Questions and Replies

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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 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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

(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:

(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:

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) 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:

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:

a) The names of the 11 schools that offer Grade 12 and where learners will be sitting for the first National Senior Certificate South African Sign Language Home Language in 2018, are listed below:

School	Province
St Thomas	Eastern Cape
Bartimea	Free State
Thiboloha	Free State
Sizwile	Gauteng
St Vincent	Gauteng
Fulton	KwaZulu-Natal
Kwathintwa	KwaZulu-Natal
St Martin de Porres	KwaZulu-Natal
Setotolwane	Limpopo
De-la-Bat	Western Cape
Dominican (Wittebome)	Western Cape

Provincial Education Departments

b) The registrations for Grade 12 National Senior Certificate examinations close on 15 March 2018. The number of candidates who will sit for the first South African Sign Language National Senior Certificate examinations will be available after this date. The numbers indicated below have been obtained from the listed schools and 2017 LURITS and SNE SNAP data base; and therefore this is preliminary data.

School	Number of Learners
St Thomas	10
Bartimea	4
Thiboloha	2
Sizwile	11
St Vincent	10
Fulton	3
Kwathintwa	8
St Martin de Porres	7
Setotolwane	2
De-la-Bat	1
Dominican (Wittebome)	3

Schools called, 2017 LURITS and SNE SNAP data base

Reply:

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have met and discussed the issue of increasing the number of overseas voting stations. The said meeting took place on 21 February 2018.

I have been advised that the matter has not been finalised yet and the Honourable Member will be informed once the IEC has made a determination on whether or not to increase the number of voting stations abroad.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has not received the requested information from five (5) Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). The Department has requested the information and the outstanding responses will be forwarded as soon as the Department receives it.

Reply:

To date, the information has been received from two (2) Provincial Education Departments as follows:

Gauteng

Type of School	Number of Educators Registered as fully qualified South African Sign Language educators in:
	(i) 2014	(ii) 2015	(iii) 2016	(iv) 2017
(a) Full Service School	0	0	0	0
(b) School for the Deaf	0	45	45	45

Northern Cape

Type of School	Number of Educators Registered as fully qualified South African Sign Language educators in:
	(i) 2014	(ii) 2015	(ii) 2016	(iv) 2017
a) Full Service School	0	0	0	0
b) School for the Deaf	5	5	5	5

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

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 assault matters is vested with the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). The following information has been received from the PEDs:

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.
Gauteng	(i) 71 Sexual Assault cases were investigated. (ii) 256 Physical Abuse cases were investigated.
Free State	(i) 12 Sexual Assault cases were investigated. (ii) 44 Physical Abuse cases were investigated.

The outstanding information from the other PEDs will be made available upon receipt thereof.

Reply:

(1)- (2) Leave measures for school-based educators in the Public Education Sector are regulated in terms of the Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM) document. However, this question is specific to a particular school in the Eastern Cape Province (EC) and what measures the province put in place to deal with teacher absenteeism. Hence, this question should be referred to the EC as they are better placed to provide a detailed report.

(3) All schools, including under-performing schools fall under the jurisdiction of Provinces and Districts. Management of underperformance therefore is the direct responsibility of the Province and District. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) provides policy directives to guide provinces and Districts to manage such under-performance. Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) invoke the provisions of SASA (16A, 58B) to manage underperformance of schools as follows:

a) The Head of Department must, annually, from the report contemplated in section 16A(1)(b) and from other relevant reports, identify any public school that is underperforming in relation to any matter referred to in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c).
b) The Head of Department must issue a written notice to the school contemplated in subsection (1), if he or she is satisfied that:
the standard of performance of learners is below the standards prescribed by the National Curriculum Statement and is likely to remain so unless the Head of Department exercises his or her power in terms of this Act;
there has been a serious breakdown in the way the school is managed or governed which is prejudicing, or likely to prejudice, the standards of performance; or the safety of learners or staff is threatened.

c) The written notice contemplated in subsection (2) must inform the school that it must:

• within 14 days after delivery of the notice, respond to the notice; and as soon as possible after that response, provide the Head of Department with a plan for correcting the situation.

d) The Head of Department must take all reasonable steps to assist a school identified in terms of subsection (1) in addressing the underperformance.

	e) Without limiting the nature and extent of the steps contemplated in subsection (4), the Head of Department must consider:
	implementing the incapacity code and procedures for poor work performance referred to in section 16 of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act No. 76 of 1998);
	withdrawing the functions of the governing body in terms of section 22; or appointing persons in terms of section 25 to perform the functions or specified functions of the governing body; and The counselling of the principal as contemplated in Item 2(5)(b)(ii) of Schedule 1 to the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act No. 76 of 1998), may include the appointment of an academic mentor to take over the functions and responsibilities of the principal for the period determined by the Head of Department.f) In order to assist the Minister in carrying out his or her duties referred to in section 8 of the National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No. 27 of 1996), the Member of the Executive Council must report to the Minister within three months after the end of a school year on the action taken by the Head of Department in regard to an underperforming public school.

In addition, the DBE will provide additional curriculum support to Isivivani Senior Secondary School, as part of the broader plan to support all underperforming schools to improve learner outcomes.

This includes the provision of study guides for all high enrolment subjects, as well as a Home Language Revision guide and literature guide. In addition, based on the subject offering of the school, teachers will be supplied with School Based Assessment (SBA) exemplar guides to illustrate best practices in terms of formal and informal assessment.

The sector implements the National Strategy for Learner Attainment (NSLA) in all provinces, and provinces report quarterly on intervention programmes to support underperforming schools. These reports are analysed against set performance indicators and feedback reports are provided to each province for implementation. Further to that, the DBE conducts quarterly oversight meetings to monitor progress and verify reports.

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.

Reply:

1. South Africa does not generally incentivise the importation of goods into the economy, as policy is directed at building local industrial capacity. In terms of tariff support, the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) provides an incentive for promoting local manufacturing of motor vehicles and not imports. The duty credits earned by the industry on production under the APDP can be used, among other things, to rebate import duties on electric vehicles if industry chooses to do so.

2. The existing 25% import duty on motor vehicles serves to support and encourage domestic investment and employment in the automotive industry in line with the APDP objectives. The dti is leading this area of work and will be engaging the sector in due course about prospects to localise the assembly of electric vehicles.

-END-

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 has a sexual harassment policy which was approved and signed on the 15 December 2011. This policy is currently under review. The details of the consequence management and sanctions stipulated by the policy can be found in sections 3.4 to 3.7 of the policy document that will be forwarded separately to the Member.

2. I am advised that the Department has no reported incident of sexual harassment.

-END-

Reply:

(a) (i) and (aa) and (bb) I would like to refer the Honourable Member to the Annual Reports of the last three financial years in terms of the information requested here, which has been made public by way of tabling in Parliament.

(b) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) In line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, (Act No. 4 of 2013) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, (Act No. 75 of 1997) I am unable to provide the Honourable Member with such confidential information. I can however assure the Honourable Member that the Department normally avails the personal files of the officials to the Auditor General for scrutiny as prescribed by law.

The Department follows guidelines as provided in the Ministerial Handbook in respect to the appointment of the staff in the Private Office of the Minister. The Handbook also provides recommendations on the salary levels of each post. The salary levels are adjusted on an annual basis as prescribed in the Public Service Regulations.

_______________________________________________________________________

Reply:

a) All provinces with proposed Special Economic Zones were allocated and received financial support from the dti annually from 2013/14 – 2016/17 financial years as part of the pre-designation support for the proposed SEZs. Northern Cape Provincial government was allocated R31 938 587 for the preparation of the proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Upington, in particular, to fulfil the following key objectives:

• Pre-feasibility Study
• Feasibility Study
• Strategic Plans
• Establlishment of the Project Management Unit (PMU).
• Environmental Impact Assessment.
• Detailed Engineering and Site Assessment Services.
• Planning and Development of Strategic Industrial Clusters.
• Investment Facilitation and Promotion.

In line with the above stated objectives, the Northern Cape Economic Development Agency (NCEDA) was appointed by the province to undertake management and operationalisation of the SEZ PMU (Project Management Unit) as well as the management of the funds.

The PMU was established with the sole objective of undertaking all SEZ preparatory work over the years corresponding with the funding. To this effect, an MOU was signed between the dti and NCEDA for the transfer and management of the performance of the SEZ PMU.

(i) There is no further allocation provided for the years beyond 2016/2017 except for the completion of outstanding work using savings accrued from the previous allocation by the dti. Therefore, no further allocation for 2018/19; 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 period for the Northern Cape.

b) Progress to date has been made in relation to the following areas:

• Pre-feasibility studies
• Technical Feasibility studies
• Land acquisition
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
• Detailed Engineering and Site Assessment Services.
• Investment Facilitation and Promotion
• Appointment of some key PMU staff position/s

The remaining work concerning the finalisation of the application for the designation of the proposed SEZ includes the finalisation of the sector strategy, strengthening of the investment pipeline, business plan, financial model as well as the supporting plans such as finalisation of the skills development plans, SMME strategy, etc. It is anticipated that the application will be submitted to the dti by second quarter (Q2) of the financial year of 2018/19 for the SEZ Advisory board’s consideration.

c) Northern Cape spent R17 394 328 as at the end of 2016/17 financial year in preparation of the Application for Designation of the proposed Special Economic Zone in Upington.

Reply:

1.1. Ostrich

• • 1. (a)(i) The contribution of the ostrich industry to the economy in terms of value of production is estimated at R 381 million for 2017. As a result of the lack of information on expenditure on production costs, it is not possible to determine the contribution to the gross domestic product. (Gross domestic product = value of production less cost of production plus indirect taxes less production subsidies).
    2. (a)(ii) The value of exports (ostrich) meat, skins and feathers made up 66% of the total value of production in 2017.
    3. (a)(iii)The number of jobs is estimated at around 35 000. The ostrich industry, as a result of restrictions on exports due to bird flu, had to scale down on employment.

1.2.Crocodile

1.2.1 (b)(i)The crocodile industry mainly exports skins. Value of exports during 2017 is estimated at R20,5 million.

1.2.2 (b)(ii) Exports represent more than 95% of the total value of production.

• • 1. (b)(iii) Information on the number of workers employed is not readily available but is estimated at between 1 000 to 2 000.

1.3. Game

1.3.1 (c)(i)The value of production by the game meat industry is estimated at R6200 million (Six hundred and twenty million rands), based on information provided by Wildlife Ranching SA.

1.3.2 (c)(ii) Value of game meat exports during 2017 is estimated at R36 million. Exports represent around 0.6% of the value of total game meat production.

1.3.3 (c)(iii)The number of jobs created by the game ranching industry is estimated at between 120 000 and 140 000.

2. What is the total monetary value of (a) milk and (b) honey exports to the European Union (i) in each of the past five financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2017?      

2.1. The total value of South African exports to the European Union of milk and honey respectively for each of the past five years (2013 to 2017) were as per Table 1 and 2 below.

2.2 Table 1: SA total milk exports to the EU from 2013 to 2017 (concentrated and not; sweetened and not) in Rands

Commodity HS Code	Description	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Total (HS 0401 & HS 0402)	Milk and cream	14 000	23 000	9 000	8 000	26 000

Source: Global Trade Atlas (GTA), 2018

Table 2: SA honey exports to the EU from 2013 to 2017 in Rands

Commodity HS Code	Description	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
0409	Natural Honey	0	908 000	139 000	15 000	5 000

Source: Global Trade Atlas (GTA), 2018

Reply:

  (1)       (a) What steps has (i) his department and (ii) the Chief Directorate: Animal and Health taken to improve the Residue Monitoring Plan (RMP) following the findings in the report by the European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety that was published on 30 May 2017 that there are serious deficiencies in the RMP of the country and (b) what has the budget allocation been for the testing of live animals and animal products over the past five years;

(1) (a) (ii) The following corrective actions were implemented by the Chief Directorate: Animal Production and Health to improve the Residue Monitoring Plan (RMP) following the findings in the report by the European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety that was published on 30 May 2017

• Capacity in DAFF

A dedicated state veterinarian has been appointed in the section dealing with the National Chemical Residue Control Programme (NCRCP) to work on risk assessments that will ensure that all relevant veterinary medicinal products, pesticides, heavy metals and prohibited substances are always included in the programme.

The industry has availed a technical specialist to assist DAFF with the risk analysis and development of the sampling plan.

• Laboratory Capacity and Proficiency

The Agricultural Research Council – Onderstepoort Veterinary Research (ARC-OVR) has been engaged on deficiencies identified in the Chemical Residues testing laboratory in the EU report and measures are being put in place to correct the non-compliances as identified. The OVR has, however, indicated that there is need to procure additional analytical equipment for effective and proficient sample analysis as they currently only have one machine which cannot cope with the load.

Private laboratories have been engaged to process samples whilst the ARC-OVR laboratory is currently working on improving their laboratory capacity and proficiency. The industry will pay for the analysis of the samples at these laboratories and are currently engaging the laboratories to enter into Service Level Agreements.

A dedicated Quality Officer was appointed at the OVR Laboratory. The Quality Officer together with the Laboratory Manager will ensure the participation of the laboratory in proficiency testing schemes.

• Sampling Methodology

The sampling plan has been revised in line with the recommendations of the EU. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for sample registration at the laboratory has been updated.

• Reporting

Monthly reconciliation of samples submitted/received at the ARC-OVR Reference Laboratory was implemented so that timely corrective actions could be implemented for non-compliances.

Monthly meetings between the DAFF Residues Control Programme co-ordinator and the ARC-OVR Residue Laboratory Manager have been agreed on and are being honoured.

The DAFF co-ordinator presents the sampling statistics to the provinces at the Veterinary Public Health Advisory Committee Meetings which report to the Mintech (Veterinary Working Group).

(b)    Below is the budget allocation for the testing of live animals and animal products over the past five years   

Financial Year	Allocation
2013/2014	R9 126 754
2014/2015	R9 674 561
2015/2016	R9 674 561
2016/2017	R10 656 140
2017/2018	R11 295 508

(2)        whether his department or the entities reporting to him test for mycotoxins; if so, (a) which products are tested, (b) how often are mycotoxins tested, (c) what national and international standards are used in this regard, (d) which laboratories or institutions in the country are currently tasked with the (i) testing of mycotoxins and (ii) implementation of the RMP and (e) what has the budget allocation been to each laboratory over the past five years?          

2(a)   The department conducts testing on Crocodile, Ostrich, Game, Poultry, Beef, Pork, Mutton/Lamb for mycotoxins

2(b)         

Commodity	Percentage of annual meat production sampled
Beef	1%
Mutton/lamb	1%
Pork	1%
Poultry	1%
Crocodile	5%
Game	5%
Ostrich	5%

(c) Sampling frequency in line with EU legislation Commission Decision 97/747/EC and Council Directive 96/23/EC.

Testing methods are High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectophotometry (LC-MS/MS) accredited by SANAS under ISO 17025.

(d) (i)  Agricultural Research Council- Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Residue Laboratory

(d) (ii)  Agricultural Research Council- Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Residue Laboratory is the National Reference Laboratory for the National Residue Programmes under the Memorandum of Understanding between DAFF and ARC.

(e)  Budget allocation as indicated above under 1(b).

Reply:

With reference to the payments made by the Road Accident Fund in

	(i) the 2015-16,	(ii) 2016-17 financial years	and (b) since 1 April 2017,
(aa) the average turn-around time from application to full payment to the victim was,	1,238 days	1,194 days	1,165 days
(bb) the average pay out amount was,	R 539,425	R 521,855	R 542,926
(cc) the total number of applications that have been outstanding for longer than 10 years was,	5,263 personal claims (as at 31 March 2016)	3,256 personal claims (as at 31 March 2017)	2,827 personal claims (as at 28 February 2018)
(dd) the reasons that each application is outstanding are,	the claimant’s attorney served summons on the RAF, to interrupt prescription of the claim, but is unable to locate his client to take instructions on the RAF’s tender; take instructions on other aspects of the claim; send his client for medical assessments; etc., or the claimant’s attorneys served summons on the RAF (and is thus dominus litis), the RAF has entered appearance to defend, but the claimant’s attorney has not set the matter down for trial, or a judgment has been obtained in respect of the merits (liability aspect) of the claim, the claimant’s attorney has not, or is in the process of, pursuing the quantum aspect of the claim, or the direct claimant cannot be traced (due to the number of personal claims involved it is not feasible to furnish reasons, on an individual claim basis, instead a high-level summary of the most common reasons is provided)
and (ee) the total amount of each outstanding application is	R241,622 (average claimed amount)	R325,160 (average claimed amount)	R372,658 (average claimed amount)

Reply:

No, there is no new decision on the future of the e-toll project. The project continues to operate and SANRAL is engaged in various processes to improve the collection of revenues due for use of the GFIP road network.

a) A decision on the future of the e-toll project will be made by Cabinet. I as the new Minister will receive a briefing from SANRAL and the DOT on work conducted in the past 6 months in order to determine the next step.

I will seek guidance from Cabinet and various stakeholders in this regard.

b) Once necessary engageement transpire, the date for the desicion will then be determined.

 

Reply:

a) Total number of:

(i) (aa) PASSENGER INJURIES

2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
43	163	311	336	298

(ii) (aa) PASSENGER FATALITIES

2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
0	15	2	10	16

(bb) PASSENGER INJURIES AND FATALITIES 2017/18 YTD

i bb) Passenger Injuries since April 2017	bb) Passenger Fatalities since April 2017
141	18

(b) Actions taken by PRASA:

Risk Indicators	Risk Reduction Measures	Responsible	Due Date	Progress
Door failure – doors closing with excessive force and doors failing to open or close	Replacement of Door Mechanism(design options)	PRASA Technical	Ongoing	Executed during Routine Maintenance
	Improve Inspection, Testing and Maintenance regimes for doors prior to train release	Train Operations & Rolling Stock	Ongoing	Daily Train Inspections conducted by Train Crew and Rolling Stock Technicians
Passenger falls between coaches	Introduction of new trains with open walkthrough between coaches - no doors between coaches	PRASA Technical	20 Years Rolling Stock Programme	20 Train sets Delivered New Trains deployed in the Pienaarspoort Corridor in Gauteng.
Curved platform – inhibits Train Guard’s view	Platform Marshalls and Safety Patrollers	Security	Ongoing	Platform Marshalls and Safety Patrollers deployed at Super Core and Core Stations
Commuter Behaviour - Passengers blocking Train Doors	Safety Campaigns	Marketing and Communications	Ongoing	Monthly Safety Campaigns conducted at Stations.
Overcrowding on Platforms/Stations	CCTV Cameras/Monitoring on Stations	Customer Services	Ongoing	Monitoring of Station conducted by Security

Reply:

1. (a) PRASA received a complaint from Mr Zackie Achmat on 23 February 2018, regarding a complaint of violence and threats against #UnitedBehind,

(b) PRASA Security is currently investigating the complaints and will take remedial action when concluded,

(i) & (ii) the case of Mr Achmat is the only case that have been brought to the attention of the department since 1 April 2017,

(aa) the case relates to violence and threats against #UnitedBehind,

(bb) the department does not condone any individual who is implicated in any form of misconduct.

2. (a) Regrettably some security officials were employed as part of a recruitment drive to phase in a larger complement of internal security personnel with the intention to phase out contracted security over a period of time. Some of the members were recruited from the SANDF, Military Veterans and from private security companies. PRASA Security already started a vetting process in 2016 after the matter of criminal records was reported. The recruitment was however done prior to the vetting and screening of staff being intensified by PRASA Security. It is not PRASA’s prerogative to divulge the information on the individuals’ details relating to the criminal records.

(b) These members are not PSIRA registered and alternative placement is being sought for them.

3. (a) PRASA Security is not mandated to divulge any information relating to the SAPS.

(b) The Metrorail private security personnel complements for the past five financial years are as follows: see the link

http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/RNW641Table.pdf

Reply:

1. i) Metrorail:

Metrorail	Financial year 2015/16	Financial year 2016/17	Financial year 2017/18 Year to date
a) Total financial Loss	R48,582,002-86	R197,879,931-22	R201,333,873-26
aa) Total coaches lost to aging stock	0	0	0
bb) Total coaches lost to vandalism including theft and excludes coaches waiting for quotations	132	228	463
cc) Total coaches lost to derailments and accidents	52	41	25
dd) Theft recorded within bb)

ii) Shosholoza Meyl

Shosholoza Meyl	Financial year 2015/16	Financial year 2016/17	Financial year 2017/18 Year to date
a) Total financial Loss	R13,438,746-15	R14,439,503-85	R27,878,250-00
aa)Total coaches lost to aging stock	0	0	0
bb) Total coaches lost to vandalism including theft and excludes coaches waiting for quotations	177	198	190
cc) Total coaches lost to derailments and accidents	11	4	8
dd) Theft recorded within bb)

*

1. (a) Maintenance of existing train coaches for Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl over the past three years

Metrorail	Financial year 2015/16	Financial year 2016/17	Financial year 2017/18 year to date
Total OPEX amount spent on coach maintenance	R556,011,506-23	R597,303,628-55	R599,515,344-66
Total Capex refurbishment spent on coach maintenance	R276,938,269-11	R194,747,834-27	R207,472,748-12
Total General Overhaul program cost.	R936,978,000-00	R1,306,909,000-00	R817,793,000-00
Maintenance of new EMU trains (OPEX)	R0-00	R85,071,643-86	R344,201,661-75
Shosholoza Meyl	Financial year 2015/16	Financial year 2016/17	Financial year 2017/18 year to date
Total OPEX amount spent on coach maintenance	R122,207,079-72	R122,180,184-74	R118,621,841-03
Total Capex refurbishment spent on coach/locomotive maintenance	R49,283,845-62	R54,950,983-03	R72,245,465-08
Total General Overhaul program cost.	R271,796,000-00	R304,971,000-00	R146,904,000-00

 

(b) Purchasing of new train coaches for Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl over the past three years.

PRASA to date has received and accepted 18 New Trains for Metrorail Services and has paid R6,3 billion over the past three years (FY2015/16 – FY2017/18), which includes, inter alia,:

·        Payments for the 18 Trains

·        Capital Spares, Tools and Test Equipment; and

·        Mobilization of local manufacturing activities, including construction of Local Factory

No new coaches or locomotives were acquired for Shosholoza Meyl.

Reply:

(1) The Department has Sexual Harassment and assault policy,

(a) There is a policy in place as indicated above.

(b) falls away

(i) There is a reporting template which the victim must complete and submit to the Labour Relations. Depending on who the perpetratrator is, the investigation may be approved by the Accounting Officer and where he is implicated, the Executive Authority.

(ii) Immediate suspension and or transfer, pending investigation, and sanctions stipulated by the policy, Dismissal

(2)(a) There is only one incident reported.

(2)(i) 2015/16 - Nil

2016/17 – One (01)

2017/18 - Nil

(ii) Nil

(b) None

(ii) (iii) None

(iii) None

(c) None

Reply:

(a)

ENTITY NAME	VACANCIES
SANRAL	7
CBRTA	4
RTIA	7
ACSA	5
SACAA	5
ATNS	6
PRASA	11
SAMSA	2
PORTS REGULATOR	3

(b) The term of office of members of the afore mentioned entities lapsed and others resigned. The Department has embarked on a process to fill in all existing vacancies in all the entities.

(c)The Minister intends to fill in all the above mentioned vacancies as a matter of urgency.

Reply:

1. Yes there were two finding against PRASA in the Western Cape in 2017/18.

(a) The first finding related to the internal complement of staff and the second related to the Training Centre. PSIRA instituted proceedings in the Western Cape by ways of a summons in terms of the Private Security Regulations Act, No 56 of 2001 against PRASA for alleged improper conduct with 855 counts. The charges are related to outstanding SASETA Certificates required for PSIRA Registrations, non-compliance to requirements for uniforms, criminal records and administrative requirements for the training centre. It must be noted that members recruited from the SANDF are trained professionals but many had not yet been registered through the process of recognition for prior learning;

(b) PRASA was fined the amount of R3,000,000-00 in respect of the charges related to the 855 counts for non-compliance of the complement and R8,000-00 for the Training Centre. All fines were paid on 31 January 2018; and

(c) The remedial actions are ongoing and include the following:

• Sourcing the funding to replace uniform and equipment.
• 96 members with criminal records have in the interim been placed with customer services pending further investigation and record clearance. The criminal records of five members have been cleared in the meantime.
• Members unsuccessful with their application will be dealt with through the relevant legislation.
• There are pending applications for expungement of criminal records as allowed for by PSIRA regulations.
• PRASA Security intensified the vetting screening of security staff. The process will be completed by 30 April 2018.
• A total of 229 members have been retrained and are awaiting their SASETA certificates for registration with PSIRA.
• The training centre deficiency has been corrected.
• PRASA is engaging PSIRA to update our records and to deal with the administrative backlog.

2. (a) (i) A national tender was advertised in 2016 on the National Treasury CSD portal, however the tender was cancelled owing to restructuring and the start of a turnaround process;

(ii) no contracts was awarded

(aa) & (bb) An emergency procurement process was followed following severe damage to the infrastructure and the killing of a security guard in 2017.

(b) Tabulated below are the values for contracts awarded since 1 April 2017.

Company	Type of Service	Total Monthly Value Excl. Vat
Sechaba Security	88 Armed guards to escort train crew	R1,451,691-36
Red Ants	4 Armored Vehicles and 4 crew	R636,419-00
UAV Drone Solutions	Drone Aircrafts	R480,000-00
Combined Private Investigations	Forensic Investigations	R1,363,034-00
Total Per Month Excl. Vat	R3,931,144-36
Total Value Excl. Vat for Six Months	R23,586,866-16

(c) The deliverables for the respective companies are as follows:

• • UAV Drone Solutions for night patrols and location of criminals / syndicates digging and slashing cables.
  • Red Ants for the provisions of two armoured vehicles day and night with a response team of 8 day and 8 night for the protection of technical staff who are called out for repairs of damaged infrastructure as well as escort duties during routine maintenance. This was done due to ongoing attacks of PRASA staff on the Central Line. It was also reported that on occasion criminals boarded the trains to rob passengers.
  • Deployment of 88 Armed Guards provided by Sechaba Security for the protection of train crews and passengers at the turn around points as well as identified high risk stations on the central line.
  • Combined Private Investigations were procured to provide forensic investigation services and improve the rate of successful prosecutions for copper theft from 5% to 80% over the next six months.

(d) The companies are as follow:

• UAV Drone Solutions
• Red Ants
• Sechaba Security
• Combined Private Investigations

(e) There no further information.

Reply:

1. Yes.

(a) Not applicable.

(b) Not applicable

(i) Labour Relations Practitioners are designated officials delegated to execute the investigation function to gather evidence upon receipt of complaints with additional support through outsourcing of Labour Law experts where deemed necessary.

(ii) The consequence management and sanctions are in line with the Public Service Policy and Procedures on Management of Sexual Harassment which provides a guideline on the list of sanction ranging from:

• Counselling,
• verbal warning,
• written warning,
• final written warning,
• suspension/fine,
• demotion (as an alternative to dismissal), and
• dismissal.

2. (a)

(i) One incident of sexual harassment and no incident on assault in 2014/15.

No incident of sexual harassment nor assault was reported in 2015/2016.

Two incidents of sexual harassment and one incident of assault in 2016/2017.

Two incidents of sexual harassment and one incident of assault in 2017/2018.

(ii) Six incidents have been reported since 01 April 2017.

Four incidents on sexual harassment and two incidents on assault.

(b)

(i) Seven cases were opened and six concluded.

(ii) No cases were withdrawn.

(iii) One case remains open pending approval of charges and disciplinary hearing.

(c) None found guilty.

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Reply:

This matter was only brought to my attention when the Honourable Member asked the question. However, the department has been in contact with the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (Directorate: Economic Services) and the cooperative (Mr Somdaka-Treasurer). Preliminary investigation by the department revealed the following:

1. Lower Zingcuka Agricultural Cooperative is registered in terms of the Cooperatives Amendment Act (Act No 6 of 2013) as a primary agricultural cooperative with limited liability.
2. The cooperative was established by six members (three males and three females with an objective of producing vegetables collectively on a fourteen hectare piece of land. Currently nine hectares are under production.
3. The cooperative has been supported by the Office of the Premier (Eastern Cape) with a tractor, fencing and a voucher for inputs worth R 30 000.00. They currently sell their produce in King Williamstown and East London.
4. The cooperative is not aware of their enterprise being hijacked; furthermore they have no knowledge of a private company that is soliciting financial support from government on their behalf.
5. DAFF will continue working with the Provincial Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (Eastern Cape) and the cooperative to ensure that it maintains its autonomy and independence. Any suspicious acts of external interference (hijacking) will be reported to the relevant authorities including the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.

Reply:

a) Department

The Department of Tourism has not spent any amount on the Year of Oliver Tambo

b) SA Tourism

South African Tourism did not spend on the promotion or celebration of the Year of OR Tambo. In recognition of the significance of the year, South African Tourism weaved the message of the Year OR Tambo in most of their key spokesperson’s speaking engagements. These included the speeches at events such as:

Tourism Indaba (May 2017)

Tourism Month Launch (July 2017)

Tourism Month Celebrations (September 2017)

Lilizela National Awards (October 2017)

World Travel Market – UK (November 2017)

Reply:

a) The objective of the SANBI Groen Sebenza Programme, funded through the Jobs Fund, was to support 800 unemployed youth by equipping them with the skills and experience needed to access jobs in ecosystem management. Section 2.1.53 of the contract between the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and SANBI provided for the “sourcing assessment, selection, training and placement of the applicants in an incubator programme” During their 2.5 years in the scheme these participants recieved mentoring, training and rotational placements with the goal of improving their employability in the environment sector. The placement of these young people took place through 46 partners in the ecosystem management sector, with SANBI playing an overall coordination role. While the target was to incubate 800 young persons to prepare them for full time employment, the programme exceeded the target by incubating 955 unemployed youth.

b) The programme envisaged the creation of 800 jobs through this incubation programme, and a total of 645 youth were employed by partner organisations or beyond the partner organisations immediately on conclusion of the programme, reflecting a successful conversion rate of experiential learning into permanent employment. While we appreciate the external dynamics with some partner organisations, we duly acknowledge the role of these partners especially for taking this mammoth task and responsibility of creating envisaged permanent jobs as part of this programme.

c) The fact that some of the participants were not in permanent employment at the end of the programme relates to a situation where some of these young persons chose to further their studies, some are self employed whereas some are not yet employed. SANBI is currently busy with a Tracer study on those not yet employed. Government will continue to follow due processes as guided by relevant policies to ensure tranperancy and fairness in training, placements and appointments. This programme provided the much needed experiential learning which newly qualified graduates generally lack, and it positioned them to take advantage of potential opportunities that may emerge in the sector and beyond.

---ooOoo---

Reply:

None of the swimming pools at the Ministerial residences have been replenished with water during the water restriction period.

(a) and (b) Falls away.

________________________________________________________________________

Reply:

1. (a) The property in question is privately owned. (See Annexure A).

(i), (ii) and (b) Fall away

(2) Falls away.

Reply:

The (Inquest) Magistrate of the Magistrates Court, George has advised that she is engaged in perusing the inquest papers and will decide how the matter will proceed in due course

Reply:

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

1. (a) As at 15 December 2017, NSFAS reported that 7 713 students registered at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) had been awarded funding and 2 169 of these students had not received payments.

(b) (i) 52 Students’ LAFSOPs (Loan Agreement Forms and Schedule of Particulars) could not be generated by NSFAS due to course code mismatches between the data from the institution and NSFAS records on the system.

  (ii) 1 294 Students had not signed their LAFSOPs.

  (iii) 823 Students payments were being processed.

NSFAS is not aware of any student that has not received funding due to any other administration error.

2. NSFAS is not aware if the SRC arranged transport to NSFAS offices. NSFAS arranged for their Servicing Team to visit the institution to assist students with signing their LAFSOPs in August and October 2017. Both attempts were not successful as the students were protesting at that time, and campuses were closed. NSFAS then generated paper-based LAFSOPs, which the Financial Aid Office at CPUT collected and contacted students individually to sign these agreements. Those that were signed were returned to NSFAS for processing.

3. (a) 2 169 students as outlined above.

(b) The Department of Higher Education and Training met with the Executive Committee (EXCO) of Universities South Africa and NSFAS on
15 June 2017 to address the administration issues raised by students, SRC Presidents and Secretaries General to discuss the challenges experienced during the 2017 roll out of the new student centred model and NSFAS’ proposed 2018 implementation plan. A joint task team was established to address the 2017 challenges and plans for the 2018 application cycle. The task team has been meeting since 15 June 2017 and progress related to the 2017 and 2018 processes is being closely monitored. In addition, NSFAS has deployed servicing teams to institutions where additional on-site support has been required.