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Given the requirement of confidentiality as provided in Section 69 of the Income Tax Act, SARS does not divulge details of entities on its register.  In terms of these provisions, SARS is prevented from communicating any such tax matters to any person whatsoever other than the taxpayer concerned and/or his or her lawful representative.

SARS currently publishes on a weekly basis a list of section 18A approved Organizations on the website to adhere to section 69(8)(b)(ii) of the Tax Administration Act No.28 of 2011.  To validate a taxpayer’s section 18A status on SARS records, the information is available on the website for the public to search utilising the entities trading name.

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I. The SANDF has no knowledge of the deployment to guard the Msikaba and Mtentu mega-bridges, and thus does not have:

(a) the total cost for such deployment.

(b) the duration of such deployment.

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Annexure

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1. The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) is committed to removing bottlenecks that hinder innovation, particularly assisting with the high costs associated with intellectual property (IP) protection. Key initiatives include:

• Inventor Assistance Programme: In partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), this initiative offers pro bono patent drafting and prosecution services to resource-limited individual inventors and small and medium enterprises (SMMEs), helping to mitigate legal costs.
• IP Fund: Managed by DSTI-NIPMO, this fund as established by the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act (IPR Act) provides rebates to public research institutions for IP protection and maintenance costs. To date, over R450 million has been disbursed to 28 institutions to support their IP-related expenses.
• Technology Innovation Agency (TIA): The DSTI, through TIA, provides funding opportunities for SMMEs, including the Seed Fund, Grassroots Innovation Programme, and Technology Acquisition and Deployment Fund.
  • The Seed Fund assists innovators by providing early-stage funding and non-financial support allows innovators to demonstrate their intended product and services’ innovation and its underlying technological and commercial value propositions. It assists innovators, entrepreneurs and startups with addressing the following:
    • initial product, process, and prototype development;
    • sourcing of intellectual property opinions;
    • refining and implementing designs;
    • conducting field studies to test the assumptions made
    • piloting, and technology scale-up;
    • techno-economic evaluation studies;
    • production of market samples and/or associated testing;
    • support of certification activities and specification sheet development;
    • detailed primary market research; and
    • business plan development.

This helps innovators build a business or investment case for follow on funding from other funders, commercial partners and other innovators who could contribute to the next phase of development and its commercialisation.

• • The Grassroots Innovation Programme offers support for idea development, IP protection, business model validation, and training.
  • The Technology Acquisition and Deployment Fund offers up to R1 million for market testing and validation of local technologies over 24 months.
• Innovation Fund: The Innovation Fund catalyses the growth of tech enterprises and entrepreneurship. The programme is a public private partnership aimed at de-risking the commercialisation of locally developed IP through a Venture Capital (VC) investment model.
• High Impact Seed Fund of Funds (HISFoF): Aims to provide seed funding to drive innovation and entrepreneurial growth. In the rapidly evolving landscape of entrepreneurship and innovation, pre-seed funding emerges as a crucial stage in catalysing the development of nascent ideas into viable business ventures.
• In addition, the DSTI collaborates with the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) and other partners to foster an inclusive innovation ecosystem. This includes the Innovation Bridge Portal (IBP), which connects innovators with over 300 ecosystem supporters, such as funders and incubators, providing essential mentorship and funding opportunities.

2. To further enhance accessibility to IP services, the Technology and Innovation Support Centre (TISC) Programme, in collaboration with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and WIPO, offers support through a network of entities that assist innovators with IP protection processes, as well as IP commercialisation. DSTI-NIPMO is committed to enhancing accessibility to IP services, by expanding the TISC host network to more entities each year.

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1.0(i) The total amounts as published by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) for the 2022/23 financial year are as follows:

(a) Irregular Expenditure – R27.59 billion

(b) Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure – R7.41 billion

(c) Unauthorised Expenditure – R24.12 billion

(ii) The total amounts for the 2023/24 financial year will be available once the audits are completed by the AGSA.

2. (a) Please refer to the attached Annexure A, which outlines the total amounts incurred by municipalities in the 2022/23 financial year. Please note that this Annexure together with its content was populated by the AGSA.

(b) In terms of Section 32(2) of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), a municipality must recover unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure from the person liable for that expenditure unless the expenditure, in the case of unauthorised expenditure is authorised in an adjustments budget or certified by the municipal council after investigation by a council committee, as irrecoverable and written off by the council; and in the case of irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure, is after investigation by a council committee, certified by the council as irrecoverable and written off by the council. This is supported by MFMA Circular 68, which the National Treasury issued in 2013. Section 32 of the MFMA was further strengthened by MFMA Circular 111 that was issued in 2021, which advocated for the development and adoption of Unauthorised, Irregular and Fruitless & Wasteful Expenditure (UIFW) Reduction Strategies. The responsibility however remains that of the municipal council and Municipal Public Account Committees to fulfil their legislative responsibilities to process UIFW.

3. The legislative framework in terms of chapter 15 of the MFMA read with the Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings provides a framework within consequence management which must be implemented. It places the responsibility on the municipalities to implement consequence management.

Reply:

From 1 April 2017 to 31 August 2024, a total of 73 private security companies received payments from National and Provincial departments. The total monetary value of these contracts amounted to R1,835,627,294.75. The contract values of each of these contracts will need to be requested from each of the procuring entities.

The response provided is based on available data from National and Provincial Government departments, as transactional data from municipalities and state-owned entities is not within our immediate purview.

Reply:

a) The Accounting Officer of a department, trading entity or constitutional institution is required in terms of section 38(1)(f) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999), to settle all contractual obligations and pay all money owing, including intergovernmental claims, within the prescribed or agreed period. Treasury Regulation 8.2.3 prescribes 30 days from receipt of an invoice as the prescribed period or, in the case of civil claims, from the date of settlement or court judgment.

National Treasury issued Treasury Instruction Note Number 34 which requires departments to submit Exception reports to the relevant treasuries, which includes information on the number and rand value of invoices paid after 30 days from the date of receipt, the number and rand value of invoices that are older than 30 days which remained unpaid and the reasons for the late and/or non-payment of the invoices. This Instruction Note is being reviewed to strengthen consequence management in those institutions that are not adhering to Treasury Regulation 8.2.3.

Furthermore, the National Treasury established a central email address ([email protected]) to assist suppliers with queries on non-payment of invoices by organs of the state. Queries are followed up with institutions not paying suppliers on time and feedback is provided to suppliers with reasons for the late or non-payment of invoices as well as the possible date for the payment, or any other means to resolve queries. Queries related to provincial institutions are referred to provincial treasuries for intervention and escalated to the Chief Financial Officers of the relevant provincial institutions.

b) The Department of Defence reported 18 496 invoices paid after 30 days to the rand value of R269 million during the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, which included supplier’s invoices and medical invoices. Many of the invoices not paid within 30 days by the Department of Defence relate to the payment of medical invoices for outsourced services where medical practitioners are always not registered on the Central Supplier Database. This delays the verification process and the capturing and payment of invoices timeously.

Reply:

Data drawn from the Visa Adjudication System shows that for the period 1 January 2024 to 30 September 2024, a total number of 588 individuals were approved for a critical skills visa. With reference to the approvals for the entities mentioned above, the approvals were as follows:

(a) businesses: 462 (b) nongovernmental organisations: 4 (c) government departments: 1, (d) entities reporting to Minister: 0, and (e) private schools: 6. Please note that the 462 for businesses also includes private employers and universities.

In response to sub-question (f) the data shows the details of the employer and the occupations applied for in the Critical Skills List marked as Annexure A. The list of visas issued for the period 1 January 2024 to 30 September 2024 is herewith attached as Annexure B.

END.

Reply:

No specific arrangements are in place for babies born at the Wingfield Temporary Shelter. It is the responsibility of the parents to come forward, present the Department with the required Proof of birth form and required documents to register their babies. A Notice of Birth (DHA-19) will be then issued.

The Department always encourages birth registration within 30 days. All birth registration applications must comply with the requirements as set out in the Birth and Death Registration Amendment Act, 2010. Birth registration is done in the best interest of the child. The residency status of the mother and father does not prevent the registration of the birth of their child.

END.

Reply:

(1)(a)(i) A list of companies whose employees applied for a critical skills work visa is herewith attached as Annexure A. With reference to the 2023-24 financial year, there were 850 companies in total.

(1)(a)(ii) The Critical Skills List is a research-based document drafted by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs. The research would have confirmed that there are no sufficient South Africans available in the immediate term to fill the occupations on the List.

(1)(b) Employers relied on the Critical Skills List published by the Department of Home Affairs. The Immigration Act stipulates that subject to any prescribed requirements, a critical skills work visa may be issued by the Director-General to an individual possessing such skills or qualifications determined to be critical for the Republic from time to time by the Minister by notice in the Gazette and to those members of his or her immediate family determined by the Director-General under the circumstances or as may be prescribed.

(2) It is not a legal requirement for employers to have a skills transfer plan in place in the General Work Visa or Critical Skills work visa categories. The Department of Employment and Labour regulates skill transfer plans through its skills development legislation.

END.

Reply:

(a)(i) Nil

(a)(ii) Nil

(b) N/A

(c) N/A

Reply:

1. The South African Reserve Bank in its Quarterly Bulletin under “Statistical tables Money and Banking” provides an “Analysis of depositors by type of depositors” for banks which includes “government deposits”, “local governments and regional services councils” and “public enterprises and/or corporations. As at the end of June 2024 the amount from these spheres of government amounted to R322.3 billion, R63.0 billion and R172.4 billion respectively.
2. The depositors receive market related interest on their deposits at banks which forms part of their “revenue received”.

Reply:

a) Company Income Tax (CIT) is levied on the taxable income (gross income less exemptions and allowable deductions) of companies and close corporations. In terms of CIT collections, the financial sector contribution is significant. According to the 2023 Tax Statistics publication from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), provisional CIT payments by the “Financing, insurance, real estate and business services” sector increased from R76.9 billion in the 2018/19 fiscal year to R95.4 billion in the 2022/23 fiscal year. As a share of total provisional CIT payments for these years, the sector contribution was 34.8 per cent and 27.4 per cent respectively.

b) These CIT payments made by the financial sector are collected by SARS and deposited into the National Revenue Fund. They form part of gross tax revenue collections, which is a key component of the overall budget fiscal framework each year. The details on expenditure and how funds are allocated are included in the annual Budget Review.

Reply:

The Department paid an amount of R771 105.25 in legal costs for the financial year 2020/2021 and R8 322 459.60 for the financial year 2022/2023 and an amount of R6 114 982.44 for the financial year 2023/ 2024. The offices of the State Attorney and the department do not have any record for the financial year 2021/2022 due to the covid 19 pandemic having stopped court activities and there were therefore no payments made.

The Department won five cases during the 2020/2021 financial year and a further nine cases were finalised by a way of settlement out of court, the Department did not lose any case. In 2021/2022 two cases were finalised by a way of settlement out of court and no cases were lost during the period. In 2023/2024 the Department won three cases, and one was settled out of court and only one case was lost.

COMPILER DETAILS

NAME AND SURNAME: VHUSIMUZI PROXIUM SHIKWAMBANA

CONTACT: 012 312 6229

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Minister signs Parliamentary Question 1571.

MS THEMBISA FUTSHANE

ACTING DIRECTOR–GENERAL: HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

DATE:

PARLIAMENTARY REPLY IS APPROVED / NOT APPROVED / AMENDED.

COMMENT/S

DR NOBUHLE NKABANE

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

DATE:

Reply:

The 2002 SA Custom Union Agreement has not undergone a review since the 2018 negotiations when Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Namibia (BELN countries) reaffirmed a 2011 SACU Council decision designating South Africa as the long-term manager of the Common Revenue Pool. There are currently no discussions amongst the Union Member States to review the existing 2002 SACU Agreement.

SACU is presently engaged in key strategic areas of its work programme to achieve economic reforms that will lead to a highly industrialized region. In line with the adopted 2022 SACU Strategic Plan and the provisions of the 2002 SACU Agreement, the Member States are focusing on the implementation of areas of convergence like industrialization, trade facilitation, investment and export promotion, and logistics.

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1. South Africa’s macroeconomic framework has the overarching objective of maintaining low and stable inflation as well as stabilizing public finances to support economic activity. Specifically, inflation targeting is the framework under which the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) uses its policy rate to stabilize inflation at the 4.5 per cent target as low and stable inflation helps maintain the purchasing power of the rand which would support household consumption.

The National Treasury’s fiscal strategy has been one of fiscal consolidation with the goal of stabilizing elevated debt levels that have grown from 26.0 per cent of GDP in 2008 fiscal year to 73.9 per cent of GDP in the 2023 fiscal year. As a result, over 20 cents of every rand collected as revenue is spent on debt-service costs as announced in the 2024 Budget Review, crowding out expenditure on other items including those critical for the delivery of basic services. Moreover, elevated sovereign borrowing costs have resulted in relatively high long-term borrowing costs for the rest of the economy constraining private investment spending and economic growth.

Efforts to contain inflation and reduce debt levels are continuous as both fiscal and monetary authorities need to respond to various economic shocks and manage the business cycle to support faster economic growth.

2. The National Treasury has teams of content experts across the Budget Group divisions who advise the finance minister on the macroeconomic framework.

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The review and amendment process of the Skills Development Act, 1998 has already commenced with the first draft having been developed and shared internally for preliminary inputs. Amongst the key proposed amendment is the provision that deals with the establishment of the NSF Board.

The draft amendment Bill is still at its infant stage. Given the prolix nature and processes involved in the review and amendment of legislation, it is envisaged that the Bill will be introduced in parliament during the 2026 Parliamentary Legislative Programme.

COMPILER DETAILS

NAME AND SURNAME: ADVOCATE KUTTA

CONTACT: 012 312 5524

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Minister signs Parliamentary Question 1506.

MS THEMBISA FUTSHANE

ACTING DIRECTOR–GENERAL: HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

DATE:

PARLIAMENTARY REPLY IS APPROVED / NOT APPROVED / AMENDED.

COMMENT/S

DR NOBUHLE NKABANE

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

DATE:

Reply:

a) No. In terms of the Regulations relating to Banks that are made in terms of the Banks Act, the returns that are submitted by banks to the Prudential Authority are confidential and cannot be made public. However, the SARB publishes consolidated figures for the sector regularly, including in the biannual Financial Stability Review.

b) See (a) above.

Reply:

1 It is our assessment that an inflation targeting framework is the most appropriate and practical monetary policy framework to achieve price stability in the South African economy and as such government has no plans to abandon it. This is because the inflation targeting framework has proven to be an effective framework for achieving price stability which is why it has been adopted by many advanced and emerging market economies including India, Colombia, Brazil, United Kingdom and Australia.

An important element of achieving price stability is anchoring inflation expectations of price setters (such as business and unions) to the inflation target which helps keep the general price level in the economy low as high inflation makes the cost of living expensive.

By establishing a nominal anchor at which prices are kept low and stable, inflation targeting contributes to a stable and predictable macroeconomic environment which encourages investment and consumption because business and households take the future into account when making their spending and investment decisions. Or more simply, a clear and stable macroeconomic framework is a pillar for economic growth alongside continued reforms in the network industries as well as improvements in state capacity. These steps will boost confidence, increase private investment resulting in faster economic growth and sustained job-creation.

2. As announced in the 2024 Budget, the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the SARB entered into an agreement that will govern the future settlement of the outstanding balance on the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA). In terms of this agreement the SARB will distribute R100 billion in 2024/25 and R25 billion in each of the subsequent two years to the National Treasury. These funds will be used to reduce the government’s gross borrowing requirement.

In addition, the GFECRA Defrayal Amendments Act, Act no 27 of 2024, provides for a net amount of R100 billion, credited to the National Revenue Fund (NRF) from the GFECRA in 2024/25, to be paid as a direct charge in 2024/25 against the NRF for the contingency reserve requirements of the SARB. These funds will be used to cover the liquidity management cost incurred to distribute the R150 billion to the National Treasury.

3. The South African Reserve Bank’s mandate is governed by the Constitution and the South African Reserve Bank Act. Chapter 7 of the 2024 Budget Review provides details of the settlement arrangement for GFECRA and its purpose. The SARB has also published information on the GFECRA settlement on its website.

Reply:

(a) 505

(b) The list of companies and other organisations is marked Annexure A.

(c) Employers who successfully employ a foreign national on a general work visa would have obtained a certificate from the Department of Employment and Labour confirming that despite a diligent search, the prospective employer has been unable to find a suitable citizen or permanent resident with qualifications or skills and experience equivalent to those of the applicant.

Other employers would have obtained a waiver from the Department, allowing them to employ a foreign national based on the employer’s good cause representation and a request for a section 31(2)(c) waiver by the Minister of Home Affairs.

END

Reply:

The Minister of Finance is not implementing the groupthink strategy in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

In monetary policy decision-making processes, committees are preferred above individuals to draw diverse viewpoints from constituent members and possibly moderate extreme positions and policies and establish more even policymaking. Furthermore, the finance minister does recommend professional and skilled individuals for deputy governor roles at the SARB.

Monetary policy is conducted by individuals acting by legislative mandate in an institutional setting. Generally, the responsibilities of central banks are subject to considerable scrutiny, and it has been argued that the evolution of central bank policy frameworks globally can be seen as an attempt to make them robust to psychological biases. Groupthink bias is counteracted with transparency and accountability. This assertion is supported by literature. One of the central tenets of inflation targeting is the increase in transparency to anchor long term inflation expectations lower.

In the South African context, the MPC statement also includes the vote preferences of members (anonymously) for changes to the repo rate. The SARB also publishes its Monetary Policy Review biannually which describes in detail the MPC’s decision-making on interest rates. This balances transparency and accountability while decisions of the MPC are made unanimously.

Reply:

(1) (a) The relevant pension funds are required to submit information on defaulting municipalities to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. According to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, 108 municipalities were compliant as at 31 March 2024.

(b) Based on the information provided by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, 149 municipalities were in arrears as at 31 March 2024.

(2) (a) Based on the information provided by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the total value municipalities owed to pension funds at at 31 March 2024 was R1 414 124 115.

(b) The National Treasury does not have the details on how the funds were used.

(3) The Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003, places the responsibility of implementing consequence management, including the reporting of alleged incidences of financial offences, on the municipal council.

The National Treasury is not aware of any criminal charges filed against officials who failed to pay-over pension fund contributions to the relevant pension funds in this municipality.

Reply:

See the link for reply:  

https://pmg.org.za/files/RNW872-REPLY.pdf 

Reply:

The Minister has not been made aware of any alleged high costs or profits by insurance companies due to the two-pot system implementation. However, findings of a survey of savings component withdrawal fees and administration fees by a few retirement fund administrators were shared with the National Treasury by one of the actuarial companies.

The Minister is also informed that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has issued a request for information on charges and fees charged on two-pot savings withdrawal claims to ascertain the fees and charges associated with the two-pot system and how the fees will be calculated by administrators and self-administered funds. The FSCA has indicated its intention to publish a report of its findings following obtaining the requested information. The purpose is to assess the impact of these fees and charges and gain a better understanding of their structure.

The two-pot regime is still at its inception phase and National Treasury, together with the relevant regulatory agencies, will continue to monitor its implementation. This required oversight is to help maintain the integrity of the system and the sustainability of the retirement industry. The FSCA has thus taken the first step to see whether boards of funds ensure that reasonable fees are charged for, among others, withdrawals from the savings component in terms of the two-pot system.