per annum	Bachelor of Social Science Honours Degree in Policy and Development and National Diploma in Diplomacy
	Community Outreach Officer	TCE package R1,057,326.00 per annum	BSc Degree in Science
	Registry Clerk	R376,596.00 per annum	Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies
	Chief Director: Research Monitoring and Evaluation	TCE package R1,308,345.00 per annum	Master of Arts Degree (Humanities) in Industrial Sociology
	Personal Aide to the Chief Director: Research Monitoring and Evaluation	R173,703.00 per annum	Senior Certificate and N5 Certificate in Marketing Management

(a)(ii) Office of the Deputy Minister

(a)(ii) Full Names	(b)(i) Job Title	(b)(ii)Relevant details of the annual salary	(b)(iii) Highest qualification
	Driver/Messenger	R173,703.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Senior Guiding Officer	R376,596.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Chief Registry Clerk	R257,508.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Parliamentary And Cabinet Coordinator	TCE package R733,257.00 per annum	Masters of Law Degree
	Special Needs Coordinator	TCE package R744,255.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Driver/Messenger	R173,703.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Community Outreach Officer	TCE package R766,764.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Chief Registry Clerk	R257,508.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Private Secretary	TCE package R908,694.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Senior Administrative Officer	R316,791.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Food Aid Services	R102,534.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Domestic Worker	R122,595.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Technical Specialist	TCE package R1,089,294.00 per annum	BA Degree in Development Studies
	Secretary/Receptionist	R208,584.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Head Of Deputy Minister's Office	TCE package R1,057,326.00 per annum	Baccalaureus Artium Honours Degree in English
	Domestic Worker	R122,595.00 per annum	Senior Certificate
	Senior Guiding Officer	R393,783.00 per annum	Grade 11 Certificate

(c) The Deputy Minister is directly related to one of the staff members.

Reply:

(1) The Department has not received any funding from the National Treasury to provide laptops to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students. NSFAS has advised that there are savings from previous years of unutilised bursary funding that will cover the cost of laptops for NSFAS recipients in TVET colleges. The procurement of laptops by NSFAS is still underway and it is expected that these laptops will be distributed in the 2021 academic year once the process of identifying qualifying students has been completed.

(2) Going forward a proposal has been made that there should be a baseline increase in NSFAS funding for TVET colleges to accommodate this cost. Furthermore, TVET colleges will have to incorporate some funding into their annual budgets to cater for gadgets for new students entering the system. Given the relatively shorter time that some students spend in TVET colleges, a loan system might be considered by colleges to make the availability of devices to students affordable and sustainable. All TVET colleges will therefore be required to develop an institutional policy for the provision and/or loan of devices to students. The above response covers the distribution of laptops to NSFAS recipients in all TVET colleges and the anticipated period for distribution of these laptops.

Reply:

(a)  It should be noted that fee increases were implemented for the 2020 academic year. The costs of providing tuition did not reduce as a result of the introduction of emergency remote multi-modal teaching and learning. In fact, universities, in many areas incurred increased costs, including the provision of electronic devices and data, improvements to learning management systems, the cost of health and safety and other costs. Given that no additional funding was available for this, the Department worked with universities to re-prioritise existing funding from earmarked funds, which were approved as a COVID Responsiveness Grant to support institutions and limit the effects of in-year subsidy reductions. The national framework for fees gazetted in October 2020 aimed to guide institutions on tuition and accommodation fees remaining at the same level for the academic year despite the extended academic year. 

Public universities have three main sources of income: State subsidies, tuition fees and other (third stream) income. The bulk of funding is received through subsidies and tuition fees. Tuition fees are determined by university Councils. 

However, since the agreement on a 0% increase on fees for 2016, there has been a sector-wide agreement/compact in place to ensure that fee increases be kept at an affordable rate, while the development of a policy framework is underway. In 2017 and 2018, this was set at a maximum of 8% increase, and in 2019 and 2020, the increases were CPI-linked, with CPI for tuition and CPI+2 for accommodation. This is determined based on the realistic cost increases incurred by institutions for their operations. 

It should also be noted that in 2016 when fees were not increased, university expenditure nonetheless increased, and although fees were charged to users/students at the same level as 2015, the cost of the gap between the fee income and required budget was covered by substantial funding from government, which resulted in a baseline increase in the subsidy budget in following years. In addition, through the gap grant (fee adjustment grant) provided from 2017 onwards, students with family incomes up to R600 000 received support from the government to cover the gap between the 2016 and increased fee required. 

The proposal is a reasonable one, given that universities have CPI-linked increases in costs and therefore require fee increases, and this increase is designed to balance the income requirements of universities, with keeping fee increases at reasonable levels. The proposals are also discussed extensively within the university system before being finalised. 

(b)  Through the compact on tuition fees, the State, working with universities, has kept university fees at affordable levels since 2015, while increasing support to poor and working-class students and providing relief to missing middle families. Universities cannot operate without tuition fee income, and the compact is focused on keeping fees at affordable levels for fee-paying individuals and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) despite the fact that university subsidies have declined in 2020 due to COVID in particular.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department and SOCs as follows:

As stated in the Annual Reports to Parliament for the said financial years regarding the department and entities, the details of the payments are as per the tables below, namely;

Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services

1(a) 2017/18:

		(i)To whom	(ii)Amount Paid
(DTPS) Senior Managers	Yes, cash bonuses were paid to deserving senior managers in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years	Performance bonuses paid for the 2017/18 financial year The following senior managers received cash bonuses in the 2017/18 financial year: Mr Shelembe O, DDG: ICT Enterprise Development and SOEs Oversight Mr Osman F, Chief Director: Strategic Planning and Monitoring Advocate Lyons-Grootboom S, Chief Director: Legal Ms Maponya C, Director: HRD Ms Beukes T, Director: HRA Mr Wiltz A, Director: ICT Telecommunication and IT Ms Lesufi C, Director: Telecommunications Mr Motlatla JL, Information Technology Policy Mr Mabuza, Director: Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Mr Musetha RD, Chief Director: Broadband Infraco Mr Sono DA, Chief Director: Radio Frequency Spectrum Mr Rabindhnath T, Director: E Skills	The total amount of cash bonuses paid to the senior managers above was R380 565.36 and the budget came from the 1.5% allocated budget from the compensation budget.

2018/2019:

		(i)To whom	(ii)Amount Paid
DTPS		Performance bonuses paid for the 2018/19 financial year The following senior managers received cash bonuses in the 2018/19 financial year: Mr Mlambo B, Director: Parliamentary and Cabinet Support Ms Sebastian P, Director: Parliament and Cabinet Support Mr Mongala S, Director: Risk Management Mr Osman F, Chief Director: Strategic Planning and Monitoring Mr Maleka SM, Director: Strategic Planning Mr Libago J, Director: Monitoring and Evaluation Advocate Lyons-Grootboom S, Chief Director: Legal Ms Maponya C, Director: HRD Ms Masemola JK, CFO Ms Motswoenyane E, Director: SCM Mr Paterson JG, Director: Organisational Economic Cooperation Development Mr Wiltz A, Director: ICT Telecommunication and IT Ms Lesufi C, Director: Telecommunications Mr Musetha RD, Chief Director: Broadband Infraco Mr Gxotiwe S, Director: Broadband Infraco Ms Langa R, Chief Director: Postal Sector Ms Mandlanga NM, Chief Director: Telecommunications and IT Ms Tsolo, P: Director: SOE Governance and Support Ms Paul M, Chief Director: ICT Macro and Infrastructure Applications Mr Pillay K, Chief Director: Cyber Security Operations Ms Duma G, Director: Intergovernmental Coordination Ms Mallela P, Director: Stakeholder Relations	The total amount of cash bonuses paid to the senior managers above was R499 660.23 and the budget came from the 1.5% allocated budget from the compensation budget.

1. Yes, the bonuses were performance based. The senior managers were found to have performed above what was expected of them in relation to their signed performance agreements in the Moderation Committee meetings and the payment of incentives was approved by the Minister.

3(a) Yes, all senior managers were assessed based on signed performance agreements and performance assessments.

3(b) Yes, all senior managers who received bonuses had mid-term reviews with their supervisors.

Department of Communications

1(a) 2017/2018:-

		(i)To whom	(ii)Amount Paid
Department of Communications (DoC) Senior Managers	Yes, cash bonuses were paid to deserving senior managers in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years	Performance bonuses paid 2017/18 financial year The following senior managers received cash bonuses in the 2017/18 financial year: Mr Kgarabjang T, Director: Legal Services Mr Nieman F, Director: Financial Administration Ms Phetla K, Director: Director: Strategic Planning and monitoring	The total amount of cash bonuses paid to the senior managers above was R303 455.68 and the budget came from the 1.5% allocated budget from the compensation budget.

2018/2019:-

		(i)To whom	(ii)Amount Paid
DoC		Performance bonuses paid 2018/19 financial year The following senior managers received cash bonuses in the 2018/19 financial year: Mr Kgarabjang T, Director: Legal Services Ms Mmushi T, Director: Internal Audit	The total amount of cash bonuses paid to the senior managers above was R163 241.04 and the budget came from the 1.5% allocated budget from the compensation budget.

1. Yes, the bonuses were performance based. The senior managers were found to have performed above what was expected of them in relation to their signed performance agreements in the Moderation Committee meetings and the payment of incentives was approved by the Minister.

3(a) All senior managers were assessed based on signed performance agreements and performance assessments.

3(b) Yes, all senior managers who received bonuses had mid-term reviews against their signed PAs with their supervisors.

State Owned Entities

1(b)

Entity	Financial Year	(i)To whom	(ii)Amount Paid
ZADNA	Yes, for FY 2018/19 only	Mr Peter Madavhu Mr Louis Bezuidenhout Ms Hendrina Williams
		TOTAL	R93 979.00
SABC	No	N/A	N/A
Film and Publication Board (FPB)	Yes, for FY 2018/19	Unathi Ndobeni
		TOTAL	R79 743.23
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)	Yes, FY 2017/2018	Gidi Nkhetheleni Norman Sookharan Anneal Kumar Ngwepe Willington Alpheus Van der Walt Maria Elizabeth Nomtshongwana Anele Zandile Maina Leah Watetu Mngomezulu Portia Busisiwe Khumalo Albert Junior Kganakga Magobotla Daniel
		TOTAL 2018	R1 813 700.24
	Yes, FY 2018/2019	Gidi Nkhetheleni Norman Sookharan Anneal Kumar Ngwepe Willington Alpheus Van der Walt Maria Elizabeth Nomtshongwana Anele Zandile Maina Leah Watetu Mngomezulu Portia Busisiwe Khumalo Albert Junior Kganakga Magobotla Daniel
		TOTAL 2019	R2 222 738.77
Broadband Infraco (BBI)	No	N/A	N/A
Nemisa	Yes, FY 2018/19 only	Mr Doc Fick Mr Phuthi Phukubje
		TOTAL 2018/19	R 394 326.00
Sentech	Yes, FY 2017/18 & FY 2018/19	Mr Mlamli Booi Mr Tebogo Leshaope Mr Siphamandla Mthethwa
		TOTAL 2017/18 FY	R2 192 805.64
		TOTAL 2018/19 FY	R3 250 597.17
State Information Technology Agency (SITA)	Yes, 2018/19 only	Ms Mimi Le Roux Mr Lance Williams Mr Sidima Ntsangani Mr Ntutule Tshenye Mr Ken Weinand Ms Makgopolo Mkwanazi Mr Setumo Mohapi
		TOTAL	R348 761. 91
Postbank	No	N/A	N/A
USAASA	No	N/A	N/A
SAPO	No	N/A	N/A

2. ZADNA, FPB, ICASA , Nemisa, Sentech, and SITA indicated that the bonuses paid were performance-based. (The question is not applicable to the SABC, BBI, Postbank , USAASA and SAPO as no bonuses were paid during the during the financial years in question)

3(a)&(b) ZADNA, FPB, ICASA, BBI, Nemisa, Sentech and SITA confirmed that performance agreements were signed and regular performance assessments were conducted. (The question is not applicable to the SABC, BBI, Postbank , USAASA and SAPO as no bonuses were paid during the during financial years in question)

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

           

Reply:

I have been advised as follows:

1. Names of current members of the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution:

• Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala
• Prof. Chris Adendorff
• Ms Beth Arendse
• Mr Mpho Dagada
• Mr Thulani Dlamini
• Mr Abdul Esakjee
• Dr Bernard Fanaroff
• Dr Micheal Gastrow
• Mr Xolile George
• Ms Chairmaine Houvet
• Dr Prince Jaca
• Mr Tervern Jaftha
• Mr Shameel Joosub
• Ms Nomso Kana
• Ms Marinda Kellerman (resigned)
• Mr Baxolile Mabinya
• Mr Rendani Mamphiswana
• Ms Lindiwe Matlali
• Ms Busisiwe Mbuyisa
• Ms Nomvula Mkhonza
• Mr Vukani Mngxati
• Mr Joseph Ndaba
• Dr Nompumelelo Happworth-Obokoh
• Mr Rendani Ramabulana
• Dr Leon Rolls
• Mr Rob Shuter
• Dr Sibongiseni Thotsejane
• Mr Aubrey Tsabalala
• Mr Gerhard van Deventer
• Mr Ben Venter
• Ms S’onqoba Vuba

b) Mr Andile NgcabaThe advent of the COVID-19 in March 2020 prompted that the planned presentation to the President in March 2020 be postponed accommodating the availability of the President. The confirmed date for presentation to the President was 06 August 2020. The diagnostic report was also presented to the President on 07 November 2019.

c) The report was presented to the department on 21 January 2020.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

 

Reply:

a) The total number of graduate doctors in the Republic –

(i) are waiting to be placed as interns is zero for the Annual January 2021 Cycle;

(ii) also, there are no interns currently unemployed.

The National Departmernt of Health has allocated a total of 2,367 medical interns and 1,693 community service: medical service officers who are eligible and qualifying South African Citizens and Permanent Residents to posts.

b) Only applicants who meet the requirements in accordance with employment Regulations in South Africa and are able to commence duty on 01 January 2021 have been allocated.

END.

Reply:

Information is being collated from all the provinces to enable us to respond to these questions. The full details will be furnished to Parliament as soon as they are received from the provinces.

END.

Reply:

a) The total number of applications for business travel received from 1 October to 11 November 2020 was 8,878. Applications are not separated, or processed according to nationality.

b) (i) Approved: 6,778. This figure includes business people including South African permanent residents and long-term visa holders who used this e-mail address. 2,100 applications were in process up until the 11 November 2020.

(ii) Rejected: None. Those who did not meet the requirements were requested to submit outstanding information and their cases were approved once the information was received.

c) All cases are finalised between 1 to 10 days.

 

END

Reply:

a) Based on data extracted 11 November 2020 there are 175 461 persons with section 22 permits active.

b) The total number of appeals that were turned down over the past 10 years is 13 572 (as at 12 November 2020).

c) 

END

Reply:

The North West Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs has indicated that the village is known as Ramokokastad which is located in Ward 12 in the area of jurisdiction of the Moses Kotane Local Municipality. Initially, the Peoples Housing Programme project consisted of 200 housing units of which 145 houses were constructed during 2004. In 2005, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) required all home builders to enrol building projects and therefore the project was stopped to enable the developers to meet the requirements. However, the developers failed to register as required by the NHBRC and the project was thus not completed.

In June 2019, the Provincial Department appointed a developer to unblock the project and to construct the remaining 55 houses. To date, 52 houses have been completed and the remaining 3 houses are at completion stage of which the installation of ceilings, painting and the clearing of rubble are in progress.

Reply:

Honourable Member, the District Development Model (DDM) will go a long way in ensuring an operational model for improved cooperative governance that promotes the need to shift to a joint development planning approach

The model was launched last year and as we were piloting it in a number of districts, the COVID-19 pandemic befell us and altered some of our plans.

The Departments of Water and Sanitation intends to take advantage of the model and work closely with COGTA to ensure its successful implementation. It intends to employ the following strategies:

• the Department of Water and Sanitation working with COGTA, through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA), will establish a Project Management Unit at a Provincial level that shall support all District Municipalities to roll out the Model.
• DWS intends to work with District Municipalities in the planning and implementation of Infrastructure Projects, with MISA assisting in a support role for Monitoring and Evaluation of the DDM.
• It will utilise integrated planning to address challenges of misalignment of plans of all Sector Plans, to enable all spheres to focus on One Plan at District Levels, financial resources appropriated correctly for each financial year outputs is crucial.
• Identification of priorities over five-year term period, and development of integrated plans.
• Long term (10 years) implementation plans that are aligned to the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan should also be developed
• A Human Resource Plan to be developed for each District Municipality and Water Services Authorities in relation to critical skills including technical, financial and project management
• Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) must be encouraged for possible funding of the catalytic infrastructure projects.