Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1)(a) To date the Department has paid a sum of R293 754 950-57 to appointed service providers against ABIS Phase 1 milestone delivery:

• EOH: R280 877 475.75
• IDEMIA: R12 877 474.82

1(b) Implementation of ABIS Phase 1 is not complete as measured against the requirements within the Master Services Agreement (MSA). The programme is currently at 85% of the Phase 1 deliverable. This includes -

• 100% development of two dedicated Disaster Recovery Sites and;
• Procurement of IT equipment and infrastructure needed for development of ABIS architecture, interfaces and systems with payments to EOH comprising R113 383 482.12 for hardware, a further R110 972 282.7 for licensing and software and a sum of R56 521 710.91 against professional service fees.

(2)(a) Phase 1 remains in development, but work-in-progress is advanced and some of the Workstreams are fully delivered, namely:

• 100% of Infrastructure development in the form of Data Centres and Security Integration is complete and ready for Production.
• Three (CONLV, ONLV, IJS) of the six Interfaces are complete whilst the outstanding three interfaces (Live Capture, NPR and NIIS are advanced and soon to conclude end-to-end testing.
• Change Management is complete at 100% whilst training of business users and SAPS officials is ongoing in preparation for use of the system.
• Latent Search capability at work station level has successfully passed testing, Integration testing at Interface level is undergoing enhancement.
• Facial recognition capability is enhanced at the Back Office and will soon conclude testing.
• Data Migration stands at 99.76% complete, however the Department requires 100% of the HANIS database to be migrated to ABIS. This is a prerequisite to ensure complete integrity prior to its deployment into Production, and ensure that every existing client of the DHA will be able to access a service within the ABIS solution
• By November 2022, it is anticipated that as ABIS moves into a Production environment, the system will become the primary biometric platform of the department, and HANIS will operate as a secondary, back-up. As the ABIS system stabilises, inclusion of new functionality will be introduced. Considering this, it may not be appropriate to appointment another service provider at this late stage of the programme as it will inevitably hold the risk of setting the ABIS Programme further aback.

(2)(b) It is estimated that a budgeted spend of R183 650 240.23 is required for conclusion of the ABIS Programme (all phases)

(3) The Department has meticulously managed its commercial contract with IDEMIA and the service provider is being held to account for its failure to conclude and ensure milestone delivery against the Master Services Agreement. Through this legal process, penalties will be applied for late or non-delivery. The Department has already communicated its intention to leverage such contractual penalties with effect from 1 April 2021.

Operationally, the department, and IDEMIA, have confirmed their commitment to finalise outstanding work and to commence with a phased release of functional ABIS components by end November 2022. This plan will be supported by enhanced ABIS testing within its development environments.

END

Reply:

1. (a) A total of R 47 884 114 was spent on this project. Of this, R 36 184 114 was spent on construction and R 11 700 00 was spent on creating employment opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and transport of EPWP workers.

(b) From the EPWP budget allocation

(c) The Honourable Member is advised to make a request in line with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), Act No. 2 of 2000.

(2) Yes. The project was advertised in 2011 and Implementing Agent appointed in the same year.

(3) The handover of the project was not done because the project was not completed.

(4) A case has been opened with SAPS, State Attorney was instructed to recover the loses and implicated officials were charged.

 

 

Reply:

The lead department for the South African Pavilion at the Dubai Expo was the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. As per reply to Question no 2340, tabled on 6 July 2022, it is suggested that the Honourable member redirect his question to the relevant Minister.

(a) to (b) Not applicable

Reply:

1. The department has always had good co-operation from the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho when it comes to repatriating their nationals who are found to be illegal in South Africa. The position of the department is to continue this co-operation which includes the Lesotho government confirming their nationals prior to deportation.

(2)(a) The Inspectorate as at 1 September 2022 has 700 members.

(2)(b) Funding was provided for the filling of 293 posts in quarter 1 of this financial year. The process to fill the posts has already commenced with 196 offers of employment being issued.

(3)(a) The number of deportation recorded for the last 3 financial years is as following:

• 1. 2019/20 – 29376
  2. 2020/21 – 14859
  3. 2021/22 - 14113

There was a notable decrease during the course of the state of disaster arising from the Covid Pandemic.

(3)(b) The budget allocation for deportations this financial year was R20,901,000.00

(4)(a) The department is aware of the figures given by the Statistician General Risenga Maluleke a figure of 3.95 million foreign nationals are in South Africa according to their mid-year population estimates in 2021. This figure includes foreign nationals regardless of status. The department therefore refutes the figure of 12 million as we are not aware of the verifiable source that figure comes from. In order to deal with the challenges arising from persons who are undocumented the department is vigorously conducting operations and inspections to deal with this.

(4)(b) The department has been active in engagements with communities like Krugersdorp and has ensured that local, provincial and national elected representatives, community groups and other stakeholders have direct access to the senior management of the department to respond to these challenges. The department has been part of the multi-disciplinary team that is responding to the challenges of illegal immigration. A team of 60 immigration officers has been part of this effort. Prior to this the department was part of the team that was involved in crime combatting efforts in Diepsloot from April 2022 to July 2022.

END

Reply:

(1) (a) (i) Hybrid working arrangements have been withdrawn for all employees including employees with co-morbidities (now handled in line with standard sick leave procedures as per DPSA circular 38/2022).

(ii) N/A

(iii) N/A

(b) N/A

(2) N/A

Reply:

National Treasury has encouraged municipalities to enforce its credit control and debt management policies and bylaws. This implies that if any organ of state neglects to honor their payment arrangement for services rendered by municipalities within the legislative timeframe of 30 days as per the PFMA and MFMA, the municipal, by law, must proceed to terminate or restrict the services to those customers (including government departments and businesses) with immediate effect.

Even if the customer questions the accuracy of the bill issued by municipalities, which may be a valid concern, it is not acceptable behavior not to honor the payment for services knowing very well that services have been consumed. In some cases, dependent on the specific credit control and debt management policy, the customer may have to pay first before any dispute is resolved.

There are number of initiatives that government is undertaking to address systemic challenges in the management of revenue as well as guidance issued to assist municipalities which are summarized and articulated in an Annexure A to this response.

Annexure A:

Section 38(1)(f) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) (PFMA) read together with Treasury Regulation 8.2.3, requires accounting officers of departments to settle all contractual obligations and pay all money owing, including intergovernmental claims, within 30 days or other period agreed with the creditors or suppliers.

Municipal liquidity and/ or cash flow is a complex challenge underpinned by various matters not only related to arrears owed by government departments and/ or businesses.

Smart metering solution - to improve revenue collection in municipalities, the National Treasury is exploring a SMART solution with the Department of Minerals and Energy and the Department of Trade and Industry to, through the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), issue a transversal tender for national roll out. It is envisaged this will transform the current backward-looking culture of payment for municipal services and property rates taxes to a forward-looking pre-paid payment solution of a consolidated municipal bill (for both services and property rates) also as it relates to organs of state and businesses. Unless funding can be facilitated, this will be a medium to longer term initiative to be funded from municipal own resources.

Organs of state debt - during the latter part of 2021, Government’s Multi-disciplinary Revenue Committee (MdRC) (as an organs of state consultation platform) initiated the Department of Public Works’ collection of information from all national organs of state on debt owed to municipalities and the reasons for them not paying. The project is delayed due to organs of state’s late or incomplete information. It is our understanding that the Department of Public Works is embarking on a similar project for provincial organs of state.

To ensure all government consumers of services are billed, a coordinated resolution is underway to correct the ownership of 80 000 government properties identified as registered to the incorrect government owner in the Deeds Office. This problem directly relates to the establishment and disestablishment of departments across 6 administrations since 1994. This has been stated by numerous organs of state as preventing them to pay the respective municipalities for property rates and services. This is unfortunately a costly and time-consuming process. The National Treasury will be engaging the Deeds Office to explore legal options to fast-track these corrections and more cost-effective ways to affect such going forward.

A project is also underway to assist municipalities to ensure that their valuation rolls agree to the asset registers of the Department of Public Works for all organs of state. It is anticipated that a nationwide reconciliation of this nature will provide a further list of variance properties that needs to be corrected in the Deeds Registry by the Department of Public Works and / or other organs of state. The second part of this project involves a long-term project to individually correct every property at the relevant Deeds Office on a case-by-case basis as mentioned above.

Reply:

Attached find here: Reply

Reply:

(a)(b)(i)(ii) The Special I investigating Unit (SIU) will be in a better position to respond to this question.

Reply to question 2460 recommended

GENERAL NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
SF MASEMOLA
Date: 22-09-2022

Reply to question 2460 approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
GENERAL BH CELE, MP
Date: 27/09/2022

Reply:

1. No disciplinary action was taken by DWS against municipal officials that did not adhere to non-compliance letters issued by the DWS as the non-compliance letters were issued by the DWS against the Water Service Authorities not individual employees. The WSAs against whom non-compliance letters were issued are indicated in Annexure A.

2. In terms of the Constitution of South Africa, the Department has an obligation to provide support to local government and to exhaust all intergovernmental relations remedies prior to turning to the judiciary for relief. The Department therefore approached the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Municipal Infrastructure Agency and the South African Local Government Association to provide support and assistance to the Water Services Institutions that are struggling to develop and implement action plans. The Department monitors compliance against the implementation plans. Where these are not implemented or submitted despite support, the department will revert to administrative enforcement measures under the National Water Act. Where there are persistent and material breaches (offences) in terms of sections 151 of the National Water Act and 82 of the Water Services Act, the department will conduct criminal investigations to which may lead to criminal prosecution.

---00O00---

Reply:

a) During this financial year the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has planned to establish eighty (80) sexual offences courts (SOCs) in terms of section 55A of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No. 32 of 2007) (the Act). This will be the first batch of the section 55A SOCs established in line with the resource specifications of the Regulations relating to Sexual Offences Courts. Many of these courts have been drawn from a pool of courts previously referred to as the MATTSO Sexual Offences Courts in order to bring them into compliance with section 55A of the Act, which requires all sexual offences courts to be established at courts designated by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, by way of notice in the Gazette. Below is the list of the planned eighty (80) sexual offences courts:

Regional Divisions	Sexual Offences Courts to be established	No. of SOCs
Eastern Cape	Dimbaza, East London, Port-Elizabeth	3
Free State	Bethlehem, Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Brandfort, Ficksburg, Harrismith, Koffiefontein, Kroonstad, Ladybrand, Parys, Phuthaditjhaba, Thaba’Nchu, Welkom, Wepener, Zastron	15
Gauteng	Benoni, Booysens, Kagiso, Krugersdorp, Palm Ridge, Pretoria, Pretoria North, Randfontein, Roodepoort, Tembisa, Tsakane, Vereeniging	12
KwaZulu-Natal	Durban, Umlazi, Empangeni, Madadeni, Ntuzuma Pietermaritzburg, Pinetown, Scottsburgh	8
Limpopo	Giyani, Mahwelereng, Mankweng, Morebeng, Sibasa	5
Mpumalanga	Ermelo, Middleburg, Mbombela, Piet Retief, Secunda Mdutjana, Thulamahashe	7
Northern Cape	Kimberley, Upington, Springbok, Kathu, Kuruman Barkley West, Colesburg, Galeshewe, Fraserburg Kakamas, Postmansburg	11
North West	Potchefstroom, Ga-Rankuwa, Klerksdorp, Rustenburg Moretele, Mmabatho, Tlhabane	7
Western Cape	Atlantis, Bredasdorp, Cape Town, Khayelitsha Mitchells Plain, Oudtshoorn, Paarl, Parow, Plattenberg Bay, Thembalethu, Worcester, Wynberg	12
TOTAL	80

However, this list is not cast and stone as the caseload of sex crimes in a particular court is often unpredictable.

b) What progress has been made in respect of the establishment of each of the specified courts?

• I have received a letter of concurrence from the Chief Justice for the designation of nine (9) courts for the regional divisions where the 80 sexual offences courts will be established in terms of section 55A(2)(a) of the Act;
• In terms of section 55A(2)(b) of the Act, the National Director of Public Prosecutions has also responded in writing to the letter of the Minister in support of the designation process;
• The National Guidelines for the Establishment of the section 55A Sexual Offences Courts were developed with the judiciary, National Prosecuting Authority, Legal Aid South Africa and the civil society organisations, and were approved by the Minister. The Guidelines include a Checklist to verify resource compliance with the Regulations relating to Sexual Offences Courts;
• The Provincial Heads have submitted signed Checklists for the resourcing of each court falling under their respective provinces;
• A draft Gazette Notice for the designation of courts has been vetted by the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor, and is awaiting Minister’s approval. The SOCs will be established as soon as the Gazette Notice is published, as required by the Act.

END

Reply:

The Nandoni-Nsami Pipeline Project consists of Construction of two (2) bulk water pipelines to provide water to Giyani and the greater Malamulele areas as well as a pump station at the Nandoni Water Treatment Works to supply water to the pipelines.

The 33.98km out of 40.50km of the Nandoni-Nsami line has been completed. There have been several delays with Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipe delivery. To date, 21.32km out of 26.58km the Nandoni-Malamulele pipeline has been laid. The project is left with chambers, pressure testing, Luvhuvu crossing and some finishing touches.

The project started on 07 March 2016 with an initial completion date of 09 November 2020. This could not be realised due to several unforeseen circumstances. The adjusted practical completion date is 14 March 2023.

The Water Service Authority (WSA), the Mopani District Municipality is also implementing additional reticulation to 55 villages that are supplied from the Giyani Water Treatment Works. Reported current progress with the reticulation project is as follows:

---00O00---

Reply:

(1) The Biodiversity Company was appointed by Khwezela Colliery to develop and implement a Rehabilitation Plan.

(2) The Rehabilitation plan was submitted before 30 April 2022. However, the plan needed to be reviewed and amended to include the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) inputs and was subsequently submitted to the department on 04 August 2022.

(3) The Biodiversity Company was appointed by Khwezela Colliery to develop and implement a Rehabilitation Plan for the Klein Olifants and Wilge Rivers.

(4) The Rehabilitation Plan was approved by the department.

---00O00---

Reply:

a) The beautification of Booysens Magistrate Court was not advertised on tender. The Booysens Magistrate Court’s procurement section requested quotation using the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s Justice Yellow Pages (JYP) system to invite Central Supplier Database (CSD) compliant suppliers. Request for quotation was opened on 10 June 2022 with the closing date of 17 June 2022.

b) (i) The total number of bidders that responded to the request for quotations is seventeen (17), all bidders attended the site briefing meeting.

c) (ii) The winning bidder was Lenong M (Pty) Ltd.

d) (i) The duration of the contract is three (3) months.

(ii) The value of the service is R71 300.00.

e) Payments are only processed once the work has been completed and validated by the Court Manager, partial payments are made on monthly basis for the duration of the service.

f) The winning bidder commenced work on 15 August 2022, the delay for commencement of work was due to insufficient tools of trade and labour resources required to implement works needed.

g) The minimum standards were as follows:

• Gardening services for the entire court yard (back yard, front yard and all sides including weed removal at parking lots.
• Cutting of all overgrown lawn, grass fields within the court yard.
• Services include pruning, removal of weeds, tree felling and trimming, lawn stems at perimeter fencing.
• Using of weed killer on paving, paths and driveways.
• Supplier to provide their own working tools and labours.
• Removal of weeds and to see clear on the walk pathway.
• Supplier to ensure gardening is carried out bi-weekly every month.
• Ensure to remove all rubble waste from site and disposal thereafter.
• Bidder to inform the Court Manager prior coming to site to carry out the service in order to ensure that Court serves are not disturbed due to noise.

The terms and conditions were as follows;

• Quotations should be submitted on or before closing date as specified in the request for quotation.
• Quotes must include delivery.
• Quotation should indicate the validity period.
• Quotation should indicate the delivery period.
• All prices should be firm for the duration of the quotation.
• Quote should be strictly to specification.
• If bidder is VAT vendor, VAT number must be on quote.
• All quotations above R300 000.00 will be evaluated on 80/20 performance point system.

Monitoring for compliance is done by the Court Management of Booysens Magistrate Court through physical assessment and verification to ensure that the work, which is carried out on site, is per the specification issued out during request for quotation.

Reply:

All appointments in the department are subject to open recruitment and selection processes and are not subject to Minister having meetings outside the public sector.

---00O00---

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

1. The table indicates total number of deaths by Province

Province	(a)((i) 2018/19	(a)((ii) 2019/20	(a)((iii) 2021/22	(a)((iv) 2022/23	(a)01 April 2023 to date
Eastern Cape	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding
Free State	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding
Gauteng	17940	18324	16243	20221	9392
KwaZulu- Natal	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding
Limpopo	4658	5008	4406	5416	2439
Mpumalanga	4892	4949	4994	5098	2246
Northern Cape	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding	outstanding
Northwest	1256	1225	1194	1423 to date
Western Cape	5666	5824	5362	5965	2416

Province	(aa) Motor vehicle	(bb) drownings
Eastern Cape	outstanding	outstanding
Free State	outstanding	outstanding
Gauteng	602	102
KwaZulu- Natal	outstanding	outstanding
Limpopo	701	45
Mpumalanga	10108	1201
Northern Cape	outstanding	outstanding
Northwest	2045	318
Western Cape	5 917	804

2. No. I will not make a statement on this matter.

END.

Reply:

The Specialised Commercial Crime Unit in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Free State on 14 July 2022 declined to prosecute because there were no prospects of a successful prosecution. The facts did not disclose any criminal conduct, and the municipality was advised to proceed with the matter internally.

END

Reply:

1. The Nelson Mandela Bay University (NMU) has not been approached to carry out any research on alternative water resources to mitigate against the drought. The NMBM conducted its own research as guided Department of Water and Sanitation Algoa Reconciliation Strategy which was used to develop the NMBM Drought Mitigation Plan (DMP). The NMU is however a stakeholder at the NMBM Joint Operations Centre (JOC) where the DMP is reported which the university can provide their comments and inputs.

2. Yes, my Department has conducted the Algoa Reconciliation Strategy since 2011, which aims to reconcile bulk water sources with water requirements over a planning period of at least 25 years to prevent the risk of a water shortages. An annual update of the strategy, called the Status Report, is done which describes the status of the Algoa Water Supply System (WSS) in terms of bulk water infrastructure, water resources, current and future water requirements and yield balance, and recommended interventions and other actions.

One of the key recommendations have been made through the Algoa Reconciliation Strategy was that the NMBM should complete implementation of the Nooitgedacht Coega Low Level Scheme Phase 3 which will provide an additional 70Ml/day potable water to the NMBM. This project will be commissioned at the end of September 2022. Further recommendations of the Reconciliation Strategy were:

• That the Metro should continue with the implementation of re-use schemes to meet the water demands of the Coega Special Economic Zone
• Ensure implementation-readiness for implementation of reuse schemes from the Fish Water Flats WWTW and the planned Coega WWTW; within the constraints of available development funds
• Proceed with planning for a potable reuse scheme, which should be preceded by a pilot scheme; and implementation of the 15Mℓ/d Coega seawater desalination scheme
• Update the comparative costs and potential impacts of raising the Kouga and the Guernakop Dams against investing in a desalination plant as a long-term augmentation option, considering that an EIA application for a 60Ml/d desalination plant has already been granted to CDC by DEA. This should be dependent on the updated yields, once the updated Algoa WSS model is available.
• Evaluate the Lower Sundays River Return Flows scheme at a more detailed reconnaissance level. This should be followed by a Feasibility-level Study by NMBM and considered as one of the next interventions to be considered for implementation. Consideration should be given to treating the water for industrial-quality use; and the municipality should timeously establish whether this scheme is worth pursuing further.
• Implement Water Use Efficiency / Water Conservation Water Demand Management projects to reduce the demand for water
• The Kouga LM should continue with groundwater evaluations and implementation of groundwater schemes, particularly those schemes that can easily integrated into the existing Water Supply System infrastructure. Groundwater initiatives undertaken by Kouga LM will further aim to make the various small towns less reliant on surface water supply. Potential groundwater yields should be updated when additional information becomes available.

---00O00---

Reply:

1.  As indicated in response to Question no 2955, an amended rehabilitation plan was submitted on 4 August 2022 to include inputs from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. The approved rehabilitation plan entails deliverables of the project which are categorised into three (3) phases namely:

• Phase 1: Low Flow Eco Status Report
• Phase: 2: Development of Rehabilitation Actions from Phase 1
• Phase 3: Monitoring and Final Report

Implementation of Phase 1 of the rehabilitation plan has commenced, and the Khwezela Mine has appointed qualified team of specialists. The appointment of the team fulfils one of the requirements of the directive issued by this Department. Other key matters that the mine has made progress on include the following:

• Commencement with the first round of monitoring and this has been completed on 19 August 2022 the results have been distributed and the specialist team is working on the results.
• Commencement with the eco status assessment and reconnaissance surveys. The surveys entail systematic screening of the water resources through recording characteristics found in the water resources and recommended actions based on the results obtained.
• Furthermore, a workshop on updating the rehabilitation plan with the specialist panel will be held on 15 September 2022. Specialist workshop on 1st and 2nd round of monitoring will be held October 2022.

(2) The relevant details of the rehabilitation plan are outlined in the Gantt chart attached as Annexure A with an indication of timelines. It is envisaged that implementation of the rehabilitation plan will be completed by 2027.

(3) Provision of the “details regarding the progress of the rehabilitation of the two rivers” can be obtained by submitting a request to the Departmental chief information officer as guided by PAIA.

(4) Provision of the “details indicating whether the natural process of rehabilitation has started based on the reports provided to him by the rehabilitation company” can be obtained by submitting a request to the Departmental Chief Information Officer as guided by PAIA.

 

 

---00O00---

Reply:

The department periodically develops and reviews policies and this process involves extensive consultations with external stakeholders and the broader public. As such, draft policies are gazetted for public to provide comments.

Once departmental policies are finalised, the documents are gazetted and published on DWS website thus becoming public documents.

a) All policies of the Department can be accessed on the official website www.dws.gov.za

---00O00---

Reply:

There are two (2) Water Use Authorisations for Iron ore and Manganese mining activities currently in progress in the Northern Cape.

NO	APPLICANT	ACTIVITY	PROPERTY DETAILS	APPLICATION DATE	STATUS
1	Vumaste Resources March	Iron ore and Manganese	Land Parcel 54 of the Major Region KURUMAN (Portion 0 of the Farm March 54IM),	2022/08/24	Finalising Assessment
2	Japies Rus Minerale (Pty) Ltd	Iron ore and Manganese	Portion 1 of Land Parcel 668	2022/07/21	Initial assessment

---00O00---

Reply:

1. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (the Department) does allocate the budget for the training of officials in child maintenance and such budget is allocated to the Justice College which is the official training business unit of the Department.

a)  However, the Department cannot provide a curriculum used for the training on the Maintenance Act, 1998 (Act No.99 of 1998) (the Act) as the training is conducted in collaboration with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) which provides the training materials and the facilitators. This collaboration was necessitated by the need to ensure that the same training messages is communicated to both Prosecutors who are deemed Maintenance Officers in terms of section 4(1) of the Act and the Maintenance Officers appointed by the Department in terms of section 4(2) of the Act. It must be indicated that the Justice College has human resource capacity constraints to conduct this training since the recall of Senior Lecturers who were Magistrates back to the bench. It is in this light that Senior Maintenance Prosecutors (SMP) of the NPA have facilitating the training coordinated by the Justice College and also they extend the training in the Provinces to the officials of the Department as and when training is coordinated by the NPA.

Although there is no formal curriculum on the Act, the Department conducts a number of education and training interventions to close the gaps and up skill the officials in the front line on support services that assist in performance and investigations in terms of the Act. The first training is conducted on Maintenance Online Trace and Track (MOTT) System which includes training on the system used to track and trace personal and financial details of parties. The second training conducted is on the Maintenance Integrated Case Management System (Maintenance ICMS) which enables Clerks of the Maintenance Courts to capture performance and process based information. This also delves on the relevant sections of the Act. The former training is conducted by the officials of the OCFA and also includes education on the Protection of Private Information (POPI) Act, 2013 (Act No.4 of 2013) (POPI Act) and section 205 Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977) (the CPA).

b) Training coordinated by the NPA is conducted on an annual basis. This training is always extended to the Maintenance Officers and Investigators appointed by the Department. However, as the NPA will be reviewing its curriculum in respect of training on the Act during the current financial year (2022/2023), Justice College has coordinated the training for court officials who need training in all the Regions for the current financial year (2022/2023). A training schedule has been issues and it will be facilitated by the two Senior Maintenance Prosecutors of the NPA and specifically targets Maintenance Officers and Maintenance Investigators across all the Regions.

2. b) (i) and (ii) A total of 2022 magistrates were trained by the South African Judicial Education Institute from 2012 to date across the different provinces regarding the Maintenance Act, Act 99 of 1998.

c) (i) It must be noted that no training evaluation has been conducted in respect of the impact of current training curriculum which is offered by the NPA as it has been indicated that the current training is dependent on the training conducted by the NPA because of the capacity challenges of Justice College. The engagements between the role players will include discussions on the review of the training materials by the NPA and the development of training materials for maintenance investigations. These discussions will include how and the frequency of external evaluation of the impact of this training.

ii) As responded above, no training evaluation has been conducted.

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the NPA is currently in a process of reviewing its curriculum on the Act, and one working session was already held on 19 May 2022 with Senior Maintenance Officers internally. Subsequent working sessions to involve the OCFA which is the business unit responsible for coordinating complaints management, performance, policy, stakeholder management and systems interventions with internal role-players in respect of Maintenance Services and the Justice College. Furthermore, the OCFA and NPA National Coordinator of the Senior Maintenance Officers are due to meet with the Justice College to discuss how to improve the current training arrangement and focus areas. This will include discussions about training evaluation as already alluded.

Reply:

The allegations in the question are untrue. It should be noted that the Master’s Office: Kimberley is open for the public from 7h45 – 12h15 and again from 13h45 – 15h30. Officials however, have lunch break 13h00-13h45 and remain in the office until 16h15 (as per normal working hours).

The time between 12h15 and 13h00 as well as between 15h30 and 16h15, is utilized for attending to administrative, office work and attend to the members of the public that are still in the office.

No public is assisted during the lunch break period, as the office does not want a situation in the office, where a female official sits alone with members of the public during the lunch break (13h00 – 13h45), to avoid possible intimidation or harassment allegations.

Any complaints suggesting the contrary should be brought under the attention of the Head of the Office, Mr Craig Davids, and will be investigated immediately.

Reply:

a) The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development already has a functional integrated electronic repository for domestic violence protection orders. During 2018/19 financial year, an Integrated Case Management System for Domestic Violence (ICMS: DV) was introduced in all district courts to capture applications for protection orders. This system monitors the flow of these applications in the court system. It further provides for disaggregated sets of data metrics to analyse trends per court, whilst giving a quantitative performance of each province.

In 2021/22 financial year, the Department commenced with the alignment of the ICMS: DV Module to the Domestic Violence Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 14 of 2021) and the Draft National Directives for the management of this repository. The Draft National Directives were published for public comments on 15 June 2022 and the inputs thereto are being considered for incorporation.

It might also be worth-indicating that in the previous financial year, the Department further commenced with the development of the Online System for Applications for Protection Orders in line with the Domestic Violence Amendment Act, 2021 and its Draft Regulations. The plan is to integrate the Online System with the ICMS: DV as soon as the final Regulations are released. This is to ensure that the domestic violence systems are in sync, coherent and seamless in operations throughout the court system. The closing date for public comments was 14 July 2022 and it is anticipated that the Domestic Violence Regulations will be finalized and submitted to the Minister for approval.

b) The link of the ICMS: DV to key participating Departments is planned to commence in the next financial year (i.e. 2023/2024) as part of the next phase of development. The integration will be housed in the Integrated Justice System (IJS) Transversal Hub where key criminal justice role-players congregate to exchange data.

i. The systems integration between the participating Departments will commence in 2023/2024 financial year as part of Phase 2 of the project, and the rollout thereof is planned for a year later.

ii. Phase 2 of the project will start after the following activities for Phase 1 are completed:

• The upgrade of the Department’s Data Centre and migration of the systems to the new Infrastructure so as to ensure the stabilization and optimisation of the environment as part of the recovery process from the Ransomware Attack;
• The incorporation of the requirements in the e-Judiciary Workspace to ensure integration of the administration and judicial functions in domestic violence; and
• The procurement and incorporation of the Digital signature solution for the Judiciary.

The Phase 1 activities are expected to be finalised before the end of this financial year.

END

Reply:

According to the Children's Act, it is expected that all Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes that provide services to children with disabilities must have specialised training to provide quality ECD services that will benefit those children. In line with this, training of ECD practitioners, in accordance with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), has a module that looks at working with children with disabilities. Over and above this, the Department is funding Uhambo, which is a disability organisation which continues to support and capacitate practitioners in stimulating children with different disabilities. In terms of inclusion, the developed infrastructure designs take into consideration the needs of children with disabilities. The Department has also begun reviewing the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) policy to establish gaps in regard to children in ECD living with disabilities. This will be used to capacitate ECD practitioners. 

Reply:

The questions asked have direct implications for the work of the Members of Executive Council (MECs) of Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), and not the Minister of Basic Education. The Hon Member is therefore advised to submit the questions to the MECs for education in PEDs. 

Reply:

The questions asked have direct implications for the work of the Members of Executive Council (MECs) of Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), and not the Minister of Basic Education. The Hon Member is therefore advised to submit the questions to the MECs for education in PEDs. 

Reply:

The evaluation of educator performance in terms of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) and / or the Quality Management System (QMS) is a provincial competence as educators are employed by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs).  Each PED evaluates and keeps a record of its educators on Post Levels 1 - 4 in terms of the criteria applicable to the relevant Collective Agreement (IQMS was informed by Collective Agreement No. 8 of 2003 while the QMS is informed by Collective Agreement No.2 of 2020).  The final performance scores of educators are collated, verified and consolidated within each PED. 

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has a monitoring and support role in the implementation of the performance management system.

The data required on the rating of educators on different post levels since January 2010 should therefore be requested from each province.

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

When Government wants to propose labour reforms, such proposals will have to be submitted to NEDLAC for discussion. NEDLAC is a statutory body made-up of organised business, organised labour, community constituency and government representatives; and the law requires that proposals with socio economic impact must be tabled at NEDLAC for discussion. Such proposals at times culminate into the labour law reforms, which will require legislation amendments.

All our legislative amendments go through parliamentary processes before developing into law. A good example of such legislative amendments becoming law in the last five years is the Employment Equity Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the National Minimum Wage Act amongst others. Currency, organised business and organised labour have submitted proposals at NEDLAC for discussion. Should these proposals necessitate labour law reforms, the reforms will go through all the Parliamentary processes and Honourable Hunsinger will know of such proposals.

END

Reply:

1(a) and (b). Number of inspectors and inspections

Province	Number of inspectors	Number of inspections
Eastern Cape	208	36140
Free State	188	9000
Gauteng	402	1075
KwaZulu-Natal	423	3783
Limpopo	171	8088
Mpumalanga	155	5158
Northern Cape	43	3076
North West	129	7233
Western Cape	218	6953

REPLY: 1(c) Findings and action taken

The following were the contraventions found across all the legislations:

Employment Equity Act No 55 of 1998 Provisions contravened:

• Section 24 – appointment letter not signed by the CEO. EE Managers not appointed with the required resources and budged.
• Section 16 and 17 – attendance registers not indicating the designated groups represented by the committee members.
• Section 19 - analysis conducted post the development of the EE plan. Barriers not a true reflection of what is happening in the company
• Section 20 – EE plans do not show reasonable progress towards transformation in line with goals and numerical targets set by employers.

Basic Conditions of Employment Act No 75 of 1997 and National Minimum Wage Act provisions contravened:

• Section 9: Ordinary hours of work
• Section 10: Overtime
• Section 16: Pay for work on Sundays
• Section 25: Maternity Leave
• Section 29: Written Particulars of Employment
• Section 31: Keeping of records
• Section 32: Payment of remuneration
• Section 33: Information about remuneration
• Section 66: Powers to question and Inspect
• Section 67: Co-operation with Labour Inspectors
• Various sections in the Sectoral Determinations 9:
• National Minimum Wage: Section 4(5): Non-payment of National Minimum Wage

Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act of 2002 provisions contravened:

• Section 5 - Duty to contribute read with section 9 Payment of contribution to Unemployment Insurance Commissioner and refund;
• Section 7: Deduction of employee’s contribution
• section 9- Payment of contribution to Commissioner and refund; and
• section 12 – interest of late payment
• Section 13 – penalties and default
• section 56 – Failure to register, submit declarations and make contributions to the Fund

Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 provisions contravened:

• Section 80: Failure to register and furnish particulars with the DG
• Section 81: Failure to keep records
• section 82: Failure to furnish returns of earnings
• section 86: Employer fail to pay assessments to the Commissioner
• Section 87: Failure to pay assessments and other moneys.

Occupational Health and Safety no 85 of 1993 provisions contravened

• General Safety Regulation 2(1), GSR 2(3)
• Administrative safety regulations
• COVID 19 -3(1), COVID 19 -3, COVID 19 -9, COVID 19- 3(7)
• Hazardous Chemical substances 9
• Environmental Regulations for Workplaces 9, ERW 6
• Electrical Installations Regulations 7(1)
• Facilities Regulations 2
• Ergonomics regulations

Actions taken to address findings:

Intervention	Activities
Advocacy	Increased advocacy around the prescripts and provisions of the offerings of various Employment Laws through seminars, workshops, radio interviews etc.
Inspections	More than 90% of contravening workplaces served with notices on the spot. Follow up inspections, where applicable, are carried out.
Enforcement	Recoveries of monies through penalties and fines. Referral for prosecutions in instances where there could still be noncompliance where notices have expired.

(2) (a) how is his department addressing the issues in the farming sectors with organised agriculture and farm workers if there are no labour inspectors allocated specifically for the farming sector and (b) on how regular a basis does he engage with the organised agriculture to address all labour issues on farms in each year;

REPLY:

(a) All the inspectors of the Department conduct inspections in the Agricultural Sector. The inspectors are specialists and conduct inspections in line with their disciplines.

(b) Inspectors incorporate an element of advocacy whenever they carry out inspections, therefore, engagements happen on a continuous basis

(3) will he furnish Mr N P Masipa with the minutes of such meetings and/or engagements with both organised (a) agriculture and (b) labour?

REPLY:

There are no separate minutes as engagements happen during the inspection itself.

Reply:

a) In relation to the effect of the inception of the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the workplace (Harassment Code) in March 2022 on reported incidents of violence and harassment in the workplace, it is too early to assess the impact of this Code on the reported incidents. It is important to highlight that the Employment Equity Act (EEA) empowers both the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court to deal with unfair discrimination disputes, inclusive of all harassment cases.

Noteworthy is that, the primary objectives of this Harassment Code are to align our national laws with the provision of the ILO Convention, 190 that the country has ratified on 29 November 2021; and also to provide employers and employees, including the trade unions with practical guidelines on how to develop and implement workplace harassment policies and practices.

Therefore, we need to allow the employers in consultation with employees an opportunity to develop and implement workplace harassment policies and practices as required by section 60 of the EEA and this Code.

In order to raise awareness and educate employers and employees on the contents of the Code, the department together with the CCMA conducted EE workshops in all nine provinces from 17 August to 15 September 2022. In addition, the department has developed and published the Harassment Code pamphlet in all 11 official languages to ensure access to the majority of the population.

Thereafter, at the end of the first year of the implementation of the Code in March 2023, department together with the CCMA will then analyse the number of the harassment cases reported at the CCMA and based on the outcome, the department will then be able to assess the effect or impact of this Code on the labour market.

b) About the tracking of the effects of the Harassment Code on the workplace, the tracking will be done through the analyses of the number of harassment disputes/ cases referred to the CCMA and the Labour Court at the end of March 2023.

END

Reply:

1. The CCMA is in the third year of the operationalisation and implementation of ‘The Imvuselelo - The Revival - The 2020/2021-2024/2025 CCMA Strategy’ which commenced on 01 April 2020.

2. The 2022/2023 CCMA Annual Performance Plan (APP) outlines the programmes and activities to be implemented towards the achievement of the strategic intent of the Strategy.

3. The CCMA has identified the Agricultural sector as one of the five (5) targeted vulnerable sectors to be capacitated during the life cycle of the above-mentioned Strategy.

4 The CCMA is delivering on its 2022/23 Advocacy Campaign Plan in the North-West Province, which includes the following -

• The CCMA has partnered with the Department of Employment and Labour (“the Department”) to raise the awareness of farmworkers on their labour law rights and responsibilities.
• The delivery of Radio Talk-shows through various Community Radio Stations and the SABC stations as and when invited and agreed upon.

5. Furthermore, the CCMA delivers training and capacity building initiatives in line with section 115(3) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995.

6. In conclusion, the CCMA is implementing various initiatives /interventions to bring its services closer to the vulnerable groups throughout the country with a view to empowering them regarding their rights and responsibilities under the applicable labour laws of the country.

______________________________________________________________

Reply:

The honourable member should be aware that the Department of Employment and Labour is responsible of collecting strike and lockouts data on regular basis. The results are published in the annual Industrial Report through the Department’s website (www.del.gov.za)

Regarding the request, our recent publication reflects the strike data trends over the past five years. We noted a decline in strike statistics from 2018 to 2021 while it increased from 2017 to 2018. Wage increase, bonus and compensation benefits are reported by employers as the main cause of strike.

By industry, our strikes analysis illustrates the community industry (that includes the government -public sector) was the most affected as compared to other industries over the past five years.

Despite the evolving COVID-2019 pandemic in 2021, almost all industries in the country except the utilities and construction industries were affected with the peaceful labour disputes. However, the preliminary strike analysis in 2022 shows the country recorded 47 strikes from January to September 2022. About 62% of the total strikes were from the community and 17% of strikes were from the manufacturing industry (The annual report will be published later in 2023).

END

Reply:

I am sure the Hon. Member has the appreciation of some targets that aren’t static, those that keep on moving. The filling of vacancies happens to be one of those moving targets. So, you have targets like that, where you can perform and make progress towards achieving them but you just cannot stop them from fluctuating. There is always constant staff turnover, it is therefore impossible to provide an exact date by which vacancies would be filled.

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

a) The Department conducts pro-active and re-active inspections daily which includes inspections in the domestic workers’ sector. This also enables us to respond to complaints that are reported to the Department in various ways. Labour Inspectors when conducting inspections are able to check if the employer complies with the employment laws which includes compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act, to ensure that workers are not exploited.

The Department further ensures that exploitation is dealt with through enforcing compliance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, in particular the Sectorial Determination 7, that deals with conditions of employment in the Domestic Sector.

b) The Department of Employment and Labour and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), have jurisdiction to deal with issues of national minimum wage. Workers can therefore report any matter to a local Labour Centre of the Department. Where possible however, the workers can also report to their local trade union offices who will assist in reporting the cases to the Department and the CCMA.

c) The Inspection and Enforcement Services Branch, from when a complaint is received at Client Services, has 90 days to finalise the matter. To this end, the labour inspect will investigate the complaint and may conduct an inspection. An enforcement notice would be issued.

d) The Department does not provide mental health services. Government hospitals make provision for free mental health services.

e) The matter is not applicable to the Department as per our response in (d)

Reply:

1. The Department actively assists woman to help them to secure employment.

The table below reflects the number of work seekers registered by gender for the period April 2022- August 2022

	Female	Male
Eastern Cape	16 462	10 603
Free State	8 544	7 399
Gauteng	30 088	28 423
Kwa-Zulu Natal	17 448	15 853
Limpopo	9 173	5 423
Mpumalanga	9 877	10 581
Northern Cape	5 234	4 283
North West	6 637	5 976
Western Cape	13 435	9 992
Online	9 478	5 308
Total	126 376	103 841

The table below reflects the number of work seekers provided with employment counselling by gender for the period April 2022- August 2022.

	Female	Male
Eastern Cape	6 272	3 364
Free State	3 443	2 122
Gauteng	10 634	7 763
Kwa Zulu Natal	7 470	4 601
Limpopo	7 345	3 665
Mpumalanga	5 812	4 404
Northern Cape	2 154	1 842
North West	3 741	2 268
Western Cape	4 538	2 203
Total	51 409	32 232

The table below reflects the number of work seekers that have been placed into employment opportunities by gender for the period April 2022- August 2022.

	Female	Male
Eastern Cape	1 614	1 535
Free State	769	660
Gauteng	2 315	1 921
Kwa Zulu Natal	1 628	1 225
Limpopo	3 806	1 983
Mpumalanga	1 293	756
Northern Cape	605	591
North West	551	607
Western Cape	1 050	751
Online	2	1
Total	13 633	10 030

The Department of Employment and Labour has gone a long way in terms of gender responsive recruitment. We have taken a conscious decision and effort to meet our employment equity target in improving recruitment of women. We have moved from 45% of SMS positions occupied by women during 2019/20 to 49,7% as at the end of March 2022.

2. In relation to any action being taken by the department toward integrating more women into the workspace, the department has recently developed and published a critical EE policy instrument, the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace (Harassment Code) on 18 March 2022. The primary objective of this Code is to provide both employers and employees with fundamental guidelines on how to prevent, eliminate and manage all types of harassment incidents in their workplaces. All types of harassment are forms of unfair discrimination that constitute barriers to women and prevents them from accessing equal employment opportunities, their right to equality and fair labour practices in the workplace.

In addition, through the EE amendments in the EE Amendment Bill that is pending the President’s assent into law, the Minister of Employment and Labour will be empowered to regulate sector specific EE targets intended to accelerate the rate of employment of women into strategic decision-making positions in various organisations. These policy interventions are aimed at enhancing the economic empowerment of women, their economic inclusion and active participation in the economic recovery strategies and programmes.

Reply:

In March 2016, the Minister requested the CHE to advise him on a “framework for managing future university fee structures through which increases should be developed and agreed upon”. The CHE undertook the work in two phases: the first phase to make recommendations for increases for the 2017 academic year, and the second phase to recommend a framework for the longer term.

The Department with the support of Universities South Africa (USAf) established a Working Group in 2019 and has developed a first draft of a proposal towards a national framework for regulating fees. The proposed proposal towards a framework outlines the background and need for a fee regulation framework as well as the advice received from the CHE to the Minister in 2017. However, the framework requires further engagements with the Minister.  Work is currently continuing on the draft policy framework in 2022, aiming for a final framework and three-year agreement to be approved by the Minister by December 2022.

Reply:

The Department acknowledges the surge in the number of students who are experiencing mental health challenges, especially in relation to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the number of student suicides that are reported. The Department regards addressing mental health is part of a holistic approach to the health and wellbeing of staff and students.  Therefore, the Department is funding HIGHER HEALTH to the tune of R20,604 million (2022/3); R27,530 million (2023/4); R28,440 million (2024/5) and R29,714 million (2025/6) to implement a comprehensive and integrated programme promoting health and well-being of students and staff additional to the allocated budget in the baseline for each institution.

HIGHER HEALTH is the implementation arm of the Department to implement a comprehensive and integrated programme promoting health and wellbeing of students across South Africa’s public universities and TVET colleges and provide on-campus support to PSET institutions in 7 priority areas:

Mental Health, as seen in the diagram is central to the approach.  HIGHER HEALTH is skilled in facilitating both first and second curriculum activities in the form of peer-to-peer education and in-classroom interventions through the integration of general health and wellness, addressing the wide range of social and health challenges experienced by staff and students.  It is done at all campuses of universities and TVET colleges.

HIGHER HEALTH provides psycho-social support services through several means, including: (1) pro-active screening; (2) prevention and awareness programmes (3) organised programmes such as first-thing-first and second curriculum activities (4) the HIGHER HEALTH toll-free helpline, and (2) through interventions provided by on-campus and off-campus counselling and clinical psychologists. HIGHER HEALTH's activities also include focussed campus activities, campus radio programmes and peer support mechanisms. HIGHER HEALTH has set up campus and community radio stations to engage young students routinely on matters related to specific Sexual and Gender Based Violence and mental health as a matter of priority. There is also HIGHER HEALTH's 24-hour toll-free helpline available in all 11 official languages.  The line offers health, wellness and psychosocial risk assessment toolkits for early screening, empowerment and referral related to gender-based violence, mental health, HIV, TB and other matters.

This year, over 14 000 students accessed the various HIGHER HEALTH models of psychosocial support. Academic stress and anxiety (30%), general stress and substance abuse (22%) depression and suicide (18%) and sexual, physical and emotional abuse (19%) present the main reasons for accessing support care.  The Honourable Member also asked what are the relevant details in each case.  Information on individual reported cases are captured by institutions and HIGHER HEALTH, and reported in aggregated form to the Department's University Branch.  Information on each case is confidential and cannot be shared.

INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES

All universities and TVET Colleges have measures in place to raise awareness, offer guidance and advice and support students and staff through Campus Services and Student Support Services. These include, but are not limited to:  workshops or presentations during orientation weeks and during various parts of the year for students; roadshows; training; production and dissemination of brochures and other literature for the university community; and information on institutional websites.

The Department plays an oversight role, monitoring institutions to ensure that institutions take full responsibility for addressing health and well-being of students and staff on their campuses.

Reply:

1. There is no provision for visas on arrivals in the current Immigration Act. The Department can therefore not issue visas on arrival.

2. In his State of the Nation Address on 14 February 2022 the President announced that he had appointed former Department of Home Affairs Director-General, Mr Mavuso Msimanag to Review the Visa Regime.

I therefore request the Honourable Winkler to await outcomes of the report.

(3)(a) An application for a visitor's visa not exceeding a period of three months shall be accompanied by-

1. a statement or documentation detailing the purpose and duration of the visit;
2. a valid return air flight ticket or proof of reservation thereof; and
3. proof of sufficient financial resources.

(3)(b) An application for a visitor's visa exceeding a period of three months shall, in addition to complying with the requirements mentioned above, be accompanied by a police clearance certificate. The proof of sufficient available financial resources shall be in the form of a recently bank certified statement, for the last three months.

END

Reply:

My office did not submit a policy review document and or other government policy document to structures outside of Government either private or political affiliations during the past five years.

_________________________

Approved by Minister

Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP

Date………………………..

Reply:

To the best of our knowledge, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has not submitted any policy review document and/or any other government policy document to structures outside of the Government, nor to private and/or external structures or structures of any political affiliation during the past five years. a) There are no documents to be furnished as the Department has no information in respect to any of these matters.

Reply:

The Policy for the Recognition of South African Higher Education Institutional Types will have no bearing on the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges. The policy is directed at higher education institutions only. The TVET colleges will remain as they are and
operate in the same manner they are operating currently. However, my Department is working on improving articulation between TVET colleges and universities and the introduction of Higher Education Colleges and University Colleges by institutional types policy should add impetus
towards that improvement.

Reply:

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has developed Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework and Plan that identifies clear Gender Based Violence and Femicide outcomes, indicators and time bound interventions that have to be implemented by various government departments and other stakeholders, including the Department of Health (DoH).

_________________________

Approved by Minister

Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP

Date………………………..

Reply:

a) (i) The Department presented the Bill to Cabinet on 21 September 2022, and the Bill was approved and referred to Parliament.

(ii) Yes, the department did execute some of the roles within the mandate of the department.

Other oversight roles require the Council itself as it is the ultimate custodian of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF and will have powers in line with the Bill.

To facilitate a coordinated multi-sectoral approach a END GBVF Collective was established. The END GBVF Collective has a platform that serves as the one stop centre for information pertaining to GBVF. The platform has room to grow and currently through the department and the DPME we are also establishing a knowledge hub that will house relevant information and best practices in line with priorities such as the GBVF social ill.

The department coordinated the development of the National Strategic Plan and the monitoring and evaluation framework for 2020-2024 and has provided oversight on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan since adoption by Cabinet in March 2020.

The department led the development of a comprehensive GBVF prevention strategy. The strategy is in place now and is being institutionalised to ensure implementation by multi-stakeholders.

b) In the event that the Council is not approved, the department will continue to strengthen the END GBVF Collective and revitalise the National Gender Machinery including the Gender, Youth and Persons with Disabilities joint forums.

The END GBVF Collective requires formalisation as it is currently a voluntary structure.

The END GBVF Collective, National Gender Machinery including the Gender, Youth and Persons with Disabilities joint forums will be used for ensuring a cohesive national response to the GBVF pandemic.

The Department will liaise with DPSA and National Treasury timeously to extend the contract period of the current serving secretariat until the Bill is finalised and accented into law and a Council is in place. This will ensure that the current state of coordination does not regress.

_________________________

Approved by Minister

Ms M Nkoana-Mashabane, MP

Date………………………..

Reply:

(1)(a) The report from the Ministerial Review Committee was received by the Department, which outlined areas for further investigation. The report’s main recommendation is that a Multi-Disciplinary Task Team be appointed to conduct an in-depth investigation into the identified areas. The appointment of the Multi-Disciplinary Task Team is at an advanced stage. The Task Team is to consist of experienced senior counsels, forensic investigators, Data analyst and other related skills. The time frame to complete the investigation will be determined once the multi-disciplinary team is appointed following a procurement process.

(b) The following has been implemented:

Access control: All users have been requested to re-apply for user access to the Visa Adjudication System (VAS) to process permits and Visas online. This will limit abuse and access. Authorisation only granted to those approved to use the system to avoid ghost users

Fake users will be probed by the multidisciplinary team through data analytics/system analysis.

Legacy: DHA is in the process of implementing a new biometric information system called ABIS (Automated Biometric Information Sysem). The system will host information from the following: HANIS, NIIS, VAS and MCS.

Recommendations from the Nexia SAB&T investigation report on key loggers will be pursued by the Multi- Disciplinary Task Team.

(2) This will be determined once the Multi–Disciplinary Task Team has completed their investigation.

(3) This will be determined once the Multi- Disciplinary Task Team has completed their investigation.

END

Reply:

1. Roles of the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Employment and Labour are outlined hereunder:

Department of Home Affairs:

- Project Plan including, project costs, deliverables and milestones. This was submitted by DHA to National Treasury on 26 August 2022.

- Drafting and compiling the advertisements;

- Exercising oversight role through weekly meetings with officials working on the project from the Department of Employment and Labour.

- Monitoring and assessing the process on the response handling process which includes assessing response per role through the online portal of the Department of Employment and Labour, email as well as its walk-in centres. This further includes monitoring of the process in terms of the principles of fairness and transparency which is obtained through ensuring access to unemployed youth graduates in rural and township areas;

- Accountable for the final selection process which includes shortlisting and interviews;

- Appointment, overseeing the signing of the contract as well as the administration of payment of the unemployed youth graduates; and

- Overseeing administrative processes for the unemployed youth graduates e.g leave, training etc.

 

Department of Employment and Labour

- Providing Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) – portal for online applications.

- Running the advertisement on its website; and

- Monitoring the number of applications per role and providing weekly reports to the DHA in terms of numbers of applications received on its online platform as well as the walk-in centres.

2. The acquisition process will be guided by the following principles:

• Fairness and transparency;
• Inclusivity of Females (60%) and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs);
• Open to unemployed youth across the country; and
• Ensure accessibility as the applications will be received through walk-in centres, Labour Centres and on digital platforms.

END