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29 October 2020 - NW1915

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McGluwa, Mr JJ to ask the Minister of Home Affairs

Whether, with reference to his reply to question 1307 on 20 July 2020, he confirms that he was aware of the outbreak of Covid-19 since November 2019?

Reply:

As I have previously responded, as far as I know the outbreak of COVID-19 was announced to have started in December 2019 and not November 2019.

END

29 October 2020 - NW2077

Profile picture: Mohlala, Mr M

Mohlala, Mr M to ask the Minister of Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation

Given that about 250 housing beneficiaries in the Missionvale Reconstruction and Development Programme project in Port Elizabeth are still waiting for houses to be built on concrete foundation slabs laid since 2014, (a) by what date will her department complete the construction of the specified houses, (b) what is the name of the contractor that was appointed to build the houses and (c) what total amount has the specified contractor been paid to date?

Reply:

(a) The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements (ECDHS) reported that the planned total yield of the Missionvale Project is 2 498, of which 2 291 housing units have been completed and the remaining balance is 207. The date for completion of the construction of the specified houses cannot be confirmed at this stage because the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) is yet to submit an application to the ECDHS for the unblocking of the project. The said application must be accompanied by proof which confirms that the bulk infrastructure services are fully functional.

(b) The ECDHS appointed Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality as the developer for the Missionvale Project. Subsequently, the NMBMM appointed Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) for the construction of the houses.

With regards to the request for name(s) of contractors involved in the housing project referred to in this question, I am constrained and prohibited by the document titled “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” from providing the Honourable Member with the name of the contractor. The document referred to states that:

Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”

(c) The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality has advised that it has expended an amount of R157 639 933.26, to date, to the contractors for the work and value they created at the Missionvale Project.

29 October 2020 - NW2191

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Steyn, Ms A to ask the Minister of Home Affairs

(1)What total number of (a) persons must work at the Sterkspruit office in line with the organogram and (b) positions are (i) filled and/or (ii) vacant; (2) by what date will all the vacant positions be filled; (3) whether the Sterkspruit office is fully functional on a daily basis; if not, what main challenges are experienced; if so, what are the relevant details; (4) by what date does he envisage will the Sterkspruit office be fully functional on a daily basis?

Reply:

(1)(a) Fifteen (15) officials, in terms of the Organogram, must work at the Sterkspruit Local Office

(1)(b)(i) (a) 1x1 Office Manager - Filled,

(b) 1x1 Civic Service Supervisor - Filled,

(c) 1x1 Mobile Operator - Filled,

(d) 1x1 Messenger - Filled,

(e) 5x1 Admin Clerks – Filled

(f) 2x1 Immigration Officers - Filled,

(g) 1x1 Cleaner – Filled

(1)(B)(ii) (a) 2x1 Admin Clerks – Vacant-Unfunded

(b) 1x1 Control Immigration – Vacant-Unfunded,

2. Vacant posts will be filled when funds are available.

3. The office is fully functional, except when the Network is down.

4. The Sterkspruit Local Office is fully functional, on daily basis.

END

 

29 October 2020 - NW1838

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Tito, Ms LF to ask the Minister of Home Affairs

What (a) total number of Home Affairs offices have been closed since the beginning of the lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, (b) services have been affected the most and (c) measures has his department put in place to deal with the backlog?

Reply:

a) A total of 92 offices were closed since beginning of the lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.

b) The following services were affected during the period:

  1. Death registration
  2. Births Registration
  3. Temporary Identity Certificates
  4. Re-issuance of Births Certificates
  5. Collection of Identity Documents
  6. Late Registration of Birth (LRB)
  7. Registration and Solemnization of Marriages
  8. Smart ID Cards applications for leaners
  9. Applications for amendments and rectifications
  10. Withdrawal of records at the back office

c) The Department initiated a recovery plan to workout production lost from various branches as follows:

  1. Implementation of rotational plans or introduction of shift system to cater for those who might be infected by COVID-19.
  2. Gradual re-introduction of services or products to clients using a phased approach
  3. Use of virtual meetings to monitor and report progress.
  4. Continuous communication to clients and the public on new services that were introduced or reopened.
  5. The department has public awareness on services that were reintroduced or reopened.
  6. Use of community Radio and virtual launches on certain products such Smart ID Cards to learners, particularly matriculants.
  7. Use of mobile offices to reach out to communities.
  8. Segmentation of services and directing clients to different catchment areas using pamphlets, provincial managers and local managers to inform clients.

END

 

27 October 2020 - NW1804

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Msane, Ms TP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

What total number of black farmers have received assistance to get licensed and establish reputable farms with complete infrastructure and international exposure in the cannabis industry for medicinal use, which stands to be worth more than R30 billion by 2030?

Reply:

None.

27 October 2020 - NW1727

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Mbabama, Ms TM to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

What (a) total amount has the Ingonyama Trust (IT) invested in agriculture since 1 January 2010 and (b) are the relevant details of the projects in which the IT invested?

Reply:

a) he Ingonyama Trust (IT) is not an investor in Agriculture as it holds monies in trust on behalf of tribes and communities.

b) Falls away.

27 October 2020 - NW2381

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Msane, Ms TP to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

Whether she has engaged with the Minister of Finance on the closure of foreign missions in order to save costs; if so, (a) which foreign missions will be closed and (b) what impact will the closure of the specified foreign missions have on the bilateral countries?

Reply:

Yes, there was consultation with the Minister of Finance on the possible closure of some foreign missions.

(a) The Missions proposed to be closed are still to be considered.

(b) Once considered, consulations will be embarked upon with the relevant host countries to ensure that bilateral relations are not affected.

27 October 2020 - NW1729

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Mbabama, Ms TM to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

Whether her department has taken any steps to ensure that the Ingonyama Trust adheres to section 2(5) of the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act, Act 3KZ of 1994, which prohibits it from leasing, encumbering, pledging, alienating and/or disposing of any land under its custodianship without the prior written consent of the traditional authority and/or community authority; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

Yes, the Minister has taken steps to improve governance in the affairs of the Board. The Department is finalizing a Shareholder Compact with the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) to enhance accountability of the ITB to ensure compliance with the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act, 1994 (Act No. 3 of 1994).

27 October 2020 - NW2382

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Msane, Ms TP to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

In view of the increasing damage being caused by the current insurgency in Mozambique, especially the displacement of its citizens, by what date does she envisage will the Southern African Development Community (SADC) invoke Article 6(1) of the 2003 SADC Mutual Defence Pact, which stipulates that an armed attack against a state party shall be considered a threat to regional peace and security and such an attack shall be met with immediate collective action?

Reply:

The Troika of the Southern African Developent Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation is seized with the matter of the security situation in the Republic of Mozambique. Currently, there is no envisaged specific date to invoke Article 6(1) of the 2003 SADC Mutual Defence Pact. Collective action will be decided upon in accordance with the Roadmap, which is being awaited from the Republc of Mozambique. Article 7(1) of the same SADC Mutual Defence Pact should be kept in mind, which reads as follows: “State Parties undertake to respect one another’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and, in particular, observe the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of one another”. Article 7(2) of the 2003 SADC Mutual Defence Pact further states that “no action shall be taken to assist any State Party in terms of this Pact, save at the State Party’s own request or with its consent”.

27 October 2020 - NW2300

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Ngcobo, Mr S to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

(1)In view of the series of student deaths that have occurred at the University of Fort Hare (details furnished), which seem to be reflective of broader trends in the higher education sector, what immediate steps has his department taken in response to the tragic state of affairs; (2) whether there are systems in place to monitor universities and colleges’ level of compliance with legal investigations following the death of a student; if not, what steps does his department intend to take to remedy the situation; if so, what are the relevant details of the monitoring systems?

Reply:

1. The University of Fort Hare (UFH) experiences a significant number of student deaths each year. The University keeps a record of all student deaths, although not all deaths occur on campus or while students are at the University. The causes of death include natural causes (illness), car accidents, suicides, and/or violent deaths as a result of stabbing or assault. In 2019, a student drowned in the University pool, which was reported to the Department. The University has provided the following summary of student deaths with causes, during 2019 and 2020:

Cause of Death

2019

2020

Natural causes (Illness)

3

7

Suicide

4

2

Car accident

3

2

Stabbing

1

4

Assault

 

1

Hit and run accident

 

1

Drowning

1

 

Injuries sustained in a fire

1

 

Total

13

17

The University and the Department are deeply concerned about the prevalence of preventable deaths, specifically suicide and assault (including stabbing). The Department engages with the institution regularly and receives reports from the University when a tragic event occurs, particularly if they are on campus. 

Last year, the University employed two part-time social workers to work with its psychologists. The Student Affairs Division has also partnered with the Social Work and Psychology Departments to provide support to students in distress, over and above the work done by the Student Counselling Unit. Residences have started the process of replacing Wardens with Residence Student Assistants. The Residence Student Assistants are mainly selected from among senior students from the Psychology and Social Work Departments. In 2019, the Student Affairs Division started a group called Champions Against Gender-Based Violence. These students are mainly selected from Social Work, Psychology and Criminology Departments and they create awareness on campus, support victims, and attend social gatherings. Just before the national lockdown, the Student Affairs Division was in conversation with the Eastern Cape Liquor Board to explore areas of collaboration to curb substance abuse amongst students. The Student Counselling and HIV/Aids Units holds regular information sessions with students in the evenings.

Higher Health has introduced innovative measures and solutions to support the mental health of students at universities, such as the 24-hour toll-free number mental health support service managed by a dedicated team of experienced psychologists, social workers, and counsellors. The service is available to all students within universities, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges. 

The Department also engages with Universities South Africa on matters relating to the mental health of students, and safety and security on campus on a regular basis. 

2. The University cooperates with government agencies tasked with conducting investigations when a death occurs. The University also provides reports to the Department where cases are subject to legal investigations. The Department monitors the implementation of the recommendations of the reports provided and lends further support if requested by the University. 

26 October 2020 - NW2057

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Nolutshungu, Ms N to ask the Minister of Transport

With reference to the announcement by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) of the insourcing of 3 000 security guards, with the subsequent exclusion of many persons who provided services to Prasa but did not meet the requirement of having a Matric certificate, including job losses at Prasa, as the workers were effectively disqualified for the positions that were advertised as they do not meet the specified requirement, (a) why has Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) experience and expertise accumulated over time not been considered in this case and (b) what total number of security guards who were providing services to Prasa have been left out of the insourcing drive?

Reply:

a) The minimum requirement for the advertised posts was a matric qualification and as such only applicants who possessed matric at the time of application were considered. Acquisition of RPL is the responsibility of an applicant to obtain through the assessment of their existing qualification (if any) and experience through SAQA.

b) PRASA has no knowledge of people that were left out of the insourcing drive. PRASA Human Capital Management gathers statistics of applicants, in other words no special applications were done for private security,all people for external adverts were treated as applicants.

26 October 2020 - NW1951

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Nolutshungu, Ms N to ask the Minister of Transport

Why does he keep on spending taxpayers’ money on Autopax and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), given that out of a fleet of 555 Autopax buses only 131 buses are operating and that PRASA did not have money to pay its employees in January 2020, whilst some of its competitors are delivering a good service and have been making a profit for years?

Reply:

One of the main objects of PRASA’s business, provided for in the Legal Succession Act of South African Transport Services (“SATS” Act of 1989 as amended), is to provide for long haul passenger bus services within, to and from the Republic in terms of the principles set out in section 4 of the National Land Transport Transition Act, 2000 (Act No. 22 of 2000).

The strategic role for Autopax is in the provision of long distance travel to passengers that are currently stranded and isolated from mainstream long distance public transport routes. There is a known demand for mobility from rural and poorer communities for affordable regional transport links as these communities are held to ransom by service providers that charges exorbitant fees at times of the payment of social pensions benefits and visits to healthcare facilities.

The majority of Autopax’s competitors only serve lucrative high passenger demand routes and have sustainable capital replacement programmes.The recapitalisation of the Autopax bus fleet is a priorityfor PRASA and has been disrupted by the COVID 19 pandemic, as buses were planned to be repaired/rebuilt with major units repaired/replaced, such as engines, gearboxes and differentials.

26 October 2020 - NW1847

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Nolutshungu, Ms N to ask the Minister of Transport

What (a) is the extent of the damage done to the rail network in Cape Town, (b) will be the total cost to his department to fix the damages and restore rail operations in Cape Town and (c) steps, besides building fences and employing security guards, have been taken by his department to prevent vandalism to infrastructure in future?

Reply:

a) The Damage to the Cape Town Rail Network Infrastructure is currently at a point where electric trains cannot run in some of the corridors. The following corridors in particular are extremely impacted by acts of sabotage and criminality:

  • Langa –Bonteheuwel-Sarepta-Bellville,
  • Bonteheuwel – Kaptensklip, and
  • Bonteheuwel –Chris Hani.

b) The total cost to repair and upgrade the affected corridor is in excess of R1.8billion

c) PRASA will be putting the following measures in place to complement the security solution:

  • Installation of motion detectors and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance to be monitored by security,
  • Replacing the conventional Overhead Traction Equipment (OHTE) Copper Catenary with a Tiger Wire(Aluminum),
  • The conventional Train Detection Equipment (Track Circuits) will be replaced by New Train Detection Technology (Axle Counter) which mainly uses Optic Fibre for Data Transmission,
  • Replacement of Telecoms Copper Coax Cables with Optic Fiber,
  • Installation of Reinforced Concrete Steel on Track Side Equipment,
  • Closing Underground Cable Trenches with Concrete, and
  • Installation of Vandal proof Covers on Points Machines.

26 October 2020 - NW2058

Profile picture: Nolutshungu, Ms N

Nolutshungu, Ms N to ask the Minister of Transport

With reference to the intention of the SA National Roads Agency to roll out road infrastructure projects, in particular the 278 projects that have been advertised and the 200 additional road infrastructure projects across the nine provinces, what (a) total number of the specified road infrastructure projects are rural road upgrades and (b) are the names of the villages that will benefit from the projects?

Reply:

a) As SANRAL is responsible for the National Road network which links cities and towns nationally, most of the national road network is rural, as a result most of SANRAL road projects are located in rural areas. Of the 278 projects (Total for Consultants and Contractors), that have been advertised at time of article for calendar year 2020, 77 projects were for financial year 2019/20 and 201 for financial year 2020/21. For financial year 2020/21 thereremained at time of article a further 200 projects (Total for Consultants and Contractors) to be advertised, resulting in a total of 401 projects for 2020/21 financial year. Of these, 318are located in rural Local Municipal Areas and thus directly related to maintenance and upgrade of the SANRAL National Road network in these rural areas.

b) Due to the linear nature of national road projects they typically traverse one or more local municipalities at a time, with the majority of theprojects beings outside village boundaries. As such a single SANRAL project will provide opportunities for multiple villages located within the relevant local municipalities traversed by the SANRAL project. The local municipalities in which the 401 projects to be advertised for 2020/21 financial year are located are summarised in the attached Table.

Municipality

No Projects

Total Metro/Rural

0.3

Buffalo City

3

83

City Of Cape Town

10

 

City of eThekwini

31

 

City Of Johannesburg

13

 

City Of Tshwane

4

 

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

10

 

Mangaung Local Municipality

6

 

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality

6

 

Albert Luthuli Local Municipal

1

318

Alfred Nzo District Municipali

2

 

Alfred Nzo District Municipality

2

 

Amahlati Local Municipality

1

 

Amatole District Municipality

1

 

Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality

1

 

Beaufort West Local Municipality

3

 

Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality

1

 

Bitou Local Municipality

2

 

Blouberg Local Municipality

1

 

Blue Crane Route Local Municipality

3

 

Bojanala Platinum District Municipality

3

 

Bophirima District Municipality

2

 

Breede River/Winelands Local Municipality

4

 

Camdeboo Local Municipality

1

 

Capricorn District Municipality

2

 

Cederberg Local Municipality

1

 

Central Karoo District Municipality

1

 

Chris Hani District Municipality

5

 

Dihlabeng Local Municipality

1

 

Ditsobotla Local Municipality

1

 

Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality

3

 

Dr J S Moroka Local Municipality

4

 

Drakenstein Local Municipality

1

 

Elias Motsoaledi Local Municip

3

 

Elundini Local Municipality

2

 

Emalahleni Local Municipality

3

 

Emnambithi-Ladysmith Local Mun

3

 

Enoch Mgijima Local Municipali

2

 

Enthanjeni Local Municipality

3

 

eThekwini Municipality

1

 

Fetakgomo Local Municipality

3

 

Gariep Local Municipality

2

 

Ga-Segonyana Cross Boundary Lo

2

 

George Local Municipality

5

 

GertSibande District Municipality

4

 

Govan Mbeki Local Municipality

3

 

Great Kei Local Municipality

1

 

Greater Groblersdal Cross Boun

5

 

Greater Tubatse Cross Boundary

3

 

Greater Tzaneen Local Municipa

3

 

Hantam Local Municipality

3

 

Hessequa Local Municipality

2

 

Hibiscus Coast Local Municipal

1

 

Hlabisa Local Municipality

1

 

Ilembe District Municipality

3

 

Ingquza Local Municipality

2

 

IntsikaYethu Local Municipality

1

 

InxubaYethemba Local Municipality

1

 

Joe Gqabi District Municipalit

1

 

John TaoloGaetsewe District M

2

 

Kai Carib Local Municipality

2

 

Kamiesberg Local Municipality

2

 

Kgalagadi Cross Boundary Distr

2

 

KgetlengRivier Local Municipa

1

 

KharaHais Local Municipality

1

 

King SabataDalindyebo Local M

3

 

Klerksdorp Local Municipality

1

 

Knysna Local Municipality

2

 

Kopanong Local Municipality

2

 

Kouga Local Municipality

1

 

Kwadukuza Local Municipality

3

 

Laingsburg Local Municipality

2

 

Lejweleputswa District Municipality

5

 

Lekwa Local Municipality

2

 

Lepele-Nkumpi Local Municipali

1

 

Lephalale Local Municipality

1

 

Lesedi Local Municipality

2

 

Local Municipality Of Madibeng

1

 

Mafikeng Local Municipality

2

 

Makana Local Municipality

1

 

Makhado Local Municipality

1

 

Maletswai Local Municipality

1

 

Maluti A Phofung Local Municip

1

 

Maquassi Hills Local Municipal

1

 

Masilonyana Local Municipality

4

 

Matjhabeng Local Municipality

3

 

Mbhashe Local Municipality

1

 

Mbizana Local Municipality

1

 

Mbombela Local Municipality

6

 

Mbonambi Local Municipality

1

 

Merafong City Cross Boundary L

1

 

Mkhondo Local Municipality

1

 

Mnquma Local Municipality

3

 

Modimolle Local Municipality

4

 

Mogalakwena Local Municipality

6

 

Molemole Local Municipality

1

 

Mookgopong Local Municipality

1

 

Moqhaka Local Municipality

4

 

Mossel Bay Local Municipality

4

 

Motheo District Municipality

1

 

Mtubatuba Local Municipality

2

 

Musina Local Municipality

1

 

Nama Khoi Local Municipality

2

 

Ndlambe Local Municipality

2

 

Newcastle Local Municipality

2

 

Ngaka Modiri Molema District M

1

 

Ngqushwa Local Municipality

1

 

Ngquza Hill Local Municipality

1

 

Ngwathe Local Municipality

1

 

Nkomazi Local Municipality

1

 

Nsukaligwa Local Municipality

1

 

O.R.Tambo District Municipality

2

 

Polokwane Local Municipality

4

 

Port St Johns Local Municipality

3

 

Potchefstroom Local Municipality

1

 

Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipalit

3

 

Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipal

1

 

Richmond Local Municipality

1

 

Rustenburg Local Municipality

2

 

Sakhisizwe Local Municipality

3

 

Senqu Local Municipality

1

 

Setsoto Local Municipality

1

 

Sisonke District Municipality

1

 

Siyancuma Local Municipality

1

 

Siyanda District Municipality

3

 

Sol Plaatjie Local Municipalit

6

 

Steve Tshwete Local Municipali

1

 

Sunday'S River Valley Local Mu

5

 

Swartland Local Municipality

1

 

Swellendam Local Municipality

1

 

ThabaChweu Local Municipality

1

 

Thabazimbi Local Municipality

2

 

Thabo Mofutsanyane District Mu

1

 

The Big Five False Bay Local M

1

 

The Kwadukuza Local Municipali

1

 

The Msunduzi Local Municipalit

2

 

Theewaterskloof Local Municipality

1

 

Thembisile Local Municipality

3

 

Tsantsabane Local Municipality

2

 

Ubuntu Local Municipality

2

 

Ugu District Municipality

9

 

Umgungundlovu District Municipality

6

 

Umhlabuyalingana Local Municipality

1

 

Umhlathuze Local Municipality

3

 

Umkhanyakude District Municipality

3

 

Umsobomvu Local Municipality

7

 

Umtshezi Local Municipality

1

 

Umzimvubu Local Municipality

1

 

Umzinyathi District Municipali

1

 

Uphongolo Local Municipality

3

 

Uthukela District Municipality

1

 

Uthungulu District Municipalit

2

 

Ventersdorp Local Municipality

2

 

Vhembe District Municipality

2

 

Walter Sisulu Local Municipali

1

 

West Coast District Municipali

3

 

Xhariep District Municipality

3

 

Z F Mgcawu District Municipali

1

 

Zululand District Municipality

1

 

Grand Total

401

401

23 October 2020 - NW2182

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Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

What are the relevant details of all the deaths of persons while in custody and/or detention of the SA National Defence Force in the period between 1 April 2020 and 31 August 2020?

Reply:

There is NO person who died in custody and/ or detention of the SA National Defence Force in the period between 1 April 2020 and 31 August 2020.

22 October 2020 - NW2201

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Hill-Lewis, Mr GG to ask the Minister of Finance

(1)What amount has been refunded to the State by a certain political organisation (name furnished) in respect of the irregular use of an SA Air Force jet to transport a delegation of the specified political organisation to Zimbabwe for talks with a political party in that country; (2) whether the specified amount is the (a) full and (b) final amount with which the specified political organisation will refund the State; if not, what action is the National Treasury taking to recover the full cost of the irregular flight; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

Any revenue due to the state flows to the National Revenue Fund (NRF) through departments concerned before it is surrendered to the NRF. As it stands, the Department of Defence is still working on the matter and will inform the National Treasury accordingly once the matter is finalised.

22 October 2020 - NW2241

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Sharif, Ms NK to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

Which departments (a) will be implementing the National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide and (b) (i) are and (ii) are not reporting on a weekly basis in this regard?

Reply:

(a) (b)(i) All Government departments are supposed to be implementing the National Strategic Plan for Gender Based Violence and Femicide.

(b) (ii) Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; Department of Communications and Digital Technologies; Department of Higher Education; Department of Transport; Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; Sport, Arts and Culture; Small Business Development; Science and Technology; and National Treasury.

22 October 2020 - NW2239

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Sharif, Ms NK to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

(1)What funding model will be used to finance the (a) National Council for Gender-based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) and (b) initiatives that were undertaken with the R17 million funding from the Solidarity Fund in regard to the National Strategic Plan used to support victims of GBVF; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether she will furnish Ms N K Shariff with information on how the Covid-19 relief funds were used to assist women through Pillar 4 of the National Strategic Plan; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? NW2811E

Reply:

(a) The Department is in discussion with National Treasury on how the Council will be funded.

(b) The National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence & Femicide (GBVF-NSP) is still being costed. The costing will determine the model for funding that will be adopted.

(2) The R17m from the Solidarity Fund was allocated towards;

 Adding in the scale up of the GBV Command Centre to handle the increase in GBV related cases through the recruitment and training of social worker supervisors, trauma training for social workers and the procurement of equipment, data and furniture;

Supporting the 78 shelters under the National Shelter Movement and the 55 Thuthuzela Care Centres with funding for PPE and critical medical services; and 

Implementing a communication campaign to increase awareness and information about the services available at the shelters and the GBV Command Centre. 

(3) The COVID-19 relief funds were used for pillar 4:

The purpose of Pillar 4 is to provide Response, Care, Support and Healing to victims of Gender Based Violence. It further ensures that all relevant departments within the Criminal Justice System enhance their interventions to respond on time in an integrated manner, provide psycho-social support and eliminate or minimize secondary victimization.

A number of strategies and related interventions were developed and implemented to minimise the negative impact of COVID-19 on women. These included increases in social grants, the introduction of the Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant, the distribution of food parcels and the establishment of homeless shelters.

Furthermore, according to the Department of Social Development COVID-19 Progress Report (August 2020) there are 134 GBV shelters in place as well as 193 new shelters which were established for homeless people, catering for 11 851 women and men as from April to July 2020.

Counselling and psychosocial services were provided, with 174 831 people reached from April to June 2020, for affected and infected persons and their families. The statistics from the Department of Social Development GBV Command Centre reveal that, since the lockdown, the Centre received 1 275 cases for GBV from March to May 2020. The Centre also received calls for counselling, and enquiries pertaining to substance abuse.

To address evidence of increased food insecurity and hunger of women and their families, the Department of Social Development led the distribution of food parcels to qualifying families. A total of 8 951 204 food parcels were distributed from April to August 2020.

22 October 2020 - NW2208

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Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Finance

Whether any portion of the $4,3 billion loan granted to the Republic by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be used to pay the salaries of public servants; if not, what mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that no portion of the IMF loan will fund the salaries of the public servants; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

The loan of $4.3 billion loan granted to the Republic by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not be earmarked specifically for the payment of salaries. The loan is a special facility created for member countries experiencing emergencies. It is called a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), and does notbear conditionalities, nor does it require the implementation of an IMF structural programme. Countries, however, receiving IMF emergency financing have committed totransparently utilising and reporting spending.Thus, the loan receipts (or disbursements) will form part of the National Revenue Fund to be used to support existing government programmes, which could include salary payments.

Access to the RFI was specifically expanded to help countries deal with the balance of payments (BOP) problems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The loan provides a low-interest opportunity for South Africa to provide counter-cyclical support to the economy and fund COVID-19 related emergency support. In other words, it mitigated the need for massive spending cuts in response to the dramatic revenue shortfalls of government, and avoided an explosion in the financing needs brought on by high-cost borrowings.

The reporting on the loan’s use will form part of the general responsibility of government of publishing all information related to COVID-19-related support programmes, including procurement.

22 October 2020 - NW2240

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Sharif, Ms NK to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

How does the Inter-Ministerial Committee play a key facilitating role and at the same time do oversight on the facilitation and implementation of the National Council for Gender-based Violence and Femicide as well as the National Strategic Plan for Gender-based Violence and Femicide?

Reply:

The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) is playing a key role by;

Providing strategic guidance, leadership and engagement with the key stakeholders with regard to the establishment of the National Council; and

Monitoring progress made on the implementation of the NSP and enforces accountability and compliance with reporting across all government departments. The IMC Chairperson ensures that the Department receives updated weekly reports that are sent to the President on the implementation of the GBVF-NSP.

21 October 2020 - NW2166

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Marawu, Ms TL to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

Whether he is aware of the alleged flouting of Covid-19 regulations and the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Act, Act 16 of 2006, at the Motheo Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College in Bloemfontein, as per the whistleblowers’ report to the College Council Chairperson; if not, what steps will he take to thoroughly investigate the matter; if so, what steps have been taken to ensure that the specified persons are brought to book?

Reply:

According to Mrs D Phutsisi, Principal of Motheo TVET College, the college is not aware of a whistle blower who raised such allegations to the Council Chairperson. If these allegations were made, the Council as the highest decision-making governance structure would have followed the college policy on whistleblowing. The college’s Executive Management however brought an anonymous letter to the attention of Council that was circulating at the college raising similar allegations. Council dealt with these allegations accordingly.

21 October 2020 - NW2268

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Thembekwayo, Dr S to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

(a) What measures has he taken to dissuade the National Student Financial Aid Scheme from defunding the 5000 students they publicly announced they will defund and (b) how are students expected to complete their studies if the defunding of the students continues?

Reply:

(a) Section 38 (g) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) on the duties of Accounting Officers dictates thaton discovery of any unauthorized, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure, must immediately report, in writing, particulars of the expenditure to the relevant treasury, and in the case of irregular expenditure involving the procurement of goods or services, also to the relevant tender board;”.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) unfunded students whom it discovered were funded above the approved policy thresholds of R350 000 annual family income (students registered for the first time from 2018 onwards) and R122 000 annual family income (pre-2018 continuing students). The declared income on applications were verified against income declared to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). If NSFAS continued to fund these students above the approved policy thresholds, such expenditure would be classified as irregular.  The Minister could therefore not dissuade NSFAS from taking this action, as continuing the funding would be in contravention of the PFMA.

The Minister ensured that students whose funding was withdrawn due to the SARS income verification process had an opportunity to provide further evidence and appeal the decision by NSFAS.

(b) Students who successfully appealed the decision will continue to be funded by NSFAS. Students who did not appeal, or whose appeal was unsuccessful, may look to other sources of funding to support their studies, as they do not qualify as NSFAS beneficiaries.

20 October 2020 - NW2004

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Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Social Development

With reference to her reply to question 1264 on 19 June 2020, (a) on what date will the process of appointing additional assessment doctors in (i) George and (ii) Boland region be finalised and (b) what other measures does the SA Social Security Agency have in place to ensure that the backlog of assessments in George is cleared up?

Reply:

SASSA George Local Office:

Currently, the George Local Office has 3 contracted medical doctors with the focus on medical assessments for clients who could not fulfil their medical appointments due to the lockdown.

The SASSA George Local Office has also engaged the District of the Department of Health for the opening of the clinics and to make more doctors available for client initiated medical assessments. The District of the Department of Healthcould only assist with the opening of the clinics for theSASSA contracted doctors to commence with the client initiated medical assessments.

b) The following measures are in place to eradicate the existing backlog of clients waiting to be assessed.

  • Fridays are dedicated for disability applications/appointments at SASSA local offices
  • 9 contracted doctors are available to render services with the process to contract more doctors underway.
  • Bookings for assessments are done according to a schedule agreed between SASSA and Department of Health.
  • Clients are contacted and given a date for assessment.
  • Only a limited number of clients can be booked on a specific day at a specific site due to the need to comply with the health measures in place.
  • The Department of Health also follows a health initiated process where the treating doctor requests and completes the medical form for clients that they deal with and where they feel a disability grant is warranted. SASSA will then contact the client for an appointment to complete the administrative application process.

National AssemblyWritten Reply: 2004 of 2020

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

20 October 2020 - NW1

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Groenewald, Dr PJ to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

(1) What number of (a) firearms and (b) ammunition of each (i) type and (ii) calibre were (aa) stolen and (bb) lost or went missing in the South African National Defence Force (aaa) during the periods (aaaa) 1 April 2017 and 31 December 2019. (2) What number of the specified (a) firearms and (b) ammunition (i) were recovered and/or (i) found to be linked to crimes. (3) Whether any persons and/or officials have been prosecuted successfully for negligence and/or theft of firearms and ammunition in military possession; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case. (4) What measures has the department introduced to combat the theft and loss of firearms and ammunition in military possession.

Reply:

1. (1&2) (a)(i) (ii)(aa) (bb)(aaa)(aaaa) - 1 April 2017 until 31 December 2019

(a) Firearms

S/No

 

Number Stolen

Number Lost

Action taken

 

Type

Calibre

     
 

a

b

c

d

e

01

R4

5.56mm

47

None

Case still under investigation

02

R 5

5.56mm

10

None

Case still under investigation

03

Star

9mm

04

None

Case still under investigation

04

Z88

9mm

10

None

Case still under investigation

05

Sig Sauer

9mm

02

None

Case still under investigation

06

Baretta

9mm

05

None

Case still under investigation

07

Vector

9mm

01

None

Case still under investigation

08

Glock

9mm

01

None

Case still under investigation

b) Ammunition

S/No

Ammunition

Type

Calibre

Stolen

Lost

Action taken

 

a

b

c

e

f

g

01

Small calibre ammunition

R4/R5

5.56mm

7618

None

Case still under investigation

02

Small calibre ammunition

9mm

9mm

07

None

Case still under investigation

03

Small calibre ammunition

LMG

7.62mm

04

None

Case still under investigation

04

Small calibre ammunition

5.45mm

5.45mm

340

None

Case still under investigation

05

Small calibre ammunition

9.19mm

9.19mm

01

None

Case still under investigation

06

Small calibre ammunition

12.7mm

12.7mm

01

None

Case still under investigation

07

Yellow smoke grenade

Yellow smoke grenade

Yellow smoke grenade

01

None

Case still under investigation

08

Stun grenade

Stun grenade

Stun grenade

01

None

Case still under investigation

2. What number of the specified firearms and ammunition were recovered and/or found to be linked to crimes.

(a) None

19 October 2020 - NW2061

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Whitfield, Mr AG to ask the Minister of Police

Whether (a) he and (b) any member of his VIP protection detail own and carry a licensed firearm; if not, what is the position in each case; if so, what (i) total number of the members of his VIP protection detail own and carry a firearm and (ii) are the relevant details in each case?

Reply:

(a) The reply to this question may directly affect the safety and security of the Minister of Police and, therefore, it cannot be provided.
(b) Close protectors, who are in possession of the required permits, in terms of the Firearm Control Act, 2000 (Act No. 60. 2000), are issued with South African Police Service (SAPS) firearms, as per their SAPS108 personnel inventories.
The reply to the remainder of the question may directly affect the safety and security of the Minister of Police and, therefore, it cannot be provided.
(b)(i) The reply to this question may directly affect the safety and security of the Minister of Police. However, it can be confirmed that the close protectors carry SAPS firearms, which are issued to persons who have the required permits, in terms of the Firearms Control Act.
(b)(ii) The reply to this question may directly affect the safety and security of the Minister of Police. However, it can be confirmed that the close protectors carry SAPS firearms, which are issued to persons who have the required permits, in terms of the Firearms Control Act.

Reply to question 2061 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2020/10/09

Reply to question 2061 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 18/10/2020

19 October 2020 - NW1913

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De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Tourism

With reference to her reply to question 1128 on 28 October 2019, (a) on what date were the performance agreements for (i) her and (ii) the Deputy Minister finalised and signed and (b) what are the key performance indicators used to monitor the deadlines set in the performance agreements for her and the Deputy Minister respectively?

Reply:

(a)(i) In line with the President’s announcement in his State of the Nation Address on 13 February 2020 that Ministers will contract with him and sign performance agreements, agreement were prepared. However, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected government’s plans and budgets, resulting in the tabling of a Supplementary Budget by the Minister of Finance in June 2020. The reprioritisation had an impact on departments’ Strategic Plans 2020-2025 and APPs 2020/2021, therefore government departments had to revise their APPs. Subsequently, the performance agreements of Members of the Executive were revised taking into account the new fiscal environment.

The Minister of Tourism’s Performance Agreement was submitted to the Presidency on 24 July 2020, as directed by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation’s (DPME) Circular to all Ministers, signed by the Minister in the Presidency on 17 July 2020.

The finalisation and signing of the Minister’s Performance Agreement (PA) with the President is dependent upon the completion of DPME’Sevaluation outcome of the Minister’s PA,.

(ii) Once the above process has been concluded, the Minister will enter into an agreement with the Deputy Minister to provide support relating to key responsibility areas in her performance agreement. No PA is signed by the Deputy Minister and the President.

(b) (i) The key performance indicators will be confirmed upon the signing of the Performance Agreement by the Minister and the President.

(ii) Refer to (a) (ii)

19 October 2020 - NW2094

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Hunsinger, Mr CH to ask the Minister of Police

(1) What total number of persons have been arrested who were involved in (a) hijackings and (b) arson attacks in the road freight sector during the protest and disruptions that occurred (i) in Mooirivier in 2018, (ii) on the N3 in KwaZulu-Natal, (iii) on the N1 and N7 in Cape Town and (iv) during any other specified protest incidents that have been reported to the SA Police Service; (2) whether any of the specified persons have been granted bail; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW2654E

Reply:


(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) and (2)

The information is not readily available and must be obtained from the provinces. A request is made for an extension of 14 days, to obtain the information and provide the response.

Reply to question 2094 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 2020-10-09

Reply to question 2094 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 18-10-2020

19 October 2020 - NW2269

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Thembekwayo, Dr S to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education

What measures has been taken against (a) officials and (b) contractors responsible for the construction of Mayibuye Primary School in Tembisa, which was built over a wetland and has not been used since its completion?

Reply:

  The question has been referred to the Gauteng Department of Education and a response will be provided as soon as it is received.

19 October 2020 - NW2105

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Whitfield, Mr AG to ask the Minister of Police

What (a) total number of SA Police Service members have had cases gender-based violence opened against them, (b) is the name of each police station where the specified members are based and (c) are the crimes that have been perpetrated in each case? NW 2666E

Reply:

(a) A total of 139 members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) have had cases, relating to gender-based violence opened against them, 2019/2020.
(b) The names of the police stations, per province, where the specified members are based, are reflected in the table below:

Find here: Province; Name of each police station where the specified members are based

19 October 2020 - NW2122

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Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Police

(1) With reference to visits seen on media platforms relating to the recent destruction of property and land invasion that have been taking place in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, where members of the SA Police (SAPS) were seen standing and watching, (a) what is his position on police standing and watching while property is being vandalised and lives threatened and (b) is this allowed; (2) what number of public order police units are deployed in each province with the issue of (i) land invasions and (ii) destruction of property? NW2684E

Reply:

(1)(a)(b) The mandate of the South African Police Service (SAPS), as set out in Section 205(3) of the Constitution of Republic of South Africa, 1996, is to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property and to uphold and enforce the law. It is, therefore, important to note that the mandate of the SAPS is not only to protect the lives and property of persons, but to upload and enforce the law, including the rights of landowners.

The SAPS has taken not of the recent judgement, which was delivered in the Western Cape (Cape Town) High Court, in the matter of the South African Human Rights Commission v The City of Cape Town, for the police to protect and respect the rights of victims and enforce the law. In view of the judgment, the SAPS reaffirms its commitment to respect the fundamental rights of every person and reaffirms its responsibility to execute its constitutional mandate, including the responsibility to uphold and enforce the law.

(2)(i)(ii)

Province

Number of Pubic Order Policing (POP) Units

Number of Public Order Policing (POP) members

Eastern Cape

7

692

Gauteng

6

1097

Free State

6

498

KwaZulu-Natal

7

1125

Limpopo

6

498

Mpumalanga

5

426

Northern Cape

5

374

North West

3

436

Western Cape

4

520


There is no specific capacity assigned to land invasions and destruction of property POP members are deployed, where and when required

Reply to question 2122 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
KJ SITOLE
Date:

19 October 2020 - NW2103

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Whitfield, Mr AG to ask the Minister of Police

What are the reasons for the decline in performance by the National Forensic Science Laboratories during the third quarter with respect to percentage of (a) integrated Ballistics Identification Systems intelligence case exhibits and (b) biology Deoxyriboncleic Acid intelligence case exhibits that have been finalised? NW2663E

Reply:

(a) The decline in performance, during the third quarter of 2019/2020, with regard to the percentage of integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) intelligence case exhibits, was due to the lack of maintenance contract, for the IBIS. The maintenance contract has now been finalised, which resulted in an increase in performance

(b) The decline in performance, during the third quarter of 2019/2020, with regard to the percentage of biology Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) intelligence case exhibits, was due to laboratory instruments not being serviced, as well as a shortage of consumables, which is necessary for DNA analysis to be carried out. This was due to limited funds. The operational budget was increased, which enabled the servicing of laboratory instruments and the purchase of consumables, which in turn resulted in improved performance.

Reply to question 2103 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SREVICE
KJ SITOLE (SOEG)
Date: 202-10-09

Reply to question 2103 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 18/10/2020

19 October 2020 - NW2104

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Whitfield, Mr AG to ask the Minister of Police

What(a) total number of the VIP Protection Service are being investigated for (i) criminal charges (ii) civil charges and (iii) internal disciplinary charges and (b) are the relevant details in each case? NW2664E

Reply:

(a)(i) A total of 14 members of the Very Important Persons (VIP) Protection Service, are being investigated for criminal charges.
(a)(ii) No member of the VIP Protection Service, is being investigated for civil charges.
(a)(iii) A total of six members, of the VIP Protection Service, are being investigated for internal disciplinary charges

(b) The relevant details are reflected in the table below

10

Common assault

Pending

11

Sexual assault

Pending

12

Driving under the influence of alcohol

Pending

13

Pointing of firearm

Pending

14

Negligent loss of firearm

Pending

 

DEPARTMENTAL CASES

 

No

Description

Status

1

Contravention of Regulation 11(b)(1)(A) of Disaster Management Act (DMA)

Investigation finalised – hearing pending

2

Contravention of protection order

Pending – member admitted for rehabilitation

3

Driving under the influence of alcohol

Investigation finalised – hearing pending

4

Murder

Investigation finalised – hearing pending

5

Discharge of firearm /pointing of firearm

Investigation finalised – hearing pending

6

Regulation 5(3)(g),(n),(u)

Investigation finalised – hearing pending

19 October 2020 - NW1977

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Mohlala, Ms MR to ask the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation

Given that the community of Motala Farm in Ward 15 in the Ethekwini region has been without houses and proper sanitation since the dawn of democracy and that even though land was identified on which to build them houses, nothing has been done, by what date does she envisage will her department build proper houses and provide sanitation to the specified community?

Reply:

Based on the information provided by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Provincial Department of Human Settlements, the project is at a pre-feasibility stage. An application was received by the Provincial Department of Human Settlements from eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which was duly processed and feedback was accordingly provided to the Metropolitan Municipality. The eThekwini Metro is currently incorporating all the comments received from the Provincial Department of Human Settlements, to ensure that the project meets the funding criteria for the Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG).

The table below provides the timeframes and envisaged dates for the execution of project tasks which includes the construction of houses.

Activity

Time Frame

Approval of project implementation funding

February 2021

Detailed planning studies

October 2019 - June 2021

Pre – Implementation Submission Consultations

April 2021

Final planning application submission

May 2021

Planning approval

June 2021

Submission and approval of Tranche 2 application to Provincial Department

July – September 2021

Installation of Services

October 2021 - March 2022

Top structure construction

April 2022

16 October 2020 - NW2086

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Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development

With reference to the more than 20 000 fraud cases reported by the SA Social Security Agency in 2019, what (a) total number of the specified cases have been resolved, (b) total amount has been recovered, (c) total number of implicated persons have been (i) fired, (ii) suspended, (iii) imprisoned and (iv) found not guilty and (d) total amount has been (i) lost through fraud and (ii) spent on investigations?

Reply:

a) A total of 19448 cases out of 23240 SASSA card related fraud cases reported in 2019 have been resolved. The bulk of these cases involved the fraudulent re-issuance of SASSA/SAPO cards resulting in genuine grant beneficiaries not receiving their money.

b) The money lost during 2019 was reimbursed by the South African Post Office to the value of R45 150 091.32.

c) Regarding implicated officials, this fraud happened within the SAPO environment. In total;

(i) A total of 14 SAPO employees have been dismissed

(ii) Information on the number of employees who have been (ii) suspendedand (iv) found not guilty has been requested from SAPO.

(iii) Seventy two (72) people were arrested of which 14 were SAPO employees.

d) In 2019, the total amount

(i) lost through the SASSA card fraud was R54 055 131.70.

(ii) spent on all fraud investigations in SASSA, including investigations conducted by the Special Investigation Unit was R18 915 137.00.

National AssemblyWritten Reply: 2086 of 2020

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

16 October 2020 - NW2172

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Zungula, Mr V to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour

Whether, based on Mr. Edwin Sodi’s recent testimony at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, which implicated him as a beneficiary of Mr. Sodi’s company, he declared the funds he had received from the specified company in accordance with the requirements of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act, Act 82 of 1998, to the Registrar of Members’ Interests in Parliament; if not, what (a) total number of contracts have been awarded to Mr. Sodi’s company under his leadership in his (i) previous and (ii) current Ministerial portfolios and (b) is the monetary value of each specified contract so awarded?

Reply:

Minister Nxesi never received any money from Mr Sodi or his company. As Mr Sodi clarified at the Zondo Commission that the amount of R15 000 was paid directly to the learners’ school account and R30 000 paid directly for accommodation of other two learners to allow them to continue with their schooling.

Therefore, since the payments were not directly made to the Minister, there was no obligation to declare such in terms of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act 82 of 1998. Minister Nxesi is not related in any manner to the learners.

To the Minister’s knowledge, Mr Sodi or his company did not get any gratification for this kind gesture in a form of contracts from Departments under his leadership.

16 October 2020 - NW1281

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Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development

(1)Whether (a)(i) her department and (ii) its entities reporting to her, (b) the SA Social Security Agency and (c) the National Development Agency utilised a certain law firm (name furnished) over the past five financial years ending on 31 March 2020; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (i) what total number of legal cases has the firm concluded for the period listed above and (ii) cases does the firm have pending currently, (iii) what was the total cost implications of all the legal cases, (iv) why did her department not utilise the state attorney offices in the above listed matters and (v) what was the success rate of cases; (2) whether she will provide Ms A L A Abrahams with a list of legal representation done by non-state legal firms on behalf of her department in the specified period?

Reply:

1. (b)SASSA has not utilised the services of this law firm.

2. (c) NDA - Yes

(i) There is one (1) case pending.

(ii) There is one (1) case pending.

(iii) The NDA paid R817 462.68 to date and an amount of R1 235 992,35 has accrued but not yet paid.

(iv) According to the State Attorneys Act, 1957 the functions of the state attorney and of its branches shall be in any court or in any part of the Republic.

(v) 100% success rate. They successfully obtained the order in favour of the NDA but the other party is taking the matter on appeal.

DSD:

  1. (a) There are no records indicating that the Department utilised the service provider of Barnabas Xulu and Partners Inc. over the past five financial years ending on 31 March 2020
  2. Yes, Harris NupenMolebatsi Attorneys

National Assembly written Reply: 1281 of 2020

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

PROPOSED

DSD

SASSA

NDA

NO OF

  1. (a) There are no records indicating that the Department utilised the service provider of Barnabas Xulu and Partners Inc. over the past five financial years ending on 31 March 2020

 

(b) sassa has not utilised services of this law firm

( c ) yes

 
  1. Yes, Harris NupenMolebatsi Attorneys
     
       

16 October 2020 - NW2280

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Mkhonto, Ms C N to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour

What total number of cases have been reported of medical service providers who refused to assist the Compensation Fund in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019?

Reply:

Unfortunately, Honourable Member Mkhonto, Compensation fund does not have this information as it is not information required in support of a claim.

16 October 2020 - NW1669

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Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development

(1)What were the reasons that her department procured 80 000 1L alcohol-free hand sanitisers for welfare service facilities in the nine provinces from a certain company (name furnished) to the value of R6 716 000,00 instead of alcohol based sanitisers containing a minimum of 60% alcohol as prescribed by the World Health Organization, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and other respected health organisations; (2) what is the name of each welfare facilities where the alcohol free hand sanitisers were distributed?

Reply:

1. The non-alcohol sanitizers were procured for substance abuse facilities to prevent the likelihood of misuse by the inmates. It should however be noted that even alcohol based sanitizers were procured for other facilities which do not face a risk of abuse by the beneficiaries.

2. The national Department of Social Development procured the sanitisers,which were distributed to facilities by ProvincialDepartments.

National AssemblyWritten Reply: 1669 of 2020

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

16 October 2020 - NW2282

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Mkhonto, Ms C N to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour

(1)On what legal provisions does his department rely to allow the involvement of third parties in the Compensation Fund claims process; (2) whether he has found that the involvement of third parties in the Compensation Fund claims process leads to irregularities and/or inefficiencies; if not, why are they identified as part of the challenge; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1: These is no legal provision that allows or prohibits the involvement of third parties.

2: Yes, this createchallenges in the processing of claims. Claims processing is often delayed due to outstanding information required while medical service providers are paid and the injured workers remain unpaid as the Fund is unable to finalise the claims due to the outstanding claims information.

16 October 2020 - NW2066

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Ngwenya, Ms DB to ask the Minister of Social Development

(1)Whether her department has done any study on the total number of unregistered early childhood development (ECD) centres in the Republic; if not, why not; if so, what is the total number of ECD centres; (2) Whatsteps will she take to ensure that unregistered ECD centres adhere to Covid-19 requirements for social distancing?

Reply:

1. Yes , the total number of unregistered ECD centres identified is50 118; and 1041 non centre based programmes.

2. ECD centres will submit self-administered re-opening assessment accompanied by an application for support. Application must be verified by the department or appointed NGO/ECD forums/community network (NGO partner) available in the community. The SOPs prescribes 1.5m social distancing measures which both registered and unregistered ECD centres should adhere to as one of the COVID 19 requirements.ECD programmes are encouraged to put measures in place to adhere to social distancing.

National AssemblyWritten Reply: 2066 of 2020

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

16 October 2020 - NW2281

Profile picture: Mkhonto, Ms C N

Mkhonto, Ms C N to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour

What was the total number of unpaid medical claims by the Compensation Fund by the end of September 2020?

Reply:

As at 30 September 2020, there are 67 338 unpaid invoices amounting to R 206 588 327,00 out of the 319 801 invoices submitted to the Compensation Fund amounting to R1 168 693 890.4. The 67 338 unpaid invoices are made up of the following categories:

Invoice Status

Invoices Received

Total Amount

Description

Invoice Pended

9 458

R37 610 836,46

Invoice processed but information is outstanding

Open Assessment

5 914

R38 957 337,51

The invoices are in assessment stage  

Open Invoice Entry

34 983

R56 791 275,32

Invoices have been  received, not yet processed

Parked Payment

932

R2 833 159,31

Invoices have been  assessed, to be referred to finance

To be Approved

15 952

R66 633 867,42

Invoices have been  fully assessed, awaiting approval

No Status

99

R3 761 851,13

Invoice partially processed, to be assessed for further statuses

 

 

 

 

 

67 338

R206 588 327,15

 

15 October 2020 - NW1583

Profile picture: Steyn, Ms A

Steyn, Ms A to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

Whether her department transferred the R100 million Covid-19 agricultural support funding to the Land Bank; if not, why not; if so, (a) on what date was the funding transferred and (b) what criteria and/or conditions are attached for the use of this fund?

Reply:

Yes.

(a) 06August 2020.

(b) The R100 million grant funding from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) will be applied for loan instalment waiver of no more than one annual instalments due per client whose business operations have experienced distress due to the impacts of COVID-19 and associated intervention measures implemented by government. This concession will be applicable for distress for the period starting on 1 April to 31 December 2020 for instalments due.

Each beneficiary is eligible for amounts ranging from R500 000 to R1.5 million per client for qualifying farming legalentities or individuals including related parties. The applicant must complete and submit a grant funding application form with the required supporting documentation.The application period commencesfrom the date of announcement and will close after onemonthto allow time for submission and collection of required information by clients.

The following are not eligible for Covid-19 agricultural support funding:

  • Distressed accounts prior to April 2020;
  • Distressed accounts due to reasons other than Covid-19 are excluded fromthis supportbut may apply using normal Land Bank criteria;
  • Non-Land Bank clients; and
  • This intervention will not extend the loan tenure nor interest burden to the entitiessupported through this intervention.

14 October 2020 - NW2087

Profile picture: Masango, Ms B

Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development

What are the details of the work that a certain company (name furnished) is doing for (a) the SA Social Security Agency and/or (b) its partners with regard to the distribution of grants?

Reply:

(a) SASSA does not have any contract with Blue Label

(b) N/A

National AssemblyWritten Reply: 2087 of 2020

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

14 October 2020 - NW1885

Profile picture: Ndlozi, Dr MQ

Ndlozi, Dr MQ to ask the Minister of Finance

(a) What total amount has (i) the NationalTreasury and (ii) all entities reporting to him spent on (aa) Covid-19 related activities and (bb) personal protective equipment from 1 March 2020 to 29 July 2020, (b) what goods and/or services were procured, (c) what procurement processes were followed, (d) what are the details of each company that was awarded a contract, (e) on what date was each contract awarded and (f) what was the monetary value of each contract?

Reply:

NATIONAL TREASURY

(i) The department procured the following goods and services connected to the Covid-19 pandemic:

(d)

Name of company

(aa)

Covid-19 related activities

(bb)

Personal Protective Equipment

(c)

Method of procurement

(b)

Service and/or product that each company rendered

Lechoba Medical Technologies

R182 263.50

-

Three quotations

Hand sanitizers

Masana Hygiene Services

R156 302.26

-

Three quotations

Hand sanitizers liquid dispensers

 

R121 446.00

-

Three quotations

Building decontamination

 

R3 801.00

-

Three quotations

 
 

R10 500.00

-

Three quotations

 

Nesoscope Holdings (Pty) Ltd

R68 410.50

-

Emergency deviation on existing contract

Surface sanitizers

MPM Enviro Enterprise

-

R342 125.00

Three quotations

N95 masks and latex gloves

Class Three Medical Solution

R12 128.82

-

Three quotations

Thermometers

Tsuamo Civils (Pty) Ltd.

R9 000.00

-

Three quotations

Building decontamination

 

R1 900.00

-

1 quotation amount below R2000.00 SCM threshold

 
 

R75 950.00

-

Emergency deviation memo approved

 
 

R80 850.00

-

Three quotations

 

Khulanathi Black Ginger

-

R135 125.00

Three quotations

Cloth masks reusable

Benixo Utility Services

R98 640.00

-

Three quotations

Building decontamination

Armani Office Solutions

R5 900.65

-

Three quotations

Face shields

Techcon Systems Pty Ltd

(f)

R332 062.50

-

Three quotations

(e)

Contract signed on
7 July 2020

Rental, supply, installation, replenishing and maintenance of foot operated hand sanitizer dispensers.

TOTAL

(a) R1 636 405.23

   

ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD

(a)(aa) R2 592.29

(bb) R2 681.00

(b)

Lockdown expenditure to enable staff to work from home

 

What?

From whom?

Process

Month

Amount

1 Printer cartridge

Reimbursement of staff member

Internet purchase by staff member from Takealot

30 June 2020

R229.00

DATA top up

MTN

Existing contract

May, June, July

R2 104.00

Zoom license

Zoom

Internet purchase

15 July 2020

R259.29

PPE

       

3 COVID 19 posters

UVO Communications

3 written quotes

28 May 2020

R414.00

3 Ply facemasks

Takealot

3 written quotes

30 June 2020

R370.00

1 infrared thermometer

Alphabetsoup

3 written quotes

8 May 2020

R1 897.00

CO-OPERATIVE BANKS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

The CBDA did not send on Covid-19 related activities since CBDA is housed in the National

Treasury (NT) building and follow NT protocols.

DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA

a) ii) (aa) R 57,530,574-20

(bb) R 27,578,337-70

 

b) Drilling and equipping of borehole pumps

Isolation Pods

Screening Units

PCR Testing machinery and consumables

Microbial Fogging

Deep Cleaning

PPE

 

c) Drilling and equipping of borehole pumps – open advertised tender

Isolation Pods – single source emergency COVID19 procurement

Screening Units – open advertised tender

PCR Testing machinery and consumables – sole source

Microbial Fogging – 1 quote emergency COVID19 procurement

Deep Cleaning – Request for Quote to 3 service providers

PPE – where value was less than R10,000, 1 quote. Where value exceeded R10000, competitive Request for Quotation to 32 companies.

The following section constitutes responses to sections (d), (e) and (f) in tabular format:

Description of goods and services

(d)

(e)

(f)

 

Company name

Company Registration

Date contract was awarded

Contract

Amount

Drilling and equipping of borehole pumps

MVULA TECH

2001/046344/23

25 June 2020

R 807,058.50

 

MICROZONE PROJECTS

2014/114267/07

 

R 2,962,860.00

 

KOLWANA

2010/102453/23

 

R 2,684,675.00

 

NDZALO

2016/294581/07

 

R 1,674,342.50

 

BLUE STAR

2011/036213/23

 

R 2,218,177.50

 

MAGISTRA

2015/170215/07

 

R 2,205,700.00

 

ZHEMVELO

2016/412151/07

 

R 769,860.00

 

ZITHUNZUZO

2006/103795/23

 

R 377,775.00

 

ZITHUNZUZO

2006/103795/23

 

R 368,000.00

 

MTHOMBELI

2008/190157/23

 

R 855,660.38

 

MSK CONSTRUCTIONS

2014/174945/07

 

R 442,218.13

Isolation pods

Everblock SA

 

24 June 2020

R 14,124,600.00

Description of goods and services

(d)

(e)

(f)

 

Company name

Company Registration

Date contract was awarded

Contract

Amount

Screening units

Abacus Space Solutions - Division of Waco Africa

 

02 July 2020

R 827,087.48

 

Container Conversions

   

R 1,054,099.20

 

Kwikspace Modular Buildings

   

R 2,345,550.81

PCR Testing machinery and consumables

LTC Tech SA Pty Ltd

 

15 May 2020

R 22,341,159.74

Microbial Fogging

Kagollo

2012/024874/07

26 March 2020 and 28 April 2020

R 480,000.00 and

R 480,000.00

Deep Cleaning

Lapeng la gae

2009/032219/23

18 March 2020 and

05 May 2020

R 241,500.00 and

R 270,250.00

Description of goods and services

(d)

(e)

(f)

 

Company name

Company Registration

Date contract was awarded

Contract

Amount

PPE

Supra-Health Care (Pty) Ltd

2007/027848/07

21 May 2020

R 1,815,401.50

 

BEADICA 423 CC

2011/085389/23

03 July 2020

R 3,010,781.25

 

PSR Solutions (Pty) Ltd

2014/183355/07

18 June 2020 and

03 July 2020

R 2,547,000.00

and R770,525.00

 

DPA Diesel and Electrical Services (PTY) LTD T/A DPA Chem

1961/000129/07

18 June 2020 and

03 July 2020

R 4,990,198.00

and R 2,325,250.00

 

GTL Consulting (Pty) Ltd

2016/202388/07

18 June 2020

R 11,765,000.00

 

Tumis Projects

2014/073200/07/23

29 July 2020

R 85,750.00

 

Melokuhle

2012/197977/07

18 May 2020 and 21 May 2020

R 75,637.82

 

Mmusi

2009/101050/23

15 June 2020 and

05 August 2020

R 9,400.00

And

R4,700.00

 

Steiner

1969/005893/07

from 30 March 2020 to 13 July 2020

R 37,557.68

Description of goods and services

(d)

(e)

(f)

 

Company name

Company Registration

Date contract was awarded

Contract

Amount

PPE

KPRG

1996/051772/23

18 March 2020 and

24 March 2020

R 32,056.25

 

Protechnik Laboratories

1968/008611/30

18 May 2020

R 9,394.70

 

Life Occupation

2012/07783/07

30 March 2020

R 1,185.30

 

Servest

1997/006391/07

04 June 2020

R 4,844.20

 

Hamisi

2015/077626/07

30 April 2020

R 93,656.00

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE

FINANCIAL SERVICES CONDUCT AUTHORITY

FSCA spent for Covid-19 related activities and personal protective equipment is as follows:

a) The total amount of R341 884.20 was spent from 1 March 2020 to 29 July 2020.

b) goods and/ services that were procured are:

  1. Cloth masks;
  2. Hand sanitizers;
  3. All-purpose wipes / cloths;
  4. Digital body thermometer infrared non-contact;
  5. Disposable gloves; and
  6. Sanitizing/Disinfecting of FSCA and FST Buildings;

c) All items were procured from existing cleaning, hygiene and pest control services contract with Masana Hygiene Services except for cloth masks which were procured from The Express Penguin Consultancy (Pty)Ltd identified from the list of SMEs provided by National Treasury.

d) Details of suppliers:

(i) Masana Hygiene Service (Pty) Ltd, Registration number - 2014/110265/07, Business Address - Block 1 Falcon Crest Office Park, 142 South Street, Dooringkloof, Centurion; Contact numbers - 012 663 1626; 071 571 7311. Owned by TSHILILO CYNTHIA MKHOMBO and MIKATEKO RICHARD MKHOMBO;

(ii) The Express Penguin Consultancy (Pty) Ltd, Registration number 2015/194676/07, Business Address - 33 Dane Road, Castenhof, Midrand, contact numbers – 084 974 0016, Owned by Pamela Lozizwe Ngwenya

e) No new contract was awarded between 01 March 2020 to 29 July 2020.

f) Not applicable, see (a) and (e) above.

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PENSION FUND

(aa) The GEPF spend a total of R74 462.45 on Covid-19 related activities.

(bb) The GEPF spend a total of R35 552.23 on personal protective equipment

(b) The GEPF purchase the following personal protective equipment:

  • Masks
  • Cloves
  • Face shields
  • Bottle spray trigger
  • Sanitizer
  • Protective overalls
  • Infra red thermometer
  • Multi surface wet wipes

The GEPF disinfected its office space on two occasions after positive Covid-19 cases were reported.

(c) Emergency procurement processes were followed to disinfect the GEPF’s offices and the existing contract with a cleaning service was utilized. All personal protective equipment was purchased from suppliers.

(d) MasanaHigiene Services disinfected the GEPF’s offices.

(e) The GEPF’s offices was disinfected on 6 May and 8 June 2020.

(f) The total value was R38 910.23

GOVERNMENT TECHNICAL ADVISORY CENTRE

a) Total spent on:

aa) Covid19 activities is R446, 562.27

bb) PPE from 1 March 2020 to 29 July 2020 isR27,500.00

b) Goods procured include:

  1. 500 branded face masks for GTAC employees.
  2. Clear Perspex screens to serve as desk dividers.
  3. Additional data sim cards were procured to enable staff to work from home.

c) All procurement took the form of Requests for Quotations. Data sim cards were requested on the existing Vodacom RT15 contract.

d) See table below.

e) See table below.

f) See table below.

SUMMARY TABLE FOR COVID-19 RELATED ACTIVITIES FOR GTAC

Description

Method of Procurement

Request No

Date Procured

Service Provider

Companies Registration Nr

Quantity

Total Invoice

GTAC branded 2-ply netted face masks

RFQ

RFQ/2020-21/185

2020/05/28

Mothizamo Trading

2016/445473/07

500

R27,500.00

COVID19 clear perspex screens for all GTAC desks: Phase 1 (Programme 1 and 3)

RFQ

RFQ/2020-21/191

2020/07/06

Maverick Business Solutions

Agreement with NT Reg: 2012/111721/07

305.7m

R165,385.81

COVID19 clear perspex screens for all GTAC desks: Phase 2 (Programme 2)

RFQ

RFQ/2020-21/195

2020/08/21

Pheladi Maisa Trading

2009/214327/23

84.4m

R53,500.00

Mobile Voice and Data - Working From Home

Existing Vodacom RT15-2016 Contract

N/A

April - August 2020

Vodacom

N/A

7 Voice Lines

39 Data Sims

Data claims from staff without Vodacom connectivity up to maximum of R487.50 per month

R200, 176.46

GOVERNMENT PENSIONS ADMINISTRATIONS AGENCY

The Government Pensions Administrations Agency has kept a spreadsheet to monitor the Covid-19 expenditure incurred.

Please find attached the most recently updated spreadsheet to answer (aa), (bb), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f).

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BOARD FOR AUDITORS

1 - COVID-19 related activities between 1 March and 29 July 2020

     

GOODS AND SERVICES PROCURED

PROCUREMENT PROCESSES FOLLOWED

COMPANIES APPOINTED

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER

DATE OF APPOINTMENT

VALUE OF EACH CONTRACT

(b)

(c)

(d)

(d)

(d)

(f)

SANITISERS AND WET WIPES

3 QUOTATIONS

SERVEST

1997/006391/07

11/03/2020

3 795.00

SURFACE DISINFECTANT, THERMOMETERS

3 QUOTATIONS

WE CLEAN IT ALL SHOP

2017/509402/07

29/04/2020

5 500.00

           

HAND SANITIZER REFILL SACHETS

3 QUOTATIONS

WE CLEAN IT ALL SHOP

2017/509402/07

11/06/2020

10 800.00

       
  1. (aa)

20 095.00

2 - Spent on procurement of PPEs

         

GOODS AND SERVICES PROCURED

PROCUREMENT PROCESSES FOLLOWED

COMPANIES APPOINTED

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER

DATE OF APPOINTMENT

VALUE OF EACH CONTRACT

(b)

(c)

(d)

(d)

(d)

(f)

180 x FACE MASKS FOR STAFF MEMBERS ( Note 1)

 3 QUOTATIONS

RITA HATTINGH (employee of the IRBA)

IRBA STAFF MEMBER - NO COMPANY ESTABLISHED

09/06/2020

3 150.00

HAND SANITISERS

3 QUOTATIONS

SERVEST

1997/006391/07

29/04/2020

6 513.60

RECEPTION DESK SCREEN

3 QUOTATIONS

SIGNARAMA

2011/099901/23

03/06/2020

4 143.43

GLOVES

3 QUOTATIONS

WE CLEAN IT ALL SHOP

2017/509402/07

29/04/2020

1 850.00

SANITATION STATIONS

3 QUOTATIONS

WE CLEAN  IT ALL SHOP

2017/509402/07

11/06/2020

12 150.00

       
  1. (bb)

27 807.03

Note 1:

The face masks were obtained by obtaining 3 quotes and the IRBA employee was the cheapest. A first batch of 90 masks were ordered and when the OHS regulations were published an additional batch of 90 were purchased. Total transaction value of R3 150.

PENSION FUNDS ADJUDICATOR

LAND BANK

(aa) Covid-19 related activities:

(bb) personal protective equipment from 1 March 2020 to 29 July 2020, (b) what goods and/or services were procured, (c) what procurement processes were followed, (d) what are the details of each company that was awarded a contract, (e) on what date was each contract awarded and (f) what was the monetary value of each contract?

OFFICE OF THE OMBUD FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDERS

The total value of procurement for the period 1 March 2020 to 29 July 2020 was as follows:

SUMMARY OF PROCUREMENT SPEND ON COVID19 BY THE FAISOMBUD 1 MARCH 2020 TO 29 JULY 2020

1.

Covid19 related expenditure

99 089.98

2.

Personal protective equipment

142 120.27

TOTAL

241 210.25

The detailed breakdown is as follows:

COVID19 RELATED ACTIVITIES

DATE

COMMODITY

METHOD OF PROCUREMENT

SUPPLIER

SUPPLIER REGISTRATION

NUMBER

VALUEOFCONTRACT

(RAND)

29-04-2020

Disinfection, sanitation, fumigation anddeepcleaningoftheofficefora period of 6months

Deviation (One supplier responded to ourrequest)1

Masana Hygiene Services (Pty) Ltd

2014/110265/07

90 098.13

21-07-2020

Emergency disinfection of the office (New Covid19 Case)

Emergency

Masana Hygiene Services (Pty) Ltd

2014/110265/07

8 991.85

TOTAL

99 089.98

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)

ITEM

DATE

COMMODITY

METHOD OF PROCUREMENT

SUPPLIER

SUPPLIER REGISTRATION

NUMBER

VALUEOF CONTRACT

(RAND)

1.

01-05-2020

Cloth masks and digital thermometers

Deviation: Emergency

Masana Hygiene Services (Pty)Ltd

2014/110265/07

R23 768,02

2.

07-05-2020

Surgical masks

Deviation (One supplier responded to ourrequest)2

Dante SA (Pty) Ltd

2014/000057/07

R38 812.50

3.

07-05-2020

Aprons and face shields

Deviation: Emergency

Masana Hygiene Services (Pty)Ltd

2014/110265/07

R4 421,75

4.

11-05-2020

Surgical gloves, stand-alone units and hand sanitizers

Deviation (One supplier responded to ourrequest)3

Dante SA (Pty) Ltd

2014/000057/07

R57 149,25

5.

12-07-2020

Surgical masks

Normal

Vuma Furniture Projects (Pty) Ltd trading as Vuma Office

Supplies

2006/019558/07

R17 968.75

TOTAL

142 120.27

PUBLIC INVESTMENT CORPORATION

  1. The COVID-19 related procurement of the PIC was done in line with the National Treasury Instruction 08 of 2019/20.
  2. These purchases consisted of PPE and other COVID-19 related items.
  3. PPE purchases relate to masks and latex gloves for staff, visitors and service providers working on site.
  4. Other COVID-19 purchases are composed of temperature scanning equipment, sanitisers including foot pedal dispensers, regular microbial fogging of the building and deep cleaning premises.
  5. The table below summarises the COVID-19 related expenditure of the PIC. We have also attached Annexure A which shows the expenditure in detail.

Description

Amount (R)

COVID-19 Normal Procurement

153, 515.00

PPE- Deviations as per Instruction 3.5.1

67, 783.00

Other COVID-19 Deviations as per Instruction 3.5.1

114, 925.00

Total

336, 223.00

SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICES

(a)(i) NT to respond

(ii) A total of R 32, 796, 893 was spent by SARS on Covid-19 related activities and PPE’s from 1 March 2020 to 29 July 2020.

(aa) Total spend on Covid 19 related activities amounts to R 15, 901, 463.

(bb) Total spend on PPE related expenses amounts to R 16, 895, 430.

(b) Services and goods procured is tabled below. Further detail is provided as Annexure A.

Bio boxes & bags

Surgical mask

Dust coats

Dust mask

IT costs

Delivery costs

Tape and Stickers

Cloth masks

Wipes

Spray bottles

Tissues

Covid tests

Glass dividers

Thermometer Scanners

Disinfectants

Sanitisers

Face Shields

Detergents

Gloves

Thermometer

Masks

Decontamination foggers

The IT related cost was to enable staff to work from home. Delivery cost was for centralised purchases to be distributed to regional offices.

(c) The Procurement processes followed includes:

RFQ Process (3 Quotes),

National Treasury Prescribed Emergency Deviation,

Petty Cash,

(d)(e)(f) The detailed information of the Companies used, Dates awarded as well as the monetary value is attached as annexure A.

SASRIA

Spend on COVID-19 related activities between 1 March and 29 July 2020

       

Business requirements

Goods and services procured

Procurement processes followed

Companies appointed

Date of Appointment

Value of contract

1

Hygiene Services - Due to COVID19 pandemic, management took decision to install hand sanitizer dispensers and related chemicals (sanitizers) at entrance and exit points of the buildings for staff hygiene

Hand sanitizer Stands and related sanitizers (alcohol based)

Extension of the existing contract for office hygiene services

Perla Hygiene Solutions (Pty) Ltd (2006/009521/07)

18-Mar-20

R17 955,00

2

Security Services - Due to lockdown, there was a need to extend security service to day services since the offices would not have been manned by Sasria staff

One Grade D security officer

Emergency procurement

CKN Security Services CC (2006/192256/23)

25-Mar-20

R138 150,00

3

Hygiene, Health & Safety Services - In preparation of the offices for staff returning to work after lockdown, certain hygiene measures had to be put in place in the office to ensure safety of staff and visitors in line with the set regulations

• Conduct COVID Site Specific Risk Assessment;
• Develop and Implement COVID Workplace Policy;
• Submit COVID Policy to Department of Employment and Labour;
• Provide HPCSA Registered Medic;
• 1 x COVID – 19 Isolation Booth;
• COVID – 19 Training (Online Training Portal);
• COVID – 19 Screening/Monitoring/Recordkeeping System (Online);
• 2 x No-Touch Thermometers;
• 2 x Automated Disinfectant Tunnel/Sanitazation booth; and
• 200 x Disinfectant Solution/Sanitiser

Emergency procurement

Altra Medical Productions CC (1997/056694/23)

15-May-20

R271 950,00

 

Spend on PPE between 1 March and 29 July 2020

Business Requirement

PPEs procured

Procurement processes followed

Companies awarded contract including company registration number

Date of procurement

Value of contract

1

PPE - staff welcome back-pack (in anticipation for staff to return to the office)

2 x Washable Face Masks, Small Hand Sanitizer, Face Shield and 10 x New Filters

Emergency procurement

Altra Medical Productions CC (1997/056694/23)

15-May-20

R41 250,00

Note: This PPE purchase is included in the 3rd transaction listed above.

TAX OMBUD

  1. (aa). The Office of the Tax Ombud has spent R 224 888.20 on COVID-19 related activities between 1 March and 29 July 2020.
  2. (bb). The Office has spent R 25 764.09 on the procurement of PPEs between 1 March and 29 July 2020. There were other PPEs centrally procured by SARS and shared with OTO, the costs and procurement details is accounted for by SARS.
  3. Table 1 below details (b) goods and/or services procured, (c) procurement processes followed, (d) the details of each company that was awarded a contract, (e) the date was each contract awarded and (f) the monetary value of each contract.

TABLE 1: DETAIL EXPENDITURE ON COVID-19 AND PPE

No

Goods and Services (b)

Process followed (c )

Company awarded (d)

Date of procurement (e)

Value (R)

(f)

1

Surface cleaner, soap dispenser, hand wash, wipes

Petty cash

Clicks

Mar-20

       652.20

2

Surface cleaner, soap dispenser, hand wash, wipes

Petty cash

Dischem

Mar-20

 229.90

3

Disinfectants

Petty cash

Checkers

Mar-20

     474.80

4

Sanitisers

Petty cash

Picknpay

Mar-20

     111.90

5

Sanitisers

Petty cash

Pep Stores

Mar-20

    109.90

5

Sanitisers/Disinfectants

Petty cash

Makro

Mar-20

1 002.30

7

Disposable Gloves

Petty cash

Makro

Mar-20

      726.90

8

Disinfectants, Wipes

Petty cash

Dischem

Mar-20

   160.30

9

Sanitisers

Petty cash

Crazy Plastics

Mar-20

      269.80

10

Bottles for sanitiser

Petty cash

Picknpay

May-20

         79.99

11

Thermometer batteries

Petty cash

Picknpay

May-20

 1 953.20

12

Sanitizing Spray, wet wipes, batteries

Petty cash

Game

Jun-20

      790.80

13

Face shields

Petty cash

Clicks

Jun-20

  652.20

14

Branded Cloth Masks

Request For Quotation (RFQ)

Tammy Tailor Nails

Jul-20

9 275.50

15

Face shields (50) & Wet wipes buckets (2)

SARS Contract

JD Strategic Investments

Jul-20

6 726.60

16

Laptops (8)

Request For Quotation (RFQ)

Ubuntu Technologies

Jul-2020

211 744.40

17

Data Costs  (March to June 2020)

Vodacom Contract with SARS

Vodacom Contract with SARS

Jul-2020

13 143.80

18

Plexiglass shield (4)

Request For Quotation (RFQ)

Domelanco

Jul-20

3 200.00

14 October 2020 - NW2068

Profile picture: Tafeni, Ms N

Tafeni, Ms N to ask the Minister of Social Development

(a) What total number of applicants for the Covid-19 social relief grant have had their applications approved, but are yet to receive the specified grant and (b) by what date will she ensure that all the specified applicants whose applications were approved will receive their social relief grants?

Reply:

Below is a table depicting the applications for each month which were considered, rejected, approved and paid.

PROCESS

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

Applications considered for the month¹

6 605 445

7 518 308

8 346 136

8 881 380

Applications Rejected²

2 180 725

2 454 765

2 770 122

Means tested

Applications Approved

4 424 720

5 063 543

5 576 014

 

Applications in Payment Process³

1 335

331 796

774 154

 

Clients Paid

4 423 385

4 731 747

4 801 860

 

Consideration¹:

Every month every application from the previous months as well as new applications received in that month are reconsidered and re-verified against all databases (even if they were rejected in the previous months) as circumstances of applicants may have changed.

Validation Process to determine rejected or approved²

During the consideration and validation process, applications are validated against various databases such as SASSA Social Grants, UIF, NSFAS, Persal, Correctional Services etc. Applications are also sent to SARS to validate whether the applicants are registered on the IRP-5 database at SARS and results are then provided to SASSA.

Any findings which AGSA may have raised are also considered and applied, since AGSA has databases which SASSA does not yet have.

From the month of August the bank accounts of applicants are also tested to determine whether there was any income into the account in the prior month.

The above tests are all applied to confirm that approved applicants have no income, as required in terms of the signed Directions for this grant.

Applications in the Payment Process³

Once an applicant is approved he/she is informed of the outcome and his/her banking preference is requested (either being paid in his own account or paid through cash send to his mobile number). Unfortunately a significant number of clients are slow in providing details, provide incorrect details or want their money to be paid into someone else’s account. (SASSA cannot pay the money into someone else’s account or cellphone number.)When an applicant provides the banking details, an account verification process is undertaken whereby National Treasury verifies the bank details with the Banks. This process ensures that the bank account belongs to the applicant and that all details are correct.

As indicated, experience has shown that the applicants make quite a number of errors such as indicating their account is a savings account instead of a transmission account, etc. The technical team attempts to resolve these minor challenges for instance incorrect account type (saving vs transmission etc.). Where it is not possible to assist in resolving the challenges, SASSA opens accounts with Post Bank for the clients who did not provide banking details, provided incorrect details or where the bank verification process failed. For high risk clients, accounts are opened with Post Bank for initial face-to-face contact and verification.From August cellphone numbers are validated and added to a specialized Risk Management Process to ensure that SASSA pays the correct applicant.

The group of applicants outstanding for May, June and July are all clients where SASSA has not received banking details, received incorrect details or other challenges exist. The remaining unpaid May clients are currently in the process of being contacted individually by SASSA to assist them in resolving their challenges, where after the same will be done for the June and July clients.

SASSA has recently concluded a week where clients were invited to update their banking details and all these details have now been sent for account verification. It is trusted that a number of the June and July clients would now have provided their banking details which will facilitate the payments.

For the August clients, the means test with banks have been concluded and payments will commence from 10 September. The delay has been as a result of the above processes, but also to stagger the payments which are accessed through the Post Office, which has been busy with the normal social grant payments until 7 September 2020.The staggering of payments is done to limit the numbers of people who report to Post Offices daily to collect their money, to minimise the exposure to the COVID threat.

________________________

Approved by the Minister of Social Development

Date……………………….

National AssemblyWritten Reply: 2068 of 2020

14 October 2020 - NW1713

Profile picture: Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI

Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI to ask the Minister of Communications

Whether, with reference to the reply of the Minister of Basic Education to question 1444 on 13 July 2020, her department requested the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) to assist Grade 12 learners by providing locally-produced 32-inch television sets which saw a certain tender (details furnished) being put out; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, Friday, 24 July 2020 669 INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NO 28 - 2020 why was the specified tender cancelled only to be put out again under a different reference number; (2) Why did USAASA deem it fit to provide television sets to learners instead of other technological devices such as laptops and/or tablets? (3) Which areas in the seven provinces are earmarked to receive the specified TV sets? (4) By what date does USAASA envisage to complete the whole process from the bidding to the delivery of the television sets to households; (5) (a)(i) what total number of Grade 12 learners have applied to receive a television set and (ii) which schools are the learners from, (b) which company and/or companies won the bid to supply the TV sets to Grade 12 learners and (c) for what total amount, including the relevant breakdown of costs, was the tender awarded?

Reply:

I have been advised by USAASA as follows:

1. The provision of IDTV’s to indigent households with grade 12 learners, but do not have access to a television, is a Covid 19 initiative to assist the most vulnerable Grade 12 learners to keep up educationally with their peers who have more resources.

The provision of a 32-inch IDTV to these indigent households enables the Grade 12 learners to view educational programmes broadcast on SABC channels in preparation for the 2020 matric exams. Tender USAF – IDTV/01/2020 was a multi-facetted tender which was divided into Part A – Establishment of a database of suppliers to supply 32 Inch IDTV’s for indigent households with Grade 12 learners and Part B – Establishment of a database of suppliers to supply 32 Inch IDTV’s for the BDM Phase 2 roll out.

This tender was cancelled for the following 2 reasons: Localisation and local production was not clearly defined in the initial tender which has major economic consequences for South Africa and that the tender was to be split into 2 separate tenders in order to ease the evaluation and adjudication of the tenders and the administration thereof.

The two tenders were published on 12 June 2020 with a closing date of 2 July 2020 in the Tender Bulletin with the Tender Numbers (i) USAF-IDTV/02/2020 and (ii) USAF- IDTV/03/2020

2. The IDTVs were chosen as it is a technology that has already been approved by Cabinet for Phase 2 of the BDM project. IDTVs enable any person to actively participate in TV programs and live debates on key issues that are important for the society as a whole. Thus, transforming a formerly passive device into an active medium for spreading information and opinion. The IDTVs for Grade 12 learners from Indigent households is an early implementation of the Phase 2 of the BDM project and will be continued and phased in to the process. USAASA is therefore not in a position to provide any other technology such as laptops etc, as these will be misaligned to Phase 2 of the BDM project.

3. The IDTVs are intended for indigent households with Grade 12 Learners, who do not have access to a TV, primarily in the following provinces and areas/district as per the attached Annexure A for ease of reference:

a. Limpopo

b. Eastern Cape

c. North West

d. Northern Cape

e. Mpumalanga

f. Free State

g. KZN

4. The tender is currently at the bid evaluation stage. It is envisaged that the tender would be adjudicated in September 2020 and thereafter the distribution of the IDTVs will take effect.

5 (a) (i) USAASA is still in the process of collating lists of qualifying households through the assistance of Department of Basic Education. Application forms have been sent to all the schools as stated in section 3 above. Information is being received from the various schools and is being consolidated. As such, the list of qualifying Grade 12 learners has not yet been finalised.

(ii) The list of schools has not been finalised.

(b) The tender has not been awarded as yet.

(c) The final cost of the IDTVs is not yet known as the procurement process is still underway. However, approval was received from National treasury to retain R242 million from accumulated interest from the 2019/20 financial year.

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

      

14 October 2020 - NW1624

Profile picture: Van Damme, Ms PT

Van Damme, Ms PT to ask the Minister of Communications

What (a) are the reasons for the cancellation by the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) of the tender for the appointment of a panel of suppliers for the procurement of 32-inch Integrated Digital Television (IDTVs) for indigent 2020 matriculants, (b) total amount was budgeted to purchase the IDTVs and (c) number of IDTVs did USAASA intend to procure?

Reply:

I have been advised by the USAASA as follows:

a) Tender USAF – IDTV/01/2020 was a multifaceted tender which was divided into Part A (establishment of a database of suppliers to supply 32 Inch IDTV’s for indigent households with matric learners) and Part B (establishment of a database of suppliers to supply 32 Inch IDTV’s for the BDM Phase 2 roll out).This tender was cancelled for two reasons; namely (i)localisation and local production was not clearly defined in the initial tender which has major economic consequences for South Africa; (ii) the tender needed to be split into two (2) separate tenders to ease the evaluation and adjudication of the tenders and administration thereof.

The two separated tenders were re-advertised on 12 June 2020 with closing date of 2 July 2020 in the Tender Bulletin with the Tender Numbers (i)USAF-IDTV/02/2020 and (ii) USAF- IDTV/03/2020. USAASA indicated they are at the Bid Evaluation stage to appoint suppliers for the 32 inch IDTV, it is envisaged that the Adjudication will be done in September 2020 and thereafter the distribution of the IDTVs will take effect. 

b) The procurement of IDTV’s for indigent households with matric learners is a Covid- 19 initiative which was not budgeted for. However, National Treasury was approached to approve utilising accumulated interest to the amount of R242 million.

c) USAASA is working closely with seven (7) provincial Departments of Basic Education to collect information regarding indigent households with matric learners. The final numbers of indigent households with matric learners are not yet finalised. The total number of IDTV’s to be procured will be for the total amount of R242 million, at a market price.

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

           

14 October 2020 - NW2000

Profile picture: Schreiber, Dr LA

Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Finance

(1)Whether public funding of any nature has ever been paid to (a) certain persons (names furnished) and/or certain entities or initiatives (names and details furnished); if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether there was an application of any nature to obtain state funding and/or tenders by the specified persons, entities and/or initiatives; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1(a) National Treasury only has access to payments information from national and provincial departments using the BAS payment system. In order to search for information against individuals, the National Treasury would need the identification numbers as a search by names may result in inaccurate results.

1(b) A search was done on the BAS payment system for the period 1 April 2017 to date and no payments were found that were made to the entities or initiatives mentioned.

2 The National Treasury is not aware of any application of any nature to obtain state funding and/or tenders by the specified persons, entities and/or initiatives.

14 October 2020 - NW2083

Profile picture: Tafeni, Ms N

Tafeni, Ms N to ask the Minister of Finance

Whether, for any of the contracts that were awarded to the Public Affairs Research Institute and payments made up to October 2018, there was any declaration of conflict of interest at that time by any persons in the National Treasury and/or the Government Technical Advisory Centre; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) who made a declaration and (b) what was the nature of the conflict of interest?

Reply:

National Treasury has not awarded any contracts to the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) up to October 2018.

Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) awarded three contracts awarded to PARI.

These were for;

  1. the provision of action learning support to the Eastern Cape Department of Education turnaround project;
  2. the provision of technical advisory services to the Eastern Cape Department of Education with the schools’ rationalisation project for knowledge management specialist advisory services, and;
  3. an expenditure and performance review of the National Language Services.

The procurement and selection processes for all three of these bids were fully complied with. They included a properly constituted panel, which followed all required governance processes, including the signing of a Declaration of Conflict of Interest form. Each of the individuals in each of the three evaluation committees indicated in their Declaration of Conflict of Interest form that they had no conflict of interest to declare.

There was one additional project undertaken by PARI during the period under discussion. The work completed was a set of longitudinal city case studies for the Cities Support Programme. The mechanism utilized to complete this work was a Memorandum of Understanding between PARI and GTAC which was in place. This process did not require separate procuring of the required skill and the work was therefore delivered within the terms of this MoU.

14 October 2020 - NW2129

Profile picture: Steyn, Ms A

Steyn, Ms A to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

What is the current status of land claim LCC 37 / 2018; (2) whether she has been informed that the claim was originally gazetted in the 1997-98 financial year and again in June 2014; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the reason for the specified claim not being finalised; (3) whether she has been informed that the current owner could not develop this land since the land claim was gazetted in 1997; (4) (a) what are the relevant details of the persons who are beneficiaries of this land claim and (b) will she furnish Mrs A Steyn with the research document for the claim?

Reply:

1. The current land owner referred the matter to court towards the end of 2018 as he did not accept the offer that was presented by the Office of the Valuer General. The Office of the Valuer General informed the Regional Land Claims Commissioner that a new valuer should be appointed, as the original valuation did not take into account Section 25 Subsection 3 of the Constitution. The office has since appointed a valuer.

2. Yes, the claim was gazetted in 1997-1998 financial year and gazetted in 2014. The 1997-1998 gazette was based on the Rule 3 Research Report of the Commission. Further investigation had to be conducted in terms of Rule 5, and that led to the gazette of 2014;

The claim has not been finalised. The office had the following delays in settlement of the claim:

  • The Tsitsikamma Development Trust (TDT) was formed on the 9th March 1994 with the assistance of the Legal Resources Centre (LRS), to coordinate and manage the affairs of all the land that was dispossessed from AmaMfengu. It was during this time when the then Department of Land Affairs gave some farms to the community through what was known as Allocation Advisory Commission on Land (ACLA). The properties were registered to the Tsitsikama Development Trust.
  • Community verification: some members of community not in agreement on the actual number of Originally Dispossessed Individual families.
  • Board of Trustees: legal timeframe lapsed for elections of the new board of trustees and tensions between community and Tsitsikama Development Trust made it difficult for the office to process the claim
  • Multiple Executive Committees: many community representative structures were formed as the Tsitsikama Development Trust was no longer regarded as a legitimate structure, thus the office not allowed by the community and Trust of Deeds Act to engage with the Tsitsikama Development Trust.

3. No

4. (a) The beneficiaries are the Amamfengu Community

(b) Yes, the report will be made available.