Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. The Department of Public Works (DPW) has got an approved Sexual Harassment Policy in place since 2005 (Annexure A).

(i) Reports are investigated by the DPW Labour Relations unit.

(ii) The Departmental policy does not specify the detail on consequence management, but it is guided by the Policy and Procedures on the Management of Sexual Harassment in the Public Service sanctioned by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). (Annexure B)

2. (a)

(i) One case of sexual harassment was reported during the 2014/2015 financial year.

Four cases of assault were reported during the 2014/2015 financial year.

No case of sexual harassment was reported during the 2015/2016 financial year.

One case of assault was reported during the 2015/2016 financial year.

No case of sexual harassment was reported during the 2016/2017 financial year.

Three cases of assault were reported during the 2016/2017 financial year.

(ii) No cases of sexual harassment and assault were reported in the financial year 2017/2018.

(b)

(i) Eight cases of misconduct relating to assault were opened and concluded.

(ii) None.

(iii) One case of sexual harassment is still pending due to an employee’s ill health.

(c) Three employees had sanctions imposed on them by way of one month’s suspension from work without pay coupled with final written warnings for assault.

Three employees were given final written warnings for assault.

One employee’s contract expired before misconduct charges could be preferred against them.

 

 

Reply:

To address the issue of the long queues:

a) the office is being visited by approximately 500 clients that queue for services daily. The office has therefore increased the number of information points from one to two, and photo booth stations from one to two with the third installed and awaiting the additional equipment.

b) the office ensures that frontline application counters are always fully capacitated with staff members to ensure that services are rendered at all workstations in the office.

c) the Acting Office Manager does walkabouts on hourly intervals to address clients on the performance of the systems and officials.

d) once documents are ready for collection the owners are notified thereof via short messaging services (sms). This has also been a major push factor to the office when large volumes of documents are ready for collection. The office has therefore increased the number of counters on the inside to deal with the public that comes to collect their documents.

e) the office is in the process of replacing the ageing equipment to increase productivity.

Reply:

1. The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has a Sexual Harassment Policy in place. With regard to handling of assault related cases, the DSBD will recognise and apply the Disciplinary Code and Procedures (Resolution 1 of 2003).

a) Not applicable.

b) The Sexual Harassment Policy was approved by the Director General on 28 May 2016.

(i) The reports will be investigated in terms of the procedures stipulated in the policy.

(ii) The policy prescribes that the existing internal procedure such as disciplinary, appeal and dispute procedures be utilised. The disciplinary measures shall be taken in accordance with the Disciplinary Codes and Procedure for the Public Service. The policy does not indicate the sanctions as each case will be dealt with on its own merits and the sanctions will be determined during the hearing.

(2)(a)(i)&(ii) There were no reported cases of sexual harassment nor assault since the Department’s inception.

(b)(i)-(iii) Not applicable.

(c) Not applicable.

Reply:

Government welcomes all suggestions on ways to popularise the Constitution and to advance public awareness about its values and intent.

The suggestion to read the Preamble of the Constitution at the beginning of all deliberative meetings of government will be considered alongside various other proposals, taking into account issues of practicability and impact.

Reply:

1. Table 1 below provides the number of students per university who applied and qualified to receive the 8% fee adjustment grant in 2017, and includes the amount paid to each university.

University	(1) (a)	(1) (b)
	Total number of students (0- R600 000 combined family household income)	2017 Allocation (Rands)
Central University of Technology	11 071	24 754 904.00
Durban University of Technology	13 283	35 313 197.47
University of the Free State	13 477	30 366 966.29
Nelson Mandela University	11 442	21 594 922.00
University of Johannesburg	42 498	101 196 673.00
Vaal University of Technology	15 523	30 973 295.56
Tshwane University of Technology	52 182	86 051 876.90
University of Kwazulu-Natal	22 371	67 325 054.30
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences	2 420	5 797 308.16
University of Venda	13 211	25 609 139.36
University of Fort Hare	13 779	40 177 958.00
Stellenbosch University	3 168	27 105 036.00
University of Mpumalanga	800	1 950 200.80
Cape Peninsula University of .Technology	15 865	29 381 480.12
North West University	14 046	42 537 301.00
University of Witwatersrand	12 384	53 824 419.78
Mangosuthu University of Technology	10 422	22 015 815.11
University of Zululand	16 204	25 176 524.47
Rhodes University	2 219	12 126 093.00
University of Limpopo	14 599	34 641 856.00
Walter Sisulu University	25 111	42 067 584.85
University of Cape Town	5 319	31 073 977.00
University of the Western Cape	8 556	18 721 535.32
University of South Africa	42 297	26 028 574.00
Sol Plaatje University	439	757 502.00
University of Pretoria	8 493	29 385 598.13
Total	391 179	865 954 792.62

2. Yes, students from families with a household income of up to R600 000 per annum, will qualify for a fee adjustment grant of up to 8% in the 2018 academic year.

Reply:

(a) and (b)
The management and protection of all marine resources, which includes abalone and rock lobsters, falls within the ambit of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (OAFF), as stipulated in the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act No 18 of 1998). The South African Police Service (SAPS), in close cooperation with DAFF, combats poaching by investigating individual poaching cases, as well as identified syndicates.

The National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking, is a draft strategy document, in which all wildlife trafficking, which includes abalone, is addressed. Rock lobster is not addressed by this strategy, as it does not feature on the "Threatened or Protected Species" list.

Reply to question 693 recommended/not recommended
 

GENERAL NATINOAL COMMISIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES
K SITOLE
Date: 2018/03/23

Reply to question 693 approved/not approved

MINISTER OF POLICE
BH CELE, MP
Date: 2018/03/28

Reply:

The suggestion will certainly be given consideration. The views of various stakeholders will be sought.

Among others, this will include the Government Communications and Information System and State Protocol, who produces guidelines for the display of portraits of members of the executive in government buildings.

Reply:

a) Payments made to Siyaya in the past three years:

2014/15 FY – R169,970,227-77

2015/16 FY – R167,269,444-68

2016/17 FY – R292,783,545-69

b) What was the:

1. Total amount – R630,023,218-14.
2. Please refer to attached spreadsheet. The purposes of these payments are documented for each business unit on separate tab of the attached spreadsheet.
3. Please refer to attached spreadsheet. Names of responsible persons are documented for each business unit on separate tab.

 

Reply:

(1) The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has advised that it has a Sexual Harassment Policy in line with our obligation to provide a safe, healthy and amiable working environment. The said policy was approved in November 2017.

(i) The Labour Relations Unit of the Department deals with Sexual Harassment cases in terms of the provisions of the Labour Relations Act (No 66 of 1995).

(ii) The unit referred to above has been delegated the power to impose disciplinary sanctions should an employee be found guilty of an offence of sexual harassment, which may include any of the following or a combination of them:

• Counselling
• Verbal warning
• Written warning
• Final written warning
• Suspension or a fine
• Demotion as an alternative
• Dismissal

2. (a) (i) None.

(ii) None.

(b) Not applicable.

Reply:

The judgment handed down in the Pretoria High Court in the matter of Fireblade Aviation (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Home Affairs contains statements about the Minister of Home Affairs that are of great concern and need to be given serious attention.

I am therefore giving the matter due and proper consideration.

Reply:

No, I did not instruct anyone, nor was I informed of instructions given to anyone in The Presidency to assist with the identity change of the individual referred to by the Honourable Member.

I am, however, aware of a media enquiry to the Office of the Deputy President in August 2017 regarding an exchange of emails on this matter in which a staff member in the Office of the Deputy President had been involved. I was briefed on the circumstances of her involvement and have ascertained that at no point did she act improperly.

Should you require more detail on the matter, I will arrange for this information to be provided to your office.

Reply:

I have not fully acquainted myself with the Annual Reports of the past three financial years. We are receiving briefings intermittently as we continue with our international programme.

Reply:

1. Returning students who applied for, and qualified for, funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in the 2017 academic year do not need to reapply for NSFAS funding in 2018. Students are not required to provide proof of family income annually. Once they have been selected for funding they will be supported to complete their qualification provided they continue to meet the academic requirements, i.e. have passed 50% of their courses and are on track to complete in n+2 years.
2. The increase in percentage of combined household income to qualify for full support from NSFAS has been adjusted by 186.8% from R122 000 per annum in 2017 to R350 000 in 2018. This is the first time that the threshold in household income has been adjusted since the inception of NSFAS.

Reply:

a) (i) The data on the National Traffic Information Systems (NaTIS) is captured at over 1 300 sites in the county with over 2 600 concurrent users at any time.

(aa) The data in the system is usable and is used by all municipalities, provinces, law enforcement agencies, national agencies such as Road Traffic Infringement Agency, South African Revenue Service, National Intelligence Agency, National Regulator for Compulsory Standards and South African Bureau of Standards.

(bb) It is not possible to determine the percentage of data not useable but what I can report is that e-Natis is being used as a key resource to provide effective road traffic management sites throughout the country to register, deregister and check the ownership of vehicles.

(b) (i) Whenever it is determined that the data is inaccurate (either by notification of the information subject or by way of various processing functions) users with specific authorisation are able to update the various information assets. The entity is currently in the process of cleaning up the data in various fields.

(ii) The process of cleaning the address data has commenced when Regulation 32A of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 was introduced at the end of 2015. The effect of the regulation is such that any person who is going to transact on the Electronic National Traffic Information System has to produce proof of residence or address so that that can be captured to refresh the data. For the FY 2016/7 905014 addresses have been updated. The Corporation will further be extending self-service platforms on various technological platforms allowing information subjects to maintain their information based in terms regulation 32A (4). It is envisaged that this service will be available in quarter 2 of the 2018/9 financial year.

1. (i) The Corporation has included a KPI in the 2018/9 financial year to monito the accuracy of data and will also use this baseline to evaluate the system.

(ii)The cost of improving the accuracy is included in the operational expenditure of the NaTIS as support and maintenance is fully insourced. It is catered for in the annual operating budget of IT branch.

Reply:

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has provided the following responses to the questions posed.

1. The table below outlines the details of the total allocated and reconciled amounts paid by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to each public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college for the 2017 academic year.

Students are required to sign or accept a Schedule of Particulars (SOP) before NSFAS can disburse funds to the colleges. The value of Loan Agreement Form or Schedule of Particulars (LAFSOPs) accepted is the equivalent to the reconciled amounts.

(i) Institution	(a) 2017 Allocation	2017 LAFSOP Accepted	2017 Total Paid	(b) Payments up to LAFSOP accepted (reconciled)	Payments in excess of LAFSOP accepted (unreconciled)	Paid as % of LAFSOP accepted
Boland	37 886 000	24 505 366	25 504 862	24 505 366	999 496	100%
Buffalo city	35 041 000	35 152 731	29 687 556	29 687 556	-	84%
Cape college	50 324 000	29 408 665	29 113 745	29 113 745	-	99%
Capricorn	79 211 000	63 280 063	64 324 663	63 280 063	1 044 600	100%
Central Johannesburg	56 809 000	34 877 464	26 121 474	26 121 474	-	75%
Coastal KwaZulu-Natal	85 901 000	63 609 230	62 899 084	62 899 084	-	99%
Eastcape Midlands	39 303 000	29 809 117	30 919 598	29 809 117	1 110 481	100%
Ehlazeni	41 150 000	45 628 914	37 090 403	37 090 403	-	81%
Ekurhuleni East	57 383 000	38 407 318	39 002 747	38 407 318	595 429	100%
Ekurhuleni West	80 076 000	74 182 430	72 556 753	72 556 753	-	98%
Elangeni	62 893 000	40 679 109	40 526 758	40 526 758	-	100%
Esayidi	59 735 000	35 816 530	33 266 409	33 266 409	-	93%
False Bay	34 619 000	23 202 809	23 253 491	23 202 809	50 682	100%
Flavius Mareka	22 341 000	12 679 224	13 151 959	12 679 224	472 735	100%
Gert Sibande	55 566 000	42 055 167	41 792 744	41 792 744	-	99%
Goldfields	26 821 000	9 906 412	11 173 202	9 906 412	1 266 790	100%
Ikhala	24 597 000	16 468 862	17 191 618	16 468 862	722 756	100%
Ingwe	38 844 000	48 327 102	38 844 000	38 844 000	-	80%
King Hintsa	22 870 000	19 762 338	20 242 175	19 762 338	479 837	100%
King Sabata Dalindyebo	40 238 000	33 455 403	31 997 168	31 997 168	-	96%
Lephalale	16 016 000	8 139 531	9 242 323	8 139 531	1 102 792	100%
Letaba	32 395 000	29 569 386	28 320 908	28 320 908	-	96%
Lovedale	21 511 000	18 813 345	18 410 447	18 410 447	-	98%
Majuba	96 293 000	65 553 331	64 869 320	64 869 320	-	99%
Maluti	43 511 000	38 973 401	37 635 573	37 635 573	-	97%
Mnambithi	39 398 000	19 806 463	19 877 833	19 806 463	71 370	100%
Mopani	40 305 000	30 143 739	29 715 280	29 715 280	-	99%
Motheo	78 388 000	49 646 424	48 513 257	48 513 257	-	98%
Mthashana	31 778 000	13 354 834	14 843 875	13 354 834	1 489 041	100%
Northern Cape Rural	24 120 000	21 400 205	21 729 621	21 400 205	329 416	100%
Northern Cape Urban	25 851 000	8 520 573	22 603 504	8 520 573	14 082 931	100%
Nkangala	52 712 000	40 872 484	38 490 665	38 490 665	-	94%
Northlink	68 888 000	78 495 315	68 510 883	68 510 883	-	87%
Orbit	78 177 000	36 906 870	45 814 010	36 906 870	8 907 140	100%
Port Elizabeth	40 803 000	31 626 735	31 222 923	31 222 923	-	99%
Sedibeng	56 611 000	44 717 100	49 653 785	44 717 100	4 936 685	100%
Sekhukhune	31 457 000	21 243 796	21 670 221	21 243 796	426 425	100%
South Cape	29 935 000	20 877 608	20 841 615	20 841 615	-	100%
South West	89 312 000	53 947 501	55 957 273	53 947 501	2 009 772	100%
Taletso	37 722 000	12 905 462	21 344 171	12 905 462	8 438 709	100%
Thekwini	40 039 000	35 997 761	35 701 378	35 701 378	-	99%
Tshwane North	80 718 000	44 044 319	47 464 382	44 044 319	3 420 063	100%
Tshwane South	66 739 000	23 448 706	21 512 091	21 512 091	-	92%
Umfolozi	67 621 000	57 404 620	56 946 826	56 946 826	-	99%
Umgungundlovu	33 827 000	9 008 563	13 426 552	9 008 563	4 417 989	100%
Vhembe	95 343 000	84 153 842	83 218 683	83 218 683	-	99%
Vuselela	40 785 000	20 702 391	29 545 788	20 702 391	8 843 397	100%
Waterberg	31 122 000	30 214 761	29 037 035	29 037 035	-	96%
West Coast	41 777 000	27 741 853	27 924 535	27 741 853	182 682	100%
Western College	52 858 000	24 694 132	29 005 699	24 694 132	4 311 567	100%
Total	2 437 620 000	1 724 139 305	1 731 710 864	1 661 998 079	69 712 785	100%

2. During the 2017 academic year, NSFAS continued making upfront payments to colleges to alleviate cash flow that arose as a result of delays in receipt of registration data from the colleges. As of 28 February 2018, the total value of payments in excess of LAFSOPs accepted was R69.713 million as indicated in the table above.

3. The table below provides the details of the amounts paid to each public TVET college to assist with their cash flow since 1 January 2018.

Institution	2018 Provisional Allocation (Rands)	2018 Upfront Payment (Rands)
Boland	40 083 388.62	5 682 900.00
Buffalo City	37 073 378.58	5 256 150.00
Cape College	53 242 792.83	7 548 600.00
Capricorn	83 805 239.30	11 881 650.00
Central Johannesburg	60 103 922.93	8 521 350.00
Coastal KwaZulu-Natal	90 883 259.41	12 885 150.00
Eastcape Midlands	41 582 574.64	5 895 450.00
Ehlazeni	43 536 700.68	6 172 500.00
Ekurhuleni East	60 711 214.94	8 607 450.00
Ekurhuleni West	84 720 409.31	12 011 400.00
Elangeni	66 540 795.03	9 433 950.00
Esayidi	63 199 630.98	8 960 250.00
False Bay	36 626 902.57	5 192 850.00
Flavius Mareka	23 636 778.37	3 351 150.00
Gert Sibande	58 788 828.91	8 334 900.00
Goldfields	28 376 618.44	4 023 150.00
Ikhala	26 023 626.40	3 689 550.00
Ingwe	41 096 952.64	5 826 600.00
King Hintsa	24 196 460.38	3 430 500.00
King Sabata Dalindyebo	42 571 804.66	6 035 700.00
Lephalale	16 944 928.26	2 402 400.00
Letaba	34 273 910.53	4 859 250.00
Lovedale	22 758 638.35	3 226 650.00
Majuba	101 877 995.58	14 443 950.00
Maluti	46 034 638.71	6 526 650.00
Mnambithi	41 683 084.65	5 909 700.00
Mopani	42 642 690.66	6 045 750.00
Motheo	82 934 505.29	11 758 200.00
Mthashana	33 621 124.52	4 766 700.00
Northern Cape Rural	25 518 960.40	3 618 000.00
Northern Cape Urban	27 350 358.42	3 877 650.00
Nkangala	55 769 296.86	7 906 800.00
Northlink	72 883 505.13	10 333 200.00
Orbit	82 711 267.28	11 726 550.00
Port Elizabeth	43 169 574.67	6 120 450.00
Sedibeng	59 894 438.93	8 491 650.00
Sekhukhune	33 281 506.52	4 718 550.00
South Cape	31 671 230.49	4 490 250.00
South-West	94 492 097.47	13 396 800.00
Taletso	39 909 876.62	5 658 300.00
Thekwini	42 361 262.66	6 005 850.00
Tshwane North	85 399 645.32	12 107 700.00
Tshwane South	70 609 863.10	10 010 850.00
Umfolozi	71 543 019.11	10 143 150.00
Umgungundlovu	35 788 966.56	5 074 050.00
Vhembe	100 872 895.56	14 301 450.00
Vuselela	43 150 530.67	6 117 750.00
Waterberg	32 927 076.51	4 668 300.00
West Coast	44 200 066.69	6 266 550.00
Western College	55 923 764.87	7 928 700.00
Total	2 579 002 000.00	365 643 000.00

Reply:

Clause 8(2) of the regulations governing the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture has been amended and published in the Government Gazette on 23 March 2018.

Clause 8(2) has been amended to read:

“A self-incriminating answer or a statement given by a witness before the Commission shall not be admissible as evidence against that person in any criminal proceedings brought against that person instituted in any court, except in criminal proceedings where the person concerned is charged with an offence in terms of section 6 of the Commissions Act, 1947 (Act No. 8 of 1947).”

Clause 8(1) has not been amended.

Reply:

(1)(a)(b) Yes, the South African Police Service (SAPS) does have a Sexual Harassment Policy ln place. However, the SAPS does not have an assault policy. In terms of the SAPS Discipline Regulations, 2016, Regulation 5(3)(x), an employee will be guilty of a misconduct if he or she assaults, or threatens to assault any other employee. In terms of the SAPS Discipline Regulations, 2016, an employee will be guilty of misconduct if he or she commits an act of sexual harassment. In the SAPS Discipline Regulations, 2016, sexual harassment falls under serious misconduct, which must be dealt with, in terms of the "expeditious process", which allows for the immediate dismissal of a member.

(1)(b)(i) In terms of the current SAPS Discipline Regulations, 2016, reports of sexual harassment and assault are investigated by invoking the provisions of Regulation 8(1), which stipulates that a supervisor must complete an investigation into the allegations of misconduct, within 30 calendar days, or as soon as practically possible, thereafter. If the supervisor is satisfied that the alleged misconduct is of a serious nature and justifies the holding of a disciplinary hearing, he or she will refer the outcome of the investigation to the employer representative, within seven working days, to initiate a disciplinary enquiry. The employee must be informed of the alleged misconduct and pending investigation.

Find here: (1)(b)(ii)

Reply:

a) The reason for the suspension of the Legal Panel is based on the following Auditor General’s 2016/2017 FY Finding No 6 of the draft Management Letter, which reads:

• Auditor’s conclusion
  • Management comment is noted. This panel was compiled by SARCC and no SCM process was followed by PRASA in the set-up of the panel. Further, there is no SCM policy followed when selecting suppliers from this panel, it is done based on the preference of the user and not on a rotational basis to ensure, fair, equitable distribution of work and there are no technical proposals submitted every time services are required. Therefore, the method used to select the service providers is not fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective and does not comply with the requirements of S.51(1)(a)(iii) of the PFMA.

(b) This panel had been in existence since 2005 and should have been re-advertised.

(c) PRASA Board of Control took a resolution on the 1st of December 2017 to suspend the use of this panel which had been cited on numerous audit reports over the years for its illegality and irregularity. This decision was also informed by the 2016/17 Annual Audit cited the audit finding number 6 on the legal panel matter. The decision to suspend the legal panel was effective only on the new matters and has no bearing on matters already in brief through the different lawyers.

(d) As an interim measure, SCM obtained permission for the use of the South African Civil Aviation Authority, (SACAA) Legal Panel whilst PRASA embarks on the process to procure its own legal panel.

(e) There are no costs associated with the interim arrangement.

Reply:

(a) The number of BITs that have already expired is 9.

The response to (i)(aa), (bb), (cc), (dd) is attached hereto as Annexure 3.

(ii) There is no intention to renew the agreements. In accordance with the decision by Cabinet, South Africa will only enter into bilateral investment treaties in future on the basis of a compelling economic or political reasons. In addition, the Protection of Investment Act provides adequate protection to all investments in South Africa in accordance with the Constitution.

2. Yes the BITs do, the relevant clauses are attached hereto as Annexure 4.

Reply:

(a) The number os BITs in force is 13.

The response to (i)(aa), (bb), (cc), (dd) is provided in Annexure 1.

(ii) The Government does not intend to renew the BITs still in place. Discussions have commenced with the affected countries. The protection of investment will going forward be in accordance with the Protection of Investment Act.

2. The BITs do provide for expropriation with compensation. The reference to the relevant clauses are attached hereto as Annexure 2.

Reply:

1. (a) The Department has a sexual harassment policy.

(i) Cases are managed through a multi-disciplinary team that consists of an official from the Employee Health and Wellness Unit for counselling purposes and an appointed official from the Labour Relations Unit to conduct an investigation and to initiate a disciplinary enquiry.

(ii) The Presiding Officer uses his or her discretion based on the facts and evidence presented by both the complainant and alleged perpetrator before determining a sanction.

2. (a) The total number of sexual harassment and assault cases reported in the Department are as follows:

1. In the 2014/15 financial year, there were no cases reported.
2. In the 2015/16 financial year, there were seven reported cases.
3. In the 2016/17 financial year, there were three reported cases.
4. Since April 2017 to date, two cases have been reported.

(b) (i) Two cases are open and ten cases were concluded.

(ii) Out of the ten cases that were concluded, one case was withdrawn.

(iii) Two cases remain open and the enquiries are still in progress.

(c) The sanctions issued to individuals found guilty were four dismissals, four written warnings and one employee resigned before the sanction was issued.

Reply:

The National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) has provided the following responses to the questions posed.

Financial years	(i) Name of each recipient	(ii) Amount awarded	(iii) Still to be awarded	(iv) Reasons for awarding grant
a) 2014/15	Prof Pamela Maseko (Co-project leader)	R850 000	N/A as Prof Maseko no longer serves on the Board	Catalytic project funding - Set up the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences
b) 2015/16	Prof Pamela Maseko	R1 547 000	N/A as Prof Maseko no longer serves on the Board	Catalytic project funding
c) 2016/17	None	None	None	None

v) (aa) The expenditure complied with the NIHSS’s policies. The NIHSS is neither a Department, nor a constitutional institution, nor a public entity listed in Schedule 2 or 3, and therefore the Public Finance Management Act is not applicable to the NIHSS.

(bb) Spending is managed by the NIHSS in terms of its policies.

(cc) The Auditor-General of South Africa audits the NIHSS in terms of Section 38 of the Higher Education Act and since its inception has received unqualified audit opinions.

Reply:

According to the information received from Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC):

 

Western Cape	103447
Eastern Cape	31621
Northern Cape	6754
Free State	23750
Kwa-Zulu Natal	96453
North West	19974
Gauteng	296272
Mpumalanga	32292
Limpopo	30448
Grand Total	641068

The above information reflects close corporations that have both an active status (03) or a deregistration status (38 or 08). The legal personality of companies and close corporations are only withdrawn upon final deregistration and therefore those in a deregistration status may still be active and may at any time revert to an active status (cancelling the deregistration status).

Reply:

a) The targets do address areas that are critical to the Department’s mandate. The Department’s targets and that of its entities, were set taking into account the National Development Plan (NDP), White Paper for Post-School Education and Training and the 2014 - 2019 Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).

The targets in the Department’s Strategic and Annual Performance Plans aim to create an enabling environment for the realisation of a “skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path”. Critical to this are targeted interventions to steer the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) system, e.g. the development of steering mechanisms to ensure that the system operates based on sound legislative frameworks, improved capacity through infrastructural development, provision of teaching and learning support services, as well as the facilitation of a strong stakeholder network. The Department has been phasing in these interventions since the adoption of the 2014 MTSF.

The Annual Performance Plan reflects these as the direct outputs of the Department over and above the planned performance targets of educational institutions, i.e. universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges, Community Education and Training colleges and its entities.

b) Due consideration of international contexts were made during the development of the NDP and MTSF targets. The Department is confident that the higher education and training sector will over time perform in line with other countries facing similar opportunities and challenges to South Africa. The implementation of the MTSF and NDP targets within this sector is progressive in many fronts, e.g. with regard to the national aim of increasing enrolments in higher education, as envisaged by the NDP and the White Paper, the university system is already achieving 61% of the 2030 target of 1.6 million student headcount enrolment at public higher education institutions. The system is also responding positively to Government’s research development priorities set out in the NDP and MTSF targets. Artisan development is at 71% of the NDP target of 30 000 artisans per annum by 2030, to mention but a few.

Notwithstanding this, the Department is aware that more still needs to be done and not all the challenges of the PSET system can be resolved in the short-term. Government’s next MTSF will continue to inform the plans and the targets of the Department going forward.

Reply:

1. B-BBEE promotes the achievement of the constitutional right to equality, within the historical context of race being used to control access to South Africa’s productive resources during apartheid. The increase of effective participation in the South African economy by the majority of South Africans previously denied such is envisioned, so as to promote the stability and prosperity of the economy in the future to the benefit of all South Africans, irrespective of race.

The examples higlighted of safe houses and children homes for B-BBEE purposes finds insight in the Socio Economic Development element which has a 75% black beneficiary base target. Qualifying Socio Economic Development Initiatives which has a maximum of 25% white beneficaries will enjoy 100% recognition under the Socio Economic Development Element. Black South African citizens as well as White people are thus recognised for the promotion of Socio Economic Development on the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice. The intent of such donations are crucial as B-BBEE can not be a tick-box exercise.

2. Code Series 500 of the Amended B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice which is the Socio Economic Development pillar extensively documents the requirements for B-BBEE recognition. Eligibility is determined through measurement of:

(i) the specific objective with which the contribution was made; and

(ii) the black beneficiary percentage benefiting from the contribution.

3. . The B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice were gazetted, and thus became effective on 09 February 2007. The Codes were subsequently amended. The Amended B-BEE Codes of Good Practice came into effect on date of gazette thereof, being 11 October 2013. An 18-month transition period was however granted for entities whom wished to be rated in terms of the 2007 Codes of Good Practice to allow them to adopt B-BBEE strategies which speak to the Amended Codes, should it wish to. The election option expired on 01 May 2015.

4. As per Question (1), white children and white disabled persons are not excluded from Socio Economic Development recognition for B-BBEE purposes.

5. -BBEE Measurement is informed by a balanced scorecard, of which the measurement of Ownership makes up only 21.19%. Furthermore, the targets contained within all of the elements are not absolute, i.e none of the elements have a 100% target for black participation. The employment of and financial and social contributions to a white person therefore does not disadvantage a business looking to obtain B-BBEE points.

 

Reply:

a) In terms of the new Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant, the Department is currently engaging National Treasury for a possible budget adjustment during the 2018/19 Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure dedicated for infrastructure monitoring and expenditure evaluation purposes. The Department is also exploring the possibility of creating additional capacity at TVET college level utilising dedicated Clerks to report on the utilisation of the Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant to the Department.

b) The Department is currently collecting data from TVET colleges with regards to essential and bulk services to inform the allocation of the Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant to colleges based on the need identified for critical repairs and maintenance. This process is expected to be completed in June 2018. Taking into account that TVET colleges will be required to follow their supply chain management processes, there is the possibility that the full R1.3 billion will not be fully utilised by 31 March 2019. These funds will however be ring-fenced at TVET colleges and regulated by the Department through specific terms and conditions issued. Thus, any unspent allocations from the 2018/19 financial year will be rolled over to 2019/20, as it is critical that value for money is obtained and to prevent fruitless or unnecessary expenditure.

Reply:

1. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges will continue to offer programmes as long as they are responsive to labour market demands. For articulation purposes, colleges will offer programmes at level 5 and 6 in the main occupational and vocational programmes, and some mid-level occupational programmes. Currently some colleges are offering Higher Certificates at level 5 in partnership with Universities and Universities of Technology, which allows students to articulate from level 4 to level 5 programmes.
2. Government expects that TVET colleges will become the cornerstone of the country’s skills development system as captured in the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training. TVET colleges are central to the provision of skills within the post-school education and training system. The main purpose of TVET colleges is to train young school leavers, with the required skills, knowledge and attitudes for employment or self-employment within the labour market, or to access higher learning.
3. Fundamentally, the role of TVET colleges will not change. Its purpose has been, and will continue to be the supplier of mid-level skilled workers to the labour market. What needs to change is the responsiveness of colleges to such demands. In this regard, the Department is working towards transforming programme offerings in colleges, so that they become more responsive to the labour market. In some instances, the current curricula will have to be updated to make them more relevant. The latter process is ongoing in priority programme areas. Several occupational qualifications have also been developed which allows colleges to offer them on demand. The complete revision of college programmes and curricula is a medium to long-term process.

Reply:

Public entities mentioned below have provided the following responses to the questions posed.

1. (a) Wholesale and Retail Sector Education Training Authority (W&RSETA) Service providers and stakeholders submit non-compliant invoices in terms of the contract deliverables. W&RSETA currently has a backlog on certificates, which is one of the deliverables to prove completion of training. This is impacting negatively on the processing of tranche payments (final payments) on projects as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the only individual who can sign these certificates. An acting CEO was appointed in January 2018 and the certificate backlog is being addressed. In terms of the payment process, there must also be a monitoring and evaluation phase before the service provider can submit an invoice. A number of service providers simply submit invoices before the monitoring and evaluation phase is completed, thereby rendering the invoices non-compliant.

(b) An acting CEO was appointed in January 2018; this will assist in ensuring that the backlog on certification is addressed. Stakeholder sessions were conducted to further explain and capacitate stakeholders on the contracting, invoicing and payment processes of W&RSETA. There are quarterly progress reports to the Board and stakeholders through the Board meetings and stakeholder forums.

(c) The current age analysis for unpaid invoices is provided below:

Description	0 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 90 days	91 to 120 days	Over 120 days
Number	180	2	1	5	20
Amount	R12 357 277	R123 000	R750	R28 743	R896 393

a) National Student Financial Aid Scheme - Accounts older than 120 days are the result of verification processes that need to be completed before invoices can be settled. Most accounts are settled within a period of less than 120 days. The verification process includes:

• Confirmation of banking details;
• Users need to confirm that goods received or services delivered are in good order; and
• Invoice(s) need to be matched to approved purchase orders.

b) Accounts older than 120 days are being monitored on a weekly basis and followed up with users and suppliers to resolve issues that could delay payments.

c) The current age analysis for unpaid invoices is provided below:

Description	0 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 90 days	91 to 120 days	Over 120 days
Amount	R1 094 922	R1 999 710	R1 253 294	R88 113	R686 941

a) Services SETA - To ensure accountability of public funds, Services SETA adopted a performance based payment model. If invoices are submitted without the following documents, they are declared non-compliant:

• Approved budget;
• Commencement letter; and
• Supporting documents for claims.

b) Services SETA regularly follows up on non-compliant invoices, conducting capacitation workshops and has published the payment guidelines on its website. Despite these efforts, training providers continue to submit non-compliant invoices. The majority of these non-compliant invoices are submitted during the start-up phases of the projects, subsequent to new allocations and with some providers submitting documentation without actual training having being provided.

c) The current age analysis for unpaid invoices is provided below:

Description	31 to 60 days	61 to 90 days	91 to 120 days	Over 120 days
Number	133	140	54	167
Amount	R7 490 891.16	R5 309 333.17	R3 486 408.30	R23 912 187.70

a) South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) - The outstanding balances for more than 30 to over 120 days relate to funds that were paid to clients that utilise the Foreign Qualifications Evaluations and Advisory Services. These refunds were processed for payment but were rejected by the bank and returned to SAQA due to invalid account details or closed banking accounts. These refunds remain on the age analysis until the client is traced and correct banking details are submitted to SAQA for effecting the payment.

b) Efforts are made to trace these clients on a regular basis using the contact details provided at the application stage. It becomes difficult when the client(s) have left the country or changed their contact details. SAQA has also assigned additional staff to deal with the tracing of these clients.

c) The current age analysis for unpaid invoices are provided below:

Description	0 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 90 days	91 to 120 days	Over 120 days
Number	3	6	14	4	191
Amount	R28 569	R5 468	R16 233.34	R3 863	R159 999.60

a) Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority (AgriSETA) - Project invoices with queries that were not resolved by suppliers / employers on time include the following:

• Outstanding supporting documents.
• Accruals that were not ready to be paid due to outstanding supporting documents.
• Invoices that were submitted to AgriSETA with old invoice dates. These invoices were recognised retrospectively.
• Invoices that were delivered late by hotels to Travel With Flair and Club Travel for submission to AgriSETA.
• Some of invoices were subsequently replaced with corrected invoices and old invoices were cancelled. These include invoices that were duplicated.

b) AgriSETA took a resolution to in-source invoice capturing and payments to ensure early detection and correction of discrepancies.

c) The current age analysis for unpaid invoices is provided below:

Description	31 to 60 days	61 to 90 days	91 to 120 days	Over 120 days
Number	3	1	1	54
Amount	R72 571.31	R100 464.00	R94 329.00	R1 659 985.62

2. It is important to note that each Council / Board of a public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) is accountable for the operations of the entity.

The Department will issue a circular addressed to all public entities reporting to it to put measures in place to prevent the delay of payments for valid invoices by no later than 30 days. Public entities will also be requested to provide an age analysis of outstanding invoices together with their respective quarterly reports.

Reply:

(1) (a) The maximum amount that may be awarded for accommodation to a full-time student for the 2018 academic year is R22 019 per annum.

(b) The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is responsible for making a determination on whether student applications are successful or unsuccessful in so far as their tuition fees are concerned. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are responsible for making a determination on the applications for travel and accommodation allowances, subject to the availability of funds, after NSFAS has determined whether or not a student qualifies for financial aid.

In making a final determination on the award for the accommodation allowance, the College Financial Aid Committee is required to consider, inter alia, the actual accommodation costs and rental agreement in the case of private accommodation. In the light of this, the amount awarded for accommodation may vary from one student to another.

(c) The award for accommodation is inclusive of meals. In making a determination on the award for accommodation, the College Financial Aid Committee must consider including meals in instances where students do not receive meals from the landlord. Furthermore, colleges and landlords in the case of private accommodation must provide at least three meals a day.

(d) Taking into account the TVET college calendar for 2018, a student will require 279 days of accommodation whilst undertaking full-time studies at a TVET college. The 279 days takes into account, amongst others, the dates on which classes commence, lecturing days, examination days and the dates on which colleges close.

(e) There is a significant difference between the amounts of financial support given to a student studying at a TVET college to that of a student studying at a university. Firstly, each TVET college student enrolled in a Ministerially-funded programme is subsidised by the State at 80% of the total programme cost. Secondly, the difference of 20% of the total programme costs, which constitutes tuition fees, must be recovered from the student. However, in respect of qualifying students, NSFAS covers the 20% component of the total programme costs.

In addition to tuition fees, NSFAS covers transport or accommodation allowance (inclusive of meals) for qualifying students, subject to the availability of funds as per each individual institution's allocation. Finally, each TVET college student, regardless of being funded by NSFAS or not, receives textbooks and other essentials, such as protective gear for practical work.

(2) (a) There are instances where TVET colleges do not have student residential facilities or the college has limited capacity to accommodate all qualifying students in its residences.

(b) Colleges are required to support all students who qualify for accommodation. In this regard, colleges must consider conducive private accommodation in instances where there are limited spaces in college residences, or there are no college residences. Colleges have a responsibility to ensure that students are accommodated in facilities that do not provide a substandard service.

However, it must be noted that priority is given to college residences and as such, private accommodation may only be considered if college residences are already filled to capacity or in instances where the TVET college does not have student residential facilities.

Reply:

I have been informed by the SA Post Office as follows:

(a) All Postbank Branches were unable to process cash transactions on 19 February 2018.

(b) This was due to an interruption in power supply to the Post Office Data Centre.

 

Approved/ not approved

Dr Siyabonga Cwele, MP

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services

Date:

Reply:

a) The Department of Higher Education and Training appointed Nexus Forensic Services on 23 September 2015 to conduct an investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption in the allocation of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) at ten identified public universities, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

(i) Terms of Reference of the investigation:

To conduct a comprehensive audit for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 academic years to determine the extent of misrepresentation and fraud committed by students who qualified and have received financial aid, including parents and guardians, employees of universities; public TVET colleges, NSFAS and individuals who have manipulated financial aid processes to defraud NSFAS.

The audit must include:

• Applicants and family members/guardians who have knowingly provided false information on their applications for financial aid;
• Applicants who have intentionally misrepresented their family income by purposefully providing false information on the certification of affidavits in terms of Section 9 of the Justice of Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act 16 of 1963 and Regulations under the Act;
• The validity of affidavits submitted and signed in terms of Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Justice of Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act 16 of 1963 and applicable Regulations;
• The allegations of persons who impersonate Commissioners of Oath in order to certify falsified documentation to defraud NSFAS for personal gain;
• Applicants who have purposefully altered documentation used in the validation of the financial aid application and approval process that resulted in the receipt of financial aid;
• Service providers who collude with students to defraud the NSFAS;
• Staff at financial aid offices at universities; TVET colleges and NSFAS who deliberately do not comply with NSFAS and donor guidelines on eligibility and academic criteria to defraud the NSFAS;
• Nepotism and conflict of interests in the allocation of NSFAS financial aid at financial aid offices at public universities and TVET colleges; and
• The identification of the shortcomings and weaknesses in the NSFAS loan and bursary system including the current NSFAS guidelines and rules applicable to universities and public TVET colleges, with clear recommendations to address fraud risks identified.

The investigation should be concluded within 12 months. The Department may decide to extend the investigation based on the extent of allegations of fraud and corruption at a particular institution.

(ii) The final report of the investigation was submitted to the Department on
15 March 2018.

b) (i)-(ii) The report is being analysed and measures based on the findings and recommendations will be considered.

c) Nexus Forensic Services (Pty) Ltd

d) R2 053 249.07

e) The investigation was undertaken in phases. Phase 1 consisted of the analysis of data and supporting documentation aimed at identifying fraud risks across the ten selected institutions. The Phase 1 report was presented to the Minister of Higher Education and Training on 10 March 2016. During Phase 1, Nexus Forensic Services (NFS) identified specific cases of students (identity numbers) and institutions who had been “red flagged” for further investigation in Phase 2.

Phase 2 of the investigation involved the original data analyses from Phase 1 being verified and/or compared with the student application information and the institutions’ final year reports. The NFS provided their report on Phase 2 to the Minister of Higher Education and Training on 14 March 2017. The Phase 2 report pointed to possible irregularities in the allocation of funds to some students.

The NFS identified different categories of potential irregularities, with a number of discrepancies within each category. They recommended that where there were a large percentage of alleged irregularities, samples of these categories should be further investigated in order to determine the veracity of the findings on the data. The Minister agreed that the investigation be extended, and that this would constitute the third and final phase of the investigation. The final report, once received, should provide details of the scale of irregularities and advice on mechanisms to ensure that these are dealt with systemically.

Reply:

1(a) The status of the legal challenge instituted by Mr. Buthelezi in the Labour Court on 17 November 2017 praying for the review and setting aside of the arbitration award that confirmed his dismissal from the Public Service, is pending.

(b) To date, the Department did not pay any legal fees for services rendered in relation to the legal challenge lodged in the Labour Court by Mr. Buthelezi on 17 November 2017. However, a total amount of R1 025 352.10 has been expended for the disciplinary hearing which commenced on 24 November 2014, including the arbitration proceedings that was concluded on 9 October 2017.

2(a) None

(b) Not applicable

(c) Not applicable

(d) None

 

Approved/ not approved

Dr Siyabonga Cwele, MP

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services

Date:

Reply:

The Department has informed me as follows:

1. Yes, the Department has an approved sexual harassment policy in place

1. Not applicable
2. Not applicable

(i) The Department has no reported cases of sexual harassment

(ii) In terms of the policy, the following sanctions may be imposed on an employee found guilty of sexual harassment:

• • Counselling
  • Verbal warning
  • Written warning;
  • Final written warning
  • Suspension/fine;
  • Demotion
  • Dismissal

(2)(a) No cases of sexual harassment of assault have been reported.

(i) Not applicable

(b)(i)(ii)(ii) Not applicable

Approved/ not approved

Dr Siyabonga Cwele, MP

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services

Date:

Reply:

The Department has informed me as follows:

a) Yes,

b) No

(i) Yes, disciplinary proceedings were instituted against employees who served as members of the Departmental Bid Evaluation Committee (DBEC) and the Departmental Bid Adjudication Committee (DBAC).

(ii) No. Disciplinary action was not taken against former employees as the Department lacks jurisdiction over the former employees who are no longer employed in the Public Service.

(aa) The disciplinary hearings against employees are still pending.

(bb) DBAC members: four (4) Directors and DBEC members: A Chief Director, a Deputy Director and an Assistant Director

(cc) The charges levelled against the members of the DBEC:

1. Failure to evaluate bids against the minimum qualifying score for the functionality in order to assess bids.
2. Failure in its recommendation, to the DBAC to deal with the application of the preference point system in relation to the bidder being recommended to the DBAC.
3. Failure to evaluate the bids of the shortlisted bidders with reference to the same standard.

The charges levelled against the members of the DBAC

1. Failed to discharge its duties diligently;
2. Acted contrary to the provisions of the Supply Chain Policy;
3. Approved terms of references that did not allow for an acquisition of services that was fair, competitive, equitable or cost effective; and
4. Prejudiced the department by approving the appointment of Media Corner on terms contrary to the terms of reference.

(dd) The disciplinary hearings are pending except for one that had been finalised.

(ee) A sanction of suspension for two months without pay has been imposed and implemented by the Department for the employee whose disciplinary hearing was finalised. The rest of the disciplinary hearings are still pending.

Approved/ not approved

Dr Siyabonga Cwele, MP

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services

Date:

Reply:

I have been informed by the South African Post Office (SAPO) as follows:

(a) The Post Office websites were non-functional on Monday, 19 February 2018.

(b) The non-functioning was due to an interruption of the electricity supply at the Post Office Data Centre.

 

Approved/ not approved

Dr Siyabonga Cwele, MP

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services

Date:

Reply:

1. Not all staff members were taken to the Indaba hotel for the workshop. The workshop was specifically for the lecturing staff. The academic workshop was held on 18 September 2017 and 154 academic staff members attended. The staff comes from eight different campuses offering more than 40 Report 191 (NATED) N1–N6 and National Certificate Vocational L2–L4 programmes. Six office-based educators working in the Centre for Academic Support facilitated the workshop.

a) The amount spent for the workshop was R95 109.00. The per capita costs, including conference facilities and refreshments, amounted to R595.43 per person.

b) The programme that outlines the aspects discussed during the workshop is attached. The Centre for Academic Support is based in the Office of the Deputy Principal: Academic and responsible for the planning, delivery and quality assurance of teaching, learning and assessment practices.

The purpose of this workshop was to share, communicate and deliberate on the newly developed Quality Assurance of Assessment Practices NCV L2 –L4 and NATED N1-N6 system. The College developed the system based on input received from educators and staff. A booklet was also printed as a reference guide and tools for educators and staff.

2. The staff cost percentage is 60.95% and within the 63% limit set by the Department.

3. The College advertised four Council posts. The recruitment process was stopped when the unions raised concerns regarding these posts, as they believed that the College already had individuals occupying these posts. Although not correct, Management decided that it was best to stop the process in the interest of clarifying this misunderstanding.

4. The advertisement was for the recruitment of new staff into four critical vacant posts.

No.	Posts Advertised	Salary Level
1.	Innovation Linkages and Development Manager: Assistant Director	SL 9
2.	Estates Manager: Assistant Director	SL 9
3.	Human Resource Management: Senior Officer	SL 8
4.	Marketing: Senior Officer	SL 8

The College established a unit called Innovation Linkages and Development to align its strategic objectives to that of the Department. The College had redeployed a Senior Team Member to head up this unit, which is responsible for managing ±20 public-private partnership contracts / agreements with various partners. The Manager accepted a promotional post as a Deputy Principal at the Gauteng Community College, which has left a huge gap at the College threatening the collapse of this unit given the vital role it plays.

The College has eight satellite and a main campus with nett assets in excess of R300 million and only one Facilities Official. Additional capacity is required to assist with key strategic issues of planning, budgeting, and maintenance and repairs of the assets.

The College faces many challenges as outlined in the Auditor-General reports. The key issue being that the Human Resource Manager needs support as a number of interns are currently providing this support.

The College does not have a Marketing Senior Officer / Manager since the post was vacated in 2012 and this unit, consisting of four Marketing Officers, requires a Manager to provide strong leadership and strategic direction.

These four Council posts have been re-tabled at the Council meeting of 7 December 2017 and Council resolved that the posts be re-advertised.

Reply:

I have been informed by the South African Post Office as follows:

Yes, payments to Albion Press (Pty) for goods supplied to Post Office are still outstanding. A payment of R173 153.22 was made on 13 March 2018.

a) The amount owing to Albion Press (Pty) is R435 038.59. The table contains a list of amounts owing

Invoice number	Document date	120+ days
IN123659	9-Oct-2017	6,292.80
IN123660	9-Oct-2017	8,878.32
IN123685	24-Oct-2017	105,500.16
IN123692	27-Oct-2017	20,588.40
IN123693	27-Oct-2017	45,716.74
IN123694	27-Oct-2017	33,360.96
IN123698	31-Oct-2017	90,074.59
IN123699	31-Oct-2017	20,588.40
IN123702	31-Oct-2017	82,353.60
IN123703	31-Oct-2017	21,684.62
Total outstanding	435,038.59

b) Age analysis

The table contains the age analysis

Name	Vendor	120+ days	Total due	Comment
Albion press	100103	435 038.59	435 038.59	October 2017 invoices

c) All the October 2017 invoices will be paid in the month of April 2018.

Approved/ not approved

Dr Siyabonga Cwele, MP

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services

Date:

Reply:

The National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) has provided the following responses to the questions posed.

a) No, the NIHSS did not pay bonuses for the 2014-15 financial year

b) No, the NIHSS did not pay bonuses for the 2015-16 financial year

(c) (i) For the year 2016/17, a total amount of R624 865, 87 was paid in bonuses to 25 persons employed or appointed at the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The breakdown is as follows:

94 000.63
48 212.04
38 367.41
46 040.89
84 119.91
16 737.33
11 414.74
14 268.42
29 597.65
7 555.65
15 531.56
12 942.97
6 194.99
6 253.42
3 495.17
12 035.64
47 247.00
24 589.91
22 054.45
47 242.00
24 589.91
22 054.45
18 221.61
4 326.27
10 096.50
39 375.00
3 020.06
9 166.67
Total: 624 865.87

(ii) The bonuses paid were performance based for the 2016/17 financial year. The rate (percentage) was based on the performance rating of staff members in terms of the year-end performance evaluations. The following methodology applied:

• Bonuses were apportioned for the number of months worked in the financial year by staff members
• Bonuses exclude maternity and paternity leave
• Bonuses were paid only if a rating of 3.5 and above was achieved by staff members
• Bonuses excluded fixed term employees who worked less than 6 months in the financial year
• Bonuses excluded permanent employees who worked less than 2 months

(aa) The expenditure complied with the NIHSS’s policies. The NIHSS is neither a Department, nor a constitutional institution, nor a public entity listed in Schedule 2 or 3, and therefore the Public Finance Management Act is not applicable to the NIHSS.

(bb) Spending is managed by the NIHSS in terms of its policies.

(cc) The Auditor-General of South Africa audits the NIHSS in terms of Section 38 of the Higher Education Act and since its inception has received unqualified audit opinions.

Reply:

In 1998, Cabinet took a decision to privatise certain State owned plantations managed by the SAFCOL and the former Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF). To implement the privatisation decision, Government represented by DWAF and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) combined economically viable plantations into five regional forestry packages namely: the North Eastern Cape Forestry package; the KwaZulu-Natal Forestry package; the South and Western Cape Forestry packages; the South Eastern Cape Forestry package; the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern KwaZulu-Natal Forestry package.

The forestry packages were offered for sale to the private sector through a bid process which led to four of the packages sold to four companies. A business Sale Agreement was concluded between SAFCOL, DPE and a successful bidder where it was agreed that the successful bidder must be Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) compliant and that SAFCOL will acquire 25% share of the sale where 16% would be for communities and 9% for the workers.

The Amatola Forestry (Pty) Ltd whose majority shareholding is owned by Rance Timbers won the bid for the South Eastern Cape Forestry Package. This Forestry package is composed of 11 plantations totalling an area of 25 405 hectares. The plantation is one on the plantations that were sold to the Amatola Forestry (Pty) Ltd. The company has entered into a lease agreement with DAFF for a minimum of 70 years to promote and ensure sustainable forest management of the plantations.

Forestry is a highly regulated industry where no establishment can take place without a water authorisation. According to the National Water Act, 1998, forestry is the only declared Stream Flow Reduction Activity (SFRA) and plantations cannot be established without water use license. In addition to this, the lease agreement stipulates that the company must be certified by an international organisation in terms of sustainable forest management. Amatola Forestry is certified through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) which monitors the Company on an annual basis to check whether the company complies with all environmental legislations related to land and the management of indigenous forests, grass lands, protected tree species and wetlands. Should the company be non-compliant, the certificate is suspended which affects its ability to market and trade its products. Amathole Forestry Company (AFC) has got a valid FSC certificate. DAFF also monitors AFC in terms of compliance with the principles of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM).

Indigenous forests according to the National Forests Act, 1998 are protected. The Department conducts site visits to the company as part of the monitoring of the lease agreement. The Department is aware of destruction caused by AFC when clear felling/ harvesting one of the compartments. AFC has been instructed to stop the destruction and in the meantime the Department is quantifying the extent of damage caused on the Indigenous forests in order to determine the cost of rehabilitation which will be paid by AFC.

Reply:

My Department has advised me that no applications for diplomatic passports have been received nor processed for any members of the families referred by the Honourable Member.

(a) Not applicable.

(b) Not applicable.

Reply:

(a) The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) does not have the information requested by the Honourable Member. DIRCO does not keep such statistics as it is not required to do so.

(b) Please refer to (a) above.

(a) Countries where we have:

(i) EMBASSIES

 

BRANCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MISSION	MISSION	COUNTRY	TYPE OF MISSION
Africa	Algiers	Algeria	Embassy
Africa	Luanda	Angola	Embassy
Africa	Cotonou	Benin	Embassy
Africa	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso	Embassy
Africa	Bujumbura	Burundi	Embassy
Africa	Bangui	Central African Republic	Embassy
Africa	N'djamena	Chad	Embassy
Africa	Moroni	Comoros	Embassy
Africa	Brazzaville	Congo	Embassy
Africa	Abidjan	Cote D'Ivoire	Embassy
Africa	Kinshasa	DR Congo	Embassy
Africa	Cairo	Egypt	Embassy
Africa	Malabo	Equatorial Guinea	Embassy
Africa	Asmara	Eritrea	Embassy
Africa	Libreville	Gabon	Embassy
Africa	Conakry	Guinea	Embassy
Africa	Bissau	Guinea Bissau	Embassy
Africa	Monrovia	Liberia	Embassy
Africa	Antananarivo	Madagascar	Embassy
Africa	Bamako	Mali	Embassy
Africa	Nouakchott	Mauritania	Embassy
Africa	Rabat	Morocco	Embassy
Africa	Niamey	Niger	Embassy
Africa	Khartoum	North Sudan	Embassy
Africa	Kigali	Rwanda	Embassy
Africa	Sao Tome	Sao Tome	Embassy
Africa	Dakar	Senegal	Embassy
Africa	Juba	South Sudan	Embassy
Africa	Tunis	Tunisia	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Vienna	Austria	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Brussels	Belgium	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Brasilia	Brazil	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Sofia	Bulgaria	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Santiago	Chile	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Havana	Cuba	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Prague	Czech Republic	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Copenhagen	Denmark	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Helsinki	Finland	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Paris	France	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Berlin	Germany	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Athens	Greece	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Budapest	Hungary	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Dublin	Ireland	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Rome	Italy	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Mexico city	Mexico	Embassy
Americas & Europe	The Hague	Netherlands	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Oslo	Norway	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Lima	Peru	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Warsaw	Poland	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Lisbon	Portugal	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Bucharest	Romania	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Moscow	Russia	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Madrid	Spain	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Stockholm	Sweden	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Berne	Switzerland	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Ankara	Turkey	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Kiev	Ukraine	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Washington	USA	Embassy
Americas & Europe	The Holy See	Vatican City	Embassy
Americas & Europe	Caracas	Venezuela	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Jakarta	Indonesia	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Tehran	Iran	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Tel Aviv	Israel	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Tokyo	Japan	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Amman	Jordan	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Astana	Kazakhstan	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Kuwait City	Kuwait	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Muscat	Oman	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Manila	Philippines	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Beijing	PR china	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Doha	Qatar	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Seoul	South Korea	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Colombo	Sri Lanka	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Damascus	Syria	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Bangkok	Thailand	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	Embassy
Asia & Middle East	Hanoi	Vietnam	Embassy
Global Governance & Continental Agenda	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	Embassy
Global Governance & Continental Agenda	Geneva	Switzerland	Embassy
Global Governance & Continental Agenda	New York (UN)	USA	Embassy

(ii) HIGH COMMISSIONS

BRANCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MISSION	MISSION	COUNTRY	TYPE OF MISSION
Africa	Gaborone	Botswana	High Commission
Africa	Yaoundé	Cameroon	High Commission
Africa	Accra	Ghana	High Commission
Africa	Nairobi	Kenya	High Commission
Africa	Maseru	Lesotho	High Commission
Africa	Lilongwe	Malawi	High Commission
Africa	Port Louis	Mauritius	High Commission
Africa	Maputo	Mozambique	High Commission
Africa	Windhoek	Namibia	High Commission
Africa	Abuja	Nigeria	High Commission
Africa	Mbabane	Swaziland	High Commission
Africa	Dar es salaam	Tanzania	High Commission
Africa	Kampala	Uganda	High Commission
Africa	Lusaka	Zambia	High Commission
Africa	Harare	Zimbabwe	High Commission
Americas & Europe	Ottawa	Canada	High Commission
Americas & Europe	Kingston	Jamaica	High Commission
Americas & Europe	Port of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago	High Commission
Americas & Europe	London	UK	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	Canberra	Australia	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	New Delhi	India	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	Wellington	New Zealand	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	Islamabad	Pakistan	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	Singapore	Singapore	High Commission
Asia & Middle East	Suva	Fiji	High Commission

(iii) CONSULATES

BRANCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MISSION	MISSION	COUNTRY	TYPE OF MISSION
Africa	Lubumbashi	DR Congo	Consulate General
Africa	Lagos	Nigeria	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	Sao Paulo	Brazil	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	Toronto	Canada	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	Munich	Germany	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	Milan	Italy	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	Chicago	USA	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	Los Angeles	USA	Consulate General
Americas & Europe	New York (CG)	USA	Consulate General
Asia & Middle East	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Consulate General
Asia & Middle East	Mumbai	India	Consulate General
Asia & Middle East	Shanghai	PR China	Consulate General
Asia & Middle East	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	Consulate General
Asia & Middle East	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	Consulate General

(iv) OTHER OFFICES

BRANCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MISSION	MISSION	COUNTRY	TYPE OF MISSION
Americas & Europe	Moscow (Belarus) Minsk	Russia	Sub-office to the SA Embassy in Moscow
Asia & Middle East	Ramallah	Palestine	SA Representative Office to the PNA
Asia & Middle East	Taipei	Taiwan	Liaison office

Reply:

(a) An amount of R6 007 752,28 was budgeted for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2018, which was scheduled for, 8 February 2018.

(b)(i) A total amount of R472 132,34 was spent by the South African Police Service (SAPS), on transport.

(b)(ii) A total amount of R1 332 007,70 was spent by the SAPS, on accommodation.

(b)(iii) A total amount of R1 011 193,80 was spent, on other expenses, of which R935 026,00 is a projected amount for overtime, as well as subsistence and transport expenses, of the Division: Protection and Security Services (PSS) and the Presidential Protection Services (PPS). The confirmed amount will be available, once the financial processes of submitting the claims, have been finalised.

Reply to question 278 recommended/not recommended

Original signed GENERAL

NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE

KJ SITOLE (SOEG)

Date: 16 March 2018

Reply to question 278 approved/not approved

MINISTER OF POLICE

BH CELE, MP

Date:

Reply:

With reference to his reply to question 1689, on 5 September 2017, the number of notices that were issued in each province, in terms of Section 11(2)(d) of the National Instruction, 7 of 1999, for Section 8(4)(a) of the Domestic Violence Act, 1998 (Act 116 of 1998), is as follows:

Province	2015/2016	2016/2017	1 to 30 April 2017
Eastern Cape	Nil	Nil	Nil
Free State	Nil	Nil	Nil
Gauteng	Nil	Nil	Nil
KwaZulu-Natal	624	787	439
Limpopo	35	88	15
Mpumalanga	154	140	13
North West	6	12	6
Northern Cape	654	728	172
Western Cape	Nil	Nil	Nil

Original signed LIEUTENANT GENERAL

DIVISIONAL COMMISSIONER: VISIBLE POLICING

NP MASIYE

Date: 23 February 2018

Reply to question 72 recommended/not recommended

Original signed LIEUTENANT GENERAL

f/DEPUTY NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: POLICING (AOD)

NP MASIYE

Date: 23 February 2018

Reply to question 72 recommended/not recommended

Original signed GENERAL

NATIONAL COMMISSIONER: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE

KJ SITOLE (SOEG)

Date: 23 March 2018

Reply to question 72 approved/not approved

MINISTER OF POLICE

BH CELE, MP

Date:

Response compiled by : Lt Col Ledwaba

Code and telephone number : 012 421 8234

Date : 25 January 2018

Response verified by : Director Mncadi

Code and telephone number : 012 421 8003

Date

Reply:

a) What was the original budgeted cost of the Royal Khalanga Lodge in Limpopo?

Phase 1: (June 2010 – June 2012) – The budget was R19, 000,000

Phase 2: (February 2014 – April 2016) – The budget was R23, 512,500,000

b) What additional costs have been incurred over and beyond the original budget?

Phase 1: No additional costs were incurred over and beyond the original Phase 1 budget.

Phase 2: No additional costs were incurred over and beyond the original Phase 2 budget.

c) What are the estimated costs to complete the project?

The project is completed. The actual costs incurred for:

Phase 1: Actual cost incurred was R18, 853,709 and for

Phase 2: Actual cost incurred wad R23, 347,912.

d) What is the estimated total cost of the project upon completion?

The project is completed. The actual total costs incurred for both Phases 1 and 2 is: R42, 201, 621.

Reply:

The information is tabulated as follows:

(A) Number of applications for	(aa) 2015	(bb) 2016	(cc) 2017
(i) Passports	8546	9174	8756
(ii) ID	574	616	489
(iii) Birth Certificate	1671	2421	2331
(iv) Citizenship	3277	2371	1827
(v) Visas and permits	7860	7715	7407
(b) Staff compliment	Locally recruited staff	16	13	12
	Transferred staff (DHA)	4	4	4
	Total	20	17	16

Reply:

(a)(i) NPR never crashed in (aa) 2014-15, (bb) 2015-16 and (cc) 2016-17 financial years.

(a)(ii) NPR was never offline in (aa) 2014-15, (bb) 2015-16 and (cc) 2016-17 financial years.

(b) Not applicable.

Reply:

Government procurement is guided foremost by The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Section 195 lays down the constitutional values for the country’s public administration. In terms of section 217, when government contracts for goods and services, it must do so in a way which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. In addition, the supply chain management (SCM) system must provide for the advancement of persons or categories of persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. The Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) was enacted as a result of the aforementioned Section of the Constitution.

Various acts, regulations and instruments have been aggregated within the strategic framework of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). These interventions have all been directed towards transforming the structure of the South African economy in a manner that promotes spatial integration, high levels of decent employment and demographic transformation of our industrial assets. Both the Department and SA Tourism apply all legislations, regulations, guidelines and directives relevant to Government Procurement.

In a year ± 14 000 payments are captured. The Department has made about 70 000 payments in the past 5 years. To provide the requested information, all the payments documentation need to be drawn from the archive. It will take much longer to obtain information on one payment than what it took to capture the said payment into the system. It’s been estimated that recording all 70 000 transactions will seriously impact on the ability of the organization to satisfy current service demands. In fact, it would require at least six months’ without attending to any new service demands, producing about 7000 pages of information in the process. Thus, the Honourable Member is kindly referred to the tabled Annual reports for more information, in the interest of efficiency and effectiveness.

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

1(a) What are the details including the ranks of service providers and/or contractors from which her department reporting to her procured services in the past five years;

In the past five years the Department has achieved 100% of expenditure on procurement from enterprises on B-BBEE contributor status level 1 - 8. From 1 April 2017 the department will only appoint service providers from the Central Supplier Database managed by National Treasury, which provides additional assurance that service providers comply with SARS, B-BBEE and banking legal requirements. The detailed information on the 100% compliance with B-BBEE is reflected in the Annual reports of the past 5 Years under Programme1.

Also, procurement is reflected in all (4) Programs of the department for each Annual Report in the past 5 years and in the Financial Statements audited by the AGSA. All Annual Reports have been tabled to Parliament. The relevant parliamentary committees engaged with the department regarding the Reports and subsequently the Portfolio Committee on Tourism tabled Budget and Revenue Review Reports (BRRR), which were considered and adopted by the National Assembly. These Annual Reports are available at the Library of Parliament and the National Library of South Africa.

(2) What (a) service was provided by each service provider and/or contractor and (b) amount was each service provider and/or contractor paid;

Consultants and contractors were used for different services and the amounts are reflected in the Annual Reports under the section on Human Resource Management. The other services and procurement are reflected in the Financial Statements.

(3) (a) how many of these service providers are black-owned entities, (b) what contract was each of the black-owned service providers awarded and (c) how much was each black-owned service provider paid?

Please refer to section 1(a) & 2(a) above. The objective of 100% compliance with financial and supply chain management regulatory requirements was achieved the past 5 years. For further breakdown of procurement, the Honorable Member is kindly referred to the financial statements on expenditure on goods and services for each programme as reflected in the published Annual Reports of the past 5 years. These Annual Reports are all available in the Library of Parliament and the National Library of South Africa.

SA TOURISM

(1)(b) What are the details including the ranks of service providers and/or contractors from which her entities reporting to her procured services in the past five years;

Besides overhead cost, South African Tourism’s procurement includes a diverse portfolio of marketing, advertising and related goods and services where a major portion of its budget is spent offshore. SA Tourism has made over 65 500 payments over the last 5 financial years where almost 50% of the financial transactions were made to international suppliers in at least 11 foreign countries where SA Tourism has operating offices and other also foreign countries where South African Tourism is doing destinations marketing through Marketing Representation agencies.

Out of SA Tourism’s total spend over the last 5 financial years, about R2, 5 billion was spent on suppliers in South Africa and at least R 2, 3 billion on foreign suppliers. R 1, 9 billion (i.e. 76% of the total local procurement) of total spend was transacted with B-BBEE compliant suppliers between levels 1-8 and SMME’s over the period.

(2) what (a) service was provided by each service provider and/or contractor and (b) amount was each service provider and/or contractor paid;

Also refer to response under (1) (b)

Consultants and contractors were used for various services which includes mostly marketing, advertising and public relations services related to destination marketing to execute SA Tourism’s mandate both locally and internationally. The cost of different services and the total amounts are reflected in the Annual Reports under the section on Human Resource Management. The other procured services are reflected in the Financial Statements.

(3)(a) how many of these service providers are black-owned entities, (b) what contract was each of the black-owned service providers awarded and (c) how much was each black-owned service provider paid?

Please also refer to response under question (1) (b). The objective of 100% compliance with financial and supply chain management regulatory requirements was achieved the past 5 years. The breakdown of procurement, is declared in the entity’s financial statements on expenditure on goods and services for each programme as reflected in SA Tourism’s published Annual Reports of the past 5 years.

Reply:

Yes, the information was received. Please find attached NA 3982. See below:

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION 3982

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 01/12/2017

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 47/2017

3982. Mr I M Ollis (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:

(a) What is the current backlog for schools requiring (i) sanitation, (ii) electricity, (iii) water and (iv) replacement due to inappropriate materials and (b) of these, what number of schools will be provided with this infrastructure in the (i) 2017-18, (ii) 2018-19 and (iii) 2019-20 financial years? NW4528E

a) The table below indicate backlogs for (i) sanitation, (ii) electricity, (iii) water and (iv) replacement due to inappropriate materials.

PROVINCE	Schools without Sanitation	Schools without electricity	Schools without Water	Inappropriate material
Eastern Cape	25	105	49	471
Free State	0	0	0	18
Gauteng	0	0	0	29
KwaZulu -Natal	0	115	0	3
Limpopo	0	0	0	0
Mpumalanga	0	0	0	0
North West	0	0	0	1
Northern Cape	0	0	0	27
Western Cape	0	0	0	17
Total	25	220	49	566

b) (i) All the schools which have basic services backlogs (water, electricity and sanitation) are under implementation and are targeted to be completed in 2017/2018 financial year, and 205 schools built of inappropriate material are targeted to be completed by the end of the 2017/2018 financial year.

(ii) 57 Schools built of entirely inappropriate material are targeted to be completed in the 2018/2019 financial year, and

(iii) 48 Schools built of entirely inappropriate material are targeted to be completed in the 2019/2020 financial year.

The remaining schools built with entirely inappropriate material are going to be replaced in the outer years as the backlogs are huge and not all the schools could be addressed within the current MTEF due to financial constraints.

Reply:

1. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has a policy and procedure on sexual harassment in place, which came into effect in 2008 and was reviewed in 2015 to ensure compliance with the Policy and Procedure on the Management of Sexual Harassment of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).

(i) Reports/cases are investigated by a Committee which is established in terms of the departmental policy and procedure, and which is constituted by officials from the following components within the Department:

1. Employee Relations;
2. Employment Equity; and
3. Change Management and Gender Unit.

(ii) Details of the consequence management and sanctions stipulated by the policy are:

1. Counseling;
2. Verbal warning;
3. Written warning;
4. Final written warning;
5. Suspension without pay;
6. Demotion (as an alternative to dismissal);
7. Dismissal; and
8. Change Management.

2. (a) Total number of incidents of sexual harassment that have been reported in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development are as follows:

(i) In each of the past three financial years:

• 2014/15       :       Five (5) cases were reported
• 2015/16       :       One (1) case was reported
• 2016/17       :       One (1) case was reported

(ii) From 01 April 2017: Three (3) cases were reported

(b) The number of cases that were:

(i) Opened and concluded:

• 2014/15       :    Five (5) cases were opened, of which three (3) were concluded
• 2015/16       :    One (1) case was opened and two (2) cases were carried over from previous financial year. The two (2) cases concluded during this financial year were those carried over from previous financial year.
• 2016/2017  :    One (1) case was opened and one (1) case was carried over from previous financial year making, of which both cases were concluded.
• From 01 April 2017: Three (3) cases were opened, with two (2) cases   concluded.

(ii) Withdrawn:

• 2014/15                   :      Zero (0) cases
• 2015/16                   :      One (1)  case
• 2016/17                   :      One (1)  case
• From 01 April 2017:     Two (2) cases

(iii) Remained Open, based on incidents:

• 2014/15                   :      Two (2) cases (carried over to next financial year)
• 2015/16                   :      One (1)  case (carried over to next financial year)
• 2016/17                   :      Zero (0) cases
• From 01 April 2017:     One (1)  case

(c) Sanctions issued for each person who was found to have been guilty:

• 2014/15       :    From the three (3) cases finalised, three (3) employees were found guilty and a sanction of Suspension without pay was imposed.
• 2015/16       :    From the two (2) cases finalised, one (1) employee was found guilty and a sanction of Suspension without pay was imposed, and one (1) case was withdrawn after the parties agreed on a settlement - deemed closed and finalised.
• 2016/17       :    From the two (2) cases finalised, one (1) employee was found guilty and a sanction of Suspension without pay was imposed, and one (1) case was withdrawn/closed due to a lack of evidence - deemed closed and finalised.
• From 01 April 2017:   Two (2) finalised cases were withdrawn, as there was lack of cooperation by the one complainant and the other case was concluded informally - deemed closed and finalized.

(a) The Department of Correctional Services is in process of finalizing the Policy on the Prevention and Management of Sexual Harassment in the Department. The draft policy was consulted widely with recognized labour unions and employees.

The Department of Public Services and Administration Sexual harassment Policy for the Public Service is used as the mandating policy Framework.

(b)   Assaults are regulated by the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 under Code of Conduct of acts of Misconduct

(i) Procedure Followed

• After a sexual harassment complaint is lodged by a complainant, an investigator is appointed by the employer to investigate the incident in line with the disciplinary code of the department.
• After appointing the investigator, sexual harassment investigations must be finalized within 30 days.
• Should the stipulated 30 days lapse before an investigation of a sexual harassment case in conducted by the investigator, the complaint should be consulted with request for an extension of up to a maximum of 14 days to conclude the case.
• In an event that more time is required to conclude the investigation, reasonable exceptional circumstance should be clearly stated by the investigator, with substantive reasons to ensure a balance between fairness and flexibility.
• Each request should be treated on merit.
• Consent by the complainant(s) to grant an extension should not be unreasonably withheld.
• A Sexual Harassment Committee has been appointed in line with the DPSA Policy and departmental policy. The Committee ensures that reported cases are brought to the attention of the National Commissioner and are investigated. Follow up is also conducted by the `Committee`

(ii) Consequences management

• The Department of Correctional Services policy statement and disciplinary consequences of sexual harassment both state that, sexual harassment incidents may lead to a dismissal.
• The following sanctions, depending on the nature and seriousness of the sexual harassment incident, made be imposed on an alleged perpetrator if found guilty:

1. Counselling
2. Verbal warning
3. Written warning valid for six months
4. Final written valid for six months
5. Suspension with or without pay (not exceeding three months)
6. Demotion/ Dismissal

The above sanctions are contained in the Department`s Disciplinary Code and Procedure and also inform sanctions entailed in the policy.

(2) (a) The total number of sexual harassment cases are as follows:

 

	SEXUAL HARASMENT
Incident	2014/2015	2015/2016	2016/2017	Since 1 April 2017
Opened and concluded	5	5	7	3
Withdrawn		1	1	0
Sanctions
Corrective Counselling		0	0	0
Final Written Warning	3	0	2	0
Suspension without Salary	1	2	0	0
Dismissal		0	0	1
Acquittal		2	4	0

 

a) The total number of assault incidents are as follows:

 

	ASSUALTS
Incidents	2014/2015	2015/2016	2016/2017	Since April 2017
Opened and concluded	145	109	51	77
Withdrawn	60	16	5	6
Sanctions
Corrective Counselling	12	5	13	10
Verbal warning	11	20	8	10
Written Warning	15	22	17	13
Final Written Warning	18	12	4	5
Suspension Without Salary	4	9	1	5
Dismissal	1	4	0	10
Acquittal	24	21	3	18

Reply:

In terms of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998, the delegated authority to investigate and finalise cases of sexual and physical assualt matters is vested with the Provincial Education Departments. The following infomation has been received from the Provincial Education Departments:

PROVINCE	RESPONSE
North West	(i) 1 Sexual Assault case was investigated.
	(ii) 3 Physical assault cases were investigated.
Western Cape	(i) 30 Sexual Assault cases were investigated.
	(ii) 578 Physical assault cases were investigated.
Mpumalanga	(i) 13 Sexual Assault cases were investigated.
	(ii) 14 Physical Assault cases were investigated.
Limpopo	(i) 5 Sexual Assault cases were investigated (ii) 10 Physical Assault cases were investigated
Northern Cape	(i) 11 Sexual Assault cases were investigated. (ii) 10 Physical Assault cases were investigated

The outstanding information from the other Provincial Education Departments will be made available upon receipt thereof.