Questions and Replies

Reply:

a) The Technical Committee for SASSA was appointed by the previous Minister of Social Development to assist SASSA in implementing the Constitutional Court judgement of 23rd March 2018 and to advice on business model review of SASSA.

Various Constitutional Court judgements in the course of 2017 made it clear that there were challenges with the existing contract with service providers for cash payment, without which SASSA would not be able to execute its mandate and the extra capacity for a period of time was required.

b) The Technical Committeewas appointed from May 2018 until October 2018

c) The members of the Technical Committee were paid as follows:

Name of Committee Member	Total Amount Paid
Ms.Dipuo Peters	R468,503.05
Ms ManokoNchwe	R449,040.00
Ms.Totsie Memela	R235,592.00
Mr.SelwynJehoma	R383,466.00
Ms.ZodwaManase	R348,580.00
Mr.SiphoShezi	R649,650.00

d) The Terms of Reference is attached for ease of reference

e) The six reports from the Technical Committee are attached for ease of reference

• The project recommendations identified in the reports were implemented

• Governance and Institutional Review is underway. The new Chief Executive Officer had to be appointed to drive the review.

• The Agency is in the process of developing a business case for replacement of SOCPEN and also evaluating options and approach to replace the system depending on availability of budgetary resources.

Reply:

a) South African Tourism has offices in 10countries globally operating as regional hubs and servicing key source markets.

b) On what date was each office opened?

AFRICA	AMERICAS	EUROPE	ASIA	AUSTRALASIA
Nigeria	US	Germany	UK	France	Netherlands	India	China	Japan	Australia
2014	1984	1960	1989	1993	1983	2004	2014	1978	2000

c) What are the monthly costs of each office?

AFRICA	AMERICAS	EUROPE	ASIA	AUSTRALASIA
Nigeria	US	Germany	UK	France	Netherlands	India	China	Japan	Australia
R1 066 796,98	R1 444 683,24	R1 196 157,23	R1 162 767,57	R1 144 239,24	R1 031 060,45	R1 313 938,18	R 866 063,72	R 534 334,97	R 868 375,25

d) What is the mandate of each office?

Each office operates as a regional hub servicing key source markets, to ensure effective marketing initiatives, support to the value chain partners and effective delegation of authority and responsibility. Mandate of each office is to drive number of international tourist arrivals into South Africa, increase tourist foreign direct spend, geographic spread, brand positivity and awareness.

(e )(i) What was the output of each office in the financial year?

The output achieved is through partnering with relevant travel trade in each of the markets that are serviced by the country offices in which it invests to maximise synergies, enhance tourist experiences and increase sales of packages to South Africa. Partnerships allow South African Tourism to reach a larger audience at a shared cost with the partner, while the partner is equipped with brand relevant content and tools.

COUNTRY OFFICE ( and the markets it serves)	2016/17- Arrivals	2017/2018- Arrivals	2018/19 - Arrivals
Nigeria (IncludesGhana)	82 751	68 626	74 768
US ( Includes Canada)	406 192	437 903	444 671
Germany (Include Austria and Switzerland)	394 548	437 837	431 668
UK (Includes Ireland)	478 385	479 411	462 305
France ( Include Spain, Portugal and Italy)	292 494	335 666	323 641
Netherlands (Include Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway)	297 152	320 275	310 258
India (IncludeTurkey, UAE, Malaysia and Singapore)	121 298	135 336	126 998
China (IncludesSouth Korea)	126 658	119 444	119 004
Japan	24 018	27 410	27 542
Australia (IncludesNew Zealand)	115 611	133 351	131 059

e (ii)Remainder of this financial year.

South Africa has a goal of achieving 21 million international arrivals by 2030. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the travel and tourism sector with borders closed and flights grounded. The forecast by the UNWTO is that global tourism will decline by 20-30%.

The pandemic has rendered South African Tourism’s current market investment portfolio outdated for this year. Plans are in place to review the market investment choices by revising and updating the Marketing Investment Framework. The revision will ensure that new variables and data are considered in the framework which will reflect the future tourism state post the pandemic and will allow South African Tourism to review market investment choices based on various scenarios.

f) How is each office monitored?

Activities at all global offices are monitored and evaluated through SA Tourism Strategy, Insights and Analytics (SIA) Unit as part of the organisational performance monitoring processes and the markets performance are reported quarterly. Furthermore, the compliance and governance are maintained through policies and processes and monitored through the Internal Audit Unit.

g) To whom does each office report

Each office reports to Regional General Managers based at the South African Tourism’s Head Office in Sandton. The reporting is structured as follows:

Reporting	Regional General Manager: Africa	Regional General Manager: Americas	Regional General Manager: Europe	Regional General Manager: Asia/Australasia/Middle East
Continent	AFRICA	AMERICAS	EUROPE	ASIA	AUSTRALASIA
Country Office	Nigeria	US	Germany	UK	France	Netherlands	India	China	Japan	Australia

Reply:

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS:

The National Department of Human Settlements purchased goods and/or services below the amount of R 500 000 connected to the Covid-19 pandemic as indicated below:

Order number	(b)Transaction amount	(c)Service/or product	Deviation
DH-026965	R 8 000.00	Empty Plastic bottles	No
DH-026966	R 25 400.00	Hand Sanitizers	No
DH-026967	R 82 400.00	Cloth Face Masks	No
DH-026968	R 104 550.00	Covid -19 Tests	No
DH-026970	R 174 464.00	Deep cleaning and sanitizing of buildings( 240 JMS; 260 JMS and Struktura)	No.
DH-026980	R 78 000.00	Face Shields	No
DH-026982	R 8 250.00	Foot Operated Hand Sanitizer Stand	No
DH-027009	R 4 800.00	Hand Sanitizers	No
DH-027017	R 41 000.00	Hand Sanitizers Construction gloves Face Shields Cloth Face masks	No
P No. 2420131	R 38 812.50	Hand Sanitizers Sanitizer Dispensers	No
P No. 2420302	R 77 833.00	Nurses appointed to screen employees and visitors	Yes (only two quotations were received).
P No. 2419856	R 242 213.00	Disinfect the DHS buildings for Covid -19 and fumigation of pests.	No
P No. 2419679	R 31 500.00	Face masks and surgical gloves	No
P No. 2419632	R 1 998.00	Thermometers	No
P No. 2419632	R 2 940.70	Surgical masks 3 ply	No
P No. 2419393	R 1935.00	Disinfecting wipes	No
P No. 2419393	R 1 527.60	Sterile gloves	No
P No. 2419393	R 2 491.95	Hand sanitizers	No
P No. 2419393	R 1 981.20	Hand sanitizers and wipes	No

(2)

(a) Yes, there was a deviation concerning the procurement of nursing services as shown in the table above. 

(b) There were no service providers/agencies registered in the National Treasury Central Supplier Database for the supply of nursing services. The Department of Human Settlements identified three agencies, (i.e. Mab Agency; Mednurse and Medwell). Requests for quotations were sent to the three agencies, but only two (Med nurse and Medwell) responded. A deviation was thus approved for procurement to be done based on two quotations.

(3) Goods and services were purchased from service providers with the lowest acceptable quotes. In instances where the value of goods procured was below R 2000.00, petty cash was used and therefore no requests for quotations were sent out. This practice is in line with the Supply Chain Management prescripts.

(4) My Department is available to brief the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation.

DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION:

(1) The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) purchased personal protective equipment (PPE). The information relating to expenditure on PPE and other measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 and the suppliers where the PPE were procured from is attached as Annexure A. In addition, the various suppliers used are on the Central Supplier Database.  

(2) No, the DWS did not deviate from the standard Supply Chain Management procedures.  

(3) The reasons for procuring the goods from specific companies was to enable the department to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through:

• Provision of PPE to employees
• Facilitating the screening of employees at the Head office and Regional Offices
• Disinfection of Office buildings (including Fumigation, Deep Cleaning and Fogging of offices)   

(4) My Department is available to brief the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation.

Reply:

1. The Honourable member to note that the numbers quoted also contain historical amounts that have not been dealt with effectively by Municipal Councils as prescribed. The irregular expenditure for the 2018/19 financial year was R21.5 billion and is concerning. Our analysis points to the main cause for irregular expenditure being non-compliance with Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes and procedures. The National Treasury has issued MFMA Circular 81, which introduced the Central Suppliers Database that requires all suppliers to be registered on the database. The database interfaces with the South African Revenue Services, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and government’s payroll system.  The system verifies supplier’s tax and BEE status, and enable public sector officials doing business with the state to be identified. Thus, if used correctly, these proactive measures will contribute to the reduction of incidencesof irregular expenditure.

Moreover, the National Treasury in conjunction with the Department of Cooperative Governance developed the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) Guideline and Toolkit which aim is to amongst others, assist MPACs to perform their oversight responsibilities in relation to irregular expenditure and make appropriate recommendations to the municipal council for resolution either to write-off or recover such expenditure, based on investigations. This guide was supported by MFMA Circular 92 which assists in effective functioning and decision-making by councillors serving on MPAC. This will assist municipalities to correctly address the irregular expenditure consistent with section 32 of the MFMA. In addition to this, the National Treasury also issued MFMA Circular 68 which further seeks to guide MPACs on the procedural aspect in relation to processing irregular expenditure.

2. (a) It has become apparent that some municipalities did not have the appropriate capacity, process or procedures to attend to the requirement as regulated. Some did not properly constitute its bid adjudication committee (BAC) as required in terms of regulation 29 of the Municipal SCM Regulations, which contributed to the root causes, besides internal control weaknesses.Inotherinstances, municipalities’ organisational structures were not appropriately established.After considerable engagements, a ministerial exemption was granted to municipalities that allowed for theco-optingof officials from neighbouring municipalities to assist with the compositionof the BAC. This measure will contribute to reducing the irregular expenditure in the coming financial years.

In recognising the capacity challenges, the National Treasury is currently finalising a project on the standard operating procedures for SCM which will provide step-by-step assistance to SCM officials to perform recurring activities through execution of specific tasks.

(b) The National Treasury and provincial treasuries will continue to support and capacitate municipalities in improving its internal control measures;however, it is the responsibility of municipalities to prevent and thus curb irregular expenditure by implementing corrective actions.

Reply:

1. Interventions in terms of S139 of the Constitution are invoked by the Provincial Executive and not directly by any National Government department, unless, there is a failure by the Provincial Executive to act, then the National Executive may intervene in terms of Section 139(7) of the Constitution. This subsection however, is not applicable to all interventions in terms of S139 of the Constitution.

Research into the efficacy of S139 interventions undertaken by the Public Affairs Research Institute on behalf of the National Treasury in 2018, showed that S139(1) interventions often fail to achieve their intended outcomes for a number of reasons. Amongst others, these reasons include, that interventions are often invoked using the wrong subsection of S139. In this regard, where there is clear evidence of a financial crisis and for which a mandatory intervention in terms of S139(5) is required, the Province elects to invoke a S139(1) intervention which is discretionary in nature and intended to remedy a failure to fulfil an executive obligation. The constant practice of “mismatching” interventions and problems results in failed outcomes.

Interventions, are also invoked too late, well after municipal failure is a fait accompli and are terminated too early before the intervention has dealt with all dimensions of the problem. The use of an administrator has also been found to have little effect on improving outcomes. Administrators should firstly only be appointed upon dissolution of Council; most administrators lack requisite qualifications thus incapable of solving municipal problems singlehandedly. Even where administrators may be competent and suitably qualified, a further impediment to successful outcomes are the threats that are often made by corrupt and unethical official and local politicians on the administrator’s lives.

Other reasons for failure include municipal officials who are often unwilling to cooperate with the intervention teams, the terms of reference for the administrator are often not specified upfront making it difficult to determine whether or not the objectives of the interventions were attained, the interventions generally lacked substantive-ness and in many cases the root cause of the problem is never dealt with adequately. A number of municipalities met the criteria for S139(5) – financial crisis intervention - but these interventions are seldom invoked by Provincial Executives.

In summary, the history of interventions to date point to a number of failures – people, process, political, timing related and therefore interventions have not been successful in addressing municipal dysfunction. However, the experience of the Oudtshoorn Municipality in the Western Cape is an exception in this regard and is due to a concerted effort on the part of senior managers in the municipality to repair the institution.

No intervention in terms of S139(7) of the Constitution has been invoked yet and therefore National Treasury has not had the mandate to intervene directly in a municipality.

2. As indicated in the above response, S139 interventions are invoked by the Provincial Executive and records of interventions of these interventions should be maintained nationally by the Department of Cooperative Governance. National Treasury does not have detailed records of these interventions but can furnish copies of financial recovery plans prepared for those municipalities where the Municipal Finance Recovery Service unit has rendered assistance in this regard. We will provide copies upon request of all active financial recovery plans that the MFRS unit is currently monitoring on a monthly basis.

Reply:

The Public Investment Corporation did not invest in a company to construct student accommodation near the University of Venda. However, the PIC did invest in a company that has projects in Polokwane and near the University of Limpopo.

Rest of the question falls away.

Reply:

  (a) (i) 3 241 Water Storage Tanks have been allocated to the Gauteng Province.

 (ii) 3 128 mobile toilets have been allocated to the Gauteng Province.

  (b) The provision of Human Settlements is a concurrent function between National, Provincial and Local Governments. The National Government is, amongst others, responsible for developing policies, programmes, implementation guidelines and the disbursement of grant allocations. The provincial and local spheres of government are inter alia charged with implementing human settlements programmes through targeted projects. The National Department of Human Settlements is working in close collaboration with the Gauteng Province, the Cities of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that urgent provision is made for the upgrading of informal settlements, which includes the de-densification and decontamination of identified overcrowded areas. The collaboration also ensures that households and individuals living in informal settlements, backyard dwellings and hostels, have access to potable water, ablution facilities, healthcare services, and are trained on maintaining the relevant hygiene practices and all other protocols related to COVID-19.

The Department of Water and Sanitation is responsible for ensuring water security for the whole country. This includes ensuring that water as a resource is allocated equitably and used beneficially in the public interest, while promoting environmental values. Schedule 4B of the Constitution places the function of provision of water services at local government (municipalities). In accordance with the Water Services Act, 1997, which regulates municipal water supply and sanitation services, municipalities deemed to be Water Service Authorities are responsible for ensuring that the right of access to basic water supply and sanitation which mandates that “everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation” is realised. Further, Section 11 of the Water Services Act mandates that “every Water Services Authority has the duty to all consumers or potential consumers in its area of jurisdiction to progressively ensure efficient, affordable, economical and sustainable access to water services.”

The City of Tshwane, like all other municipalities in the province, continues to provide rudimentary services in informal settlements and is also responsible for the delivery of:

• • 252 (10 000 litre capacity) mobile water tankers
  • 492 (5 000 litre capacity) water tanks

The National Department of Water and Sanitation provided:

• 3 (18 000 litre capacity) mobile water tankers
• 407 (5 000 litre capacity) water tanks
• 114 (10 000 litre capacity) water tanks
• 37 (2 500 litre capacity) water tanks which were distributed to various regions.

There are forty seven (47) water tanks that were distributed and are operational in thirteen schools at Hammanskraal in Region 2, Lethabong in Region 5, Kanana in Region 6 and Sokhulumi in Region 7.

In total, there are 492 operational water tanks provided by the City of Tshwane, 457 operational water tanks provided by National Department of Water and Sanitation and 18 operational water tanks donated by other organisations which make a total of 967 operational water tanks.

The City of Tshwane delivered the following sanitation services in its informal settlements:

• a total of 3 935 out of 5 128 chemical toilets have been delivered
• the balance of 1 193 will be delivered in due course

(c) It is envisaged that 16 000 households will benefit from the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Program which includes de-densification- Beneficiaries will either receive Temporary Residential Units (TRUs) or Permanent Housing Units in their current settlements or be relocated as a last resort.

(d) Informal Settlements prioritised for upgrading and or de-densification to promote social distancing practices are identified on the basis of the levels of overcrowding and inadequate provision of basic services.

The targeted overcrowded areas in the province are Alexandra, Ivory Park, Diepsloot, Zandspruit, Khutsong, Pretoria West Informal Settlements, Mamelodi Phomolong Informal Settlements and Mamelodi Hostels. Other areas are likely to be added, depending on the availability of resources.

The land earmarked for de-densification purposes is identified on the basis of proximity to the affected overcrowded informal settlements or spaces. State-owned, which includes municipal-owned land is preferred.

To date, 403 households have been relocated from Khutsong informal settlement into completed housing units at Elijah Barayi Mega Project under the Merafong Local Municipality.

Reply:

(1) The Department will not offer any form of COVID-19 relief to small businesses, as its Departmental mandate is on Defence of the RSA, and the function does not include funds or resource allocation to businesses.

(2) (a) The Department provides small business the opportunity to supply the Department with goods and services as required. BBBE companies are also assisted in respect of compliance to National Treasury Regulations and other legislative prescripts. (b) No Covid-19 financial and/or other relief will be made available to small businesses in line with the answer provided in paragraph (1) above.

Reply:

Yes, the Minister has considered the offender’ profile for possible placement on parole wherein he approved that the profile of offender Nxumalo be submitted for reconsideration after 31 January 2022.

In the interim the offender will be subjected to the following interventions:

• The offender to undergo insight orientated psychotherapy to deal with his anti-social personality disorder and loss of his mother;
• A risk assessment by a non-treating psychologist to be conducted;
• The offender to be encouraged to improve his vocational skills to assist him with prospects of obtaining employment once he is placed on parole.

END

Reply:

a) In total, municipalities have spent R1.2 billion on legal fees in the 2018/19 financial year.

b) On forensic investigations, municipalities spent R26.5 million, however, this R26.5 million is not necessarily on legal fees. It might just be on appointments of forensic investigators (attached to this is Annexure A which llustrateshow much was paid on Legal Fees per municipality, Annexure Bwhich illustrates how much was spent per municipality on Forensic Investigations).

ANNEXURES

Reply:

1. It is important to highlight that there was no relief sought against the Minister of Finance or that a finding was made against the Minister of Finance or the Regulations as administered by the Minister of Finance. After the Blue Nightingale judgement, two similar judgements were made against KwaDukuza and Mamusa Municipalities. National Treasury assessed the application of Regulation 32 by various municipalities and deemed it necessary to issue a Circular to elaborate on the principles captured in regulation 32. The Circular is available on the National Treasury website as Circular No.96 under MFMA Circulars. The Circular considered the principles in the Blue Nightingale and KwaDukuza judgements.

2. In terms of Circular No. 96, the accounting officer of the participating municipality or municipal entity must utilise the process of reporting as contained in SCM regulation 6, to also include any procurement through SCM regulation 32. The treasuries may request further information in terms of section 74 of the MFMA. The participating accounting officer must also publish the details of the participation contract award on the municipality or municipal entity’s official website in line with section 75 of the MFMA. Therefore, this information is in the public domain, however, there is no specific obligation placed on the municipality or municipal entity to report to the National Treasury or the Minister of Finance with regards to these provisions.

Reply:

a) The National and Provincial Treasuries have conducted a module use verification in October and November 2019 to assess if municipalities are using the IDP, budget, billing and receipts, general ledger, SCM, asset management and inventory, payroll, debtors, creditors and reporting modules available in their core financial systems. The findings were that most municipalities have access to these modules on the core financial system or via 3rd party sub-systems. Despite this finding, a number of municipalities are still budgeting, transacting and reporting outside of the core systems in excel spreadsheets and then capture the information on the system at a later stage. Municipalities do not openly admit to these poor practices, but it is evident when the financial performance reported to Council differ from the information thatis submitted to National and Provincial Treasuries and the high levels of unauthorized expenditure reported by the Auditor-General (when budgeting, transacting and reporting are done outside of the system and captured at a later stage, the built-in controls in the core system to prevent unauthorised expenditure are not triggered).

b) The reasons whymunicipalities are not fully using their core financial systems include:

• Lack in capacity of municipal officials to use the financial system, use the mSCOA chart correctly, apply basic accounting principles and do balance sheet budgeting.
• Unwillingness of municipalities to lock the budget on the system before transactions take place and to properly close off month-end processes as changes cannot be made to the figures on the system once the budget and month-end has been locked.
• Resistance to change previous financial management practices and adopt mSCOA and its transparency.
• Deliberate circumvention of theinternal controls built-in on the systems to dodge unauthorised expenditure and commit acts of fraud and corruption.
• Budgetary constraintsto upgrade and maintain the ICT environment (servers, hardware, software, updated modules and versions of the system, and licenses).
• Connectivity problems at rural municipalities impact on the use of web-based systems and the submission of data strings to the Local Government upload portal.
• The level of customisation in the system functionality required by Metros and large secondary cities delay system development.
• Some municipalities are dependent on the system vendors and do not take ownership of their system/the data captured on it.
• Some municipalities do not perform the responsibilities required from them (i.e. data cleansing, user testing, transaction capturing, etc.) when migrating to a new system, resulting in delays to implement the core system.
• Non-payment of system vendors due to contractual disagreements result in vendors suspending support.

c) In terms of MFMA Circular No 98 that was issued on 6 December 2019, municipalities are required to submit a roadmap to the National and respective provincial treasury to indicate how the municipality will be become mSCOA compliant if the minimum level of mSCOA implementation has not been achieved as yet. The following municipalities have persistently not complied with mSCOA for the reasons stated:

Eastern Cape:

• Nelson Mandela Bay Metro: In-house system is not mSCOA enabling and requires additional development. A road map has been submitted to the National Treasury.
• Amathole Municipality: Huge investments were made to purchase a mSCOA enabling system but the previous implementing agent of the financial system did not conclude the development work, citing a lack of cooperation from the municipality to conclude user testing when required as the reason for not being able to conclude the work. The municipality has taken legal action against the previous implementing agent and appointed a new agent. A road map has not been submitted to the Provincial Treasury.

Free State:

• Kopanong Municipality: Due to server and connectivity challenges the legacy system (FMS) which is not mSCOA enabling is being used.
• Mafube Municipality: Due to budgetary constraints the municipality has server challenges and cannot migrate to EMS version of the system.
• Mohokare Municipality: Due to non-payment of the system vendor, the support to the system is suspended at times and this impacts on reporting.
• Nala Municipalityis highly dependent on the system vendor to such an extent that the vendor and not officials are capturing the information on the system.
• Tokologo Municipality is highly dependent on the system vendor to operate the system and as a result officials revert to using the legacy system (FMS) which are not mSCOA enabling.

No road maps have been submitted by any of the Free State non-complying municipalities and the Provincial Treasury is following up on this.

Gauteng:

• City of Johannesburg: Due to the required level of customisation, the system development has not been concluded as yet.
• City of Tshwane: Due to required level of customisation, the system development has not been concluded as yet.

Road maps have been submitted to the National Treasury.

KwaZulu-Natal:

• Msunduzi Municipality: Huge investments were made to purchase a mSCOA enabling system but the previous implementing agent of the financial system did not conclude the development work. The municipality has taken legal action against the previous implementing agent and appointed a new agent. A road map has not been submitted to the National Treasury. Legal action is being taken against the vendor.
• uPhongolo Municipality: Changed their financial system due to contractual disagreements and currently in process of migrating to a new system. A road map will be submitted to the Provincial Treasury once a system vendor has been appointed.

Limpopo:

• Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality: Changed their financial system due to contractual disagreements and currently in process of migrating to a new system. A road map has been submitted to the Provincial Treasury.

Mpumulanga:

• Gert Sibande and Pixley Ka Seme Municipalities both lack internal capacity and are dependent on the system vendor to assist them to upload the data strings. No roadmaps have been submitted to the provincial treasury.

North West:

• Rustenburg, Ditsobotla, Dr Ruth SegomotsiMompati, and Greater Taung Municipalities all changed their systems and are still busy with the migration to the new system, which impacts on reporting and credibility of information.
• Mamusa – political and administration leadership challenges (municipality was recently dissolved and went to had a by-election and the CFO and MM are both suspended) and a lack of capacity in finance department impact on the implementation of mSCOA.
• Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality is highly dependent on the system vendor to such an extent that the vendor and not officials are capturing the information on the system and generating the data strings.

No road maps have been submitted by any of the North West non-complying municipalities and the Provincial Treasury is following up on this.

Northern Cape:

• Richtersveld Municipality: Due to capacity constraints, a lack of knowledge on mSCOA and their own financial system, the budget and reports are prepared out of the system and then given to the system vendor to import on the system.
• David Kuiper Municipality: Due to system related challenges and a lack of knowledge on mSCOA and their own system, the municipality has decided to change to another system and is busy with the Section 33 process in this regard.

No road maps have been submitted by these non-complying municipalities.

Reply:

a) Section 33 of the MFMA requires a municipality to amongst others, solicitthe views and recommendations of the National Treasury and the relevant provincial treasury. Treasuries generally reviewmatters of compliance with the MFMA, processes followed, contents of draft contracts, supply chain management, alignment of resources and future obligations, as well as processes of consultation with the public and transparency principles. Draft contracts are reviewed to advise municipalities that contract management are aligned to the provisions in terms of section 116 of the MFMA. No adverse comments were raised on any of the draft contracts received during the 2018/19 financial year.

b) There were no adverse comments on the draft contracts. Comments were more for the municipal officials and council’s consideration prior to approval.

c) We do not maintain records of contracts entered intoafter the conclusion of the comment process.No further processes were followed, since the MFMA requires such contracts to be made public on municipal websites to maintain the accountability and transparency principles.

Reply:

We have no recollection of mention being made during the briefing by a representative of the Bank of any instance of mismanagement. What we are able to confirm is that the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Moloto, did say, in response to a suggestion that the Bank’s liquidity challenges may have been attributable to corruption, that the Land Bank prides itself on the governance processes in place and that in the face of any corporate governance lapses, the Board does not hesitate to take disciplinary action and dismiss individuals where necessary. He emphasised that the Land Bank prides itself in maintaining the highest ethical standards.

We would much appreciate it if you could furnish us with specifics as to what may have been said by representatives of the Land Bank which led to this enquiry so that we can accurately respond to the question.

Reply:

1. The review of the existing procurement regulatory framework through the Public Procurement Bill is a measure that will be put in place to prevent the mass looting that takes place in the Government’s supply chain management processes. The Draft Public Procurement Bill makes the following provisions:

• A directive to all Accounting Officers and Accounting Authorities on what measures to put in place within their respective institutions to prevent the abuse of the supply chain management system;
• A chapter on procurement integrity which outlines code of conduct for officials, bidders and suppliers, including measures for handling any contravention of the code of conduct; and
• That institutions must ensure that all planned procurement is aligned to the institution’s budget and plan.

2. The National Treasury, furthermore, proposed to the DPSA, the following Key Government Focus Areas (KGFA) and Key Focus Area Activities (KFAA) to be included in the Performance Agreements of Head of Departments:

Key government focus areas: Supply Chain Management System

KGFA	KFAA[1]	Suggested Weight	Target Date	Indicator/Target	Baseline Data
Develop and implement effective and efficient supply chain management system	Elimination of wasteful and fruitless expenditure	20%	Annual	70% elimination of wasteful and fruitless expenditure from baseline 2019 [2]	2018 Baseline
	Reduction of irregular expenditure	20%	Annual	65% reduction of irregular expenditure from baseline 2019[3]	2018 Baseline
	Reduction of qualified audits	20%	Annual	Unqualified audit opinion with 25% fewer findings than 2019/20[4]	2018 Baseline
	Ensure that procurement planning is managed	15%	Annual	The finalisation of tender awards within an average of 100 days	Average number of days to award tenders
	Ensure that SCM risk management is performed	5%	Annual	Risk response plans for the top 5 SCM risks developed	Risk response mitigation plans
	Ensure that the department pays all compliant supplier invoices within 30 days of receipt of invoice	20%	Annual	100% of compliant supplier invoices paid within 30 days of receipt of invoice	Average supplier payment days

1. All KFAAs are compulsory ↑

2. This indicator should be incremental so that by 2024/2025 the target is 100% elimination ↑

3. This indicator should be incremental so that by 2024/2025 the target is 75% elimination ↑

4. This indicator should be incremental so that by 2024/2025 the target is Clean Audit ↑

Reply:

(1) The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), as an operating entity, does not have any budget allocation to support local government infrastructure.

(2) Falls away.

Reply:

National Treasury has received a number of requests from industry and individuals for amendments to Regulation 28 of the Pensions Fund Act no 24 of 1956, including to specifically accommodate infrastructure assets. At the moment, infrastructure assets are spread over a number of assets classes like equity, private equity and bonds, making it difficult to quantify and identify them specifically. National Treasury is therefore considering whether the regulations should differentiate between infrastructure assets, green bonds, etc. from other assets.

The National Treasury has therefore commenced a process to review whether the current Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act No. 24 of 1956, adequately allows retirement funds to invest in infrastructure. Once the review is completed, the Minister of Finance will make an appropriate announcement, expected to be no later than the coming Medium Term Budget Policy Statement 2020.

(a) Current limits that apply under Regulation 28 will be part of the review, and hence any changes to current limits will only be determined after the review is completed.

(b) No. Regulation 28 places upper limits on what proportion of a portfolio may be allocated in various asset classes. There is no need to prescribe investment in any asset class because the board of directors (also known as trustees) of retirement funds have a fiduciary duty to the fund and its members and therefore, need to assess the riskiness of any asset class on their own in order meet their investment mandate to members.

Reply:

1. The department procured the following goods and services connected to the Covid-19 pandemic.

(a) Name of company	(b) Amount	Method of procurement	(c) 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	Building decontamination
	R10 500.00	Three quotations	Building decontamination
Nesoscope Holdings (Pty) Ltd	R54 275.88	Emergency deviation on existing contract	Surface sanitizers
MPM Enviro Enterprise	R293 250.00	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	Building decontamination
	R75 950.00	Emergency deviation memo approved	Building decontamination
	R80 850.00	Three quotations	Building decontamination
Khulanathi Black Ginger	R135 125.00	Three quotations	Cloth masks reusable
Benixo Utility Services	R98 640.00	Three quotations	Building decontamination
Techcon Systems Pty Ltd	R332 062.50	Three quotations	Rental, supply, installation, replenishing and maintenance of foot operated hand sanitizer dispensers.
TOTAL	R1 567 494.96

2. Two emergency deviations were approved.

(a) Immediate sanitization of all surfaces, kitchens, utensils, door handles on regular basis to prevent infections. This was done by the incumbent service provider.

(b)The department experienced positive Covid-19 cases. The building had to be evacuated and there was an urgent need to decontaminate buildings immediately.

(3) The Department’s COVID-19 Committee established the need for the goods and services to manage and contain the spread of infections.Request for quotations were issued to various companies and lowest quotations were accepted in each instance.

(4) N/A

Reply:

1. The total cumulative amount of money spent on state-owned entities (SOE)recapitalisations and bailouts from 2000/01 to 2019/20 is R187.4 billion. The information was derived from the ENE databases for the years where the classification was clearly indicated and is thus, at this stage, not available from 27 April 1994.Furthermore, National Treasury followed Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA)[1] economic classifications in compiling the data and focused on the classification for “payment of financial assets”, this excludes indemnities, guarantees and other contingent support provided to SOEs during this time that may be interpreted as a bailout.

2. The breakdown of amounts spent annually on bailouts andrecapitalisations from 2000/01on SOEsis provided in annexure A. At this stage the information is not available dating back to 27 April 1994.

3. The breakdown of the total cumulative amount spent on bailouts and recapitalisations to Eskom, South African Airways, Denel, South African Broadcasting Corporation, South African Post office and South African Postbank from 2000/01 to 2019/20 is included in Annexure A.At this stage the information is not available dating back to 27 April 1994.

 

 

---

[1]Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA) is used by departments and provinces to classify their transactions

 

Reply:

(1) Yes the suppliers involved in the concealed best before date have been identified. The companies are not yet blacklisted as the legal process must first be finalised. However the Department issued the companies involved with a warning letter, and no awards/invitations for the supply of patrol ration packs have been made to these companies since the incident. The suppliers are currently barred from doing business with the Department of Defence (DOD) pending the outcome of the investigation.

(b) The matter is under investigation

Reply:

The Honourable Member to note that the Public Audit Act is administered by the Office of the Auditor-General who reports to Parliament.

a) The Office of the Auditor-General has advised that they are implementing the material irregular provisions at nine municipalities. This was published in their general report. However, none were referred to any public body for investigation.

b) No report was provided to National Treasury relating to certificates of debt issued.

c) No report was provided to National Treasury relating to binding remedial actions.

Reply:

1. It is not clear what the “Disaster Management budget” being referred to is. In the last quarter of the 2019/20 financial year, a total of R150.2 million was transferred to municipalities from the Municipal Disaster Relief Grant (the amount per municipality is shown in Annexure A). In addition to this, an amount of R4 billion was reprioritised for disaster response within other conditional grants already transferred to municipalities in the 2019/20 financial year. This information is also described on page 20 of the Supplementary Budget Review tabled on the 24thJune 2020.

In the 2020/21 financial year, funds are made available to municipalities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic through an addition of R11 billion to the local government Equitable Share, and an estimated R9 billion is available to be spent on COVID-19 response activities within conditional grants. Details of this are set out in the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill, 2020, tabled on the 24thJune 2020.

(2)(a) The 2019/20 financial year only ended at the end of June 2020. Municipalities have not yet reported on their expenditure for that financial year, and audited financial information will only be available once the Auditor-General has completed their processes in auditing municipal financial statements. For amounts allocated for the current financial year, municipalities should be given an opportunity to spend the funds before they can be expected to report on how much was spent.

(2)(b) Conditions for the Municipal Disaster Relief Grant were gazetted in the Government Gazette No. 42464. The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) approved that receiving municipalities could spend these funds on particular activities included in the business plans submitted to them by municipalities. In approving the reallocation of funds from conditional grants to be used to respond to the disaster, National Treasury also approved specific conditions for the use of those funds that were prescribed by the Transferring Officer of each grant. Conditions of the use of grant funds in 2020/21 were gazetted in Government Gazette No.43495.

(2)(c) The same constraint in terms of the timing of expenditure information described in response to question (2)(a) applies to this question.

Reply:

a) At the beginning of the 2020-21 financial year, National Treasury had 103 vacant positions from a staff establishment of 1076. The department is continuously recruiting for critical positions as and when approved by EXCO and replacement of new vacancies. The same process will apply in the 2021-22 financial year.

b) All the divisions within the National Treasury have identified critical posts that need to be filled.

c) National Treasury does not directly collect revenue from any taxes, as this is the responsibility of SARS. National Treasury proposes tax and other policies to generate revenue, as outlined in the annual Budget, and outlined in great detail in the Budget Review and subsequent tax legislation to give effect to the Budget. The actual administration and collection of revenue from taxes is the responsibility of SARS, which also reports to the Minister of Finance.

Reply:

1. The Director-General of the National Treasury wrote to SALGA on 10 May 2020 and noted that “In terms of the South African Local Government Bargaining Council circular number 02/2020, dated 6 March 2020, the salary and wage increase in terms of sections 6.6 and 6.8 of the Collective Agreement will be 6.25 per cent from 1 July 2020. Clearly, this is no longer affordable considering the current economic environment. The local government collective agreement further provides, in Clause 11, for applications for exemptions from any provision of the collective agreement should the agreement be unaffordable or in cases of unexpected economic hardship.” The Director-General then said that, “It is National Treasury’s view that SALGA should urgently lodge an application for exemption on behalf of all municipalities who are party to the agreement to allow for consideration before the municipal financial year commences. The specific provisions from which the municipalities should be exempted should be agreed with affected municipalities.”

(2)(a) The letter was sent to SALGA on 10 May 2020. SALGA took up the issue in the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) and National Treasury was subsequently invited to provide a briefing to the SALGBCon 17 June 2020. National Treasury provided the briefing as requested.

3. SALGA is the employer representative in the SALGBC and are taking the issue forward through that structure. National Treasury respects the process in the SALGBCand has no role in the process unless we are requested to provide further information or support.

Reply:

1. Yes.

a. Since 2017.

b. The Exercise has been taking place for over four (04) years.

c. EXERCISE MAFADI is the official Field Exercise after at the end of the Battle Handling Course for Military Law Practitioners (MLPs). It is also Combat Readiness Exercise for the Defence Legal Service Division (DLSD) in order to prepare MLPs to provide legal support to operations in terms of the Legal Support Doctrine.

d. The primary objective of the EX MAFADI is to prepare Military Law Practitioners to support internal and external operation in terms the Operations Legal Support Doctrine. To teach them their role during Joint Military Operations with other state departments, Peace Keeping Missions and during War.

The aim is also to enhance their leadership skills and to teach them other important military skills such as Navigation, Map work and Radio communication. Thereby MLPs that took part in EX MAFADI are deemed and certified Combat Ready by the Division.

e. EX MAFADI alone is not a prerequisite for promotion; Military Law Practitioners are required to attend their respective Service Promotional Courses before they can be promoted to the next rank. However, EX MAFADI is the Practical Part of the Joint Battle Handling Course (JBHC) for Junior Military Law Practitioners. Military Law Practitioners must have successfully completed the JBHC (including Ex MAFADI) before they can be considered for promotion.

2. a. (i) On 28 June 2020 a South African Air Force, Oryx helicopter from 15 Squadron, Durban was dispatched to rescue a member who had taken a fall and could not continue with the exercise. The member was airlifted taken to Greys hospital in Pietermaritzburg where she was treated for minor injuries. She has since recovered. The cost of the Oryx deployment was R 163.582.00 (R71, 123/ hour for two (2) and half hours).

On 01 July 2020 an Oryx was dispatched again to conduct a Search and Rescue Mission for members from 7 Medical Battalion Group, who were also conducting a Military Exercises in the area. (b)The Mountain Club of South Africa members were involved because of their familiarity with area. The cost of the Oryx deployment was R 284,492. (R71, 123/ hour for four hours).

3. a. EX MAFADI is a Divisional exercise therefore the Head of the Division must either command the exercise personally or delegate command to other duly qualified Officers. In this case the Adjutant General appointed all other relevant commanders such as the Exercise Commander, Company Commander and Platoon commanders and he was also present as the overall overseer to ensure that the objectives of the exercise were achieved.

b. EX MAFADI is a not a hike but a Military Exercise authorised by Defence Legal Services Division. An exercise scenario is developed to simulate a certain military problem and the exercise is conducted accordingly. All military exercises are conducted at state expense. EX MAFADI was conducted over the following time periods.

- EX MAFADI I- 15 till 21 October 2017 (Reconnaissance).

- EX MAFADI II- 27 December 2017 till 03 January 2018.

- EX MAFADI III- 28 January till 08 February 2019.

- EX MAFADI IV- 26 June till 03 July 2020.

4. EX MAFADI is the Combat Readiness Exercise for DLSD and the training at Port St Johns is the Mission Readiness Exercise for Joint Operations Division.

Reply:

Honourable Member, I have been informed that challenges relating to the borehole in Nyanyukani B have been resolved. This was confirmed after a site visit was undertaken by staff of the Department’s Regional Office in Limpopo on 11 May 2020 to the area.

The borehole in Nyanyukani B was initially connected to the community (household) electricity supply. ESKOM resolved that the borehole should have its connection where a transformer was to be installed. The Mopani District Municipality (DM) found the costs of installing transformers to all boreholes to be unaffordable and the borehole was legalized by Eskom without having a transformer.

In 2019 Eskom disconnected all boreholes in the Mopani District without transformers as they were considered to be illegally connected. The Mopani DM submitted a new electricity application for the borehole in 2019.

Upon consultation with the Mopani DM, the Department of Water and Sanitation was informed that the electricity supply to the borehole in Nyanyukani B had been restored and the borehole was back in operation.

Reply:

1. The latest information provided to the National Treasury by the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) is that, as at 25 July 2020, participating South African banks have provided a cumulative R44.85 billionin total financial relief and loan guaranteesto South African businesses and individuals who are financially distressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown. This includes R12,79 billion in loans extended under the Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme. The balance is non-guaranteed financial relief that banks have voluntarily offered to their customers, including R19,18 billionto individuals and R12,88 billion to commercial and small and medium enterprises.

2. The initial update of the Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme appeared to be slow, however it should be seen within the context of the initial relief granted by the banks (debt restructuring, repayment holidays and similar relief) before the credit guarantee scheme took effect.

3. Yes, the modifications have been considered and effected on 27 July 2020. This includes a longer payment holiday (increased to a maximum of 1 year after taking out the loan and repayment over five years) and offering business “restart” loans.The previous turnover cap has been removed and replaced with a maximum amount of R100m per loan. Previously the customer had to be in good standing with their bank on 29 February 2020 and this has been moved to 31 December 2019, which allows for more businesses to access the loan. Sole proprietors are now explicitly included. No security or suretyship was required and this was further clarified to still not be a requirement. Banks may reconsider applications declined under the first phase.The press statement that was issued by National Treasury, the Banking Association of South Africa and the South African Reserve Bank on 26 July 2020 provides more details, and can be accessed on the treasury website at:http://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/2020/20200726%20Media%20statement%20-%20Updated%20Loan%20Guarantee%20Scheme.pdf

Reply:

• In terms of Treasury Regulations section 6.6.3, the relevant Provincial Treasury must table an adjustments budget within 30 days of the tabling of the National Adjustments Budget. Therefore, Provinces have until the 24thJuly 2020 to table their adjustments budget, and the requested information will only be available then. This information should be obtained directly from Provinces as the responsibility to determine specific provincial allocations for quarantine and isolation sites vest with each province in terms of their own budget determination processes.

Reply:

The GEPF has not received the proposal by the Congress of South African Trade Unionsfor consideration to write down Eskom debt.

Reply:

1. (a) The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) does not administer the AIPF. The AIPF is administered by the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA), a government component in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994, and as provided for in Government Gazette No.33051 of 26 March 2010 which specifically establishes the GPAA for the purposes of the administration of, inter alia, the AIPF.

(b) The Director-General of the National Treasury is responsible for the business of the fund. The funds of the AIPF are invested via the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) in terms of an approved investment mandate.

(2) The GEPF currently has a fully functional Board of Trustees in place and has had such a Board of Trustees in place since 2005 already.

Reply:

a) The National Treasury provides support and training to both NPA and SAPS with regard to interpretation of MFMA, PFMA and related Treasury regulations through the Office of the Accountant-General (OAG). The support and training provided assistthese law enforcement agencies to develop relevant investigation plans and approaches to their cases. The OAG also provides technical expertise on the legislation and related prescripts.

b) The National Treasury already has the Specialised Audit Services unit which works in collaboration with and gives support to the law enforcement agencies on MFMA cases.

Reply:

1. National Treasury does not recommend that municipalities provide relief from property rates beyond what is already provided for in existing municipal policies (such as exemptions for indigent households). Municipalities face lower revenues due to a combination of lower demand for services such as electricity and water, and significantly higher non-payment rates for municipal bills. At the same time, they are faced with additional costs in responding to the pandemic. This would not be an appropriate time for municipalities to reduce their property rates.

2. The Supplementary Budget Review tabled on 24 June 2020 discussed the decline in municipal revenue collection and noted that, “The extent to which municipal bills are paid in the months ahead will depend on the duration of restrictions on economic activity, the pace of recovery and the application of revenue collection measures.” No further statements on municipal revenue collections as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic are planned at this stage.

Reply:

The information provided on this response is based on data provided by SAA and BA (two of the airlines that provides Business Class Cabins in the country).

The following assumptions apply:

1. The values are total Rand value and total number of single trips (legs) for calendar year 2019.
2. The values include all government institutions that uses the government deal codes as per the National Treasury’s centrally negotiated discount rates (including Parliament).
3. The data provided was not provided per individual (compliance to POPI Act), hence only total amounts are used.
4. The values exclude other domestic and international airlines. The data is not readily available.
5. SAA Economy class Average Price per Ticketwas calculated based on the average price of full Y-class tickets on all the routes. (R6181.00)
6. The values are exclusive of airport taxes and inclusive of VAT

Observations

If all Business Class tickets for 2019 were to be converted to Full Y Economy class tickets, on the two mentioned airlines only, Government could have saved R12 672 956.

	COST ANALYSIS FOR FLYING BUSINESS CLASS COMPARED TO ECONOMY CLASS
	British Airways	South African Airways
	Total cost (2019)	Total # Legs	Average price per ticket per leg	Total cost (2019)	Total # Legs	Average price per ticket per leg
Business Class	R23 676 021	8967	R2 640	R83 320 961	12873	R6 473
Economy Class (Full Y)	R53 511 915	32509	R1 646	*	*	R6 181
Difference between Business Class and Economy class ticket			R994			R292
Estimated saving per Airline			R8 915 759			R3 757 196
Total Estimated Saving	R12 672 956
	Notes:
	* Not provided

Conclusion

The pronouncement made by Minister of Finance to cut Business Class travel will yield the desired outcome.

Reply:

1. The National Treasury monitors the submission of municipal asset registers together with the annual financial statements, each financial year.

a)  The Honourable Member to note that whilst municipalities are required to record movements of assets on an ongoing basis as part of their recording and accounting process, for acquisition, upgrading or disposal. Theseare generally checked annually, when the Annual Financial Statements are prepared. Since the introduction of Generally Recognised Accounting Practices (GRAP), we have consistently encouraged municipalities to undertake this reconciliation on an in-year basis.

b) All 257 municipalities have asset registers as they are all reporting in terms of the GRAP standards.

2. Each municipality, through the Accounting Officer, is responsible for the management, safeguarding and maintenance of assets, as contained in section 63 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), Act 56 of 2003. To assist municipalities in complying with this provision, the National Treasury has issued frameworks, guidelines, circulars, tools and conducted training on asset management, accounting and reporting thereof. The National Treasury has also rendered additional support to municipalities on asset management. The strength of a municipality’s asset management practices (including the completeness of its asset register) is measured by the quality of the information reported in its annual financial statements, which is also audited by the Auditor-General.

Reply:

(1)(a) There are no details available of the due diligence measures that were taken at the time of the transaction. The transaction was concluded on 11 January 1994 by the then Public Investment Commissioners.

(1)(b) The purpose of the loan was to assist Madibeng Local Municipality (Madibeng) with the repayment of a number of short-term loans.

(1)(c) The current matter relates to the remaining three Coupon Certificates (others were settled), and their respective numbers are BR20, BR25 and BR26. The interest rate on BR20 was 13.29%; BR25 was 12.47% and BR26 was 12.47%. The PIC waived the respective interest rates and charged a flat interest rate of 10% in respect of each certificate.

(1)(d) The loan repayment dates and amounts are as follows:

• BR20 – 30 November 2003 – R37 million
• BR25 – 30 June 2003 – R83 million
• BR26 – 30 November 2003 – R87 million

(2) Madibeng will be in a better position to reply to this question, however, they have and continue to make provision for this debt in their financial staments and have not pleaded that they will not be able to repay the PIC. The PIC also made an offer to the Municipality to effect the payment over a period of time, which they declined.

(3) Yield to maturity; final yield on redemption dates; repayment to be effected at par on the redemption date on each certificate.

(4) The reasons are all of a technical nature. Madibeng admitted that they have received the loan amounts and that they owe the money to the PIC. However, they first raised a technical point that they were not authorised to raise the loan and issue the certificates. When they lost on this point, they appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) where they lost the appeal as well. The matter was remitted to the Court of First Instance for hearing on the merits and the quantum. Madibeng raised another technical point that the debt has prescribed. They lost again and have once more appealed to the SCA . PIC is currently awaiting for a hearing date from the SCA.

(5)(a) The current Court Order, which Madibeng is appealing, is for payment of the sum of R162,639,962,00 plus interest at the reduced rate of 10% per annum. This is after taking into consideration the payments that Madibeng effected after summons was issued.

(5)(b) National Treasury will be in a better position to reply to this question.

Reply:

An initial payment to support provinces in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic was made at the end of the 2019/20 financial year (before the full magnitude of the pandemic and its impacts was known). Details of further allocations and reprioritisations for the COVID-19 response in the 2020/21 financial year will be published when the Minister of Finance tables a supplementary adjustment budget on 24 June 2020.

On 25 March 2020, National Treasury approved the release of the amounts shown in Table 1 to provinces from the 2019/20 allocation for the Provincial Disaster Relief Grant. These funds were transferred to provinces by the National Disaster Management Centre to fund the initial costs of purchasing additional personal protective equipment and other medical equipment needed by provincial health departments to respond to the pandemic.

Table 1: Provincial Disaster Relief Grant allocations, 2019/20

R'000	2019/20 allocations
Eastern Cape	44 551
Free State	12 429
Gauteng	115 996
KwaZulu-Natal	138 918
Limpopo	42 449
Mpumalanga	33 993
Northern Cape	6 224
North West	18 540
Western Cape	53 292
Total	466 392

Reply:

a) 8 957 taxpayers requested PAYE Tax Deferments thus far and 4 taxpayers requested deferrals of excise duties.

b) The rand value for the PAYE Tax Deferments is R334m.

Deferral for the payment of excise duties on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products

Excise duties on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products are payable by manufacturers and the liability for excise duty is assessed and collected on a Duty at Source (DAS) basis - i.e. as close as possible to the point of domestic manufacture when goods achieve their excisable character or the point of importation of similar excisable products.

The liability to account for excise duties and the payment thereof therefore rest with the manufacturer with payment periods following the end of the accounting month ranging from 30 to 130 days depending on the product and the period between the time of manufacture and final sale.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the President declaring a national state of disaster and instituting a nation-wide lockdown with effect from Thursday, 26 March 2020. As a result, the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products was first restricted and has since been prohibited.

In order tominimise cash flow difficulties for the manufacturers of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, the revised Disaster Management Tax Relief Bill, 2020 proposes that the manufacturers in these industries continue to submit their excise duty accounts on time but that the payments due to SARS be deferred for a period of 90 days without incurring interest or penalties.

Manufacturers will qualify for such deferment provided they have no outstanding excise accounts or payments unless an arrangement has been made for such payments. The proposed deferral, as set out in the proposed amendments to Rule 19A.11 to the Customs and Excise Act No. 91 of 1964, will apply to payments due in the months of May and June and will be for a period of 90 days.

The table below provides the detail of tax deferral measures approved to date in this regard.

Table A: Tax deferral measures relating to the payment of excise duties on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products

Province	Taxpayers Approved	Amounts deferred
Gauteng	1	R546 000 000
KwaZulu Natal	1	R933 000 000
Western Cape	2	R1 073 659 864

Reply:

The Honourable Member to note that the National Treasury, in consultation with the Provincial Treasury, had provided support to three of the four municipalities, as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act. Support is provided to those municipalities that commit to implementing the reforms required to address the audit findings. The time required to address all of the institutional, governance, and administrative weaknesses go beyond one financial cycle.

Moreover, the full commitment of both the municipal council and its administration is required to address the negative audit findingsas the primarily responsibility and accountability resides with the municipality.

Therefore, the support included a reviewing and revision of support plans for the financial management grant programme, rendering of technical support through audit specialists, assistance in the development and reviews of audit action plans,capacity building of internal audit units, audit committees and municipal officials to address audit findings. Additional support was provided to review the draft annual financial statements, supporting audit files, correction of previous technical errors, assistance in responding to audit findings, and appropriate responses. The following details relate to the support provided to the municipalities mentioned above.

a) Bojanala Platinum District Municipality

The following support was provided:

• Reviewed the post audit action plan and annual financial statements (AFS) preparation plan and schedule. 
• Meetings with Management to discuss AFS preparation plan and adviceon audit preparation.
• Reviewed interim financial statements.
• Escalated initiatives for training to address irregular expenditure. 
• Reviewed prior period error note on draft financial statements and submitted recommendations.
• Advised training and capacitation of internal audit unit. 

b) Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality

Thefollowing support was provided:

• Reviewed the post audit action plan and provided feedback to the municipality.
• Advised the CFO and internal auditor on AFS readiness.
• Reviewed and provided feedback on AFS preparation. 
• Followed up on progress made in addressing common audit findings pertaining to roads and water services that had an impact on local municipalities in the district.
• Supported the municipality at audit steering committee meeting with the Auditor-General  

c) Madibeng Local Municipality

The following support was provided:

• Reviewed the post audit action plan and provided feedback to the municipality.
• Attended audit steering committee meeting to render advice. 
• Advised the municipality on tracking and maintaining records, and copies of documentation required for audit purposes.  

d) Mamusa Local Municipality

The National Treasury could not provide support to this municipality due to institutional instability which was referred to the province for further intervention.

In conclusion, the Honourable Member could request the Legislature to perform additional oversight, especially to all those municipalities that received a disclaimer or an adverse audit opinion, to ascertain progress made and consequence measures taken.

Reply:

Provinces provided the following update on the Cuban Medical Brigade brigade :

a) Allocation per Province:

Eastern Cape

	Family Physicians	Biomedical Engineers	Epidemiologists	Biostatisticians
BCM	3	1	1	1
NMBD	3	1	1	1
Chris Hani	1	1	-	-
OR Tambo	1	1	-	-

Free State

	Family Physicians	Biomedical Engineers	Epidemiologists	Biostatisticians
Botshabelo	2	-	1	-
Mangaung	3	-	-	1
Thabanchu	1	-	-	-
MUCPP	1	-	-	-
Nzula	4	-	-	1
Pelonomi	-	3	-	-

Gauteng

District	Facility	Family Physicians	Clinical Engineer
Johannesburg	Nasrec isolation Centre	5	-
Sedibeng	Sebokeng Hospital	-	1
West Rand	GPG facilities	2	-
Ekurhuleni	Essellen Park	5	-
Tshwane	Pretoria West Hospital	3	-

KwaZulu Natal

	INSTITUTION	Family Physician	Health Technology	Information Management (Biostatistics)	Epidemiology Technologist
Amajuba	Dannhauser CHC	1	-	-	-
EThekwini	St. Mary's Marianhill	2	-	-	-
Harry Gwala	Christ the King Hospital	2	-	-	-
ILembe	Ntunjambili Hospital	2	-	-	-
King Cetshwayo	St. Mary's KwaMagwaza	2	-	-	-
UGu	GJ Crookes Hospital	1	-	-	-
uMgungundlovu	Edendale Hospital	1	-	-	-
UMgungundlovu	Pietermaritzburg	1	-	-	-
Umkhanyakude	Hlabisa Hospital	2	-	-	-
UMzinyathi	Dundee hospital	1	-	-	-
Uthukela	Ladysmith hospital	1	-	-	-
Zululand	Itshelejuba Hospital	2	-	-	-
King Cetshwayo	Ngwelezana hospital	-	2	-	-
uMgungundlovu	Greys Hospital	-	1	-	-
Wentworth	eThekwini	-	1	-	-
ILembe	Stanger Hospital	-	-	1	-
Uthukela	Ladysmith hospital	-	-	1	-
Amajuba	Madadeni Hospital	-	-	-	1
ILembe	Stanger Hospital	-	-	-	1
Uthukela	Ladysmith hospital	-	-	-	1

Limpopo

DISTRICT	INSTITUTION	Medical Officers	Clinical Engineering Technologist	Hygienist	Biostatisticians
Capricorn	Rethabile CHC	2	-	-	-
Sekhukhune	Dilokong Hospital	2	-	-	-
Waterberg	FH Odendaal/MDR-TB	2	-	-	-
Mopani	Kgapane Hospital	2	-	-	-
Capricorn	Head Office	-	3	1	1

Mpumalanga

District	Institution	Family Physician	Clinical Engineering	Epidemiology
Ehlanzeni	Rob Ferreira Hospital	-	1	-
GertSibande	Ermelo Hospital Clinical	-	1	-
Nkangala	Witbank Beatty Clinic	-	1	-
Ehlanzeni	Tonga District Hospital	1	-	-
Ehlanzeni	Shongwe District Hospital	1	-	-
Ehlanzeni	Tintswalo District Hospital	1	-	-
Ehlanzeni	Lydenburg District Hospital	1	-	-
Nkangala	Witbank/Impungwe District Hospital	1	-	-
Provincial Office	Provincial Office - CDC		-	-
Nkangala	Kwa-Mhlanga District Hospital	1	-	-
GertSibande	Piet Retief District Hospital	1	-	-
GertSibande	Evander District Hospital	1	-	-
Provincial Office	Provincial Office - Integrated Health Planning Unit	-	-	-

Northern Cape

	MEDICAL OFFICERS	DEPUTY DIRECTOR ADMI	ASS. DIR. ADMIN
JT Gaetsewe	2	-	-
Namakwa	1	-	-
Frances Baard	2	-	-
PixleyKaSeme	1	-	-
ZF Mgcawu	1	-	-
Provincial Office	-	2	2

North West

DISTRICT	INSTITUTION	Family Physician	Health Technology
Provincial Office	Mahikeng	-	-
NgakaModiriMolema District	Mahikeng (Lehurutshe/Zee rust Hosp)	2	-
Dr Ruth SegomotsiMompati District	Greater Taung Sub-district	1	-
Bojanala District	Rustenburg	2	2
Bojanala District	Madibeng	3	-
Dr Kenneth Kaunda District	Potchefstroom	1	-
Dr Kenneth Kaunda District	Matlosana	1	1

Western Cape

	MEDICAL OFFICERS	Health Technologists	Epidemiologists	Biostatisticians
CTICC	18	4	-	-
Directorate: Facilities Management	-	-	3	-
Directorate: Information	-	-	-	3

b) The Cuban Medical Brigade’s contribution to the Republic’s fight against Covid-19 in each of the locations includes but not limited to -

• Their deployment made a significant impact because the institutions are able to address issues of workload pressure because of Covid-19 pandemic.
• The Cuban Medical Brigade have been resourceful in the Primary Health Care as this is their specialty.
• Data analysis and information management team were tremendously instrumental in assessing the impact of the intervention.
• The Epidemiologic predictions of the peak of the pandemic are critical to District readiness.
• Hygienists and Epidemiologists are playing a key role in the research of the trends the pandemic is following and are providing advice on the projections.
• The Biomedical Engineers have been critical in the design, installation, adjusting, repairing or provision of technical support for biomedical equipment.
• The Cuban Medical Brigade are also involved in contact tracing and testing programme of the COVID-19 response.
• Other Brigades are deployed to Isolation and Quarantine sites
• They are also assisting with the implementation of the District SOP in the management of confirmed and suspected contacts (PUIs) in the District
• They are part of ward-based programme and Health Facility decongestion program

END.

Reply:

1. (a) The estimated costs for Bethal Hospital in Mpumalanga was estimated to be R629,901,000. That consisted of Professional Service Provider fees to the value of R60,901,000 and then Construction costs for phases 01 to 03 to the value of R569,000,000.00.

(b) The estimated final costs of the project is valued at R659,901,000.00

2. The discrepancy between the planned and actuals can be attributed to an approved variation order for procurement of medical equipment and furniture for the amount of R30,000,000.00.

3. The contract was awarded to Clear Choice Builders.

4. (a) The estimated completion of the project was the 30th of October 2020.

(b) Given an actual start date of the 10th of October 2016, Phase 1 and 2 of the project was completed in May 2020.

5. A sectional hand over was achieved for Phase 1 and 2 of the project. The project however is still in Phase 3 and not yet complete.

END.

Reply:

There is no Maluti Clinic in Matatiele, but there is Maluti Community Health Centre which provides 24 hour services.

(a) The Department appointed an Operations Manager for Maluti Community Health Centre in September 2019 to provide leadership in the facility. The CHC manager oversees and manages all the operations of the Centre which has already resulted in less complaints being lodged than before. Professional nurses’ vacancies are replaced as and when they are vacated. In 2020, the Department appointed six (6) professional nurses, three (3) of which are Specialised Primary Health Care nurses. This brings the total number of staffing to: One (1) Operational Manager, 26 professional nurses, one (1) doctor, one (1) pharmacist, and two (2) pharmacy assistants. The facility is expecting a dentist to be commencing at the beginning of September 2020. There are 20 Community Health Workers (CHWs) who do general work who are appointed on contract basis under the COVID-19 project.

(b) Medical supplies are monitored daily through stock visibility which is an electronic system monitored by a pharmacist. The status as of 4 August 2020 is that:

ARVs	85%
Vaccines	90%
Tracer Drugs	75%
PPE	75%

All these are efforts that have been made to improve the capacity of Maluti Community Health Centre on both staff and medical supplies in order to prevent patients from being sent back to thier homes every day.

END.

Reply:

1. (a) A total of 77 645 test kits were supplied to Ekurhuleni District and this covered all hospitals and clinics.

b) The test kits were procured by the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), and supplied to the District.

c) Cost per test kit including forms, testing and courier services is R399.00.

2. (a) Backlog in all six NHLS testing laboratories as of 28 July 2020 was 891 with registered samples

(b) The two main hospitals that are supporting Ekurhuleni are Tambo Memorial and Charlotte Maxeke. Tambo Memorial is doing the tests for all in-hospital patients while Charlotte Maxeke does all clinic work.

3. (a) The district has a tracing backlog of nearly 23 481 contacts as at 25 July 2020.

(b) The district does not conduct visits to the communities for tracing because they are currently implementing telephonic and COVID-19 Connect tracing initiatives which make use of the telephone and messaging system.

(c) The District is implementing telephonic and COVID-19 Connect for tracking and tracing of contacts. A total of 164 Clinical Officials are currently deployed across the district to strengthen telephonic tracing initiatives.

4. All members of staff in clinics have been trained on COVID-19 safety measures. COVID-19 steering committees have been setup in facilities and they ensure adherence to measures such as social distancing, appropriate use of PPE and frequent hand-washing and sanitization of hands in all the clinics. Senior and Middle Managers undertake unannounced visits to facilities in order to observe and ensure adherence to COVID-19 safety measures.

END.

Reply:

There is no policy for the testing of Members of Cabinet for Covid-19, the same testing criteria and protocols are used for all citizens.

a) The Department does not keep record of this information, the question should better be directed to each Member of Cabinet;

b) (i)-(ii) The Department does not keep record of this information, and also, test results are confidential and can only be shared by the Member concerned, on their own. Some Ministers have already done this and disclosed this information

c) The Department of Health does not keep record of this information.

END.

Reply:

In the letter addressed to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry on 15 June 2020, I advised that I have received various allegations of maladministration at the National Lotteries Commission, particularly relating to irregularities in respect of pro-Active Funding. When these allegations were brought to my attention, I requested an independent investigation on the matters. The ad-hoc release of information flowing from the current process may compromise the investigation and I will accordingly provide the additional information as soon as the processes warrant and permit it. I can confirm that the investigation commissioned is currently considering four projects.

-END-

Reply:

a) A total of 28,000 beds that were announced are those that had been repurposed for use for COVID-19. All the 28,000 beds are additional to normal capacity, which have been adjusted from their normal use to respond to COVID-19 hospitalisation.

b) According to the approved Departmental surge strategy for Covid-19, 80% of the general beds and 100% of the ICU will be available for admission of Covid-19 patients at peak. This excludes Psychiatric, TB, highly specialised hospitals, Private Day Hospitals, Sub-Acute and StepDown facilities). The existing hospital beds during the peak are as shown in the table below:

Province	(i) Normal Capacity beds both Non-ICU and ICU	(ii) Additional capacity beds
	Non-ICU beds	ICU beds	Non-ICU beds	ICU beds
EC	12777	410	2993	312
FS	6573	235	642	40
GP	30152	2343	7309	2542
KZN	26358	1092	1930	163
LP	7905	113	93	70
MP	6848	203	874	302
NW	4624	187	1358	96
NC	2239	42	1582	182
WC	11327	991	1532	117
Sub Totals	108803	5616	18313	3824
Total	114 418	22 137
	136 555

c) The field beds that are allocated to the hospitals per province as additional bed capacity are reflected here below:

Provinces	No of field beds
EC	8200
FS	2352
GP	2500
KZN	1156
MP	2440
NW	1250
NC	200
WC	1268
National Total	19366

END.

Reply:

(a)-(b) On commissioning of Thelle Mogoerane Hospital, concerns were raised that the maternity and neonatal unit will not be large enough to accommodate the existing services due to the limitations of the building. In response the GDOH-Infrastructure commenced with planning to address these issues raised since the hospital was commissioned and a proposal was made to extend the existing maternity and neonatal wards. Due to challenges with the proposed size of the unit it was clear that it would not be possible to fit the unit on the existing site due to the size of the site and the dolomitic conditions identified in the earmarked areas. The Professional Service Provider team, that was appointed at the time, was requested to look at other sites in close proximity to the hospital. This commenced but the search was not conclusive. The project was thus placed on hold in 2018.

Since then the Neonatal unit was moved to Ward 1 and 14. These changes were made to support neonatal services and was completed in 2019 and early 2020. A new milk room was provided in Ward 14 and completed in early 2020. The conversion of a delivery room into an obstetric theatre commenced in March 2020 and is still in progress.

END.

Reply:

1. There are standing Public Health and Social Development Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC) Resolutions 1 and 2 of 2018/19 and 2019/20 pertaining to standardizing Community Health Worker (CHW) remuneration at R3,500 per month. These Resolutions also highlight the need for processes to guide the employment, placement, remuneration, skills development and other processes related to conditions of employment for CHWs. The extension of Resolution 1 of 2018/19 to 2019/20 will allow the Department to engage all relevant stakeholders to guide the processes on conditions of employment for CHWs. Currently, the recruitment and remuneration for CHWS is enforced through these Resolutions, which do not make allowances for permanent employment, other than renewable of annual contracts. Furthermore, this matter is currently before the Bargaining Council wherein the Department engages with Labour Unions on possible interventions.

2. (a) There are 49,526 CHWs contracted across all Provinces.

(b) There are 49 526 CHWs who are on contract employment.

(c) The Department is not aware of the number of CHWs employed permanently. The Department became aware of the Gauteng Province (GP) intentions to employ CHWs permanently following the announcement by the Health MEC, Dr Masuku, stating that as of 1 July 2020, the Gauteng Department would have finalised the translation of 8,500 CHWs as Level 2 employees and the Department will complete the remaining number by 31 July 2020. There has not been any formal communication to the Director General (DG) for Health in this matter however, the DG has written to GP Head of Department seeking clarity on the matter. For this reason, we cannot confirm the number of CHWs employed permanently by Gauteng Province.

END.

Reply:

The intervention team has submitted a report to the Eastern Cape Department of Health, the Office of the Premier, and the Office of the Minister of Health.

The report submitted covered the analysis and the state of the COVID-19 response in the Eastern Cape for the period, 29th June 2020 until 10th July 2020. The report recommended nine areas of intervention. The recommendation made by the Strategy Team is following the key strategic areas as outlined by the WHO-COVID-19 response guideline as tailored to the provincial needs.

(a) The recommended interventions

1.1 Coordination between Tertiary, Regional and District hospitals is inadequate and should be addressed through the revised command and control structure.

1.2 Given the busy schedule of the SG, it would benefit the Province to have a Project Manager for COVID19 with the necessary authority to fast track actions.

1.3 While the metros have mobilised reasonable infrastructure to meet the surge, the Eastern Cape Department of Health (the Department) needs to give attention to the scaling-up of service delivery requirements such as the adequate provision of oxygen, equipment, human resources, and medicines necessary for the management of the Pandemic.

1.4 Certain hospitals are currently overwhelmed (Doran Nginza in NMB in particular) by the patient demand, and lack of infrastructure, equipment and human resources to meet the clinical care demand which the Department needs to address.

1.5 Labour relations is a matter that requires a dedicated action plan to normalise service delivery.

1.6 Historic arrangements for drainage areas, resource allocation, and referral routing are not addressing the significant surge in patient numbers, particularly in underserved, vulnerable populations.

1.7 Emergency Medical Services and patient transport services require intervention to ensure continued function.

1.8 Within the Province, the oxygen separation plants are located in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. The distribution of the oxygen is, therefore, a challenge for areas furthest from the Metro.

1.9 Implementation of a comprehensive data system to capture the parameters of the COVID-19 response.

(b) How far each of the recommendations has been implemented

1. Coordination between Tertiary, Regional and District hospitals is inadequate and should be addressed through the revised command and control structure.

The Intervention Team assisted the Department to establish its Command and Control structure which was adjusted from the Department’s strategic documents.

The structure is divided into three layers, Provincial, district and facility specific. Each structure has adopted an incident management approach (WHO-COVID-19 Guidance) with daily command and control meetings covering the following areas:

• Epidemiology and Surveillance
• Community engagement for prevention, contact tracing and testing
• Laboratory support and result reporting
• Treatment and Care including facility surge capacity
• Infrastructure and equipment
• Logistic support - pharmacy, consumables and personal protective equipment
• Emergency Services
• Psycho-social support to health workers
• Port Health

The strategic area of Port Health is not given a daily focus as Port Health is a national competence. The PMU is vigilant around Port Health issues and receives reports relevant to the Province from the National Department of Health.

2. Given the busy schedule of the SG, it would benefit the Province to have a Project Manager for COVID-19 with the necessary authority to fast track actions.

The Premier of the Province Hon. Mr. Oscar Mabuyane announced the establishment of the Project Management Unit for a comprehensive response to COVID-19. The Project Management Unit(PMU) has established the following structure (Fig. 1 below).

Dr Zungu leads the PMU. She works with Dr Monde Tom, a financial management expert with vast experience in both the public and private sector, leads the Business Continuity Workstream and Mr LauwrenceVanZuydam an experienced HR executive seconded from the Office of the Premier.

The project leader is responsible for directing all COVID-19 activities and for fasting track actions. The PMU has been integrated into the overall Eastern Cape Department of Health’s Covid-19 response and supports the HOD as the accounting officer.

The structure of the PMU and the related workstreams is depicted below.

4. Certain hospitals are currently overwhelmed (Doran Nginza in NMB in particular) by the patient demand, and lack of infrastructure, equipment and human resources to meet the clinical care demand which the Department needs to address.

This recommendation is specific to DorahNginza and Livingstone hospitals as there had been persistent negative media reports about the two facilities.

Dora Nginza Hospital

Maternity Services

The Department resolved the congestion of the maternity wards at DorahNginza by strengthening the peripheral clinics to operate their midwife services. They have also addressed the shortage of staff by fast-tracking the recruitment of doctors and nurses.

Upgrade of Dora Nginza Hospital- 100-bed wing

The Department upgraded a dilapidated wing of the hospital to provide a 100-bed wing to support the COVID19 peak. The project was part of the Province’s “Accelerated Construction Program” which meant that a project that would typically take four months, the constructors completed in two months. The Department handed over the site to DorahNginza Hospital on the 6th July 2020.

Oxygen Reticulation

The National Oxygen Team undertook an audit of the whole oxygen reticulation system of the Dora Nginza hospital. It found that the hospital has four Oxygen Manifolds with only one partially functional. Repairs to the system commenced on the 28th July. The local car manufacturing company has committed to the replacement of two manifolds, and the Department has ordered a further one. The full functionality of all the manifolds will ensure a continuous supply of oxygen at the correct pressure and volume.

Livingstone Hospital

Infrastructure

The Department undertook a project to upgrade the basement to provide an additional 68 Beds with Oxygen. The initiative is also part of the “Accelerated Construction Program”.

Leadership

The Department appointed an Acting CEO for the Livingstone hospital on 22nd July. Also, they have advertised the post of Nursing Service Manager and CEO. The processes will be fast-tracked.

Facilities Management

The hospital management set-up a short-term 6-month cleaning contract. The intention is to ensure that the staff at Livingstone hospital are reoriented into a deep cleaning routine and protocols. The washing machine has been repaired, resulting in improvement with the laundry services.

3. While the metros have mobilised reasonable infrastructure to meet the surge, the Eastern Cape Department of Health (the Department) needs to give attention to the scaling-up of service delivery requirements such as the adequate provision of oxygen, equipment, human resources, and medicines necessary for the management of the Pandemic.

6. Historic arrangements for drainage areas, resource allocation, and referral routing are not addressing the significant surge in patient numbers, particularly in underserved, vulnerable populations.

7. Emergency Medical Services and patient transport services require intervention to ensure continued function.

8. Within the Province, the oxygen separation plants are located in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. The distribution of the oxygen is, therefore, a challenge for areas furthest from the Metro.

We have addressed the recommendations 3, 6, 7, and 8 above through adoption of a service delivery model that rearranges the structure and resource distribution within the Eastern Cape health system to optimise service delivery.

Currently, the major urban areas contain all the critical care capacity, that is Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros, Mthatha, and to a limited extent, Queenstown. The outer reaches of the western, central and eastern areas are more than three-hour drive time from existing critical care beds. In collaboration with the Provincial Department of Health, the PMU developed a Hub and Spoke approach to address the shortfalls. The purpose of the Hub and Spoke strategy is then to identify the hospital drainage (referral pathway) to existing and or expanded Critical Care capacity coupled with the estimated distance and travel times to reach a bed safely at the peak of the COVID19 Pandemic. The PMU has also determined the high-risk areas based on at least one of the following factors:

• Travel times between facilities
• Travel distance between facilities
• Quality of the road infrastructure
• Quality of hospital infrastructure between the referring hospital and the receiving hospitalCritical care bed saturation

The District team are in the process of confirming satellite hubs for the expanded distribution of COVID19 critical care beds to address the potential shortfall. The PMU will support the Province to optimise existing district hospitals based on minimal input but with a maximum return.

The Department of Health supported by the PMU has made the following progress:

Infrastructure: The following infrastructure projects are underway in the Province, to yield a significant increase in the general ward beds (n=2,022) and critical care beds (n=311). The addition of the infrastructure development from the baseline will address the NEC long-term projected peak demand for COVID-19 admission in the districts and Province. The Rev Dr Elizabeth MamisaChabula Hospital facility will receive an additional upgrade of the current Phase I priority three beds to include additional oxygen supply. The intervention will add 312 oxygen beds to meet the demand in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and surrounding districts.

Figure : Estimated General Ward Beds required to meet the demand for COVID-19, current and projects under construction.

Figure : Estimated critical care beds in the Province, and anticipated deficit but can be achieved through the implementation of Hub and Spoke service delivery model.

Equipment: During the reporting period, the PMU identified significant gaps in the availability of a wide range of equipment. Notwithstanding, the team has made substantial inroads into addressing the procurement and distribution of equipment. The following categories of additional equipment have been ordered and delivered according to a schedule that considers shipment and available stock:

• General Ward and ICU patient beds
• Ventilators (procured and USG Donation), CPAP, High-Flow Nasal Cannula Oxygen devices
• Patient monitors, ECG machine, dynamap blood pressure systems
• ICU equipment video laryngoscopes, syringe pumps, suction, oxygen flowmeters

The following table describes the details on procurement:

Emergency Medical Services: Supported by the National Department of the Health, the Provincial Department of Health has acknowledged that the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and patient transport capabilities for the management of COVID19 are insufficient. The Intervention Team supported the Department in developing a comprehensive plan to strengthen an emergency and inter-facility transportation system to address the hub and spoke referral routing.

The Department has initiated an EMS pilot project which is a Command and Control Centre in the Nelson Mandela Metro. The Department has supported the plan by the appointment of additional EMS practitioners, drivers and patient transport vehicles. The team will now implement similar projects in other districts. The plan includes liaison with the private sector, identifying oxygen refill hubs, and equipping EMS vehicles with ventilation support equipment.

The Province has adopted the Vula Application which is a patient referral system to be used for inter-facility transfers.

Oxygen: A sufficient supply of oxygen is critical for the effective treatment of Covid19 patients. Before an intervention by the National Oxygen Working Group, the Province demonstrated acute shortage of oxygen at the hospital level. Different role-players have mitigated the problem through a range of interventions and contributions. The Province already has completed several oxygen projects essential for the introduction of the expanded critical care bed hub and spoke. Other site developments are still in process.

The prioritised facilities for oxygen upgrades are listed below.

• At Butterworth Hospital, a temporary oxygen tank has been installed while the plinth for the permanent tank is constructed. The installation of temporal tank has been completed.
• At Mthatha Regional Hospital, a temporary oxygen tank has been installed while the plinth for the permanent tank is constructed.
• The construction of the plinths for bulk oxygen supply for the following facilities will follow this sequence:
  1. Sir Henry Elliot Hospital
  2. St Barnabas Hospital
  3. Victoria Hospital
  4. Empilsiweni Hospital
  5. All Saints Hospital
  6. The reticulation Dora Nginza has started this week 28th July 2020 (1 week to complete).
  7. Adelaide next week (03rd August)
  8. Butterworth reticulation to start in two weeks (15th August)
  9. Stutterheim Hospital
  10. Grey Hospital Hospital
  11. MalizoMphehle Hospital
  12. Zithulele Hospital
  13. Holy Cross Hospital
  14. Madzikaneka Zulu Hospital
  15. St Barnabas Hospital
  16. All Saints Hospital
  17. Mpilisweni Hospital
  18. Aliwal North Hospital

The impact of the District Oxygen Supply can be summarised in the table below to demonstrate the increase in the improved oxygen supply.

Labour relations. Labour relations is a matter that requires a dedicated action plan to normalise service delivery

As noted in the report, the resolution of labour issues is key to the successful implementation of the recommendations. Labour relations is employer-employee relationship management with several actions required to resolve the outstanding issues falling into the realm of the Department of Health to resolve. The PMU has raised the issues identified to the DOH and Premier. In response, the Premier has seconded Mr Lawrence Van Zuydam to lead the effort to resolve these. The Minister of Health has met with the provincial leadership of the Trade Unions in Health in the Province, and the Member of Executive Council holding the ongoing engagement.

The PMU has provided a detailed analysis of the human resource requirements as assessed by the National Department of Health according to the Anaplan, aligned with the National Epidemiology Consortium long-term projection. The Provincial Department of Health is addressing the human resource requirements through the implementation of rapid recruitment strategies.

Implementation of a comprehensive data system to capture the parameters of the COVID-19 response.

Key to the interventions is the data collected in the NIDS, Dat.COV, Vula systems and comprehensively collated to ensure the number of beds available at the facility and per the strategic planning. As the epidemic evolves, the monitoring evaluation data is required daily to ensure that PMU is responding to the changing situation. The PMU is placing special attention of the data requirements for contact tracing, quarantine, isolation, hospitalisation and deaths.

The progress has focused on a review of the data collection capacity, human resources, connectivity and routine data reporting from each facility. An increase in the number of facilities routinely reporting data has been achieved. The M&E team will integrate the routine clinical data with the laboratory testing data, and mortality data to provide a comprehensive overview of the pandemic progress in the Province.

END.

Reply:

I have received a reply from the National Lotteries Commission requesting additional time in replying to the first part of the question (1), which I reproduce in full.I have advised the NLC that the shift to lockdown level 2 should enable them to commence immediately with collection of geo-coordinates.

In respect of the second part of the question (2), the NLC provided a reply that reflects the NLC position, and which has not been independently verified. As more information becomes available following the processes that I have initiated, these will in due course be made available:

1. NLC reply: “The NLC submitted a list of organisations that received R 10 Million or greater and top 50 organisations that received highest funding in the past 10 years. The list comprised of the name of the funded organisation, the amount funded, the province where the funded organisation comes from and the year in which the organisation was funded. The NLC list did not include the purpose of each grant and the details of the geo-coordinates of the location of each project including longitude and latitude coordinates.

In order to provide information relating to the purpose of each grant, the NLC will have to go through the individual project files to ascertain the purpose of each project which will take some time as some of the information is in the legacy Grant Management System (GMS) which is no longer used as requested information dates as far back as 10 years ago. The NLC is not in possession of information regarding the geo-coordinates of the location of each project including longitude and latitude coordinates. The NLC will have to travel to all locations of funded projects across the country to get the exact geo-coordinates. With the current nation-wide lockdown regulations, it will be a challenge for the NLC to visit all relevant projects that were funded within the past 10 years. The required geo-coordinates can be provided post the nation-wide lockdown.

In light of the above, the NLC would like to kindly request the extension for the submission of the information regarding the purpose for each grant as requested above to the second week of September 2020. The NLC further request that the submission of geo-coordinates of the location of each project including longitude and latitude coordinates be deferred to post nation-wide lockdown.”

2. NLC reply: “Grants made to Denzhe were not omitted from the supplied list. The list was provided per allocation in line with the set threshold of R10 million or above and top 50 highest funded organisation in the past 10 financial years. Denzhe funding of R17 million is on the list for organisations that were allocated R10 million or above in the past 10 years. The allocations for Denzhe are as follows:

a)  R 17 000 000 - October 2016 (Charities Sector)

b) R 5 000 000 - March 2017 (Sports and Recreation Sector)

c) R 4 666 658. 79 - January 2018 (Charities Sector)

d) R 918 966. 50 - January 2018 (Sports and Recreation Sector)

Grants for other organisations were not omitted. The list was provided per allocation in line with the set threshold of R10 million or above and top 50 highest funded organisation in the past 10 years.”

-END-

Reply:

a) Foreign doctors are referred to as persons who hold qualifications not prescribed for registration and their registration is regulatedin terms the Regulations Relating to the Registration of Persons who hold Qualifications not Prescribed for Registration, which are regulations made in terms of section 25 read with section 15B(1)(c) of the Health Professions Act of 1974. As matters stand, the requirements for registration based on the same legislation and regulations which are still in force are as follows:

1. a certified copy of the applicant’s identity document or passport;
2. a copy of the degree certificate or other basic qualification, certified by a notary public, and a sworn translation thereof into English;
3. a certified copy of the official and detailed curriculum of the applicant’s course of study, the specific courses, the content of education (theory) and training (practical/clinical), and the duration and mode of examination/evaluation. For training/curricula which is not equivalent to those offered in South African institutions, applicants will be required to pass, to the satisfaction of the board, an examination or evaluation in terms of section 25(2) of the Act in the profession for which he or she applies for registration;
4. such verification of credentials as may be required by the board [Currently, through the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG);
5. in the case of an application for registration in a profession for which internship training is a requirement, a certificate of completed training as an intern or of similar training or experience obtained elsewhere and the programme for such training;
6. in the case of an application for registration in the category of independent practice, proof of compliance with the requirements of section 25(3A) of the Act [which states that;
   • Despite section 24A, no person with a foreign qualification may be registered in the category independent practice unless he or she is a South African citizen or has attained permanent residence status in terms of the Immigration Act 2002, (Act No. 13 of 2002); and

• • The Council may exempt any person who has applied for exemption and is in the Republic for a temporary and particular purpose

7. an original certificate of good standing, which shall not be more than six months old [on submission of the application to the HPCSA], issued by the foreign registration authority where the applicant is or was registered;

8. a letter of endorsement issued by the National Department of Health for a registration in terms of regulation 2(1), (2), (3) or (4), confirming the employability or placement of the applicant, or a letter of endorsement issued by the prospective employer for a registration in terms of regulation 2(5), (7) or (8), or confirmation of enrolment for postgraduate studies issued by the educational institution concerned for registration in terms of regulation 2(6); and

9. the prescribed registration fee.

b) Compliant applications are normally processed within 72 hours however, applications that require board examinations can only be concluded once applicants sit and pass those exams, as and when offered by the HPCSA.

c) There are currently 346 applications received between October 2019 and July 2020.

d) The following table reflects the details in this regard.

New Applications	Awaiting Curriculum Review	Repeaters
Date	No. applications	Date	No. applications	No. applications
7-Dec-17	1	26-Feb-18	1	Information on date of application not available
6-Mar-18	1	25-May-18	1
9-Jul-18	1	15-Jan-19	6
21-Jan-19	1	16-Jan-19	4
22-Jan-19	1	17-Jan-19	1
23-Jan-19	1	18-Jan-19	1
31-Jan-19	1	23-Jan-19	1
19-Feb-19	1	28-Jan-19	1
3-Mar-19	1	4-Feb-19	1
18-Mar-19	1	17-Feb-19	1
20-Mar-19	1	25-Feb-19	1
2-Apr-19	1	16-Mar-19	1
7-Apr-19	1	26-Mar-19	1
10-Apr-19	2	28-Mar-19	1
26-Apr-19	1	11-Apr-19	1
3-May-19	1	10-May-19	1
29-May-19	1	17-May-19	1
11-Jun-19	2	24-Jun-19	1
21-Jun-19	3	25-Jun-19	1
24-Jun-19	1	15-Jul-19	1
2-Jul-19	1	16-Jul-19	1
11-Jul-19	1	29-Jul-19	1
12-Jul-19	3	30-Jul-19	1
16-Jul-19	2	8-Aug-19	1
22-Jul-19	1	14-Aug-19	1
30-Jul-19	1	21-Aug-19	1
1-Aug-19	2	26-Aug-19	1
2-Aug-19	2	28-Aug-19	1
7-Aug-19	1	9-Sep-19	3
8-Aug-19	1	25-Sep-19	2
15-Aug-19	1	30-Sep-19	1
16-Aug-19	1	1-Oct-19	1
22-Aug-19	2	4-Oct-19	2
28-Aug-19	1	11-Oct-19	1
2-Sep-19	1	14-Oct-19	2
5-Sep-19	3	24-Oct-19	1
16-Sep-19	1	25-Oct-19	1
20-Sep-19	1	28-Oct-19	1
27-Sep-19	1	29-Oct-19	1
1-Oct-19	1	14-Nov-19	1
14-Oct-19	1	19-Nov-19	2
23-Oct-19	1	9-Dec-19	1
24-Oct-19	1	20-Dec-19	2
25-Oct-19	1	13-Jan-20	1
28-Oct-19	1	20-Jan-20	1
5-Nov-19	4	22-Jan-20	2
11-Nov-19	3	27-Jan-20	3
14-Nov-19	2	28-Jan-20	1
17-Nov-19	1	29-Jan-20	1
20-Nov-19	1	30-Jan-20	1
27-Nov-19	1	8-Apr-20	1
28-Nov-19	1	30-Jun-20	1
2-Dec-19	4	8-Jul-20	1
6-Dec-19	3
7-Dec-19	1
9-Dec-19	1
11-Dec-19	1
12-Dec-19	2
18-Dec-19	1
23-Dec-19	1
9-Jan-20	1
22-Jan-20	3
27-Jan-20	3
29-Jan-20	1
31-Jan-20	1
5-Feb-20	1
12-Feb-20	2
13-Feb-20	1
18-Feb-20	1
26-Feb-20	1
28-Feb-20	2
9-Mar-20	1
10-Mar-20	1
11-Mar-20	1
20-Mar-20	1
31-Mar-20	1
9-Jul-20	1
13-Jul-20	1
20-Jul-20	2
21-Jul-20	1
4-Aug-20	9
Total	120		71	155

END.