Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. Yes, the DCS centres have been affected by water shortages.

1.1 The following are the centres under OR Tambo District Municipality

• Lusikisiki;
• Flagstaff;
• Mqanduli; and
• Ngqeleni.

The major challenge is the capacity of water treatment plants that cannot cope with the demand. However, the Department has bought water tankers for those centres to augment when there is no municipal supply.

1.2 In addition, the following centres under Chris Hani District Municipality:

• Sada;
• Queenstown;
• Dordrect;
• Cofimvamba;
• Lady Frere;
• Engcobo; and
• Middelburg

The biggest challenge in this District is the high demand versus the capacity of the plant and ageing municipal infrastructure.

1.3 Furthermore, the following are the centres under Amathole District Municipality

• Idutywa
• Butterworth
• Middledrift

The biggest challenge is drought (drying up of dams which causes silting). DCS has also bought water tankers for those centres to augment when there is no municipal supply.

1.4 The following are centres under Nelson Mandela Metro:

• St Albans Medium A;
• St Albans Medium B; and
• St Albans Maximum;

The main challenges are lack of rainfall and this started beginning of this year. DCS is procuring Jojo tanks and 3 water tankers and is in talks with the municipality for alternative ways of supply.

(2)

(a) The immediate intervention undertaken by the Department is procurement of storage tanks and water tankers for various areas;

(b) Medium to long term plans are to survey ground water availability in order to drill boreholes. The process of surveying has started at St Albans.

Municipalities, as water services authorities, need to upgrade their water treatment plants to be in line with the population demand and maintenance of plants thereof.

(3) 

(a) Discipline

Offenders were addressed regarding the problem of water in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan (NMBM), and how this problem will affect the normal running of the activities in the Correctional centre. They were also alerted of attempts that were being made to mitigate the risk of no water. The briefing made offenders not to revolt or be aggressive as they see that even though there is no running water is provided for drinking and bathing.

(b) Operations

Water shortages in centres compromises security and the entire operations of a centre due to the following reasons:

• No steam to prepare food for offenders;
• No hot water generation for bathing;
• The hygiene of offenders is severely compromised. The security of the centres is also at risk.

END

Reply:

1. The National Development Plan (NDP) articulates the importance of both the domestic and exports markets towards realization of the inclusive growth of the agricultural sector. Further, the strategic plan of the Department supports cogent and sustainable agricultural business practices that will ensure economic transformation, inclusive growth and international competitiveness of the sector. Critical to inclusive growth is the participation of previously disadvantaged producers and communities in the mainstream agricultural value chains and export markets. Inclusive growth relates to creating value chain opportunities for penetration and participation by agribusinesses accompanied by growing jobs for the sector. The export of live animals from South Africa allows and provides the base for such participation. The Department only allows these exports when conducted within and in compliance to applicable legislation, including welfare legislation, the Animal Protection Act, 1962 (Act No. 24 of 1962) which regulates against cruelty to animals.

2. Inclusive economic growth is reliant on the competitiveness of the agribusinesses. Further, competitiveness of the agribusinesses drives the ability of the agricultural sector to create sustainable jobs.

3. The Department is working on a draft Animal Welfare Bill for introduction to the National Assembly in the next financial year. The department has received a positive response in the Phase 1 socio-economic impact assessment system (SEIAS) application to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and has started with internal consultation (DALRRD and provincial Departments of Agriculture) on the draft.

A two-pronged approach towards addressing regulations has been adopted by the Department. Firstly, the Department is drafting regulations relating to the export of live animals under the current Animals Protection Act, 1962 as an interim measure. Secondly the Department will draft new Regulations under the intended Animal Welfare Act once the new Bill has been assented to.

4. No.

Reply:

No. Some members of the Gwatyu community, acting through an attorney, submitted an application for registration of a Provisional Association on 30 July 2014. Question 992 sought information on applications for registration as communal property associations, which were outstanding. The interpretation applied to the word “outstanding”, meant an application that was in the possession of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and was still being processed. The Gwatyu application was not included since it was neither an application for registration of a communal property association nor an outstanding application.

Notwithstanding the above, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has since undertaken a land rights enquiry on all the farms and once finalised, the affected communities will be workshopped on various land holding arrangements and will be given an opportunity to choose the best suitable land holding structure that suits their existing circumstances taking into consideration various land rights that may exist on these farms.

If the community then chooses to register a CPA, the Department will ensure that the requirements that are set out in section 8(4) and (5) of the Communal Property Association Act, 28 of 1996 are met.

(a), (b), (c) Falls away.

Reply:

1. (a) 54 farms.

(b)(i),(ii),(iii),(iv),(v),(vi),(vii) Please refer to Annexure A.

2. Please refer to Annexure A.

Reply:

1. Quantities of Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine are procured by instruction of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) through the two State Owned Entities (SOEs), namely the Agricultural Research Centre (ARC) and the Onderstepoort Biological Products. These vaccines are sourced by the SOEs from the Botswana Vaccine Institute for routine vaccination and vaccination when there is an outbreak.

2. Agriculture is a concurrent function as per the Constitution of South Africa. The Provincial Departments of Agriculture are responsible for the provincial operations of veterinary services, including farm visits and schedules.

Below is the state veterinary doctor’s visitation to farmers for the financial year: 2019/20

Province	Annual Target	Pre-audited Annual Achievement ***
Eastern Cape	11 244	13 857
Free State	3 200	4 634
Gauteng	8 500	7 678
KwaZulu Natal	15 000	17 326
Limpopo	15 064	11 960
Mpumalanga	17 798	15 314
Northern Cape	6 000	6 558
North West	12 230	17 030
Western Cape	10 000	14 333
Consolidated	99 036	108 690

***Kindly note that figures are based on 2019/20 pre-audited data as reported by provinces.

Below is the state veterinary doctor’s visitation to farmers for the financial year 2020/2021

Province	Revised Annual Target	Quarter 1 achievement	Quarter 2 Achievement ***	Annual Progress to date	Annual (%) Performance
Eastern Cape	11 024	3 288	5 924	9 212	84%
Free State	2 400	547	923	1 470	61%
Gauteng	6 400	272	1 521	1 793	28%
KwaZulu Natal	20 000	3000	4 837	7 837	39%
Limpopo	3 050	1 767	2 939	4 706	154%
Mpumalanga	17 798	3 310	4 213	7 523	42%
Northern Cape	500	275	686	961	192%
North West	10 382	2 550	3 494	6 044	58%
Western Cape	10 000	1 911	3 768	5 679	57%
Consolidated	81 554	16 920	28 305	45 225	55%

*** For all figures that are highlighted in red, the data has not been verified by DALRRD

3. There is currently no strike at the ARC.

4. (a) The ARC as with many other organizations experienced delay in the procurement of laboratory reagents, mostly due to disruptions in the global supply chains of imported chemicals. (b) The ARC has made adjustments to the complement of employees as per the changes allowed in respect of managing possible impacts of Covid-19, with limited employees on site at any particular point. The ARC is now on full complement of employees to provide full services timeously.

Reply:

(1)(a),(b) As at 31 March 2020, please refer to the table below.

(a)
No. of days	Quantity	Value
30-60	98	5 615 867.06
(b)
61-90	9	1 807 241.98
91-180	24	1 496 044.94
>180	5	09.60

(2) Please refer to the table below.

Reason for non-compliance

Mitigation

The main contributor to the late payment of service providers is lack of proper internal controls which relate to the tracing of the status of a particular invoice and supporting documents as they are processed through the various verification channels within the Department including from provinces to national office.

The Department implemented the invoice tracking system which allows for more effective tracing of the status of invoices as they are processed through verification channels. The system requires that the Department has one central point for receiving invoices; this makes invoice tracking more effective and efficient. Each official on the chain is allocated a timeframe to perform the relevant function pertaining to that invoice. If there is non-compliance to timeframes, the system escalates the matter to the next level of authority. Change management sessions with all internal stakeholders will be conducted through the Corporate Services Branch. Officials’ performance agreements include the payment of invoices within 30 days as a key performance area on which performance is assessed. Officials found to be non-compliant are issued with letters of non-compliance as a punitive measure and to alert officials of their responsibility in ensuring compliance to the 30 days’ requirement.

Reply:

1. In an effort to encourage and assist persons and /or communities in rural areas to utilize the land for food production and food security, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has developed the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan which focuses on district-based commodity production schemes driven through mass production by rural communities and households within a given radius and supported by a Production Support Centre. All existing farmer support programmes of DALRRD are being aligned to this plan which should ensure that at least 1 270 340 rural households are food-secure by 2030.

The issue about agricultural land in communal areas fast becoming residential developments is a function that is currently being managed by traditional councils in whose area of jurisdiction the land currently falls. DALRRD stands ready to assist traditional councils and communities to develop land use schemes that will provide a legal and orderly basis on which the land use can be regulated.

2. DALRRD’s position is that no development or support can be provided on farms that are lying fallow due to land beneficiaries fighting over resources until the dispute is resolved through social facilitation.

Reply:

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ARC)

(a) Latest findings from the investigation ordered by the Auditor-General on:

(i) Serious Mismanagement

• AGSA previously reported findings of serious financial misstatement at the ARC which relates to over expenditure for the 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years; this was classified as a serious mismanagement by AGSA in their management reports.
• Irregular Expenditure of the ARC for the years ended 31 March 2016 (R205 177 358), 31 March 2017(R 199 263 480.40) and 31 March 2018 (R103 810 688.60) are attributed to over-expenditure on the budget.
• Included in the irregular expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2017 of R199 263 480 is an amount of R30 642 913 taken from the Foot and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Account to finance the overspending of R168 620 567.
• For the year ended 31 March 2018, included in the irregular expenditure of R103 810 688.60 is the amount of R27 808 410.60 taken from the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Account which was used to finance the overspending of R76 002 278.
• The 2017/18 calculation of the overspending was based on excess expenditure over break- even budget as advised by the AGSA and was not in line with the calculations done for the other two years.

The overspending for the 3 years was as a result of the ARC not having sufficient budget to cover their operating expenses as the former Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries had the Parliamentary Grant (PG). Based on the analysis of the cash balance for the 3 years under review, the reflected cash balances were not a true reflection of the cash available for the operations of the organisation as it had cash designated for conditional grants as well as deposits received as advance payments from customers.

For the year ended 31 March 2017, the ARC actually had a negative cash balance of R133 million over expenditure on the ARC’s budget that resulted in an irregular expenditure finding by the AGSA.

National Treasury’s Irregular Expenditure Framework provides that if the irregular expenditure is irrecoverable and there is no person who is liable in law, the Accounting Authority may write off the amount in line with the policies and procedures of the Public Entity.

The investigation by Internal Audit noted that:

• The Executive Management Committee (EMC) of the ARC has regularly, through quarterly performance reports, reported the financial position of the ARC to the Accounting Officer of DAFF. This was done in compliance with the PFMA.
• The ARC has through its Council Committees raised concerns about the financial situation of the entity and letters were submitted to the Executive Authority about this matter.
• The financial situation of the ARC as a going concern was raised by the Audit and Risk Committee; and Council to the Minister and to the Portfolio Committee in each of the years. This was reported in the annual reports of the ARC for the relevant years. This is indicative of prudent and responsible management pertaining to the situation the ARC founds itself in and it was recommended that cost saving measures be implemented by the office of the Chief Financial Officer, which would include monitoring of expenditure on a monthly basis.
• Details of the serious mismanagement and investigations are in Annexure A.

(ii) Findings on Irregular Expenditure.

• Irregular expenditure to the value of R2 414 755.84 was identified during the 2017/18 financial year. The matter was investigated, and consequence management was finalized against 3 employees; disciplinary hearings are continuing against the remaining 2 employees.
• During the 2018/19 financial year, irregular expenditure of R9 173 094.38 was identified by the AGSA. The irregular expenditure resulted from a misinterpretation of Treasury Instruction 3 of 2016-17 that Single Source procurements above R500 000 must be approved/supported by National Treasury; investigations have not yet been completed.

(iii) Same as (i) and (ii).

(b) Not applicable to the ARC.

(c) Please refer to Annexure B for details of COVID-19 related procurement.

ONDERSTEPOORT BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS (OBP):

Following the Auditor General’s (AG) Report, the OBP Board requested that all tenders awarded in the past five years including the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility upgrade be investigated. Four companies were selected for the investigation viz,

• Succoth: security services;
• Hadi holdings: supply of animal feed;
• Pressure group: supply of coal; and
• DEC: GMP facility upgrade

a) The latest findings from the investigation ordered by the Auditor-General on:

(i) Serious mismanagement:

Several cases of serious mismanagement were identified and led to the following consequence management actions:

• The CFO was suspended in October 2019 for serious breach and non-compliance with supply chain policies and processes. He lodged a dispute at the CCMA against the suspension and the case was settled at the CCMA.
• Operations executive was suspended in January 2020 for gross dereliction of duties.

(ii) Irregular expenditure:

• The awarding of Development Engineering Consultant Ltd (DEC) a tender was found to be irregular because it did not comply with the definition of deviation. An application for condonation in line with National Treasury Irregular Expenditure Framework is in progress.
• Succoth was found to be irregular due to the owner being a state employee. The contract was immediately terminated. An application for condonation in line with National Treasury Irregular Expenditure Framework is in progress.

(iii) Serious supply chain irregularities that took place over the past four financial years:

• The review of the contracts with four of the above service providers found several irregularities and were terminated during the third quarter of 2019-2020, namely
  • Succoth – security services: as described above.
  • Hadi holdings – supply of animal feed: terms of the contract were crafted to be unfavourable to OBP (over-priced and over supply).
  • Pressure group – supply of coal: contract crafted in a way that encouraged delivery of non-compliant coal.
• Two procurement administrators were suspended for amongst others collusion between staff and the tenderer / sub-contractors. They were charged and eventually resigned during the disciplinary hearings.

b) Details of the refurbishment and modernisation of the existing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility.

In 2013 National Treasury approved and awarded OBP a grant of R493 million for the construction of a modern GMP compliant vaccine production facility. Upon receipt of the grant, Executive Management decided to use R130 million from the R493 Million received for refurbishment and procurement of equipment, leaving a balance of R363 million available for the GMP facility project. Later when the Executive Management established that the R363m will be insufficient for the initially planned new vaccine production facility (Green Field), they resolved to embark on the upgrade of the current facility (Brown Field Project).

The consulting engineers were then requested to drastically reduce the provisional sums, but the scope was not revised. The tender was advertised where DEC Engineering was appointed with a tender pricing of R31 million excluding value added tax, on a contract which includes a multidisciplinary team of consultants. ISF Construction was appointed for the construction and process equipment with a tender pricing of R277 million excluding value added tax.

Both internal and external audit raised a range of concerns. In November 2019, the project Manager resigned, leaving the Operations Executive as the driver. In January 2020, the Operations Executive was suspended and later charged for misrepresentation, gross dereliction of duties including lying to the Board. He resigned on mutual separation whilst the disciplinary process was in progress.

The CEO appointed a Project Manager reporting directly to his office and to a Project Steering Committee comprising of several executives and managers directly relevant to the project. The CEO and the Board resolved to commission an independent review that will provide a comprehensive status of the project including year to date variances, extrapolated expenditure, completion date and legislative impact.

To date the procurement of equipment is in progress and construction of the facility resumed after level 3 lockdown. The expected date of completing construction is 1 June 2021.

However, the CEO discovered that certain critical processes at downstream level were not included during the planning and advised the Board who resolved that a revision of process flow be conducted with the involvement of the Project Engineers, Operation Management and the Quality Assurance Manager. The Quality Assurance Manager was tasked to lead the process given the vast experience and certification in GMP of the newly appointed manager. The adjusted facility plan and subsequent budget will be finalised and presented to the board.

c) Details of all procurement done for Covid-19 related purposes

Below is a table listing all Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) procured during the COVID period. On or about 22 June 2020 it was brought to the CEO’s attention that surgical masks were purchased in a period of two weeks at a unit price of R32 (while the price from most suppliers was around R7 per mask). This resulted in an investigation which led to the suspension of the Supply Chain Manager on 25 June 2020. An investigation has taken place and the charges have been drafted and sent to the Supply Chain Manager; she is now facing a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct on three charges. The Company will soon start with the disciplinary hearing into the matter.

Company Name	Description	Quantity	Unit Price	Total
Siphumelele Industries	Surgical Face Masks	150*50(per box)	R32	R240 000
Siphumelele Industries	Surgical Face Masks	180*50 (per box)	R32	R288 000
Rashuma Consulting	Surgical Face Masks	300 * 50 (per Box)	R7,20	R108 000
ACS Promotions	99% Ethanol	160*25 Liters	R22,59	R90 390
KRU Energy	Ethanol	600*25 Liters	R69	R1 035 000
KRU Energy (Pty) Ltd	Ethanol	2 000 liters	R50,60	R105 685
KRU Energy (Pty) Ltd	Hand Sanitizer	2 000	R69	R138 000
KRU Energy (Pty) Ltd	Hand Sanitizer	7 020	R69	R484 380

Reply:

(a) The temporary disability grants and care dependency grants which were due to lapse at the end of October 2020 have all been extended to 31 December 2020. The costs for this extension have been accommodated within the financial allocation for the social grants for the 2020/21 financial year.

(b) (i) The financial implications for the extension of the care dependency grants from October to December 2020 is R41 823 960.

(ii) The financial implication for the temporary disability grants for the period from October to December 2020 is R784 094 160.

(iii) The numbers of grants affected, should they be extended to 31 March 2021 is 11 243 care dependency grants and 210 778 temporary disability grants. To continue paying these for an additional 3 months will cost R62 735 940 for the care dependency grants, and R1 176 141 240 for the temporary disability grants (total of R1 238 877 180).

Reply:

1. Regulation 3(b) to the Social Assistance Act, 2004 confirms that a person is eligible for a disability grant if that person has attained the age of 18 years, and “the disability is confirmed by an assessment ….” The Act further defines an assessment as “the medical examination by a medical officer of a person or child in order to determine disability or care-dependency for the purposes of recommending a finding for the awarding o social grant..” and medical officer is defined as “any medical practitioner in the service of the State, or a person appointed under a contract to perform the functions or render the services of a medical officer in terms of the Act”.

Given the challenges in the Health environment with the provision of assessment services for all applicants and beneficiaries for disability-related grants, SASSA strategically decided to contract medical officers to supplement the services provided by the Department of Health by contracting doctors directly through an open tender process for a period of 36 months. A set criteria is used to select doctors who are contracted to conduct social assistance assessments, see below:

The medical doctors must:

1.1  Have a Medical Qualification or a Medical Degree;

1.2 Be currently registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as a medical practitioner for at least 2 years;

1.3 Must demonstrate Tax compliance through the submission of a Valid Tax Clearance Certificate as issued by the South African Revenue Services;

1.4 Must be Registered with the Central Supplier Database held by National Treasury;

1.5 Have an understanding of Social Assistance issues; and

1.6 Be willing to attend induction workshops on the assessment tools and the Social Assistance Act No 13 of 2004 as amended and related Regulations. This ensures that the contracted doctors are able to comply with the requirements for the rendering of disability assessment services prior to commencement of undertaking assessments.

2. The doctors must not have:

2.1. Been convicted in any court of law for Social Grants Related Fraud; or

2.2. Been excluded or suspended from conducting medical evaluations for SASSA or any other organ of state. An affidavit is sufficient at the point of Bid submission but should any bidder fail a vetting process, SASSA has the right to terminate the services of that particular service provider.

b) There are no doctors who have had their contracts terminated because of fraudulent transactions

c) There is no loss that is attributable to fraudulent doctors over the past five financial years.

Reply:

1. The backlog in the disability related grants is with new applications. The temporary disability grants and care dependency grants which will lapse at the end of December 2020 are all grants which were already in the system as at February 2020. The backlog of new applications reported in the response to Parliamentary question 1319 was 19 053. This has been reduced to 6 707 by end October 2020.

The provinces which still have a backlog of new applications are Gauteng with 1 282 and Mpumalanga with 277 and Western Cape with 5 148.

2. The numbers of doctors assisting with assessments is 472. This is 3 less than what was reported previously, as a result of 3 of the contracted doctors having passed away – 1 in Western Cape and 2 in KwaZulu-Natal. However, there are additional doctors from the Department of Health, particularly in the Western Cape Metro that are now assisting with assessments. Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape (for the Boland/Overberg and Eden/Karoo districts) are currently finalizing a procurement process to contract additional doctors to assist with the assessments.

Negotiations are also continuing with Provincial Departments of Health to identify additional medical officers who can assist with medical assessments. These discussions also extend to identifying facilities which can be used for assessments.

3. (a)(i) The number of temporary disability grants which will lapse at the end of December 2020 is 210 778.

(ii) The number of care dependency grants which will lapse at the end of December is 11 243.

(b) The total number of disability related grants which will lapse at the end of December is 222 021.

4. SASSA, with the Department of Social Development have been working on a plan to ensure that the beneficiaries who will be affected by the bulk lapsing have an opportunity to re-apply for the required grants by 31 March 2021.

Once care dependent children turn 18 years of age, their care dependency grants lapse, and they have to apply for a disability grant. This is because the care dependency grant is paid to a care giver of a severely disabled child, while a person over the age of 18 years is considered an adult, and must apply for the grant in his/her own name. For this reason, it cannot be an automatic conversion, but an application process.

However, in order to avoid the necessity for these young adults with severe disabilities to have to report to a SASSA office or health facility for a medical assessment and then to return at a later date to complete the application process, SASSA has developed a project plan to complete paper-based medical assessments, using the medical report already on file for the care dependency grant. The assessment will be done in the absence of the young person. This is provided for in the Social Assistance Act and can be implemented as there is a medical history for the applicant in SASSA’s possession.

Once the medical assessment has been completed, the care giver of the young person will be called in to the SASSA office on an appointment basis to complete the application as the procurator for the young person, in terms of Section 15 of the Social Assistance Act, 2004.

Measures have been put in place to manage cases where a medical report cannot be traced, or does not contain adequate information for the assessing doctor to make a recommendation, in order to manage risks associated with the process, and to ensure that SASSA can be accountable for decisions taken.

The above process will cater for the 11 243 care dependency grants which will lapse on 31 December 2020.

For the temporary disability grants, for those beneficiaries who are still unable to work as a result of the disability, assessments can start being scheduled in December already, with the application being done from January, since these can only be done once the temporary grant has lapsed. It should be borne in mind that a temporary disability grant is provided for a specific period only, because the assessment indicates that the condition can improve to the extent that it is not the disability which prevents the person from working. It is therefore not automatic that all those currently in receipt of the temporary disability grants will re-apply for the grant; or, if they apply, that they will qualify for the grant. A full application process, with a new assessment is thus required.

The process will be closely managed and all exceptions will be dealt with to ensure that inconvenience is limited as much as possible, and all who require access to services are attended to and people with disabilities are treated with care and respect.

Reply:

Eastern Cape:

Departmental Interventions

As part of intervention strategies, the Department of Social Development has implemented the following activities to Rural Areas and Informal Settlements:

• The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development teamed with South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and co- ordinated the lists of destitute people from all Local Municipalities who were forced to stay at home, as per COVID- 19 Regulations and were not able to do their temporal work for their living. These lists were submitted to SASSA for assessment and received Social Relief of Distress in the form of food parcels from their budget.

 

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the form of face masks, hand gloves and sanitizers were provided by Provincial office to all Department of Social Development (DSD) offices in order for Social Service Practitioners to be able to interact with all communities in their sphere of operations and continue the services during lockdown as essential service workers.

• The Department formed part of the COVID-19 Ward-Based Rapid Response Teams which were created by Eastern Cape Provincial Government that aimed at prevention, outreach and educational programmes to the rural and informal communities through joint operations with other stakeholders such as Department of Education and Health on the learner support programmes for the Grade 12 learners (e.g. coping mechanisms and family support programmes).

 

• Community Nutrition Development Centres (CNDC) were closed as per the national directive however food parcels were provided to all 33 CNDCs in 6 District Municipalities and 2 Metropolitan through “Knock and Drop” for CNDC participants to prepare food from their homes and not eating from the centre in order to apply social distancing.
• Psycho- Social services in the form of In-Depth Telephone Interviews and Counselling Services were provided to people infected and affected by COVID- 19 living in Informal Settlements and Rural Areas including those referred by Department of Health and Department of Education. The service was later extended to contact sessions with the change of levels of lockdown.

• The Department established 19 Shelters for the Homeless People in the 6 Districts and 2 Metropolitans Municipalities for the vulnerable individuals that were found homeless around Towns, Cities and Informal Settlements. Homeless People were provided with food, accommodation and psychosocial support during their stay in the Shelters. Social Service Practitioners also unified some of the homeless people with their families after being screened for COVID-19.

• The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development has spent R5, 239, 000 from Social Relief of Distress (SRD) budget on food parcels for 3,362 households/ families who are needy especially those staying in Informal Settlements and Rural Areas. The Department has also received additional budget of R78 million on SRD to cover families in need. The Department is considering provision of food voucher or bank generated coupons amounting R750 per family and discussions are at an advanced stage between Provincial office and the bank for implementation to take place.

• Early Childhood Development Centres (ECD) centres were closed as per the national directive ever since 26 March 2020 when Lockdown started. The Department funds 2, 933 Early Childhood Development Centres from the Equitable Share amounting to R219, 704, 000 and 1310 ECD centres from Conditional Grant amounting to R123, 817, 000. Households with ECD learners within Rural Areas and Informal Settlements were prioritised for provision of Food Parcels under Social Relief of Distress. The DSD has embarked on the process of assessment and verification of ECD centres, in preparation for supporting their opening which revealed that most of them were not ready due to unavailability of PPE.

• The steep rise of Gender Based Violence statistics after the National Lockdown, necessitated the Department of Social Development to re-open Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) Centers to back up Social Service Practitioners with all volunteers who were recruited under VEP in May 2020. Volunteers together with Social Workers were providing Psychosocial Support and Counselling to the infected and affected individuals in the rural and informal communities.

Free State:

At the time of responding to this question; the province had not yet provided their response.

Gauteng:

The Department funds NPOs across the Province. These NPOs targets risk areas with high rates of poverty, unemployment and social related issues. These areas include informal settlements and rural areas, noting that Gauteng demographics is characterized by semi-rural / urban areas.

Whilst ECDs remained closed during the Lockdown, all other NPOs rendering services to vulnerable groups were provided with 1st Quarter subsidy payment to assist the NPOs in putting the necessary safety compliance measures in place to ensure minimal disruption in service delivery and curb the spread of COVID-19.

In addition, the Department had firstly partnered with the Church of Scientology to decontaminate residential facilities (Old Age Homes and Homes for Disabled) and Homeless, secondly facilitated and supported NPOs with the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment, and thirdly guided and provided training on safety protocols.

In all of the above interventions, the Department targets all areas where there is a need for services whilst ensuring safety measures are in place at all times.

KwaZulu-Natal:

KwaZulu-Natal Social Development suspended operations in the ECD Centre, Community Care Centres for the elderly, rehabilitation programs for people living with disability, CND’s including youth academies operations were suspended during lockdown to curb the spread of covid19.

The Department further suspended public visits to residential facilities and gatherings targeting more than 50 people.

In the main, a large proportion of services provided by the department target communities in rural areas, per-urban areas including informal settlements and townships therefore the suspension of these services was a way of curbing the spread of covid19 in communities mentioned above.

 

Limpopo:

The Limpopo Department of Social Development has put in place the following measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas:

• Provision of directions prevented members of the public from visiting residential facilities and our institutions
• Psychosocial support services to the infected and affected members of the community
• Appointment of Covid-19 compliance officers in all institutions
• Training by Department of Health to the Covid-19 members of the screening committee
• PPE’s provided to our facilities and institutions
• Strategies and protocols have been developed on the management of COVID-19 in residential facilities and service points in the rural areas.
• Capacity has been built on officials working in communities such as Social Workers and Community Development Practitioners and those working in facilities of care for ability to self-protect and that beneficiaries in facilities.
• Ongoing plans in place to monitor facilities of care and to ensure that measures are in place to prevent spread of the virus in line with national regulations.

The facilities have been provided with PPE’s for all officials as well as all beneficiaries.

Mpumalanga:

• All services that required direct contact with clients were suspended to curb the spread of COVID 19.
• The Department operated as a nerve centre at Provincial, District and Local level to coordinate and provide services to clients in distress.
• The Department also opened a call centre for clients to call and or send sms and please call me for services required.
• The Department worked closely with other stakeholders to ensure proper referrals for clients who needed services.

North West:

The Department of Social Development in the North West implemented the following measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in rural areas:

Developed strategy and protocols on management of COVID 19 in residential facilities for older persons and Persons with Disabilities.

Training provided to 96 on the strategy and protocol to employees in the Department and those working in residential care facilities so that they protect themselves in their respective communities and the residents / beneficiaries in facilities.

61 x Residential care facilities monitored to ensure that measures are in place to prevent the spread of the virus as per the protocols.

61 x facilities provided with PPE of 2x5lt sanitizer and 2 x boxes of 50 pcs of mask per facility.

Intervened in 15 residential care facilities that had outbreaks of COVID 19 to ensure that protocols are complied with to curb the spread of the virus.

Northern Cape:

(a)(b) Rural areas and informal settlements. All officials were available to intervene in the following:

• Reported cases of Child abuse, Elderly Abuse or Neglect as well as Gender Based Violence.
• Victims were removed and placed in Child and Youth Care Centres, Old Age Homes or Shelters for Victims of GBV.
• Homeless persons were accommodated in temporary shelters and re-unified with family members as soon as possible.
• DSD took responsibility for transporting persons from these areas to the appropriate facilities and also linked with the Department of Health for assistance when needed.
• Officials received PPEs and were informed about the protocol to be followed when interacting with community members to limit the risk of infection with the Corona virus.
• Quarterly subsidies were paid for April - June 2020 to all funded organisations to pay the salaries of their professional and support staff including volunteers and caregivers and administration costs. From July 2020 the normal subsidy payment process applied.
• Monthly subsidies are paid to ECD Centres from April - September 2020 despite being closed. It is applicable to those who are subsidized, registered and submitted business plans and they receive 60% of the subsidy (40% for salaries and 20% for administration).
• Social Relief of Distress (Food Parcels and Clothing vouches) were provided to families assessed to be unable to meet their basic needs and are victims of disasters e.g. houses or belongings destroyed because of fires and floods.

• In essence the DSD services are rural biased. Out of a cohort of 143 Nutrition Centres, a total of 123 Nutrition Centres are located in rural areas and rendering food provision services in these rural areas.

• The Department took a deliberate decision not to open the Nutrition Centres, as that would have caused the convergence of people at these centres (creating a conducive environment for the spread of the virus).

• The Department instead worked with its DSD District Offices and Local Municipalities on rendering food provision services to DSD beneficiaries and indigent households on their indigent registers/beneficiary lists. The majority of the municipal indigent households are residing in rural areas and informal settlements and received food security services in the form of food parcels.

• To date 58 136 households received food parcels and to facilitate social distancing and to ensure that the poor and vulnerable are not exposed to risks associated with Covid-19, these food parcels were hand delivered/door-to-door to individual households.

• Officials from the Department were also provided with PPEs to protect themselves and household members to whom food provision services were rendered.

Western Cape:

• Protocols have been put in place between the WC provincial DSD and the Department of Health with regards to referrals of COVID-19 outbreaks at old age homes.
• Guidelines were also developed for Disabled Homes, Homeless Shelters and Shelters for Abuse Women
• Guidelines were developed for rendering statutory services related to child protection services.
• All NGOs contracted by the Department of Social Development was still paid a monthly subsidy and all NPOs received their full subsidies during the lock-down period in Western Cape. This ensured that NPOs could continue supporting vulnerable groups.
• Funds were made available to old age homes for the management of COVID19, providing of PPE, relief staff and covid 19 health training and support to the staff.
• Funds have been made available for disabled Homes for the management of COVID 19
• Funds were made available for PPE in preparation for the re-opening of ECD partial care facilities
• ECD facilities were assisted in the self-assessment of readiness for the re-opening after lockdown level 3.
• Additional masks, sanitizers, soap and hygiene products have been distributed to 117 old age homes, 40 Disabled Homes, 26 Homeless Shelter, 6 Foster Cluster Care Homes and 20 Shelters for Abuse Woman.
• Various NPOs rendering child designated work were also provided with masks for the Social Workers. The PPE’s were donations from private companies.
• Child Designated NPOs and DSD local offices continued providing psycho-social support to children and their families.
• DSD also facilitated the deployment of volunteers to deep-clean old age homes, disabled Homes, Shelters and inpatient treatment centres – with a focus on facilities in vulnerable communities, hotspot areas and rural areas
• Food parcels were distributed to communities
• WC Department of Education continued with their school feeding schemes during lockdown
• ECDs also provided food to children during lockdown
• Drop-in-centres and Isibindi Sites provided food during lockdown.

Reply:

The care dependency and temporary disability grants which would have lapsed at the end of October and November have already been extended to 31 December 2020. The cost for this extension has been accommodated within the budget allocation provided for these grants for the current financial year.

We are now working on a plan to address the significant number which will expire at the end of December, costing approximately R1.2 billion. This estimated cost cannot be accommodated within the existing budget, so we are considering alternatives to prevent bulk lapsing on 31 December 2020 by introducing staggered dates for lapsing between December 2020 and March 2021 to manage the influx for citizens who may wish to reapply for the disability grant.

Reply:

(a) There are ninety-four (94) police stations around KwaZulu-Natal that have had Social Workers placed in their services since March 2020.

(b)(i) There are fifteen (15) Thusong Centre that have had Social Workers placed on specific days of the week

(b)(ii) There are eight (8) Thuthuzela Care Centres around KwaZulu-Natal that have had Social Workers placed in their services since March 2020.

Reply:

This Parliamentary question deal with sensitive State Security Agency operational issues, of which Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) in Parliament has been created to deal with. Accordinly, reply to this parliamentary question has been submitted to the Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI).

Reply:

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

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

Reply:

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

Reply:

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

Reply:

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reply:

(1) Yes.

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

(b) No funds have been used to date.

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

Reply:

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

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

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

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

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

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

The following with regard to SABC Sales (Advertising):

National Department: 3

Provincial Departments: 24

Municipalities: 6

SOEs: 8

(2)(a) National/Provincial Departments

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

(b) Municipalities

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

(c) State Owned Entities

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

3. (a) TV License

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

 

Sales Advertising

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

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

(c) Sales Advertising

 

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

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

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

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

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

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

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reply:

I have been advised by the Deputy Minister as follows:

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

b) Not applicable.

 

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

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

(1)(b) Mayehlome Communications

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

(1)(d)

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

(3)(a) Total = R65 351 000.00

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

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

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

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the SABC as follows:

(1) PR WORX

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

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

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

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

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

 

MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Reply:

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

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

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

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

END.

Reply:

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

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

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

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

(1)(b)(ii) power outages

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

END

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(3)(a)(i) 317245

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

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

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

2015 - 1

2016 - 113

2017 - 561

2018- 110

2019 - 69

2020 - 22

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

END

Reply:

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

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

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

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

END.

Reply:

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

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

END

Reply:

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

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

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reply:

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

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

 

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

END

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

END.

Reply:

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

END.

Reply:

According to the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health,

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

 

Ward 1: 13 July 2020

Ward 2: 08 July 2020

Ward 3: 31 July 2020

Ward 4: 28 August 2020

Ward 5: 13 July 2020

Ward 6: 08 July 2020

Ward 7: 28 August 2020

Ward 8: 28 August 2020

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

END.

Reply:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

END

Reply:

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

Reply:

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

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

c) 

END

Reply:

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

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

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

END

Reply:

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

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

END

Reply:

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

END