Questions and Replies

Reply:

The African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF) has managed to receive unqualified audit opinions from the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) for the past five (05) consecutive years. This is an indication that the ARF Secretariat demonstrated accountability in relation to the administration and monitoring of the Fund and has also managed to establish internal controls and financial management practices that are in line with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Treasury Regulations.

The current internal controls and financial management practices of the ARF will continue to be implemented and further strengthened when the Fund migrates to the South African Development Partnership Fund (SADPA). The establishment of the fully-fledged agency will enable for the creation of a staff compliment as compared to the current officials working under the ARF as well as the development of financial systems and processes for the agency.

Reply:

South African has exercised its independent and non-aligned foreign policy position which has remained consistent and has advocated for the peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and negotiation as demonstrated by South Africa’s efforts to resolve several conflicts on the continent (e.g., DRC, Burundi, Ethiopia and South Sudan/Sudan). It is unfortunate that the US chooses to interpret this position as a threat to their national security and interests i.e. the rhetoric that “you are either with us, or against us”. South Africa has always opposed violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, which is the very reason why we have supported Palestine so staunchly, in keeping with the UN Charter. We have resisted becoming embroiled in the politics of confrontation and aggression between the traditional Cold War adversaries. This does not mean that we are indifferent to the suffering in Ukraine or anywhere else in the world. On the contrary, we are deeply concerned about the continuing conflict, the loss of lives and the deteriorating humanitarian situation. South Africa has consistently called for the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors and the provision of aid to the civilian population.

In relation to AGOA, it is most unfortunate that South Africa’s continued participation in AGOA has been weaponised by some members of the US Congress. South Africa has on several occasions acknowledged the importance of the United States as our third largest trading partner, China being first, followed by Europe.  The United States remains the largest single source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Africa and is an important source of technology transfer, tourism, and skills development. South Africa values our strategic relations with the United States and is committed to strengthening these relations for mutual benefit. As a result of consistent lobbying by South Africa, the US Administration supports the hosting of the AGOA Forum in South Africa.

South Africa, through DIRCO and the DTIC, has been engaging the US Government, Congress, the US private sector and civil society on matters related to AGOA. The Special Envoys appointed by the President have made a strong case in favour of South Africa’s continued participation in AGOA. These discussions will continue at the AGOA Forum in Johannesburg with a view to advancing the African Common Position for the timeous renewal of AGOA and how to strengthen the capacity of African countries to better take advantage of the AGOA preferences. We also continue to emphasise the synergy between AGOA and the AfCFTA in the context of the continental priorities for regional integration, industrialisation, and infrastructure development. In this regard, South Africa, given its level of industrial development,  can play a central role in catalysing regional values chains in the sub-region and beyond, thus contributing to economic recovery, re-industrialisation and addressing our triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. While our continued participation in AGOA is extremely valuable to addressing the goals of our National Development Plan (NDP) and the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), we cannot compromise our independent foreign policy stance.

Reply:

Yes, the Department of Basic Education has mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating education in terms of Section 8 of the National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996; 

a) In response to the situation at Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School, the Director-General has established a Task Team to conduct an investigation and provide recommendations in terms of remedial actions; and 

b) the work on the infrastructure at the school is underway, although this must be understood in terms of the fact that the school is governed in terms of Section 14 of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. 

Reply:

The table below indicates total number of reported bulk water pipes in terms of infrastructure that is owned and operated by Water Boards that had burst and/or were leaking in the 2022-23 financial year.

Water Board	Total number of reported bulk water pipes that had burst and/or were leaking in the 2022-23 financial year	(a) Total number of the specified reports followed up on	(b) Total number of burst and/or leaking bulk water pipes repaired and/or replaced	(c) Total amount spent
Amatola Water	562	562	562	R10 716 073
Vaal Central Water (former Bloem Water)	325	325	325	R7 534 430
Lepelle Northern Water	158	158	158	R1 310 500
Magalies Water	635	635	635	R2 175 449
Overberg Water	96	96	96	R834 000
Rand Water	236	236	236	R230 000 000
uMngeni-uThukela Water (former Umgeni and Mhlathuze Water)	171	171	171	R500 120 038

 

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Reply:

The question is elicited by the Honoruable Member’s take that there is a “proposed National Treasury plan to ring-fence municipal grants meant for indigent households for use in the payment of debt by dysfunctional municipalities” of which the Department of Cooperative Governance is not privy of. Given that the “plan” is attributed to the National Treasury which also issued MFMA Circular No. 124 (on Municipal Debt Relief), it is therefore recommended that the question be redirected to Ministry of Finance for the National Treasury to provide a response accordingly.

I thank you.

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Reply:

The Republic of Zimbabwe held its harmonised elections on 23 and 24 August 2023 to elect the President, Members of Parliament and Councillors for local government. His Excellency Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) won the presidential elections by 52,6% of the votes and his closest rival and leader of the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Advocate Nelson Chamisa, received 44% of the vote. The other presidential candidates received about 3,3% of the vote combined.

According to Section 93 of the Zimbabwean Constitution, any aggrieved candidate may challenge the validity of an election of a President by lodging a petition or application with the Constitutional Court within seven (7) days after the date of the declaration of the results of the elections. The Constitutional Court must hear and determine a petition or application within fourteen (14) days after the petition or application was lodged and the Court’s decision is final.

There has been no pursuance of the above prescribed process by any of the presidential candidates after the general elections held on 23 and 24 August 2023. South Africa continues to engage with all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that peace and stability are improved in Zimbabwe. The results of the elections indicate that the two major players, being ZANU-PF and the CCC need to engage meaningfully with each other to ensure that their differences are solved so that Zimbabwe can focus on issues of inclusive development, peace and stability, which are important for Zimbabweans, South Africans and the SADC region.

Reply:

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has a functional interdepartmental partnerships with various Departments to ensure the fulfilment of its objects and mandate.

The DCS has an existing partnership with Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), the partnership commenced on 10 March 2021 and it will end on 09 March 2024. The aim of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) is to guide and manage the relationship between DCS and DPWI in order achieve the following:

• DCS to manufacture and supply furniture to DPWI as per their requirements.
• DCS to repair broken office and VIPs residential furniture.

In addition, the Department also has a functional interdepartmental partnership with the Agriculture Research Council (ARC). The partnership commenced on 21 September 2022, and it will end on 20 September 2025. The aim of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is to guide and manage the relationship between the ARC and DCS to achieve the following:

• Promote a coherent and effective system on provision of agriculture related services, promote sharing of information, i.e. policies, procedures and technical information;
• Assist and support each other in respect of the agreed services between the parties and agreement; and
• Inform each other of and consult each other on matters of common interest.

Furthermore, the Implementation Protocol Agreement for the Provision of Educational Support and Services for Self-Sufficiency and Sustainability was entered into with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) for formal Education matters (Educator development, assistance with Learner Teacher Support Material, manufacture, maintenance, refurbishment and supply furniture of schools; establishment of school gardens; access to Grade 12 end of year results datasets of all registered schools.

The DCS has entered into the Implementation Protocol Agreement with the D Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on educator development on administration of examinations policy and curriculum matters on ABET.

DCS also signed interdepartmental partnership agreements with the following Stakeholders in the fulfilment of the rehabilitation objectives and mandate:

• DHET to support the provisioning of TVET College programmes and AET programmes;
• The National Skills Fund (NSF) for the provisioning of accredited skills training programmes and learnerships to offenders;
• SASSETA, Services SETA and MERSETA for the provisioning of skills training, accreditation of offender workplaces and Training Centres

Moreover, DCS also is a beneficiary of the Global Fund Grant (GFG) through the National Department of Health for COVID-19 Response Mechanism 2021 (C19RM 2.0) which commenced on 01 July 2021 – 31 December 2023. The funds are managed by National Department of Health and are specifically earmarked for compensation of the appointed Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Coordinators and Surveillance Officers.

The Department of Correctional Services was awarded Global Funds through the South African National AIDS Council for capacity building of officials on Human Rights matters specifically relating to People Living with HIV, TB including Key and Vulnerable Populations (including inmates). Funding is awarded for the period 01 April 2022 – 31 March 2025. The funds are managed by the South African National AIDS Council and no funds have been provided to the Department of Correctional Services directly.

END.

Reply:

The East London Female Correctional Centre has a total 297 offenders incarcerated and 55 offenders are classified as maximum.

(I) The Standard Operating Procedure (Chapter 02 of the B-Order) stipulates that sanitary towels must be issued as required. DCS ensures that sanitary products are issued as required, minimum one packet of 20 or 12 per female inmate and thereafter, when it is required/as per need.

(ii) The centre has twenty registered Adult Education and Training learners in the current academic year of 2023. Ten out of these twenty offenders are classified as maximum that is 50% of the registered learners as follows:

• AET level 1: 4
• AET level 2: 8
• AET level 3: 8

The centre has three offenders registered for Higher Education and Training as follows:

• Higher Education and Training: 03 (02 registered with Unisa and 01 registered with Boston College).

The number of female offenders in East London Female CC who participated in skills development programmes during the month of August 2023 was 13. However, this does not mean that the other female offenders did not have access to skills training or were not previously trained. Skills Training programmes can be longer or shorter than one month depending on the skills programme offered.

All female inmates, who register the need for skills development programmes as per their sentence plans and who meet the minimum entry requirements have access to skills development programmes as per available resources.

END.

Reply:

1. The disciplinary hearing against the three DCS Senior Managers, who were charged in the same hearing, have been finalised and awaiting the findings by the chairperson (Senior Counsel) appointed by the state attorney. The chairperson in a procedural notice indicated that the findings would be provided by latest mid-November 2023.

2. It should be noted that the officials who are of the Senior Management Service (SMS) category in the Public Service are suspended in terms of chapter 07 of the SMS handbook with full pay.

END.

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has reprioritised the allocated Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant and Water Services Infrastructure Grant towards addressing the emergency needs of repair, refurbish and where applicable upgrade water services infrastructure which were failing to perform at optimal levels. The infrastructure is owned and operated by municipalities and refurbishment projects are implemented by these municipalities as Implementing Agents. This is an ongoing intervention which is intended to improve water and sanitation service delivery.

The Department is working together with Municipalities to ensure that the interventions are complemented with functioning and sound Asset Management Policies as well as the required capacity to properly operate and maintain this infrastructure. This will ensure performance of infrastructure to maximum design capacity and curb eliminate failures caused by lack of maintenance and neglect.

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Reply:

Information sourced from Export Councils, who are partially supported by the Department, and which represent exporters of fruit, ostrich and abalone indicates that the two most important factors that affect the quality of perishable products destined for export markets are time and temperature control. For products that are scheduled for export at the Container Depots, load shedding and unstable supply of electricity necessitates that alternative power sources are installed in the form of diesel-powered generators for cold chain maintenance and operations which cannot be halted.

With regards to Cold Stores, time becomes a critical factor for temperature control of perishable products. Several contact points in cold stores that are impacted by electricity supply include the container-truck waiting times; all of which have a knock-on effect on the export load schedules as well as booking times at the ports. Final Inspections by the Perishable Produce Export Control Board (PPECB) at the cold stores may result in reefer rejections if the time and temperature control requirements are not complied with, which can lead to either compromised shelf-life or spoilage of the perishable products.

Between April 2021 and September 2023, R323 million was approved to support more than 50 projects in the agriculture and agro-processing industries. During the same period R260 million was disbursed to just over 45 projects in the agriculture and agro-processing industries.

Products include the following:

• Fruits such as blue berries, citrus, dried mango and tropical fruits;
• Meat products such as processed meat, pork carcasses;
• Dairy products;
• Alcohol such as wine and gin;
• Vegetable oils; and
• Snacks such as sugar-based confectionaries, condiments, popcorn, and cookies.

Given the above, we welcome and support the measures to address electricity supply and stability.

-END-

Reply:

a) The Belt and Road Initiative is China's ambitious plan, which aims to link Asia, the Middle East and Africa through over-land and maritime trading corridors focusing on increasing interconnectivity between regions. Regarding Africa's common developmental agenda, the BRI is an important initiative that could realise some of the Continent's developmental priorities, particularly infrastructure development, which would facilitate intra-African trade. The BRI can potentially bring investment in infrastructure projects across the Continent. Realising the potential benefit of this visionary initiative, the African Union (AU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China in January 2015. The MoU focused on an intention to connect all 54 African countries through transportation networks and infrastructural projects, including modern highways, airports, and high-speed railways. South Africa signed an MoU with China in December 2015 on "Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road". However, there are currently no BRI-specific projects in South Africa. Thus, South Africa has yet to benefit from the BRI directly. The joint development cooperation and infrastructure projects currently under discussion between South Africa and China are undertaken bilaterally, including through the FOCAC programme. Recently, China has proposed a “Cooperation Plan between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on Complementarity between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP)”, which is under consideration. This Plan could link to the BRI, an over-arching approach of China that encompasses future funding for bilateral projects.

b) Although China is an important bilateral investor in the South African economy, currently, the investments linked to BRI have not yet commenced. However, considering the over-arching framework of the BRI for bilateral infrastructure development projects, SA may benefit in terms of investments, funding and technical skills transfer from projects such as the Small Harbours Development, Mega Focus School, Poverty Alleviation Village Initiative and the Mzimvubu Water Project, which are currently at various stages of implementation.

Reply:

The total number of cell phones that were confiscated from 01 April 2023 to 31 October 2023 is as follows:

Regions	Total Number of Cell phones confiscated as reported by Regions
KwaZulu-Natal	4 433
Eastern Cape	3 228
Western Cape	2 780
Free State & Northern Cape	1 972
Limpopo, Mpumalanga & North West	3 139
Gauteng	5 381
National Total	20 933

The following measures have been in place to ensure that access to cell phones does not re-occur:

• Conducting intensive searching (including surprise searches) is done on daily basis at Correctional Facilities and access control points. Searching is conducted on all vehicles, personnel, visitors and service providers. It is conducted as per Section 27 of CSA 111 of 1998 and Security Operating Procedures (SOPs). Searching of Officials, Stakeholders and Inmates when entering and leaving the Centres with hand held metal detectors and walk through metal detectors;
• The DCS has implemented Policies on of “Bagless Society” and “Cell phone free Society”. These policies reflect that officials are not permitted to enter facilities with bags or packets other than their personal items and meals. Females to utilise clear plastic bags;
• Regions have embarked on security awareness sessions on the prevention of smuggling of contrabands;
• Guidelines are in place on how confiscated cell phones must be disposed of to prevent re-circulation;
• Trained sniffer dogs are utilised for cell phone detection;
• Disciplinary measures and swift consequence management are applied to all officials, visitors, service providers and inmates involved in any form of smuggling of contraband including amongst others, cellular devices;
• Ensuring night and day patrol is intensified in the correctional Centres; &
• Ensuring that all posts including tower posts are manned and ESTs are placed at strategic posts.

Total number of Correctional Officials that were found to have been involved in such cases is as follows:

Region	Number of officials were caught smuggling cell phones as reported by Regions	Total number of unauthorised cell phone cases reported to SAPS
KwaZulu-Natal	01	0
Eastern Cape	0	0
Western Cape	02	02
Free State Northern Cape	0	0
Limpopo Mpumalanga North West	0	0
Gauteng	02	02
National Total	05	04

Actions that have been taken against the specified Correctional Officials are as follows:

Region	Disciplinary steps taken
KwaZulu-Natal	One (01) official dismissed
Western Cape	Two (02) officials - Investigation in progress
Gauteng	One (01) official resigned pending the disciplinary hearing. Disciplinary hearing of one (01) official still pending.

END.

Reply:

Following allegations made by US Ambassador Reuben Brigety, he was dèmarched by DIRCO and had a meeting with Minister Pandor who expressed deep disappointment and displeasure at the way serious allegations were made in the “wildest and most inappropriate manner” at a media conference. There are prescribed diplomatic protocols which should have been used to convey any grievance/concerns through appropriate diplomatic channels. This message has been clearly conveyed to the US Embassy.

Since the release of the report, DIRCO and the US Government have agreed to continue with work to strengthen the our bilateral relations. This includes cooperating in areas in the multilateral environment where we have common positions.

Our strategic partnership with the US has faced some strain, but like all relationships, we disagree on some issues, but our common objective should be to work towards the upliftment of our people. So, despite our differences, the US remains an important partner for SA, and we appreciate the investments by more than 600 US companies in SA, which are significant and contribute towards employment, skills transfer and improving the standards of living of millions of South Africans. At this point no further action is envisaged with respect to this issue.

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The Department released the Green Drop 2023 Watch Report in June 2023 which is an interim report to keep the public and stakeholders updated and informed on the progress made by municipalities to remedy failing dysfunctional wastewater infrastructure and compliance.

1. The Department received corrective action plans (CAPS) from municipalities for 189 of the 334 wastewater systems (i.e. 57% response rate). By June 2023, only 84 of the 189 plans submitted to the department were being implemented, with the balance being in planning phase or no progress reported.
2. For those municipalities which did not submit corrective action plans, DWS has issued directives in terms of the National Water Act compelling them to submit such plans. Criminal charges have been laid against some of the municipalities which have not submitted corrective action plans and are non-compliant to NWA directives previously issued. Further cases are being investigated and the Department is finalising case dockets and will subsequently refer these cases to the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute non-compliant municipalities.

The Department has entered a Plea Sentencing Agreement with three (3) municipalities that were non-compliant with the provisions of the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998). As a result, fines have been imposed through a Court Order. The Department is continuing to monitor the implementation of the order to ensure compliance. Furthermore, a Court Interdict was obtained against Msukaligwa LM for causing pollution of the water resources.

 

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Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is overseeing interventions to alleviate current water shortages in Sekhukhune District Municipality, Capricorn District Municipality and Polokwane Local Municipality. The interim measures implemented in the areas include emergency relief measures as follows:

• 20 water tankers which were provided to Sekhukhune District Municipality. 1690 water tanks have been installed in Sekhukhune as a short-term measure to ensure communities are able access water on a daily basis.
• The Polokwane LM delivers water through water tankers to communities as per notifications received about areas/ households without water.
• DWS is overseeing groundwater development projects and there are ongoing construction projects to install elevated storage tanks.

The DWS allocated funding through its Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) for implementation of water services reticulation projects in the Sekhukhune, Capricorn and Polokwane Municipalities. The funding was allocated for the 2023/24 financial year for projects to be implemented by the Municipalities to improve access to water. Funding allocated to each municipality is indicated below:

• Sekhukhune DM - R49 million
• Capricorn DM - R 158 million
• Polokwane LM - R 72,7 million

Villages to benefit from the reticulation projects are indicated in the table below:

Municipality	Villages benefiting
Sekhukhune DM	Maebe, Tukakgomo, Nkosini, Moutse, Phokwane, Mabulela, Rutseng and Ga-Marishane
Capricorn DM	Ga-Malokela, Indermark, Senwabarwana, Driekoppies, Mogwadi, Maponto, Bolatjane, Ramatjowe, Dipateng, Sekhwama and Maleka
Polokwane LM	Mashamaite, Makgodu, Mars, Moletijie, Bakone Ga-Ntlolane, Ga-Phofu, Badimong, Segwasi and surrounding areas

The municipalities are required to establish project steering committees and project management teams to ensure effective monitoring of project progress. By overseeing the implementation of these projects and enabling water carting by the Water Services Authorities to communities, the Department supports the municipalities to ensure that water is supplied to the various communities in the three Municipalities until bulk infrastructure projects are completed.

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Reply:

Item 4.1.3.2 of the National Treasury issued MFMA Circular No. 124 (on Municipal Debt Relief) states

“If a delegated municipality did not meet any condition during any month, the Provincial Treasury’s  certificate of compliance in terms of this paragraph must include as an attachment a report explaining the non-compliance and the progressive support measures instituted by both the provincial treasury and the municipality to facilitate the municipality’s progressive adherence to the condition(s).”

It is therefore recommended that the question be redirected to Ministry of Finance for the National Treasury to provide a response accordingly.

I thank you.

Reply:

1) No, the Department of Basic Education monitors and evaluates education in terms of Section 8 of the National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996. The direct monitoring of schools is the responsibility of provincial education departments (PEDs). 

2) The Minister has been informed of the situation at Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School in the Eastern Cape.  

3) The Department of Basic Education, through the Directorate: Inclusive Education, undertakes two rounds of provincial oversight visits annually to monitor and support the implementation of inclusive education. A sample of special care centres, special schools, ordinary schools, and full-service schools are included in the monitoring and support visits in four PEDs per year.

4) a) The Eastern Cape Department of Education intervened to address the issues raised in 2018; b) one educator was charged in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, but c) was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

Reply:

Note: The Hon member referred to newly functional correctional facilities, without stipulating or providing an explanation regarding the criteria or classification of the term “newly functional”. This response provides a holistic numerical overview related to all correctional facilities.

a) The total number of functional correctional facilities are as follows:

1. Public - 234
2. Private - one (01)

b) The total number of correctional facilities under construction in the current financial year in each province are as follows:

Gauteng Province – one (1)

Western Cape Province – nil (0)

Eastern Cape Province – one (1)

KwaZulu Natal Province – one (1)

Limpopo Province – nil (0)

North West Province – two (2)

Mpumalanga Province – nil (0)

Freestate Province – one (1)

Northern Cape Province – nil (0)

END.

Reply:

The NEF has not paid for any employee to travel to France during the months of September and October 2023.

.

-END-

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Introduction

The Department of Basic Education initiated the Second Chance Matric Programme (SCMP) in January 2016 to support learners who could not achieve subject passes in Matric. The Department will use the SCMP to support the Grade 12 learners who are currently writing matric exams in case they desire to rewrite the exams again in 2024.

The objective of the SCMP is to provide support to learners, who are upgrading their matric qualification or did not meet the requirements of the National Senior Certificate (NSC), by providing access to quality resources and lessons with the intention to improve their life chances. The programme will provide support to learners on part-time basis.

The programme offers support to prepare learners to write one or both national examinations opportunities in May/June and October/ November, respectively.

Learners who are writing the 2023 matric exams and would like to rewrite supplementary examinations, can register at their own schools or at a District office or online. Information online registration and the link to register are available on this website:

https://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/SeniorCertificate/SCRegistration.aspx

Matric learners are only required to use an ID Copy and Statement of Results or Matric Certificate to register.

2. Forms of support that will be made available to learners.

Once learners are registered, they will be provided with support in the following four platforms:

      2.1 Platform number 1: Printed Learner Teacher Support Materials (LTSM) and other enriching resources

      The Department annually reprint the state-owned LTSM that are provided to registered learners. The printed materials include Mind the Gap self-study guides,              revision materials, previous question papers and memoranda and other self-help materials. The printed LTSM will be delivered to learners through the Provinces          and District offices, and where necessary, materials are couriered directly to schools.

 

         2.2 Platform number 2: Distribution of digital content through the Internet

The Programme distributes the digital study materials through the online and offline solutions. The digital study materials include the educational videos and audios that have been produced in the past. The online solution refers to the situation where learners who have access to the Internet and have devices are able to download digital study materials.

The Department has placed on the website: LTSM, multimedia and examination resources to be accessed by learners and teachers who have access to the Internet. Learners and teachers will be able to access these available resources before and during the exams. All these materials are available on this website:

https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/SecondChanceProgramme.aspx

 

         2.3 Platform number 3: Face-to-face classes

Working in collaboration with the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), the Department will facilitate the establishments of the face-to-face classes at selected schools throughout the country. At these centres, top-performing teachers will be selected to teach classes after hours and over weekends. Learners will be provided with the LTSM and other additional supporting materials. It is planned that 100 centres (centres refers to schools where learners attend classes) in Provinces will be established to support learners who will be writing the May/June 2024 examinations. The Department plans to support more than 50 000 learners through classes at the centres. The Department is working with the PEDs to gather learner data that will be finalise after registration.

                           

        2.4 Platform number 4: Broadcasting solution

The Department has forged partnerships with the public and private broadcasters to use both radio and television. The educational programmes are broadcast through major SABC regional radio stations and community radio stations. There are 12 SABC Regional radio stations and 10 local radio stations used to broadcast educational programmes to support the learners.

 

The educational programmes will also be broadcast through television stations that include SABC 1, DSTV Mindset (channel 319) and Open View HD (channel 201). The schedule of the programmes will be made available to learners so that they are aware about these programmes.

       

        2.5 Additional Support to learners

• Learners will be also offered opportunities to access the educational programmes through the provincial initiatives and private sector support. The telecommunication companies, Vodacom and MTN, have initiated e-school programmes that are made available to learners at no cost. The MTN eSchool is available on this link: https://www.mtnonlineschool.co.za/logint. And Vodacom eSchool is available on this link: https://www.vodacom.co.za/vodacom/shopping/v/vodacom-e-school
• Learners who have the mobile numbers of these companies, will access educational programs at no cost. More importantly, learners will access these programmes and do not need to have data.
• The NW Education Department has created the Toll-free number (0800 383 383) that will be given to learners who may call at no cost to access subject experts to assist them with subject contents.
• The Department has established a partnership with public libraries. The list of public libraries is shared through website and teacher WhatsApp Groups for learners to know where to access these libraries.
• Teacher/ Learner WhatsApp Groups – The teachers teaching at the centres are encouraged to form WhatsApp Group where learners will be able to engage with them. The Group will also be used to share study materials such as Study Guides, previous question papers and video materials.

 

3. Inclusive Education: The Department has expanded the SCMP to cater for learners with disabilities starting with the blind, deaf and partially sighted in these Provinces: Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. The programme will be expanded in the other five Provinces in 2024.

 

4. Registration to rewrite. Learner who would like to rewrite matric subjects, may register at their school or at the district offices close to where they live or via online. Those who would like to register online, may access registration on this link:

https://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/SeniorCertificate/SCRegistration.aspx

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a) South Africa’s position continually supports all efforts aimed at the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian State, existing side-by-side in peace with Israel, within internationally recognised borders, based on those of 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with all relevant UN resolutions, international law and internationally agreed parameters. Additionally, a viable and sustainable peace plan for the Middle East must ensure that Palestine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and economic viability is guaranteed, with sovereign equality between Palestine and Israel. The Palestinian question remains at the heart of the Middle East situation. The international community has an obligation to find a comprehensive and just resolution to the Palestinian issue. So far, the traditional approach to conflict resolution has failed to achieve peace in Israel – Palestine. It is possible that a different approach, one that uses a human rights perspective on conflict resolution, could produce what the old approach could not. The international community cannot abandon its duty to act together, it must shoulder the responsibility to remove obstacles to peace and any violations of international law. Violence, extra judicial killings, administrative imprisonment, forced removals, illegal settlements in the West Bank, and the continued siege of Gaza, are not conducive to resolving the conflict. Urgent attention must be given to resolving the final status issues such as borders, the status of Jerusalem, the release of political prisoners, and the right of return.

b) South Africa supports all international efforts that seek to ensure lasting and durable peace and works with the international community through various initiatives aimed at establishing a viable, contiguous Palestinian State, existing side-by-side in peace with Israel, within the 1967 internationally recognised borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. HE President Ramaphosa was invited amongst a limited number of Heads of State, to participate in the recently held Peace Summit in Cairo. In addition, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr GNM Pandor, was invited to address the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to contribute to finding a resolution of the conflict in Gaza. Unfortunately, three (3) attempts by the UNSC failed to reach a resolution. However, the UN General Assembly (UNGA), by a two-thirds majority, reached a resolution that called for the immediate cessation of hostilities and to allow for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Reply:

The Master’s Offices deals with not only deceased estates, but also bankruptcy matters, registration of trusts, curatorships as well as the Guardian’s Fund.

The Masters have been experiencing challenges with regards to appointment in deceased estates and trusts, as well as payment of Guardian’s Fund claims.

The Master’s Offices are not dysfunctional and though some offices are struggling more than others.

The challenges experienced by the Master includes, but are not limited to, the following:

i) Challenges in obtaining files from off-site storage

The Master’s Offices in Pretoria and Pietermaritzburg have been historically making use of offsite-storage service providers for trust files as they do not have enough space to store their files. The previous contract expired during March 2023 and the Department of Justice entered into a contract with a new Service Provider. The new service provider experienced challenges with the handover from the previous service provider and further to that, the Department decided that the Master Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town should also now make use of the service of the new service provider as digitization forms part of the contract. Old deceased estate files have also been included in this project now, as there are no electronic copies of these files available currently.

However, due to the challenges, the service provider experienced in the handover as well as the state of the files received from the previous service provider, they were unable to, to date scan all files in their possession.

In the light of this offices were unable to deal with correspondence received in most of those files, as they are unable to view / access the files.

This contract is managed by the Deputy Information Officer’s office and not by the Masters.

A meeting was held between all relevant parties to discuss a solution for the delay and fast tracking providing of files to the Masters Offices.

Task teams have been created for each province and will be liaising directly with the service provider to streamline and unblock challenges experienced by the service provider and the Master.

ii) Load shedding

The three sections which are struggling are all dependent on system access and hence load shedding has a paralyzing effect on the functions of these sections. This is however not affecting all offices as there are some which are situated in areas which do not get load shedding and /or have generators.

iii) System downtime

The three sections which are struggling are all dependent on system access and hence any system downtime, bugs and lags have a paralyzing effect on the functions of these sections.

Integration links with external service providers such as Department of Home Affairs also plays a pivotal role in the service delivery in these sections and downtime on their side is also hampering the performance of the Master.

Regular meetings are taking place between the Branch and the ICT Branch of the Department, as well as with DHA and other stakeholders in order to address these challenges.

iv) Vacancies and budget cuts

The Branch budget has been cut and a moratorium has been placed on the filling of any vacant posts and any post which becomes vacant subsequently, however, the Branch has been requested to identify critical post which will be considered for filling, should funds be available.

v) Backlogs

Due to the above issues the Masters have a revolving backlog challenge which will only be contained once the above challenges have been addressed and resolved.

Performance in the Branch is measured against targets set in terms of the Masters’ Annual Performance Plan which has been determined taking into account the challenges experienced in the Masters’ environment.

In the light of this, targets has been set at around 70% of matters done within the given timeframe, which allows for a 30% deviation on this to make provision for matters effected by the challenges listed above. It is envisaged that these targets and performance will increase as and when the above challenges have been addressed.

However, in a bid to improve service delivery, the Master’ Branch together with the ICT Branch, have been developing an Online Deceased Estates Solution to address challenges experienced by our clients when reporting an estate with the Master.

The Online Deceased Estate System seeks to enable South African citizens to submit their deceased estate applications online, giving the user the ability to register an estate from the comfort of their home or office without the need physically to visit any Master’s Office or Service Point of the Master. This system was launched into live production on 10 October 2023 in five Master’s Offices (Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Thohoyandou).

Together with this Online System, a QR-coded appointment letter has been developed. This appointment letter is being sent electronically to the applicant instantly, upon approval of the appointment by the Assistant Master. The client then merely downloads the appointment letter, which can now be verified by scanning the QR-code, and then proceed with the administration of the estate. This alleviates the challenges experienced with collecting of original appointment letters at the Master’s Office, delays caused by postal services not being available, relevant institutions causing delays due to first awaiting verifications of appointments letters from the Master and the need for requesting copies from the Master in this regard. QR-coded appointment letters have already been implemented with great success in three Master’s Offices (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town) and the rest of the country is to follow suit as soon as possible.

Though the Master’s Offices are hard hit by challenges such as loadshedding, struggling to obtain files from off-site facilities, understaffing, budget cuts and constant network challenges, we are forever striving to implement solutions to better service delivery and ease the frustrations of not only the citizens, but also the employees of the Branch, who are working in a challenging environment.

Furthermore, the Department has set up a high-level Task-Team which will be zooming in on the issues in which the Masters offices are experiencing challenges and addressing them as part of a project action plan.

Reply:

Preparation for the 2023 National Senior Certificate examinations commenced almost 18 months ago so as to ensure that all processes are in place to administer the first examination question on 30th October 2023. The plans that were put in place over this period to prepare for this all important examination involved the following:

(a) Setting, internal moderation, editing, translation and  final approval of the 162 question papers required for this examination.

(b) Registration of the candidates that will be writing this examination on the Examination Computer system. Finally, 717 377 full-time candidates and 181 143 part-time candidates were registered on the examination system.  

(c) Printing, packing, storage and distribution of the question papers to the 6 889 examination centres.

(d) Ensuring that the 6 889 centres where the examination was to be written was ready for this examination.

(e) Appointment and training of markers who were selected to mark the examination candidates scripts.

(f)  Establishment of 190 marking centres where the marking will be conducted.

(g) Management of the 147 Marking Guideline Discussions where the marking guidelines are finalised and markers are trained to accurately to apply this marking guideline.

(h) Preparation for the capture of 9.7 million marks of the candidates   

(i) Readiness of the Examination computer system for the processing and resulting of the marks

(j) Release of the results on the 19 January 2024.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is confident that all these preparatory plans have been efficiently executed and the 2023 NSC examination will be successfully administered.  

Reply:

(1) all schools that require sanitation intervention are addressed under SAFE, ASIDI and also through the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG)

(2)

Province	No. of Schools
EC	506
FS	0
GT	0
KZN	148
LP	74
MP	0
NW	0
NC	0
WC	0
National	728

All these schools are currently being addressed under the Sanitation Appropriate for Schools (SAFE) Programme.

Reply:

This question involves sensitive information that, in the interests of protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the parties in question, the NPA is willing to make available to Ms Louw’s legal representatives to disclose further (as he or she deems fit). Where this is the case, it has been expressly indicated. With the above in mind, below are the replies to the questions:

1. AD QUESTION 1(a):

• 1.1 On 07 April 2022 the police presented the Control Prosecutor with one case docket of Primrose CAS 25/04/2022. Having perused the docket content, the Control Prosecutor was of the view that the said docket did not contain sufficient evidence to constitute enrolment as there were no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution. The NPA is willing to provide the reasons for this decision to Ms Louw’s legal representatives.
• 1.2 The Control Prosecutor requested further investigations.The investigating officer was instructed to re-submit the docket for a final decision as soon as the investigation queries were attended to.
• 1.3 On 07 April 2022, the police provided the Control Prosecutor with Primrose CAS 25/04/2022. The Control Prosecutor was unaware that there was also a counter charge under Primrose CAS 43/04/2022.

AD QUESTION 1(b):

• 1.5 On 12 April 2022, the police presented the prosecution with one case docket of Primrose CAS 43/04/2022 (counter charge). This matter was attended to by the Acting Control Prosecutor and not the Control Prosecutor who dealt with the docket of Primrose CAS 25/04/2022.
• 1.6 The Acting Control Prosecutor, unaware of the other docket, perused CAS 43/04/2022, and decided that there were sufficient grounds to prosecute. The matter was enrolled in the normal course of events and proceeded to trial on 07 November 2022.

2. AD QUESTION 2:

• 2.1 The legal representative of Ms Louw brought the matter to the attention of the Senior Public Prosecutor (SPP) on 02 December 2022.
• 2.2 The legal representative alleged that the South African Police Service tampered with police case docket of Primrose CAS 25/04/2022.
• 2.3 The SPP verbally advised the legal representative to report this allegation to the relevant Commander of the Criminal Investigation Unit.
• 2.4 The SPP had no personal knowledge of any of the two criminal cases prior to 02 December 2022.
• 2.5 The SPP took immediate steps and called for the dockets from the police. The SPP promptly attended to the matter as soon as the case dockets were received.

AD QUESTION 3(a):

3.1 The trial in the matter of Primrose CAS 25/04/2022 commenced on 07 November 2022.

3.2 The legal representative of Ms Louw brought the matter to the attention of the SPP only on 02 December 2022.

3.3 The SPP was not aware of the two cases or a material dispute of fact prior to 02 December 2022.

AD QUESTION 3(b):

3.4 The SPP canvassed the possibility of Formal Mediation with the legal representative of Ms Louw based on the facts at the prosecution’s disposal at that time.

3.5 Mediation forms part of the Criminal Justice System as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism in terms of the Policy Manual of the National Prosecuting Authority.

4. AD QUESTION 4:

The SPP communicated with the legal representative of Ms Louw on a regular basis spanning the period December 2022 to August 2023. The NPA is willing to make available the details of dates and forms of communication to Ms Louw’s legal representative.

5. AD QUESTION 5:

5.1 See paragraphs 1 – 4 supra.

Reply:

According to the Health Professions Council of South Africa:

1. (a) Three (3) officials have been dismissed for committing fraud and/or corruption;

(b) The offences related to firstly accepting compensation in cash or otherwise, from an HPCSA stakeholder in return of assisting applicants with their registration and secondly the commitment of fraud with the HPCSA credit card; and

(c) The legal and disciplinary process costs to the HPCSA concerning these specified cases was R300 680.00.

2. Supply chain management policies were followed with the impugned transactions involving the 3 officials;

(a) Registrations and Finance Department

(b) The total amount of wasteful expenditure is R171 534.

END.

Reply:

a) Yes, on the 6th November 2023, the department still had COVID-19 Vaccine-Janssen in storage at the national level, at Biovac. A total of 192 000 doses are available for distribution.

b) The value of the 192 000 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine-Janssen vaccines, available at the national level is R 31 149 360,00 including VAT (Average ROE for USD R18.81).

c) The COVID-19 vaccine Janssen is currently being distributed and used in the COVID-19 vaccination programme as part of routine health services. Vaccines are accessible in provinces, and vaccination continues to be administered at health facilities. Individuals are strongly encouraged to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

END.

Reply:

Eastern and Western Cape

DSD

a)

1. The core mandate of the department is to render psychosocial support services through its cadre of professions to victims of disasters. This service continues to be available to those who need it and its availability was communicated at the Provincial Disaster Management Centre meetings where all Heads of Centres of the respective District Municipal Disaster Management Centres are in attendance.

2 The role of DSD in the response to a disaster is to coordinate own services in the form of psycho-social services and access facilitation to humanitarian relief to the affected communities.

In this regard DSD did the following:

1. The Red Cross Society of South Africa was identified by DSD as a collection and distribution point for donations due to their experience in responding to disasters.
2. Vodacom worked with Gift of the Givers to provide relief in areas identified by DSD through the Joint Operations Committee (JOC).
3. DSD linked Heal Our Land with the Cape Winelands and Overberg District Municipalities to support with the humanitarian relief response. Heal Our Land is still busy with providing relief in some areas within the Overberg Municipal area.
4. In the Metro, several humanitarian relief organisations provided support to the affected communities in collaboration with the City of Cape Town Disaster and Risk Management Centre.
5. The WeLoveUFoundation has also come on board and is willing to provide support in any identified area. DSD is working with the City of Cape Town (COCT) to identify an area where support is required. WeLoveUFoundation prefers to work within a metropolitan area oppose to a rural area.
6. The following Municipalities - Cape Winelands District Municipality, Overberg District Municipality and the City of Cape Town arranged with numerous Humanitarian Relief Organisations to provide hot meals and other nutrition as required to the affected communities within their area of operation.

The department continues to work collaboratively with all strategic partners and stakeholders to mitigate against the social vulnerabilities heaped upon the poorest of the poor resultant from the flood disaster.

b) The Department’s future social protection plan for vulnerable persons affected by disasters is to continue to work collaboratively with municipalities, community representatives and other stakeholders to identify hot spots for disasters. The whole of society and the whole of government approaches need to be engaged to raise awareness and caution vulnerable groups from illegally erecting informal structures in swamp, wetlands and/or low-lying areas. The Department works with all municipalities and stakeholders to development and implement the annual summer/winter readiness plans.

The Department will continue to establish and monitor the existing humanitarian social relief work-streams in the metro and rural municipalities as part of its preparedness and response mitigation plans.

The department will also continue to provide capacity building and education to internal staff and stakeholders on the DSD Social Relief Plan, Protocols and SOP’s that are in place.

The Department will also continue to provide psycho-social support to the vulnerable individuals affected by the disaster and where appropriate, refer affected and vulnerable individual to our sister departments and relevant stakeholders for material support and other needed services.

SASSA

a)

SASSA provides Social Relief of Distress to any person in need of immediate relief, as per Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004 (Section 13), together with Regulations 11, 16, 17, 18 and 19

The form of relief can be meals, thick foam sponges, blankets, vanity packs, baby pack, school uniforms, and or cash voucher as prescribed and approved by the Agency provided the affected persons meet the qualifying criteria.

The relief provided is on a short-term basis to persons affected by a disaster, declared or undeclared.

Declared disasters:

• A person may qualify for Social Relief of Distress if that household has been affected by a disaster as defined in the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002).

• The value of social relief of distress paid to a person as a result of a disaster may not be recovered from any social grant payment, including an arrear payment.

• A list of persons or households affected by a disaster as verified by the Provincial or Local Disaster Management Response Unit will be regarded as the final list for the provision of immediate humanitarian relief.

Undeclared disaster:

• A person may qualify for Social Relief of Distress if that household has been affected by a disaster incident.

• A list of households affected by a disaster as verified by the provincial or local office of the Agency will be regarded as the final list of those who are affected for the purpose of disbursing Social Relief of Distress.

The below table depicts the number of people affected by floods in the Eastern and Western Cape and related costs dispersed in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Provinces	No. of people affected	Expenditure FY23/24
Eastern Cape	5,317	R2,446,125.00
Western Cape	16,611	R19,075 581.00
TOTAL	21,928	R21, 521,706.00

It must be noted the Social Relief of Disaster (SRD) response depends on the availability of funds. Further to that, assistance is discretionary.

b) DSD is in the process of drafting a National Disaster Framework which will incorporate, Disaster Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Rehabilitation processes. DSD is also working with NDMC to finalise the process of Disaster Funding Institutional Arrangement which will assist departments to access funding in the event of a disaster.

This will ensure that DSD has access to the much needed funds during disasters to effectively respond and assist the most vulnerable and poor people in the society.

 

Reply:

The Postbank has confirmed to SASSA that all system glitches have been resolved as demonstrated in the recent payment run that went unhindered. Postbank also communicated the following to SASSA as remedial action they have taken to prevent future glitches:

• Enhanced monitoring mechanisms to track the payment process in real-time.
• Strengthened their technical infrastructure to handle higher transaction volumes, ensuring swift and uninterrupted disbursements.
• Engaged specialists for a comprehensive review of their system and to continuously rectify any vulnerabilities.

Reply:

The key funding options that have been proposed for funding the basic income grant are through an increase in taxation, reallocation of current budget allocations or through borrowing.

The borrowing option has the advantage that it would provide additional funding without a need for budget reprioritisation or tax increases. However, this would be expensive for the country as it would increase the country’s debt burden and also increase the already very high interest payments which are already one of the biggest spending items in our government expenditure, which could crowd out other important spending priorities of government.

A second alternative would be a reprioritisation of current budget allocations. This would have the advantage of shifting funds from some government expenditures which are less effective and/or efficient, and redirect it to the urgent needs of the poor. However, such a reprioritisation would be very complex and difficult to implement quickly, since some projects would require significant time and careful planning to wind down without negative unintended consequences.

The tax options considered include wealth taxes, removal of tax expenditure subsidies, increases in the Value Added Tax (VAT) or personal income tax. The advantage of the VAT is that it would be a broad-based tax which enables government to collect sufficient revenue to fully fund the grant, which would be fairly easy to introduce and collect. The disadvantage, however, is that this would be regressive in that the poor would pay the same as the rich. Such an approach would negate the motivation for the grant as the poor would in effect pay proportionally more than the rich because VAT is a flat rate for everyone.

The wealth tax, on the other hand has the advantage of being quite progressive as it would target the rich only. The disadvantage however is that it could result in significant tax avoidance and thus result in inconsistent revenue on a year to year basis as the wealthy find ways to avoid it.

The tax expenditure subsidies on retirement savings were also considered as a possibility. The advantage of this is that, in addition to providing new tax revenue, it would create greater equity in the tax system by reducing support which is currently benefitting high income earners. However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to quantify and would be unreliable as the only source of revenue, and may result in disincentivising retirement savings among some high-income earners.

The Personal Income Tax (PIT)approach has the advantage of being a more progressive tax which would take a greater contribution from the high-income earners than the lower income earners, thus ensuring a more sustainable revenue source. It is also more reliable than the other tax approaches, thus ensuring sustainable funding in the long term. The additional advantage of using the PIT to finance the grant would also improve the income inequality in our country, as the poor would receive an increase in their income while the rich would have a reduction based on the increase in the tax rate that they have to pay.

 

Reply:

The stability of municipal administrations is an important component both in building capacity and in creating the environment for effective functioning of the municipality and provision of sustainable service delivery. To strengthen institutional capacity, the Minister promulgated the Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations and Guidelines as a response to the commitments of government’s resolve to professionalise local public administration and build a capable local public administration and human resources. The regulations prescribe minimum competency requirements for staff below management echelon, for entry into the municipal administration. The Regulations for staff below senior managers are linked with competency requirements for each individual occupational level.

The Department is currently rolling out programmes through Municipal Systems Improvement Grants (MSIG), which aimed at providing technical support to the municipalities to stabilize administration and improve governance systems. The roll out of these programmes empowers and strengthen capacity within municipalities.

To ensure effective use of consultants, Local Government Municipal Cost Containment Regulations prescribe requirements, and bring consistency and uniformity in application od use of consulatnts. The regulations requires that the municipalities may only appoint consultants if an assessment of the needs and requirements confirms that the affected municipality does not have the requisite skills or resources in its full -time employ to perform the function. Furthermore, the regulations advocate for municipality to develop consultancy reduction plans to reduce the reliance on consultants.

Though, the use of consultants is not prohibited, municipalities are encouraged to channel resource and invest in building internal capacity for sustainability and reduce reliance on consultants.

End.

Reply:

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) does not record cases rejected due to ‘inadequate investigation”. Where the SA Police Service submit case dockets to the NPA for decision where the investigations are “inadequate” the NPA provides the Police with directions for further investigation and the case dockets are returned to the Police.

In the lower courts, all Police case dockets presented to prosecutors for decision are considered and when further investigation is required, such directions as to the further investigation is provided to the investigating officer. In more complex cases dealt with by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, Organised Crime Component or the Serious Complex Tax Unit a PGI (Prosecutor Guided Investigation) approach is adopted earlier in the process.

The investigation is also monitored and the responsibility of the management within the South African Police Service and questions regarding the quality of investigations may be directed to the SAPS.

 

Reply:

a) The facilities are supported by providing Computer Hardware, printers, and barcode scanners. The use of the HPRS is monitored on a weekly basis. A team of roving IT Technicians are providing HPRS implementation support at PHC facilities in 8 of the 9 Provinces.

b) The National Department of Health Digital Health unit continue to work with provincial teams to ensure sustainability on the use of the HPRS. The national department of health is working with the Department of Communication and Digital Technology through the SA Connect project for the provision of appropriate broadband connectivity at Health Facilities over the next 3 years.

END.

Reply:

The National Department of Social Development reflected an underspending of R 6.1 billion for the 2022/23 financial year. The main underspending was reflected in the Social Assistance Programme (Social Grants Budgets). R 4.3 billion of this amount is related to the SRD R 350 grant.

During the 2022 Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) in September 2022, an amount of R 755.303 million was approved by Parliament to be shifted from the National Department of Social Development to the Department of Defence for extended deployment as part of Operation Vikela in Mozambique.

The Department has requested the National Treasury to re-utilize any savings from social grants for poverty alleviation strategies in the social sector. This request was however not granted, and Parliament has re-allocated savings on social grants to other government pressures.

Reply:

1. The following information has been received from the Provincial Departments of Health. Information from Eastern Cape and Gauteng is still outstanding:

	FS	KZN	Limp	Mpu	NW	NC	WC
No Public Hospitals	32	22	40	28	19	14	52
b) i. Psychiatrists	12.5%	64%	40%	14.3%	10%	7.10%	21%
b) ii. Clinical Psychologists	25%	86%	82%	46.4%	36.8%	28.6%	31%
b) iii. Occ. Therapist	40%	95%	100%	92,8%	57.9%	57.1%	44%
b) iv. Child Psych.	31%	0	0	0	0	7.1	2%

Information was not received from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provinces at the time of submitting this response to Parliament.

It is important to note that Child Psychology is a sub-speciality of Clinical Psychology and most of the provinces do not segregate or sub-classify the appointment information hence the zero reporting specifically on Child Psychology.

(2) The vacancy rates per province are as follows (with Northern Cape providing actual vacancies instead of expressing in percentage).

Vacancy rate	FS	KZN	Limp	Mpu	NW	NC	WC
Psychiatrists	-	18.9%	82.5%	46%	-	13	4.26%
Clinical Psychologists	36%	19.4%	67.7%		20.68%	18	8.42%
Occupational Therapist	29%	20.5%	64.3%		30.76%	24	9.04%
Child Psychologist	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	4	16.66%

Information was not received from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provinces at the time of submitting this response to Parliament.

Cost to fill specified vacancies	FS	KZN	Limp	Mpu	NW	NC	WC
Psychiatrists	-	R11m	R10.8m	R43m	-	R15m	R4m
Clinical Psychologists	R5m	R11m	R9.5m		-	R19m	R8m
Occupational Therapist	R4m	R11m	R19.2m		-	R17m	R9m
Child Psychologist		0	0	0	0	-	R1m

(3) (a)-(b) All public health facilities in South Africa offer mental health services at various levels with screening being a standard service even at Primary Health Care level. Depending on the service package at the particular facility, patients may be referred to another level of care for further management including admission in the designated Mental Health Facilities

END.

Reply:

According to the Health Professions Council of South Africa:

The HPCSA can release information about practitioners but in strict adherence to the Protection of Personal Information Act 2013 (Act No. 4 of 2013).

(a)-(e) With that consideration in mind, the HPCSA can indicate the following regarding the registration of practitioners under the Psychology Professional Board:

BRD Code	Register Code	Register Name	Total
PSB	PM	Psycho-technicians	8
	PMT	Psychometrists	2106
	PRC	Registered counsellors	2689
	PS	Psychologists	9528
	PSIN	Intern psychologists	889
PSB Total	15220

END.

Reply:

a) Medium Term Budget Policy Statement indicates R17,5 billion to be allocation to Health and Education for the wage bill increase. Based on the discussions with National Treasury officials a preliminary allocation of around R6.8 billion might be allocated to health sector. The final budget allocation to cover the public sector wage increase will be confirmed at the later stage.

b) The department will identify the critical post which will be prioritized for recruitment once the allocation has been confirmed. The budget allocation will cover the shortfall resulted by public wage increase not for additional posts. Provinces annually appoint Employment Recruitment Teams lead by Heads of Health Departments or delegated officials at senior positions to develop recruitment plans prioritizing the filling of critical posts with a required skills mix to address the burden of diseases at all our levels of care guarding against overspending on provided/available budgets.

END.

Reply:

1. (a) The department (COGTA) has initiated fire services capacity assessments which is updated on annual basis with all the Provincial Disaster Management Centres across the Country. (i) The current rescue capacity in the Country is as follows:

Provinces	Number of Firefighters	Number of Fire Appliances (Rescue Vehicles and Fire engines
Western Cape	1 452	657
Free State	481	41
Gauteng	3 538	204
Eastern Cape	938	114
KwaZulu-Natal	1 125	145
North West	650	83
Limpopo	482	86
Mpumalanga	478	69
Northern Cape	88	32

(ii) The NDMC has noted that the provinces i.e. Free State, Northern Cape, and Mpumalanga are without dedicated Fire focal persons in fulltime capacity for the coordination of Fire Services functions. This is recorded as a shortcoming to carry out fire services functions in the above-mentioned Provinces as per proclamation R153 of the Constitution of South Africa.

(b) The department (COGTA) do not maintain dedicated annual deployment budgets set aside for (i) international and/or cross border rescues, but where funds may be required for deployment, such funds may be allocated through reallocation of the unused operational budget of the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC). (ii) local rescue as such responsibility in terms of Schedule 4, Part B of the South African Constitution Fire Services is the responsibility of local government with national and provincial oversight. The Fire Brigade Services Act, 1987 (Act no. 99 of 1987) (FBSA) is the primary piece of legislation regulating fire services and provides for the establishment, maintenance, employment, co-ordination and standardisation of fire brigade services. (iii) The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) do not maintain a dedicated budget for maritime rescue as these functions are administered through the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) operated and maintained in terms of the South African Maritime and Aeronautical search and Rescue Act, 2002 administered by the National Department of Transport. The annual budget allocated by ATNS to resource ARCC is approximately R8,1 million rand annually for Human Resources and R500 000 annually for travel.

(2) (a) Total number of credited swift water technicians in each province

Eastern Cape	10
Free State	27
North West	23
Gauteng	197
Western Cape	69
Limpopo	0
Mpumalanga	37
Northern Cape	Did not submit
KwaZulu-Natal	205

(b) The department (COGTA) do not maintain any details of the level of accredited qualifications, this information is at various institutions of higher learning.

End.

Reply:

1. (a) In response to steps taken by the department to significantly reduce the number of child abandonment annually, it is important to clarify that there are no records of 1000 babies abandoned annually recorded in the National Child Protection Register (CPR) which is a legislated register to keep records of child abuse cases including abandonment. The Department notes with concern the number of abandoned babies indicated in statistics that are not reported taken to CPR. The discrepancy in reporting could be attributed to low reporting to CPR.

(b) The steps taken by the department to address child abandonment are as follows

(i) The Department of Social Development in partnership with the Department of Health and Education conducts implementing Integrated School Health Programme conducts education and awareness on sexual and reproductive health rights including dealing with unwanted pregnancy.

(ii) Lifeskills programmes are conducted addressing teenage pregnancies.

(iii) Education and awareness also conducted through media campaign and community dialogues educating communities about available alternative care options and support for parents in distress, education about risks and dangers of child abandonment.

(iv) Isiqalo Program directed to vulnerable pregnant girls/women focussing on life skills, improvement of maternal health, baby care information, prevention of child abuse and reduction of child mortality.

(v) Flourish programme, a national network of antenatal and postnatal classes (10 weeks) that support, celebrate and empower mothers through the critical first 1000 days of a child’s life.

(vi) Sinovuyo Teenagers parenting programme as well as prevention and early intervention parenting skills development programmes to build capacity of parents to care for their children.

(vii) Promotion of adoption services and capacity building of social workers in the Department of Health, empowering them to provide the right information about adoption to birth mothers in order to prevent abandonment of children by the mother of a new born baby including cases when mothers are unable to care for their babies.

(viii) Work in partnership with stakeholders such as the South African Police Service, Department of Health, Department of Education, Faith Based Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations in the awareness campaign on challenges of child abandonment, empowering mothers with information on how they can safely relinquish their children within the child protection system.

(ix) Conduct holiday programmes through funded implementing partners, empowering communities and parents how to keep children and babies in a safe environment.

(x) Deploying Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers at borders over the festive period to ensure that children, inclusive of babies, who may be abandoned during the festive period, are receiving the necessary psychosocial services and are placed in a place of safety accordingly.

Reply:

Integration of mental health into the general health services environment is one of the key interventions prescribed by the Mental Health Care Act, 2002 (Act No 17 of 2002) to strengthen delivery of accessible, person centered mental health services by ensuring that mental health services are decentralised and made available nearer to where people live, learn and work.

Intergovernmental Strategies aimed at the integration of mental health into the general services environment are as follows:

• Section 71 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2002 was activated to establish the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Mental Health by Regulation. This nineteen member Committee comprises of representatives from the stakeholders government departments (Basic Education, Social Development, Higher Education and Training, Correctional Services, SAPS, Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities), representatives of mental health care practitioners (psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, psychiatric nurse and occupational therapist), representative from the private sector, representative from the NGOs that provide mental health services, representative from higher education or mental health research institutions, a legal person (magistrate, advocate or attorney), a traditional health practitioner and two mental health care users representatives. The main role of this multistakeholders body is to advise the Department in the area of mental health from an intergovernmental and multisectoral perspective in view of the cross cutting nature of mental health issues.
• The National Department of Health is working closely with stakeholders including among others civil society, relevant professional associations, partners and other government departments to increase public knowledge and awareness on mental health so as to facilitate prevention, early help seeking behaviour and address the stigma that continues to be associated with mental illness. Mental health intersectoral forums are established at national, provincial and local levels.

Among others, these forums ensure a coordinated effort in educating the public on risk factors and protective factors for mental health, signs of mental illness, where to go for help as well as the importance of seeking help early for mental health symptoms.

• Health practitioners are trained in Adult Primary Care which capacitate them to diagnose and manage co-morbidities such as mental health, HIV, TB, NCDs, etc in individuals.
• The Department provides funding to NGOs that are working in the area of mental health to implement mental health education, promotion and advocacy to increase public awareness on mental health. In the 2023/24 financial year the South African Federation for Mental Health was funded with an amount of R490 000.00 to run a mental health information desk that the public access through calling, sms, WhatsApp, Facebook page, by email and through the website.

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Reply:

1. The Department envisages to fill these key Management positions by 31 March 2024.

The Department of Social Development has twenty-two (22) vacant posts in the Senior Management Service (SMS) level.

There are six senior management posts that are at various stages of the recruitment and selection processes – advertising, screening, shortlisting, interviews, and appointments.

The remaining sixteen (16) SMS positions are being considered in line with the re-alignment of the organization structure, cost containment measures and availability of budget.

2. The Department of Social Development has appointed officials to act in various vacant and funded SMS posts.

There are various reasons for not filling the posts immediately when they became vacant, and these include the cost containment measures, the continued reduction of the compensation budget, the funding of the wage agreement from departmental budgets, and the recent DPSA directive on the filling of posts.

Reply:

a) The Community-Based Prevention and Early Intervention Programme is effective as the programme is designed in a manner that facilitates early identification of vulnerable children through home visits conducted by auxiliary child and youth care workers who uses the assessment tool (Ungubani) that has seven domains to identify the level of risk a vulnerable children is exposed to. Upon identification of risks, the child(ren) are referred to drop-in centres where interventions informed by the seven domains of the programme are rendered to children and their families for purposes of building their resilience. Schools also act as referral point to Social Workers and Drop-in centres through the implementation of Integrated School Health Programme. Drop-in centres which are access points for the community-based prevention and early intervention programme provides psychosocial support and educational support to improve academic performance and this has been demonstrated by the improved academic performance including matric results. Children are encouraged to remain in school until matric, and those who continue with tertiary education are also supported. The effectiveness of the programme is also demonstrated in the implementation of prevention and early intervention services directed towards individual family members, improving interpersonal relationship, whilst building resilience of children and families. The programme has reached 222 152 by the end of the second quarter of 2023/2024 Financial Year.

b) According to the Guidelines for Community -Based Prevention and Early Intervention Services to Vulnerable Children, the ratio for identified vulnerable children to number of available professionals is as follows:

1:47 for qualified Auxiliary Child and Youth Care Workers; and

1:24 for learner Child and Youth Care Workers.

 

Reply:

a) Total number of the assessed clinics and community health centres that have satisfied the criteria of an Ideal Clinic is 2046 (59%) to date. This is from 0% in 2014.

b) Interventions implemented to support the clinics to meet the standards of Ideal Clinics Programme are as follow:

• A team of national managers provide technical support for Ideal Clinic Realisation and Maintenance (ICRM) programme. One manager support two or more provinces.
• The department developed the ICRM framework in the form of ICRM Manuals and Assessment tools for clinics and community health centres which are used as standard operating procedures for reference and guidance.
• Where budget limitations prevent provinces from meeting Non - Negotiable Vital (NNV) elements which focuses on emergency room equipment and accessories, the NDoH assist where possible, within its own budget constraints, to procure the required equipment.
• The NDoH, introduced a dedicated program under the Health Facility Revitalisation Grant which aim to respond to infrastructure challenges highlighted by the Ideal Clinic assessment tool.
• Facilitates orientation sessions for new facility operational managers and to all managers when updates have been done to the ICRM Framework.
• National Department of Health developed:
• guidelines and schedules for managing patients waiting times, handling of complaints and compliments
• health commodity catalogue for ordering supplies
• guidelines and training manuals for governance structures

• The NDoH organizes and provide resources for the annual peer reviews

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Reply:

1. The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) keeps a record of engineers employed in municipalities that are supported by the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA). As of December 2022, the total number of (a) mechanical, (b) electrical, (c) civil and (d) chemical engineers employed is provided on Annexure A attached hereto.

2. Yes, some of the engineers are registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and shown on Annexure A as professionally registered. Some of the engineers are not registered as they are still gaining the requisite experience required for professional registration.

3. According to the respective municipalities, the total number of vacancies is provided on Annexure A attached hereto.

4. The vacant posts get advertised in local and national newspapers as well as on the municipalities’ websites in some instances.

5. The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will not make a statement on the matter as the vacancies are filled as and when they become available anytime during the year when the incumbent leaves the position. Furthermore, the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) through MISA deploys professionally registered engineers, among other built environment professionals, to provide technical support for infrastructure development to the municipalities.

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Reply:

a) The underspending within infrastructure funding amongst others, are mostly due to unforeseen incidents such as floods, construction interruption by communities, inability of service providers to deliver in time, which result in termination of contracts.

Current antiretroviral (ARVs) contracts within HIV&AIDS program were awarded at much lower rates compared to previous contracts, this has resulted in savings and in underspending while much needed drugs were delivered.

b) The department has started with the mid-year conditional spending reviews to identify the provinces with challenges. The conditional grant spending reviews includes the assessment of grant framework and improvement plans from the provinces.

All provinces are due to submit the revised business plans to shift funds from underperforming activities to ensure improved spending and provision of quality health care. Stopping and reallocation process will be completed before beginning of January 2024 to shift funds from underperforming provinces.

 

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