Questions and Replies

Reply:

No. The department is currently analysing the farm assessment report for the purpose of recovery of funds.

Reply:

a) There is no legislation within the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development which hampers the importation of medical cannabis seeds into the Republic. However, there is regulation which governs the importation of plants and plant products into South Africa. The importation of plant and plant products are subject to the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No.36 of 1983). The purpose of the Agricultural Pests Act is to provide for measures by which agricultural pests may be prevented and combated.

In terms of Section 3 of the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No.36 of 1983) (APA), no person shall import into the Republic any plant except on the authority of a permit. Under the said Act “Plant” is defined as any live or dead part of a plant and any derivation of plant. In this regard, any importation of plant including the seeds thereof should meet the phytosanitary import requirements of the Republic under the Agricultural Pests Act.

Cannabis seed for medical, industrial or any other purpose is subject to the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983. It therefore has to be imported under the certain conditions which are informed by a pest risk assessment.

In the past, pre-2001, Cannabis sativa was declared a weed in terms of the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, 1983 (Act 43 of 1983) (CARA) under Regulation 15 and subsequently there has been an amendment in 2001 which was promulgated in 2001 and Cannabis was removed from the list of declared weeds. The list of CARA under regulation 15 was interlinked with R.846 of 12 April 1985 of the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No.36 of 1983) used to regulate the importation of Cannabis: live plants or seeds only for research purpose. Regulation R.846 of 12 April 1985 provides for importation of plants that are listed under Regulation 15 of CARA list as a declared weed or invader plant. Subsequently, the CARA list was amended in 2001 and Cannabis was removed from the list. The reason for removal of cannabis includes that  Cannabis does not affect agricultural production and does not meet the CARA criteria and further that it is being regulated by other pieces of legislation, namely:

• • Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992: Section 3 (Part III): Department of Justice and Correctional Services,
  • Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 as amended, Department of Health.

b) There is currently no need for amending the Agricultural Pest Act, 1983, to accommodate the importation of Cannabis seed into South Africa. The only requirement is that import conditions needs to be developed based on a pest risk assessment. The pest risk assessment and the development of import conditions is a consultative process which is currently underway and expected to be concluded before the end of 2019. It should be noted that the importation of Cannabis sativa will still be subjected to the requirements of the legislation of the Department of Justice and Correctional Services and the Department of Health.

Reply:

The mandate of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) relates to the management of migration involving processing of movements of people, and not goods. 

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is best suited to deal with matters of Customs and the import and export of goods.

END

Reply:

(1)(a-b) Currently no funded vacancies exist within the Western Cape. Due to austerity measures all posts become unfunded when they become vacant.

(1)(c) No funded vacancies exist.

(2) The Western Cape Province has 46 Immigration Officers in total distributed as follows:

• George Office = 4 x Immigration Officers
• Mosselbay Office = 1 x Immigration Officer,
• Oudtshoorn Office = 3 x Immigration Officers,
• Beaufort West Office = 2 x Immigration Officers,
• Cape Town Office = 16 x Immigration Officers
• Khayelithsa Office = 6 x Immigration Officers,
• Caledon Office = 3 x Immigration Officers,
• Paarl Office = 5 x Immigration Officers,
• Worcester Office = 2 x Immigration Officers,
• Malmesbury Office = 3 x Immigration Officers,
• Vredendal Office = 1 x Immigration Officer

(3) The Department has one Immigration Officer stationed at the Mosselbay Office responsible to perform inspectorate functions. The Mosselbay Harbour is serviced from the Cape Town Port Control Office on a call out basis for clearances of crew.

END

Reply:

(1)(a) The number of officials from the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) that will attend the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in Japan will depend on the final team size. The priority is that all resources are applied to ensure that all qualifying athletes are sent to the Olympic Games.

(b) The support team will include the accredited Chef De Mission and Games Coordinators who are SASCOC employees. They will be part of the Team and will be accredited and accommodated in the athlete’s village together with all the athlete. (c)(i)(ii) At this point no additional officials (including board members) have been identified to attend the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

(2) SASCOC will not incur any costs for any family members to attend the Olympic Games.

(3)(a)(b) There will be no SASCOC delegation other than Team Management attending the 2020 Olympics and no costs will be incurred in this regard. The costs for Team South Africa including Team Management will be finalized after the team sizes have been determined.

(4)(a) The number of (persons) athletes is still to be finalised based on the selection criteria and qualifications.

(b) It is estimated that that the cost of delivering the team to the Olympics will be R37m and the Paralympics will cost R17m respectively.

Reply:

(1&2) Umlazi - Currently the Department has a small office at the Magistrate’s Court in Umlazi rendering the following services: Birth and Death registration, Amendments, Rectifications and Green Barcoded IDs; the Department is however looking at relocating the current Prospecton Medium Office to Umlazi and modernise the office. The Department is currently in negotiations with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, the Ethekwini metro Municipality to obtain suitable premises. A possible Public Works premises has been identified but it needs substantial renovations. We aim to have the new office in Umlazi fully functional and operational by the end of the 2021/22 financial year. The reason for these extended projections is that the building identified needs extensive renovations and there is a dependency on Public Works to finalise and move forward with the project.

Chatsworth – The Department has a Medium office situated in the Chatsworth area operating from the SASSA building in the centre of Chatsworth. We are already operational in this area with the following services: Birth, Marriages and Death registration, Amendments, Rectifications, and Green Barcoded IDs. The Department is planning to modernize the office in the next financial year (2020/21).

(2) Engagements are currently underway with the Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, as they are custodians, and have to authorise any renovations and reconfigurations of the building under their control.

END

Reply:

I have been advised by the department as follows:

“A firm with an annual total revenue of between R10 million and R50 million is classified as a Qualifying Small Enterprise (QSE) under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (Act 53 of 2003) (the B-BBEE Act).

QSE’s which are majority-owned by black people, do not require verification by a B-BBEE verification professional, and can instead self-certify their status through a standard affidavit. Any misrepresentation in terms of the above constitutes a criminal offence as set out in the B-BBEE Act as amended. A QSE which is 100% owned by black people qualifies automatically for Level 1 B-BBEE status recognition. A QSE which is 51% owned by black people qualifies automatically for Level 2 B-BBEE status recognition.

If 50% or less of an entity’s issued share capital is held by black people, as defined under B-BBEE Act, the entity is required to verify their B-BBEE status using a B-BBEE verification professional.

The B-BBEE Commission became operational in 2016 and one of their functions is to monitor the trends on B-BBEE implementation in the economy. Before the operation of the B-BBEE Commission there was no centralised database which monitor B-BBEE implementation in both the private and public sector. Therefore, the only reliable data on verification for QSEs is for the 2017 and 2018 financial year (Financial year runs from April to March) when the B-BBEE Commission became operational and commenced with the collection of data. This data on QSEs is captured on the B-BBEE Commission’s Portal by the Verification Agencies.

According to the B-BBEE Commission’s National Status and Trends on Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Report published on 31 March 2019, for the 2018 financial year, there were 588 verified QSEs. QSEs which self-certify are not required to file their status with the B-BBEE Commission and hence are not captured in the Report. There were 851 verified QSEs captured in 2017. The decrease is explained to be largely due to the expansion of the self-certification process for QSEs with 51% or higher ownership by black people.”

The table below provided by the Commission shows the distribution of QSEs by B-BBEE status for those that have been verified by B-BBEE verification professional:

 

Overall Contribution Levels: QSE Entities

Overall Contributions Levels: QSE Entities B-BBEE Status	Percentage of certificate B-BBEE Level (2018)	Percentage of certificate B-BBEE Level (2017)
Level 1	9.69%	12.74%
Level 2	11.05%	10.33%
Level 3	8.33%	6.43%
Level 4	7,48%	9.64%
Level 5	4.42%	3.21%
Level 6	2.72%	4.36%
Level 7	4.76%	4.94%
Level 8	12.76%	10.91%
Non-Compliant	38.78%	37.43%
Grand Total	100%	100%

-END-

Reply:

It will be premature to answer your question now. The Department will finalise a reconciliation report by 30 November 2019 after confirmation that all applicants received their outcomes.

In 2014, the Department introduced an online application system, Visa Adjudication System. The system had glitches in the beginning such as frequent offline and damaged electronic files. As such, some applications would appear as pending even though they were finalised manually. Hence, the numbers may mislead if the is no reconciliation.

END

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

a) A working group has been established by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO) respectively, aimed at reducing the turn-around time for applications lodged in foreign missions. This process will integrate the workflow of DIRCO and that of DHA into one workflow. This process will be concluded as soon as possible. Furthermore, there is a process underway to restructure and automate passport dispatch which will result in the current work team being deployed to augment the citizenship and passports applications administration.

b) Unfortunately there is currently no automated application process and track and trace system from the mission to DIRCO thereby the Department is not able to track any application until it arrives at the Department’s processing centre in Pretoria. This matter is the subject of discussion at the monthly meetings of the Working Group.

c) The training of officials is co-ordinated between the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO). The officials at the Missions have been trained and where there is a need for further training. DIRCO will indicate to the Department.

d) The Missions are connected to the Visa and Entry stop list on the electronic Visa Processing System which allows the Missions to do the risk profiling.

e) All visa applications in Lubumbashi are submitted through Visa Facilitation Services. Both the Mission and the Visa Facilitation Company are aware of this process.

f) The Department has not come across any overriding of decisions by officials which involves submission of fraudulent documents. However, the Head of the Mission constantly discusses matters of mutual interest as he/she is the Representative of the South African Government and takes responsibility for all functions of government in the Mission.

g) Indian nationals are exempted from paying visa processing fees but are however subject to the prescribed visa requirements.

h) The Department is able to provide status update on applications lodged in Foreign Missions only once the applications are in its possession. Also to speed up communication between the Department of Home Affairs and Foreign Missions, generic email addresses have been established for each Mission so that if there are non-complaint applications, messages are sent through emails to the relevant Mission informing them of such instead of sending the hard copy applications back to the Mission through the diplomatic bag. A checklist will also be submitted to DIRCO for onward transmission to Missions to assist with the quality assurance process. The above Working Group has also agreed to send one communication about turn-around times to reduce enquiries about the status of applications.

i) VFS performs front office functions of accepting applications on behalf of the Department, transmits such applications to the Mission and hand over outcomes to the clients. The adjudication process is performed by officials at the Missions. This includes verification of supporting documents.

END

Reply:

I have been furnished with a reply by the Commissioner of the Competition Commission, Mr Tembinkosi Bonakele, to the question, which follows below:

a) “Ndzabandzaba Attorneys assisted the Commission on litigation of cartel cases, which are currently before the Competition Tribunal and higher courts in respect of which the law firm was briefed or engaged by the Commission in the previous financial years.

b) Please refer to the table below for responses to (i)-(aa)- (bb) and (ii) – (b).”

(i)-(aa), (bb) & (ii) Financial Year	(b) Nature of Work	(b) Value
2017/2018	Litigation of cartel cases	R 27 746 004,33
2018/2019	Litigation of cartel cases	R 32 344 202,95
2019/2020	Litigation of cartel cases	R 5 943 501,84

-END-

Reply:

All registers and Logis were checked and these names could not be found or traced on any of the Departmental registers or the Central Supplier Database.

It is therefore not clear if these are Sole Proprietors or shareholders in companies, as there were no companies registered under these names perhaps because they are not companies, but directors. Perhaps if the company names can be given that may enable the department to verify the directors/ownership.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1) (a) In 2013 the Department finalised the Policy Framework for Professional Registration, to ensure among others, that professional councils are consistent in the application of registration standards and policies and also to ensure transparency in the process of professional registration. The Council for the Built Environment (CBE) has been instrumental in enforcing the application of the Policy Framework. Part of the CBE’s oversight over the professional councils entails ensuring compliance to principles of good governance, as well as the consistent application of policies. The process followed by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) of assessing applications of prospective professional registration applicants is based on Council approved policies and standards that have been benchmarked to policies and standards applied across the globe by countries that are members of the International Engineering Alliance (IEA). The latter conducts periodic reviews of ECSA processes to ensure that they are fair, ethical and transparent.

(b) With regard to transformation, the Department has got information through research conducted by the CBE that the manner in which the Built Environment Industry is configured currently is inimical to transformation objectives and perpetuates and entrenches the existing racial inequalities. For instance, through the tendering system black professionals compete with white professionals who have got more resources are thus more enabled to acquire work. The inaccessibility to work opportunities for black firms has a detrimental effect in the transformation of the Built Environment Industry in that even black candidates for professional registration more often than not tend to find opportunities for work and training in black-owned firms.

The CBE does work with the Construction Industry Education and Training Authority (CETA) to drive transformational objectives. Mentors are assigned to candidates and roadshows are conducted to provide a mature route to professional registration. But, the challenge is influencing the private sector. CETA funding is available to assist candidates. However, black candidates have difficulties in securing work and mentors in white owned companies, thus transformation becomes stagnant.

(c) The CBE has a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) programme and it entails supporting interns from the Universities of Technology (UoTs) to undertake WIL, to complete the practical training requirement of their tertiary qualifications. The CBE provides funding for stipends as incentives to private built environment companies to assist with placement in internships.

(2) The CBE has identified the gap of not having a centralised tool to manage, store, monitor, track and report on the applications and registration of different types of stakeholders including the Students, Candidates, Professional and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). CBE has initiated a project to develop an integrated system that will be used by all six professional councils. The target is to have this system by 31 March 2020 with the population thereof to take place afterwards. The Pilot of the system has been signed-off by the three councils for usage.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. As per the Immovable Asset Sector Guide: The National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) shall record all facilities constructed and used by the national government on land where DPWI is not the custodian.

The four properties in question are constructed on land under the custodianship of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform.

(a) and (b)

Details on farm names and the size of the land parcels are listed below.

FARM NAME	LAND DESCRIPTION	SIZE OF THE FARM ( HA)
ADENDORP FARM	Ptn 0 Of ERF Adendorp No.1198 GRAAFF REINET RD	1.7131
ADENDORP FARM	Ptn 0 Of ERF Adendorp No.1198 GRAAFF REINET RD	1.7131
ADENDORP FARM	Ptn 0 Of ERF Adendorp No.1198 GRAAFF REINET RD	1.7131
ADENDORP FARM	Ptn 0 Of ERF Adendorp No.1194 GRAAFF REINET RD	3.4261

2), 3) The user department, i.e. the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, should be able to respond to these questions.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The Compensation of Injuries on Duty Amendment Act has been finalised and will be presented to Parliament. The definition of ‘employee’ has been amended to include that of domestic workers. The revenue model included private household as a surplus’

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

1. The total number of asylum seekers actively extending their Section 22 permits as at 30 June 2019 were 186 210. By law all asylum seekers are expected to remain within the borders of South Africa.

2. The government does not receive any monetary amount for asylum seekers.

END

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

1. Since Beijing 2008 where South Africa took all athletes who qualified and only got one medal, SASCOC General Assembly took a decision to make the selection policies more stringent in order to ensure that the athletes/teams selected to represent South Africa at the Olympic Games would be more competitive. The more stringent selection policy would contribute to ensuring that South Africa has a better chance of achieving honour for our country by taking those athletes that feature more prominently on the world rankings within their respective codes.

2. The selection policies are decided by engagement and in agreement with the respective national federations. They are not unilaterally decided by SASCOC. Whilst participating at the Olympic and Paralympic Games is admirable it is important that South Africa send a competitive team.

3. It is not a funding issue; the athletes did not qualify as per the agreed policy. Canoeing South Africa, represented by their President negotiated and signed the selection policy with SASCOC. They would then have the duty to communicate this to their athletes. It was only subsequent to the signing of the agreed selection policy that their athletes did not qualify, in terms of the policy. The canoeing fraternity then wanted to change the agreed and signed policy to accommodate those athletes that did not qualify.

4. The Selection Policy and criteria is considered at the SASCOC General Assembly only.

5. As per the Olympic Charter (Article 27, rule 3), SASCOC as the National Olympic Committee of South Africa, in good standing with and recognised by the IOC, is the only one authorised to enter South African athletes to the Olympic Games. The IOC would not accept entries unless they are signed off by the NOC. Only athletes whose NOC’s are suspended are afforded the opportunity to enter as Neutral Athletes.

Reply:

The information was provided by the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

1. (a) That it be noted that subsequent to challenges of power failure at Windsor pump station, the City of Ekurhuleni procured 500KVA diesel generator to mitigate power failure challenges and since then the supply has been efficient. The generator is being serviced at least twice a year per the schedule and also depending on the usage.

(b) That it be noted that the City of Ekurhuleni is in engagements with Rand Water for the construction of 30ML reservoir to complement existing storage. The 30 ML reservoir water storage retention period, and at this stage Geotechnical report has been completed and Professional Service Provider appointed is at detailed design stage.

2. (a) The pump station upgrade cost depends on the size of the water tower and the bulk 400mm diameter line which are at detail design stage. Once the design is completed, we will prepare a bill of quantities to allow for the project estimation cost.

(b) Due to the criticalness of this project, the City of Ekurhuleni has budgeted over R50 Million for the project to take off the ground and we are ready to identify further financial reserves should the need arise.

END

Reply:

The information was provided by the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

(a) The last structural inspection was last conducted in October 2018.

(b) The inspection was conducted by the appointed consultant through the City’s aqua leap programme. The consultant’s name is Southern Ambition Consulting Engineers.

(c) Two options were given. One option recommends that the tower be refurbished at a high cost and 5 years after the refurbishment, further refurbishment be done again. The second option recommends that another tower be constructed to replace the existing one where a life span of 70 years will be achieved.

(d) The city opted for the replacement option after a cost benefit analysis. The design is currently in the process of approval for the implementation of a new tower. A panel of contractors to implement the project is already appointed by the City.

(e) The projected costs for option 1 which is to refurbish the tower to last 5 years before another refurbishment, is R17 000 000.00 and the approval of design reports to replace the tower are currently underway. Final costing will be determined once approvals are finalised.

END.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I was informed by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) that in 2017 (a) The rationale was to enhance functionality and property value.

(b) There were three (3) Ministerial residences that received braai facilities

2. (a) The total cost for the three (3) braai facilities was R 523,985.51

(b) The duration for the contract was six months

3. This was an open tender procurement process. It was advertised under tender number: CPT1029/16

• Advert date: 2 December 2016
• Closing Date: 25 January 2017
• There were eleven (11) bid documents received.
• The average value of all acceptable tenders was: R 1 063 942.89
• The lowest awarded contract value was: R 592 904. 48 ( Excl Vat)
• The Department had omission/exclusions of R 133 268. 07 ( Excl Vat
• The contract adjustment price became R 459 636. 41 (Excl vat)
• The final contract value was: R 523 985. 51 (Inclusive Vat)

 

Reply:

The N2/N3 Information Corridor Roadshows was held to inform small to medium-sized construction, engineering and related industry businesses of the estimated 15 000 job opportunities available for SMMEs on the planned N2/N3 projects, and enable their registration in database of potential SMME’s. The workshops were held over a period of five (5) days at 3 venues in Pietermaritzburg, Hammarsdale and Durban during June 2019, with estimated 11 000 attendees targeted.

The total cost incurred pre- and during the workshops was R19 075 507,20. This amount covered the costs for the following services: event logistics, printed booklets, pre-event advertising and digital media buying.

Cost breakdown per item
Item	Amount
SMME workshops logistics	R16 170 402,47
Booklet detailing projects	R23 440,00
SMME Radio production	R12 190,00
SMME Print production	R30 576,20
Radio mainstream placement	R1 420 503,43
Radio community placement	R365 430,21
community print placement	R437 496,17
mainstream print placement	R600 468,72
digital placement	R15 000,00
Total	R19 075 507,20
Attendance and participation report
Area	Number of people
Pietermaritzburg: two days event	2500
Hammarsdale:one day event	1000
Durban: two days event	2500
Total attendance	6000

Breakdown of items and costs

SERVICE	COMPANIES	COST excl VAT	APPOINTED SP	ADDITIONAL COSTS/
Venue Hire (Pietermaritzburg)	Msunduzi Municipality	R13 190,00
Venue Hire and Food/Beverage Rights (Durban)	The Sharks Stadium	R204 400,00
Tags for delegates	Promotional Plastics	R8 375,00
	The real house of Pure Events	Unresponsive Bids
Goodie bags for the event	The Paper Packaging Place	R39 500,00
	The real house of Pure Events	Unresponsive Bids
Promoters and Event registration Assistants	Spotlight	R103 000,00	Spotlight	R3 000 Additional hours due to over-subscription in Durban
	K-BAM Activation	R104 535,00
	Exige Promotion and Events	R122 200,00
Catering: Pietermaritzburg	Sandisamambatha	R1 600 000,00
	K&T Event Co-ordinators	R720 000,00
	Nomarondo Projects	R396 000,00	Nomarondo
Catering: Durban	Ocassion Shiner	R1 157 500,00	Occasion Shiner	Additional R248 940,76 for catering due to event over-subscription
	Singangawe	R1 826 000,00
	Kwadanki Investments	R1 420 800,00
Catering: Hammarsdale	Nto's Catering	R310 500,00
	Ingqayi Trading
	Nuh-Weh Trading Enterprise
Photography: Hammarsdale	Inathi Kangwane Group	R6 800,00	Inathi Kangwane Group
	Howard S Productions	R9 595,00
	BSB Productions	R7 775,00
Photography: Durban	Inathi Kangwane Group	R13 600,00	Inathi Kangwane Group
	Limile Media	R16 000,00
	Wild Cam	Non-Responsive Bid
	Media 757	R19 000,00
SANRAL SMME Stand	KD Events	R199 677,24	KD Events
Photography: Pietermaritzburg	Inathi Kangwane Group	R13 600,00	Inathi Kangwane Group
	BSB Productions	R15 500,00
	Howard S Production	R19 251,00
Safety Officer: All 3 events	uBhejane Projects	R87 200,00	uBhejane
Structures: Hammarsdale and Durban	Uzimatu Events and Comms	R2 605 000,00	Uzimatu
	Rawknait Concepts	R5 200 000,00
	Dlaliphi	Unresponsive bid
Structures: PMB	Wanda Ennies	R 4 920 000,00	Wanda Ennies
	Rawknait Concepts	R5 200 000,00
	Umgungundlovu Events and Municipality	R5 200 000,00
Wi-Fi	360 Advanced Technology	R68 000,00	360 Advanced Technology
	Maxposure	Unresponsive Bid
	Digital FWD	R141 200,00
Furniture: Pietermaritzburg	Nomarondo Projects	R599 800,00	Nomarondo
	Bongathina Trading	R750 200,00
Exhibition shell schemes	Scan Display	R140 736,00	Scan Display
	Expo Solutions	Unresponsive Bid
	KD Events	Unresponsive Bid
Master of Ceremonies	Fortune Nkwanyana	R75 000,00	Fortune
	Sihle Bolani	R117 000,00
	Fezile Makhanya	R175 000,00
Sound and PA System	SG Works	R606 800,00
	Rawknait Concepts	R504 128,95
	Chulumanco	R470 398,74	Chulumanco
Event Recording and Videography	Lorile Media	R232 070,00	Lorile
	Bantu Afrika Productions	R445 800,00
	Kutaya Productions	R432 457,50

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. (a) No Ministers are occupying a house in Parliamentary Villages

(b) No Deputy Ministers are occupying a house in Parliamentary Villages

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1638 (1) (a) The scope of work for the planned refurbishment project at the three parliamentary villages is as follows:

The project is meant to address the current Building Regulations in terms of refurbishments of each unit. The scope of work for the project includes but not limited to, the following:

• General building renovations and maintenance (internally and externally); this includes painting, tiling, floor coverings, roof coverings, brickwork, plastering windows and doors
• Upgrading of the Electrical installation services, i.e. solar heaters, replacement of DB’s, rewiring of units
• Upgrading the alarms and intercoms systems linking them to the gate security system
• Structural work (where required), this will include repairs to the cracks, trusses and all related items
• Reconfiguring bathrooms to allow for showers; each bathroom will have a combination of a bathtub and shower to accommodate the User Clients
• Addressing the plumbing issues where necessary
• Maintenance of Joinery items, this will include kitchen and bedroom cupboards, door handles, etc.
• The replacement of kitchen appliances, stoves, etc. where necessary

The scope of work mainly focuses on maintenance items that are as a result of a lack of or periodic and routine maintenance of the identified units within the three (3) villages. These defects have been documented onto room data plans identifying the locations as well as the descriptions of the defects during the conditional assessments done by the professional team.

(a) The detailed breakdown of the project cost is as follows:

ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION COST (excluding CPAP and fees)

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE IN THREE PARLIAMENTARY VILLAGES
1	Acacia Park renovations (A-D)	R 12,975,114.00
2	Acacia Park renovations (E)	R 7,360,865.00
3	Pelican Park renovations	R 13,056,490.00
5	Laboria Park renovations	R 11,223,805.00
6	Provisional Sums (inclusive of Joinery, Appliances,	R 9,173,000.00
9	Electrical & electronic [including mark-up]	R 6,200,000.00
11	EPWP	R 2,999,464.00
12	Preliminaries	R 10,494,497.00
14	Sub total	R 73,483,235.00
16	Escalation	R 5,992,928.00
17	Contingency allowance	R 3,937,808.00
	Sub total	R 83,413,971.00
18	VAT 15%	R 12,517,496.00
	GRAND CONSTRUCTION ESTIMATED COST	R 95,931,467.00

Further breakdown is as follows:

The refurbishment cost per unit is R 361 882. This cost is broken down as follows:

• Kitchen upgrades R37 450
• Bathroom upgrades(incl. showers and bath tubs) R56 536
• Upgrading of all floors R20 094
• Repair/redecorate walls internally & externally R39 834
• Repair/replace doors, windows, burglar bars, gates & bedroom cupboards R11 923
• Structural repairs to walls and floors R11 923
• Redecorate/replace ceilings and cornices R17 204
• Repair/replace/clean roofs, gutters, eaves, downpipes R46 937
• Repair/replace paving, stormwater channels, yard walls and gates R26 174
• Electrical compliance upgrade R41 479
• New solar panels R19 270
• New alarm system R7 008

Each house will be assessed before any work is carried out; the work will be done according to the needs of each unit.

2. The Department and the appointed Implementing Agency subscribes to the PFMA, CIDB standards of uniformity and all the governing procurement legislation for procuring service providers.

• The Bid Specification Committee (BSC) approved the Procurement Plan for this project on 19 August 2019.
• An open tender process was followed to solicit bids.
• Tenders were advertised as through the following mediums:

(i) Government Tender Bulletin on 30 August 2019;

(ii) National Treasury e-Tender Portal Publication on 30 August 2019;

(iii) CIDB i-Tender on 29 August 2019; and

(iv) CDC Website on 30 August 2019.

• Thirty-six (36) bid documents were collected from the CDC’s Cape Town Offices situated at South African Reserve Bank Building, Office 1101, 11th Floor, 60 St George’s Mall, Cape Town; from Friday, 30 August 2019.
• A mandatory briefing meeting was conducted on Friday, 13th September 2019, at 14h00 at the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure, Customs House Building, Lower Heerengracht Street, 11th Floor, South Wing Boardroom, Cape Town, Western Cape, and was attended by CDC representatives, consultants, and Thirty-eight (38) prospective bidders.
• The closing date for submission of bids was on 1 October 2019 at 12:00 as advertised in the Government Gazette, National Treasury e-Tender Portal, CIDB i-Tender, and on the CDC website.
• Twenty (20) bids were received and there were no late submissions.
• The bids were opened in public and the bid opening was attended by CDC representatives and bidders.
• Evaluation of bids was done by at least three (3) CDC members of staff (Procurement Manager and two Project Managers after the opening of the bids)
• BAC approval (Procurement Committee meeting) obtained on the 19th November 2019;
• Final CDC EXMA approval is envisaged for the 28th November 2019
• Letters of regret to be issued to unsuccessful bidders on the 28th November 2019 with 7 days appeal period.

3. All Consultancy was ceded over to the CDC by the DPWI for the implementation is envisaged for the appointment of the Contractor will be concluded by the 13th December 2019. The appointed contractor is expected to comply with security Clearance requirements by the 13th January 2020.

4. The schedule below depicts the current implementation plan for the project with the anticipated start and end dates

The appointed contractor shall submit a definitive Construction Project Schedule for CDC approval which is expected by the 13th January 2020

The detailed programme below illustrates the cycle of the units that will be renovated in every village with a time duration of 4 months for 50 units. This programme was workshopped with the DPWI as a decanting plan and also included in the tender document to inform contractors as to how the works in these units will be phased with decanting etc.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

In respect of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) Yes, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) informed me that DPWI has an agreement with Broll Property Group (Pty) Ltd from the period of the 5th Parliament and part of the period of the 6th Parliament.

(i) (aa) The company was appointed to provide facilities management services for all official residences for Members of the Executive, including all three (3) Parliamentary Villages.

(bb) The monetary value is R420 000 000.00, including VAT.

(ccb) The details of the procurement process that was followed for this contract are outlined in ANNEXURE A, enclosed.

(ii) (aa) See ANNEXURE A, paragraph 23, page 9.

(bb) See the answer in (ii) (aa) above.

In respect of the Entities reporting to the Department:

(b) The Department has informed me that none of the four public entities that report to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure have entered into contractual agreements with the said company or its affiliates during the stipulated period. As such (i) (aa), (bb), (ccc), (dd) and (ii) (aa) and (bb) fall away.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. (a) The the impact was softened by the pool of contract appointments made in critical areas like project construction, facilities management, and property management focusing on the leasing portfolio, amongst others. The Department had also ring-fenced approximately R200 million for identified priority positions to fill. Various factors delayed the finalisation of the filling of these positions including but the department has been granted approval to steam ahead and process these positions including the reconfiguration of DPWI.

(b) The number of the specified positions that are funded in the current financial year and staff establishment is 4 962. Permanent positions are 4 296 and contract positions are 666. The 460 vacancies are funded.

2. (a) The identified 268 posts are deemed critical covering various areas across the Property Management Trading Entity

(b) Approval has been granted for the Department to fill and conclude the process of filling of these positions by the end of the Financial Year 2019/20. A recruitment plan has been concluded to guide the process of filling. The huge pool of contract appointments against existing vacancies remains a challenge.

(c) Yes, there are timeframes as indicated in the response in 2(b) above that the process of filling of these priority positions is guided by the recruitment plan and will be concluded by the 31 March 2020.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

a) Thus far the full impact of the prevailing drought has not yet been felt on the human settlements delivery value chain nor on the approved human settlement business plans of provinces.

The National Department of Human Settlements has approved nine (9) Provincial Plans for the 2019/20 financial year to the value of R18 779 815 billion. These plans will yield over 140 000 new housing opportunities (units and sites).

The Department recognises that South Africa has limited and erratic rainfall and is essentially a dry and drought-prone country. To mitigate this risk, the Department has Technical Guidelines for the Construction of Stand Alone Residential Dwellings Financed through National Housing Programmes (Housing Code, 2009), which details amongst others Design Considerations for Efficient Water Systems in Low Cost Housing; and the use of Water Saving Devices and Technologies.

In the rural areas, beneficiaries of new state subsidised houses are provided with rain water harvesting system consisting of a 2 500 litre water tank to mitigate water shortages and drought conditions.

Furthermore, the Department of Water and Sanitation is embarking on various measures to educate water users and businesses at large to work with government to reduce water usage and save as much water as possible.

Other interventions being implemented includes desalination, groundwater optimisation, water conservation and demand management, and re-use optimisation.

Where necessary, water restrictions are being implemented by various municipalities across the country to ensure that there is reduced water consumption and that taps do not run dry.

(b) In view of the fact that the current drought conditions have not had effect on the implementation of the human settlements development plans, there is no need, at this stage, for drought related measures to mitigate the delivery of the approved human settlement business plans.

Reply:

a) The registered new arrivals for the past 6 years are as follows:

Year	Total
2013	70 010
2014	71 914
2015	62 159
2016	35 377
2017	24 174
2018	18 354

b) The following totals were processed up to first level of adjudication in the past 6 years.

2013	68 241
2014	75 733
2015	60 640
2016	41 241
2017	27 980
2018	18 104

It must be noted that Adjudication is not based on the year of NIIS registration, this will mean that cases not finalized in the year of registration may be processed in subsequent years, this may result in more cases processed up to first level of adjudication than newcomers registered

END

Reply:

(1)(a) Gauteng has eleven (11) mobile units and all are not yet modernised. The mobile units have been decommissioned as they are still operating on the old manual system. Currently four (4) trucks have been refurbished and modernisation equipment is being installed and one (1) is equipped with live capture system and it is envisaged that it will be connected to the SITA/ MTN network by latest 29 November 2019.

(b)(i) Two (2) mobile units which are not modernised are currently parked at Germiston Office. There is no mobile unit parked at Braamfontein office, being the Provincial Office, as it is not an office to serve the public.

(b)(ii) Mobile units are in a process of being modernised and refurbished to meet the required and current operational model.

(2)(a) Yes.

(b) There are eight (8) mobile operators and six (6) support staff and their duties is to drive to schools, informal settlements and communities and assist them with applications for enabling documents.

(c) There are regular system interruptions in the Province but the Regional IT Managers are always on site to give support and ensure system stability. There are no extended hours worked by officials, other than on voluntary basis after hours and over weekends.

(3)(a) The current staff compliment is 1249 and the staff shortage is 124 in Gauteng.

(b) There is only one funded vacant position of a Regional IT Manager: Westrand that has not been filled.

(4)  June 2020 is envisaged for occupation, as currently the tender process to acquire the alternative accommodation is near completion.

END

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

1. According to information provided by the MEC responsible for local government in the Northern Cape Province, there are currently two (2) municipal managers that are employed who either lack the requisite qualifications and/or experience.

The details of the 2 municipal managers are as follows:

NO.	MUNICIPALITY	NAME OF MUNICIPAL MANAGER	QUALIFICATIONS	EXPERIENCE	DETAILS/ COMMENTS
(i)	Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality	Mr. Jan Johannes Fortuin	B.A Hons.	2 years and 8 months	The appointed Municipal Manager holds a BA degree and meets the minimum qualifications for the post but did not meet the 5 years’ experience as prescribed in the Regulations on appointment and conditions of employment for senior managers of 2014.
(ii)	ZF Mgcawu District Municipality	Mr. Gilbert Lategan	Diploma in Education Management Certificate	24 years’ experience as Senior Manager	The appointed Municipal Manager holds a Diploma in Education Management and has more than 5 years’ experience at senior management level. The incumbent does not meet the requisite qualifications as prescribed by the Regulations.

THANK YOU

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

No. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has not undertaken any impact assessment study to ascertain how effective and efficient the Department and its Entities will implement its new mandate. However, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure is currently engaging through the Department of Public Service and Administration’s National Macro Organisation of Government (NMOG) processes that provides guidance with regard to the reconfigured Department. This process is further based on principles articulating that Departmental organisational structures are limited to the realignment of macro organisational structures and that functions will be transferred with staff and resources, including budget. Where a need for additional resources is identified, the necessary stakeholders will be engaged, i.e. National Treasury and the Minister for the Department of Public Service and Administration.

(a) and (b) Fall away.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The information was provided by the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

1. Waste Management Services are transport reliant and depends largely on Mechanical Workshops for repairs and maintenance to ensure the availability of vehicles when breakdowns are experienced. It is thus imperative to have maximum vehicle availability at all times in order to deliver seamless services. Due to turnaround times of repairs, it sometimes becomes a challenge to be on schedule owing to the shortage of trucks.

2. (a)Twice.

(b) Kempton Park.

(c) Shortage of vehicles due to breakdowns.

(d) It is the endeavour of the department to ensure that residents receive at least one service per week in accordance with the National Domestic Waste Collection Standards. Whenever backlogs are created the City, re-allocates resources within the next day or same week to deal with the existing backlogs. In such instances, residents are informed about the challenges experienced and when to take out their bins for collection.

END.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available in the Department. The information will be submitted to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available

Thank you

Reply:

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is not governing tender awards in municipalities.

END.

Reply:

(1) The SASCOC General Assembly, is the only forum authorised to consider the selection criteria and take decision which may have a bearing on the codes to be included or excluded. However, for codes such as Canoeing and Rugby the deadline for submission of their qualifications for acceptance with the Tokyo Games Organising Committee has passed.

(2) The Department has not made available any specific amount in funding to support the South African athletes who will compete in the 2020 (a) Olympic and (b) Paralympic Games. This is due the fact that SASCOC has not finalized and submitted its team sizes.

(3)(a)(b) SASCOC did not amend its selection criteria for any specific code. The criteria have been stringent since the Olympic Games in 2012.

(4) Canoeing and Rugby are the codes affected by the qualifying criteria set by SASCOC to compete in the Olympic Games than those set internationally.

Reply:

The Northern Cape has 88 ambulances available for operations.

END.

Reply:

(1) The South African National AIDS Council secretariat is currently finalising the midterm report against activities and targets set in the National Strategic Plan, 2017-2022. Highlights of the review were presented, on 23 November 2019, to the SANAC Extended Plenary meeting, co-chaired by the Deputy President and Ms Steve Letsike representing civil society. Once the midterm report is finalised copies can be made available to Members of Parliament.

In brief, South Africa has made progress against the various pillars of Strategic Plan as reflected by data on reduction in new infections as well as access to antiretroviral treatment. With respect to HIV incidence, the number of new infections has fallen from 270,000 in 2012 to 222,000 in 2018. Whilst this reduction is welcome it is clearly too slow and more needs to be done to reduce new infections.

The mother to child transmission rates at 10 weeks postpartum have declined to 0.74% which means that fewer children are being born HIV positive. Although condom distribution has increased, condom utilisation is on the decline, particularly in the 15-24 year old age group. Combination prevention and differentiated service delivery, addressing the needs of each target population in a more holistic and comprehensive way, has been prioritised.

In terms of treatment, South Africa has reached the 5 million people on treatment. The majority of the patients are in the public sector (4.8 million) with the remainder in the private sector. With respect to the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets (90% of people with HIV know their status, 90% of these on treatment, and 90% of those on treatment virally suppressed), the country has reached 91-71-88. This means that South Africa has achieved the 1st 90, and is steadily progressing towards achieving the 2nd and 3rd 90’s. Three districts (in KwaZulu-Natal) have reached the 90-90-90 targets with another 14 nation-wide likely to reach this target by March 2020.

We need to test and treat more men and young people and retention on treatment continues to be a challenge which government and its partners are working on. Internal and external migration together with a lack of an electronic information system across the health system are contributory to a higher than acceptable percentage of patients retained in care.

The burden of tuberculosis remains large with South Africa being one of the high burden countries. We have recently completed the first ever national TB prevalence survey and the results are currently being verified by the World Health Organisation. Once verified we will have a better understanding of the TB incidence and prevalence rates. The TB prevalence survey report can also be made available to Members of Parliament once finalised. From routine data we know that notifications are on the decline but that we are still missing an estimated 160,000 patients – as for HIV, we are missing young people as well as men. Efforts are underway to intensify screening, testing and initiation of young people and men on treatment and finding the missing TB patients.

(2) The Department intends addressing the issue of non-communicable diseases that have been identified as forming part of the quadruple burden of disease through the National Strategic Plan on Non-Communicable Diseases 2020-2035 which is in the process of being approved. This Strategy aims to strengthen existing initiatives on the prevention and control on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Such initiatives include:

PREVENTION AND PROMOTION

South Africa has taken a number of legislative/regulatory/policy steps to prevent NCDs. Specific preventive interventions include (by main risk factors):

Tobacco

a. A new Draft Control of Tobacco Products and electronic Delivery Systems Bill has been tabled;

b. The key areas that the Bill will regulate are:

- restrictions on public smoking;

- the sale and advertising of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems;

- the prohibition on financial or other support;

- the prohibition of vending machines;

- the standardisation of the packaging and appearance of tobacco products; and electronic delivery systems; and

- restriction on the sale of products.

Diet

a. A regulation on Trans-fats in Foodstuffs was passed in 2011 (R127). According to this regulation the trans-fat content of any oils and fats cannot exceed two grams per 100 grams. Products with higher trans fats levels are prohibited from entering or being sold in the country.

b. A regulation on reduction of sodium in 13 categories of foodstuffs that are the most common source of sodium for the majority of South Africans was passed in 2013 (R214) and amended in October 2017.

c. A levy on sugar sweetened beverages (Health promotion levy) was passed in 2018. The levy is foxed at 2.1 cents per gram of sugar content that exceeds 4g per 100ml. Fruit juice is exempt.

d. South Africa adopted a Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Obesity in South Africa (2015-2020).

e. National Nutrition Week and National Obesity Week took place annually from 09 to 15 and 15 to 19 October respectively. For the past three years (2016, 2017 and 2018) the Department of Health campaigns focused on the importance of eating regular, healthy meals to prevent obesity and consequently non-communicable diseases and to promote health.

Physical activity

a. The Country commemorates the Move for Health campaign on an annual basis on the 10th of May. The campaign is led by the Sport and Recreation South Africa in collaboration with the Department of Health.

b. The Department of Sports and Recreation hosts an annual Big Walk on the first Sunday of October each year. The Big Walk is the South African version of the World Walking Day. Since 2012 it has taken place in all provincial capital cities with more than thirty thousand (30,000) participants in 2017.

c. The Cabinet of South Africa also declared the first Friday of October as the National Recreation Day since 2014. The campaign is targeting all Citizens to be physically active.

The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme

a. The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme was launched in 2014 by the National Department of Health in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, as part of primary prevention against cervical cancer.

b. The aim was to target an estimated 550,000 girls in grade 4, aged 9 years in 17,000 public and special schools, before they were exposed to HPV infection.

c. A bivalent vaccine (Cervarix) is given at five to six month intervals using a campaign approach implemented through the Integrated School Health Programme.

d. The first round is conducted during February to March and the second round in August to September of each year.

e. Between 2014 when this programme started and February 2019 a total of one million nine hundred and thirty four thousand six hundred and thirty five (1,934,635) Grade 4 girls had received Dose 1 and one million two hundred and seven thousand four hundred and seventy seven (1,207,4077) Dose 2.

HEALTH SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT

a. An Integrated Clinical Services Management Model that incorporates all chronic diseases, whether communicable or non-communicable, was introduced through the Ideal Clinic initiative. This means that patients are seen for whatever chronic disease they have, including for multiple conditions, at the same visit. As of 2018, 97,2% of clinics had reorganized with designated consulting areas for management of chronic conditions and had patient appointment systems for people with chronic conditions (up from 87% and 73% respectively in 2017).

b. Medicine for many patients that are stable on Non Communicable Diseases medication are provided through the Centralised Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) model.

c. Together with the Affordable Medicines Directorate (AMD), concerted efforts have been made to improve drug availability at hospital and primary care levels and systems are in place to monitor medicine stock outs.

(3) (a) Table 1: The provincial distribution of GeneXpert devices in South Africa

PROVINCE	GX4	GX16	GX48	GX80	Total
Eastern Cape	17	28	0	2	47
Free State	11	9	0	1	21
Gauteng	25	27	1	2	55
KwaZulu-Natal	25	51	0	1	77
Limpopo	19	25	0	0	44
Mpumalanga	3	14	0	1	18
North West	8	17	0	0	25
Northern Cape	2	6	0	0	8
Western Cape	17	13	0	1	31
Total	127	190	1	8	326

(3) (b) The National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) laboratory were mapped in Figure 1 to show the coverage of laboratories in South Africa. This was generated using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates provided by the National Priority Programme (NPP).

Figure 1: The geographic coverage of NHLS laboratories across South Africa

(3) (c) (i)-(ii) The impact of GeneXpert has been:

- Early diagnosis of TB and initiation of treatment resulting in reduction in deaths from 33,300 patients (in 2011) to 16,133 (in 2017), a 51% reduction in deaths due to TB;

- The universal drug susceptibility testing for all patients has enabled early triage of patients with rifampicin resistant TB to appropriate second line treatment. This has resulted in a reduction in treatment failure from 5 062 (in 2011) to 934 (in 2017); and

- Reduction in number of patients hospitalised for DS and DR-TB, saving on hospitalisation costs.

Figure 2 summarises the progress of the GeneXpert program over time from March 2011 to September 2019. This was generated using the monthly data provided to the Research and Development team by the NPP. The figure shows a general decrease of both Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) detection (despite seasonal trends of increased MTB detection in the winter months) and Refampicin-resistant Tuberculosis (RIF) resistance. The “trace”/MTB Indeterminate rate is relatively consistent.

The yearly NPP reported figures for the GeneXpert program are shown in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2 shows the operational programmatic indicators for test outcomes. Table 3 shows the RIF outcomes for MTB detected tests.

Figure 2: The temporal progression of the GeneXpert program at national level. The figure shows the number of tests (for both Xpert MTB/RIF and Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra), the MTB detection rate, “trace”/MTB Indeterminate rate and RIF resistance rate.

END.

Reply:

We have requested information from the Province to enable me to respond to this question. The response will be submitted as soon as the Province has sent us the details.

END.