Questions and Replies

Reply:

a) How many

(i) Trainees were inducted into her department’s National Youth Chefs Training Programme during 2016-17 financial year	Total number is 577
(ii) Of the specified trainees	(aa) have dropped out of the programme	(bb) are frequently absent from training
	6 drop outs	16% absenteeism rate recorded.

b) What are the reasons for the rate of drop-outs or the absenteeism in each case?

Drop out reasons

• Pregnancy (1)

Absenteeism reasons

• Abscondment (4)

One trainee unfortunately passed away. (1)

Reply:

No.

Reply:

 

Ministry of Labour	(i)Yes (ii)No (iii)No (aa) VIP protection (bb) SAPS/DoL Ministry (cc) SAPS: Compensation DoL: Incidental costs
Deputy Ministry of Labour	(i)Yes (ii)No (iii)No (aa) VIP protection (bb) SAPS/DoL Ministry (cc) SAPS: Compensation DoL: Incidental costs
Heads of Entities or bodies	(c) None (aa) N/A (bb) N/A (cc) N/A

Reply:

Entity	(aa) Names of staff members awarded contracts	(bb) Professional designation of the staff members awarded contracts	(cc) Details of the contract and/or agreements awarded	(dd) The total amount for each contract
2014/15 FINANCIAL YEAR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
COMPENSATION FUND	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
UIF	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
NEDLAC	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
PRODUCTIVITY SA	Neo Lekaowa	Senior Business Consultant	Detergent Manufacturing Business	R8660
SEE	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
CCMA	None	N/A	N/A	N/A

Minister of Labour to respond:

Entity	(aa) Names of staff members awarded contracts	(bb) Professional designation of the staff members awarded contracts	(cc) Details of the contract and/or agreements awarded	(dd) The total amount for each contract
2015/16 FINANCIAL YEAR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
COMPENSATION FUND	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
UIF	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
NEDLAC	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
PRODUCTIVITY SA	Neo Lekaowa	Senior Business Consultant	Detergent Manufacturing Business	R51 925
SEE	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
CCMA	None	N/A	N/A	N/A

Minister of Labour to respond:

Entity	(aa) Names of staff members awarded contracts	(bb) Professional designation of the staff members awarded contracts	(cc) Details of the contract and/or agreements awarded	(dd) The total amount for each contract
2016/17 FINANCIAL YEAR
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
COMPENSATION FUND	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
UIF	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
NEDLAC	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
PRODUCTIVITY SA	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
SEE	None	N/A	N/A	N/A
CCMA	None	N/A	N/A	N/A

Reply:

DAFF

(a) Minister and, (b) Deputy Minister are protected by South African Police Service VIP Protection Unit paid for by State as per Ministerial Handbook.

No immediate staff members at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are making use of security services paid for by the State.

PPECB

The PPECB has not made use of security services paid for by the State for any of its heads or their family members.

OBP

OBP has never made use of the security services paid for by the State.

NCERA

No CEO, immediate family members nor staff members at Ncera Farms are making use of security services paid for by the State.

ARC

No CEO, immediate family members nor staff members at Agricultural Research Council (ARC) are making use of security services paid for by the State.

NAMC

No CEO, Chairperson, immediate family members nor any staff member of the NAMC are making use of security services paid for by the State.

MLRF

No Deputy Director-General: Fisheries Management, immediate family members nor staff members at MLRF are making use of security services paid for by the State.

Reply:

In the databases maintained by the Department of Labour the number of jobs lost specifically through automation is not indicated. However automation and digitisation, will certainly affect all workers in one way or the other, South Africa is no exception to this global trend.

Reply:

a) Which core investment markets in terms of SA Tourism advertising currently occupy the lowest quartile that is the lowest 25%, of brand positivity ratings?

The following markets occupy the lowest quartile of brand positivity ratings:

• Nigeria 36%
• Australia 25%

b) What are the reasons for these countries occupying the lowest quartile?

• Positivity towards South Africa ranked low amongst Nigerians because they perceive South Africans as not having a welcoming reputation to West Africans. Challenges with Visa processing as well as attacks on foreign nationals negatively impacted on the positive image of South Africa.
• Concerns about safety and security in South Africa and negative sentiments by expatriates remain the key drivers of negative perceptions from Australia.

c) What steps is SA Tourism taking to improve positivity in these core markets.

• SA Tourism in collaboration with DIRCO and BrandSA, will be engaging the Expatriate Community with the objective of changing their negative perceptions about South Africa, generating positive conversation and reducing the spread of negative sentiment.
• SA Tourism will also use strategic partnerships such as the media, opinion leaders and influencers to amplify positive narratives, positioning South Africa as a safe, friendly and welcoming destination.

d) What are the further relevant details in this regard?

• SA Tourism will educate the trade to sell South Africa in a way that meets the needs of both the Nigerians and Australian travellers by showcasing a variety of experiences relevant to each market.
• A new SA Tourism marketing campaign will be launched in all international markets in mid-July 2017.

Reply:

 

	(a) Minister	(b) Deputy Minister	(c) Head of entity (SAT) or bodies
(i) Herself	No	No	No
(ii) Her immediate family members	No	No	No
(iii) Any of their staff members	No	No	No

(aa) What are the reasons for it?

Not applicable

(bb) From which department or entity’s budget is the security services being paid?

Not applicable

(cc) What are the relevant details?

Not applicable

Reply:

The planned increase in direct subsidies to universities over the 2017/18 to 2019/20 medium term is not commensurate with the rate of higher education inflation that was proposed by Universities South Africa. Even though the Department acknowledges that the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) is greater than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), it can only allocate as much funding to universities as approved in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budget.

The total university budget allocations from the Department as approved through the MTEF process increases by 5.8% from 2017/18 to 2018/19, of which the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding increases by 4.8%, the block grant for the daily operational costs of universities increases by 6.3%, and earmarked funds to steer the university sector in areas such as infrastructure and clinical training and development of new universities, increases by 5.6%.

From 2018/19 to 2019/20, National Treasury’s allocation in the category for university subsidies (excluding NSFAS) increases by 5.6%. This category includes both the block grant and all types of earmarked grants, but excludes the NSFAS transfer.

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1626 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

Security for the Minister and the Deputy Minister is provided by the South African Police (Protection and Security Service) as provided for in the Ministerial Handbook.

Reply:

The increase in average spend per day was driven by increased spend towards transport and shopping for personal usage among others.

 

Reply:

There are no policies on decolonized education in higher education institutions. However, the Department is spearheading its contribution to university transformation through the implementation of a new integrated programme called the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP). The programme follows on from the successes achieved through programmes that were implemented using the earmarked Teaching Development Grant and Research Development Grant. It is a consolidation and extension of the functions of these grants. The UCDP will be implemented in three-year phases and assist to address transformation imperatives in student development, staff development and programme/curriculum development.

a) With respect to student development, universities will be supported to:

• Strengthen their data analytic capacity to generate stronger evidence and knowledge of student performance and the factors impacting on it, and use this to implement evidence-based interventions;
• Put strong student advising systems in place that help direct students to appropriate pathways, and channel students to support that address specific learning barriers;
• Implement activities that focus on improved student success such as first-year experience programmes, tutoring programmes, mentoring programmes, academic support programmes, supplementary instruction programmes, psycho-social support programmes and others; and
• Select high-achieving undergraduate and postgraduate students as mentors and tutors and support selected students to take the first steps on an academic career pathway.

b) With respect to staff development, the UCDP will:

• Help develop university academic and professional staff in roles including teaching, researching, leading, managing and administering;
• Promote access for senior undergraduate/early postgraduate students to academic career development opportunities;
• Support the recruitment and development of new, talented academics that will contribute to a transformed demographic profile at universities, through the New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP);
• Support the development of existing and newly recruited academic’s teaching and research capacity, prioritising staff who do not hold a PhD degree; and
• Provide development opportunities for university staff who are in leadership and management positions at universities, or who show potential and interest in following this pathway. Part of this will involve contributing to the establishment of a professoriate that is demographically representative.

c) With respect to programme and curriculum development, the UCDP will:

• Provide support for the development of new programmes identified as national, regional and/or institutional priorities; and
• Provide support for university processes that interrogate the relevance of higher education curricula and enable their transformation.

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1592 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

Table 1 below provides a summary of the total subsidy broken down into the total block and earmarked grants for the university sector for the period 2013/14 to 2017/18.

Table 1: Block and Earmarked Grants for the University Sector

Year	Block Grant (R’ million)	Earmarked Grant (R’ million)	Total (R’ million)
2013/14	18 439	7 643	26 082
2014/15	19 561	8 509	28 070
2015/16	20 538	9 800	30 338
2016/17	21 678	15 181	36 859
2017/18	25 323	803	39 126

1. – (2) The block grant is allocated for the daily operational costs of universities and is the non-ring fenced allocation from the Department that each university can use at its own discretion with approval from Council.

The attached public report, i.e. “University State Budgets” dated March 2017, contains the breakdown of the block and earmarked grants per university from 2004/05 to 2017/18.

This report also contains the detailed components of the block grant, i.e. how the block grants are calculated in each of the sub-block grant categories for each university. This is a requirement of the public report, since the block grant is the largest funding component. It also contains the detailed components of the earmarked grant category, i.e. the various types of earmarked grants and the budget allocations per university.

This report is updated annually and distributed on an annual basis to the 26 public universities, and is available on the website of the Department of Higher Education and Training.

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1628 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

No. Though SA Tourism has identified some of the factors contributing to the decline of 0.7% in domestic tourism in 2016 compared to 2015, the relative weightings of these factors has not been determined.

a) What are the:

	2015	2016
(i) factors	South African households were under increased pressure in 2015 due to limited growth in income against rising living costs. High indebtedness levels, rising interest rates and employment uncertainty dented consumer confidence. Together these factors lead to constrained consumer spending, i.e. consumers were less likely to spend on non-essentials. Given the economic outline of the country above stated, when people were asked specifically about travel, they stated the following as key deterrent factors: • lack of affordability • no reason to take a trip • time constraints • Unemployed/ no income	Unemployment continued to pose significant challenges, unemployment levels reached 25.4% in 2015 and 26.7% in 2016, according to Stats SA. 47% of the South African population earn below the R3500 proposed minimum wage, which can be translated into more than 25 million people earning below R3500. The economic constraints still remain the main barrier to travel and there is more pressure on consumers’ disposable income. A further challenge compounding the barrier is the perception that travel is expensive.
(ii) their relative weightings	The relative weightings of these factors has not been determined.	The relative weightings of these factors has not been determined.

Reply:

a)  Whether the 9% increase in tourist arrivals from the United States of America between 2015 and 2016 can be attributed to SA Tourism’s advertising spend in that country.

The 9% increase in tourist arrivals from the United States of America was due to collaborative efforts between SA Tourism, Trade and other SA Inc partners such as Brand SA and SAA.

b) What are the reasons for the 9% increase in arrivals?

The improved perceptions of safety vis-à-vis the world competitive environment and the favourable Dollar/Rand exchange rate in 2015-16 encouraged many American travellers to consider South Africa as a value for money travel destination.

c) To what extent can the 9% increase in arrivals be attributed to SA Tourism’s advertising spend.

SA Tourism partnered with trade in offering travel packages that were between $1999 and under $3000, including flights.

Reply:

The information is tabulated as follows:

	Category	Status	2016/17	2015/16	2014/15	2013/14
(i)	Permanent residence permits	(aa) Received	1360	1667	2534	5954
		(bb) Approved	720	1075	1158	4266
(ii)	Critical skills permits	(aa) Received	1472	1206	1194	2639
		(bb) Approved	1030	783	716	1821
(iii)	General work permits	(aa) Received	402	463	2554	7470
		(bb) Approved	313	162	1149	5372

Reply:

No.

(a) Not applicable.

(b) The Border Management Authority (BMA) Bill, 2016 which establishes and operationalises the Border Management Authority (BMA) is presently being considered by Parliament. The Integrated Border Management Strategy provides for a role of the future Border Management Authority (BMA) and all aspects of the implementation are dependent on the legislation being enacted and the President gazetting the BMA Act to come into force.

Reply:

Does (a) she, (b) her Deputy Minister or (c) any of the heads of entities or bodies reporting to her make use of security services paid for by the State for herself

The VIP Protection Services under SAPS have a legal mandate to provide protection services to Minister and Deputy Minister.

a) (i) Yes, The Minister makes use of Security Services for herself, paid for by the state through the South African Police Services VIP Protection Unit.

(ii) No, none of her immediate family members use security paid for by the State.

(iii) No, none of her staff members use security services paid for by the State.

b) i) Yes, The Deputy Minister makes use of Security Services for herself, paid for by the state through the South African Police Services VIP Protection Unit.

(ii) No, none of her immediate family members use Security Services paid for by the State.

(iii) No, none of her staff members use Security Services paid for by the State.

c) No, The Head of Department (Director-General) does not make use of Security Services paid for by the State.

(ii) No, none of his immediate family members use Security Services paid for by the State.

(iii) No, none of his staff members use Security Services paid for by the State

(aa) The Ministerial Handbook provides for the Security Services for both the Minister and the Deputy Minister.

(bb) The Security Services provided by the South African Police Services VIP protection Unit is paid for from the South African Police Services budget ;

(cc) No other details related to either the Head of Department, staff members or family members.

END

Reply:

(1). A copy of the Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI) Report that was tabled in the last meeting of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2016 is attached.

(2) The next Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI) Report will be tabled in the meeting of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC), which will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2018.

(3) (a) There has been a stated commitment by North-South Corridor Member States to move more freight from road to rail but no measurement metrics for tracking this have been agreed to by the Member States on the North-South Corridor.

(b) The revitalisation of the Gauteng to Angola rail route is not part of the PICI nor is it part of the North-South Road and Rail Corridor Project.

Reply:

The Department and the entities responded as follows:

(a) Department of Home Affairs

(i) No, there was no need for such services

(ii) No, there was no need for such services.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

(dd) Not applicable

(ee) Not applicable

(ff) Not applicable

(b) Government Printing Works

(i) No, there was no need for such services.

(ii) No, there was no need for such services.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

(dd) Not applicable

(ee) Not applicable

(ff) Not applicable

(b) Electoral Commission

(i) No, there was no need for such services.

(ii) No, there was no need for such services.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

(dd) Not applicable

(ee) Not applicable

(ff) Not applicable

 

Reply:

1. Cases that may last longer than the prescribed turnaround time of 54 days for the issuing of an identity document and 47 days for requests for re-issue are those that do not meet the requirements or those under investigations where the client may be required to furnish additional information. This process applies to qualifying citizens including naturalised citizens. Documents attached by naturalised citizens are required to be verified before the processing and issuing of an identity document and it is always endeavoured to conclude the process within the specified set time frames.

(2) No. The Department continues to rollout the issuance of smart ID Cards in a phased- in approach. The process of expanding the Live Capture footprint and the verification process of the records for naturalised citizens are ongoing as are the system upgrades which will make provision for this category of applicants. Upon determination of adequate footprint and system status readiness, the Minister will make an announcement which will give naturalised citizens the opportunity to apply for Smart ID Cards.

Reply:

1. Yes. South African citizens who have lost South African citizenship during the past identified years are as follows:

(a)(i-ii) 2014 – 15: 2505 formally through renunciation

(b)(i-ii) 2015 – 16: 173 formally through renunciation

(c)(i-ii) 2016 – 17: 188 formally through renunciation

(2)(a) Citizenship can be terminated in terms of Section 8 of the South African Citizenship Act, Act no. 88 of 1995 which deals with deprivation of citizenship.

(2)(b) The Honourable Member is referred to section 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1995 which provides for the circumstances under which a person may cease to be a citizen

 

Reply:

1. The non-executive directorship was not declared before the specified company was awarded a R149 million contract to supply Eskom with wiring. The delegated Executive Authority is in engagement with the special advisor with regards to the declarations of interest.

2. Yes. The following business interests were declared by the specified Advisor:

 (i) Business Venture

 (ii) Vaal River City

 (iii) Titantrade

Reply:

The (a) Department of Energy and (b) entities reporting to the Minister have never procured any services and/or made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger or (b) (ii) Only NTP (A Wholly-Owned Necsa Subsidiary) in August 2016, NTP Radioisotopes appointed Vuma Reputation Management (Pty) Ltd. (b) (ii) (aa) Services from Vuma Reputation Management (Pty) Ltd were procured to provide ad-hoc media, stakeholder engagement and related services to drive and enhance the reputation of NTP’s global operations and nuclear medicine product portfolio.

(b) (ii) (bb) The RFQ process (NTP-RFQ07122016), adjudication and final appointment was handled by NTP Procurement and NTP Finance in accordance with the Necsa / NTP procurement policies and procedures, and was in accordance with the criteria set out in the Preferential Policy Procurement Framework Act, Act No: 5 of 2000.

Since the value of the work to be done would be on an ad hoc basis, the overall RFQ value was capped at R500,000-00 (excl. VAT), for services rendered.

(b) (ii) (dd) When these ad hoc services were required, Vuma Reputation Management (Pty) Ltd, would be engaged using the approved resource / hourly rate as per the accepted quote.

To date, NTP has utilised the services of Vuma Reputation Management (Pty) Ltd to the value of R338,443-00, which amounts have been paid against invoices for work done.

(b) (ii) (cc)(ee) (ff) Details of the work done and payments made to date can be found below:

ACTIVITY	PAYMENT
South African Society of Nuclear Medicine (SASNM) pre- and post-congress stakeholder, events and media management.	R59,280
South African Society of Nuclear Medicine (SASNM) – arranging of stakeholder engagement dinner with congress speakers and high profile delegates.	R45,600
Meetings and briefing sessions on various projects held with client from 11 August – 14 September 2016 relating to enhancing NTP brand through internal and external communications campaigns.	R42,294
Stakeholder key message deployment covering the following: o Stakeholder mapping o SWOT analysis and presentation o Consolidation of results o Messaging and development plan	R93,913
Meetings with client to discuss: o   Key messages and matrix o   Overview of presentation	R25,080
Annual membership to: o   African Chapter of International Brand and Reputation Community (INBREC)	R23,940
Social Media Strategy and Policy Development	R48,336

Reply:

There are no delays. The development of an e-permitting capability is a priority of the Immigration Services’ Branch and has been included as an outcome within the Departmental Modernisation Programme for 2017-18.

Reply:

1. (a). Following the forensic investigation into Enyokeni Cultural Precinct and in order to determine if the Department received value for money, the Department obtained the services of Rubiquant Quantity Surveyors firm. The completion of the multipurpose amphitheatre facility together with other structures that are incomplete motivated the continuation of the Enyokeni project, which if not finalised, could lead to further wasteful and fruitless expenditure and could become white elephants. Furthermore, the project is in line with the Department of Arts and Culture’s (DAC) mandate to develop, preserve, protect and promote arts, culture and heritage for a creative and inclusive nation. The project also has the potential of helping the DAC fulfil its strategic outcome-oriented goals based on the National Development Plan and Government’s Programme of Action which include the creation of a transformed and productive Arts, Culture and Heritage (ACH) sector that actively develops, preserves, protects and promotes diverse ACH, an effective and efficient ACH sector, an effective/impactful nation building and social cohesion programme and a professional and capacitated ACH Sector.

The motivation to continue with the project is based on recognition of its cultural and heritage value that also has the potential for the creation of job opportunities, sustainable cultural tourism, rural infrastructure development and socio-economic development.

(b). The R28.1 million budgeted for the Enyokeni project in the 2017-18 financial year is the cost estimate for the completion of the multipurpose amphitheatre facility subject to confirmation by Bill of Quantities (BoQ).

2. The termination of projects in collaboration with the Independent Development Trust was prompted by the findings of the final report by Rubiquant Quantity Surveyors which indicated that the DAC did not receive value for money in the implementation of Enyokeni Cultural Precinct Project and other Departmental infrastructure projects. Among others, the report outlines the following findings:

(a). The Department has been overcharged for a range of professional services as well as for the materials used on the Enyokeni Cultural Precinct. This is evident from the contracting that went beyond acceptable industry norms of 9% to 15% of the total project value to 30% that was charged on the Department.

(b). The report further indicates that the quantity in the tender Bill of Quantities (BoQ) was changed after the tender was advertised and such rectification caused high upward movement of the unit rates. While this is attributable to human error the DAC should have been notified of the possible escalation so that provision is made for such in the allocated budget for the project.

(c). The Department was overcharged on the materials used such as G7, 8, 9 gravel and C4 filling that was above the market related prices. Concrete, fencing and gates tariffs were also found to be higher than market tariffs.

(d). The Department was further overcharged on contractors preliminaries. Contractors generally charge preliminaries between 7.5% and 12.5% in relation to the value of the works.

(e). The assessment of the award of the contract at a price above what the actual cost of the project could have been.

3. With reference to the findings of the forensic investigation into the specified project, the details of the officials who were found to have been involved and charged with impropriety; as well as the progress thereto is as follows:

(a) Three (3) former officials of the Department who were involved in the project were found to have been implicated in and the following was preferred against each of the officials:

i. disciplinary action – against the senior official who was appointed to manage the ECP project from the Office of the former DG;

ii. Criminal charges – against the erstwhile Director General for violation of section 38 (1) of the PFMA; and the former Acting Director General of the DAC for the contravention of sections 86 (1) of the PFMA read with sections 38, 39, and 40 of the PFMA.

3 (b) The progress of the charges in each case is as follows:

(i) Disciplinary charges against the senior manager were transferred to his current employer for the attention of the then Acting Head of Department, Gauteng Human Settlement. The current employer was requested to proceed with disciplinary processes in line with Section 16B (4)(b)(ii) of the Public Service Act, 1994, as amended.

ii. Criminal charges against the erstwhile Director General and former Acting Director General were registered with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the HAWKS), under the Serious Economic Offences Unit in April 2016. The Department registered a number of criminal charges which include Enyokeni, and the investigations are in progress. The Department has been making follow-up on progress and continues to do so.

Reply:

• No, the staff complement of the administration programme did not increase.
• The increase is due to allocation to goods and services (Office Accommodation sub-programme)

1. In the Office Accommodation sub-programme of the administration programme.
2. The projected expenditure is for operating leases of the department and its entities (R85.7 million) as well as municipal services for the department (R20.0 million).

Reply:

(a) During the 2016 calendar year, there were 9033 patent applications (provisional and complete) filed at CIPC and 4307 complete applications granted in 2016. Provisional patent applications contain only the specification of the invention and are valid for only 12 months in order to allow the inventor to work further on their invention. They do not proceed to grant. Complete patent applications contain both the specifications and claims of the invention. The said application will proceed to grant once it complies with all relevant formal requirements. The granted patent is valid for 20 years if renewed annually and the prescribed renewal fee is paid.

(b) In terms of the South African Patent Act 57 of 1978, as amended, the complete patent applications must be filed by a Patent Attorney or Patent Agent. Therefore, CIPC does not have data based on the racial demographics as applicants can either be a natural person or juristic person.

Reply:

(a) No and

(b) No

End

Reply:

a) From November 2016 to June 2017, 199 729 account units were registered.

b) SANRAL, as the Agency responsible for National Roads and the GFIP is currently issuing civil summonses to thousands of debtors. Some of these matters are far advanced and several court cases are foreseen shortly that will clarify the legal obligation to pay toll for the GFIP toll-roads. This is an ongoing process.

Reply:

a) The Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) Programme was originally approved by Cabinet in 2005. The Cabinet approval entailed, amongst others, that a hybrid solution architecture, which comprised a mix of commercial off the shelf (COTS) and bespoke (in-house developed) modules, would be implemented. For purposes of this document this approach is referred to as “IFMS 1”. As a result of challenges that were experienced in the execution of the IFMS, a number of independent reviews were commissioned during 2013 in order to obtain a holistic view of its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improved execution of the Programme. Based on the recommendations emanating from these reviews, it was recommended to Cabinet that a revised approach to the IFMS solution architecture should be implemented, which entails that a single COTS solution, with minimal customization, should be utilized in future. The revised approach (for purposes of this document referred to as “IFMS 2”) was approved by Cabinet on 20 November 2013 which is regarded as the inception date for the current approach to the execution of the IFMS.

b) The implementation of the IFMS has been delayed by a number of challenges that have been encountered. These include the complexity of managing a multi-stakeholder programme, extended procurement and contract negotiation processes and insufficient internal skills for the development and integration of the various modules during IFMS 1.

c) In the question reference is made to “Government entities”. It should be noted that the scope of the IFMS is at this stage limited to Public Service departments as listed in the schedules to the Public Service Act, 1994. As part of IFMS 1 some modules were implemented in a limited number of lead sites. These included a human resource management module which was implemented in the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), a procurement management module in National Treasury and an asset management module in a number of departments in the Limpopo Provincial Administration. The human resource management module is currently being used by DPSA. Any modules still in use will eventually be replaced by the single COTS solution procured for IFMS 2.

d) The following can be regarded as successes in relation to IFMS 2:

1. The procurement of a single COTS enterprise resource planning system that will form the technology platform for the IFMS, from Oracle South Africa.
2. The establishment of a dedicated Programme Management Office to manage the IFMS going forward, in National Treasury.
3. The establishment of various governance bodies, with representation from key Programme stakeholders, to govern and oversee the execution of the Programme. These include a Programme Committee, a Risk Committee, a Communications Committee, a Business Owners Committee and an Architecture Board.
4. The mapping and documentation of Public Service business processes in the areas of human resource management, financial management, supply chain management and payroll management in consultation with the various policy owners. These business processes, which are based on best practices, will assist in the design and development of the IFMS.
5. A number of pilot and lead sites, which include both national and provincial departments, have been identified and engagements with these departments are on-going.
6. Detailed planning for the next phases of the Programme, which include the design and development of the solution and its implementation in pilot and lead sites, is being finalized.

e) National Treasury is funding the development and implementation of the IFMS. Questions relating to the cost of the Programme should therefore be directed at National Treasury.

f) It is believed that the IFMS will make a significant contribution in combating corruption in the Public Service. Some of the inherent features of the solution, such as keeping audit trails of transactions and the elimination of manual processes, will assist in this regard. The intention is also to integrate the IFMS with existing systems such as the e-Disclosure system on which certain categories of public servants must declare their financial interests, the Central Supplier Database in National Treasury and the population register in Home Affairs (which will assist to eliminate “ghost workers”).

End

Reply:

The total number of Government employees appointed on PERSAL in each (a) national and (b) provincial department, as at the end of May 2017, is provided in the table below.

Number of appointments by national and provincial department
as on 31 May 2017
National/Provincial department	Number
Eastern Cape	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1 428
	Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism	545
	Education	67 948
	Health	39 519
	Human Settlements	606
	Office of the Premier	405
	Provincial Treasury	463
	Roads and Public works	4 891
	Rural Development and Agrarian Reform	2 822
	Safety and Liaison	142
	Social Development	4 496
	Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture	1 158
	Transport	1 505
	Total	125 928
Free State	Agriculture	1 027
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	378
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	697
	Education	28 490
	Health	17 600
	Human Settlements	314
	Office of the Premier	623
	Police, Roads and Transport	3 148
	Provincial Treasury	380
	Public Works	1 747
	Social Development	1 929
	Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation	914
	Total	57 247
Gauteng	Agriculture and Rural Development	901
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	670
	Community Safety	1 172
	E-Government	756
	Economic Development	457
	Education	85 442
	Health	68 410
	Human Settlements	819
	Infrastructure Development	2 580
	Office of the Premier	516
	Provincial Treasury	856
	Roads and Transport	2 105
	Social Development	4 189
	Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation	649
	Total	169 522
KwaZulu-Natal	Agriculture and Rural Development	2 765
	Arts and Culture	531
	Community Safety and Liaison	169
	Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs	1 548
	Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs	719
	Education	107 611
	Finance	498
	Health	70 000
	Human Settlements	736
	Office of the Premier	619
	Public Works	1 765
	Social Development	3 693
	Sport and Recreation	244
	Transport	4 148
	Total	195 046
Limpopo	Agriculture, and Rural Development	2 926
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	2 157
	Economic Development, Environment and Tourism	1 227
	Education	56 820
	Health	35 810
	Office of the Premier	474
	Provincial Treasury	511
	Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure	3 311
	Safety, Security and Liaison	122
	Social Development	3 303
	Sports, Arts and Culture	484
	Transport	2 221
	Total	109 366
Mpumalanga	Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs	1 376
	Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs	815
	Community Safety, Security and Liaison	1 425
	Culture, Sport and Recreation	420
	Economic Development and Tourism	227
	Education	40 695
	Health	20 338
	Human Settlements	375
	Office of the Premier	249
	Provincial Treasury	289
	Public Works, Roads and Transport	3 492
	Social Development	1 932
	Total	71 633
National National	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	5 930
	Arts and Culture	466
	Basic Education	860
	Civilian Secretariat for the Police Service	129
	Communications	106
	Cooperative Governance	513
	Correctional Services	40 656
	Economic Development	117
	Energy	586
	Environmental Affairs	1 892
	Government Communication and Information System	433
	Health	2 230
	Higher Education and Training	28 015
	Home Affairs	10 250
	Human Settlements	627
	Independent Police Investigative Directorate	427
	International Relations and Cooperation	2 297
	Justice and Constitutional Development	22 280
	Labour	8 073
	Military Veterans	240
	Mineral Resources	1 094
	National School of Government	239
	National Treasury	2 497
	Office of the Chief Justice	1 837
	Office of the Public Service Commission	263
	Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation	351
	Police	194 802
	Public Enterprises	193
	Public Service and Administration	500
	Public Works	5 844
	Rural Development and Land Reform	5 532
	Science and Technology	450
	Small Business Development	199
	Social Development	895
	Sport and Recreation South Africa	188
	Statistics South Africa	3 314
	Telecommunications and Postal Services	307
	The Presidency	602
	Tourism	519
	Trade and Industry	1 401
	Traditional Affairs	81
	Transport	667
	Water and Sanitation	6 078
	Women	107
	Total	354 087
North West	Community Safety and Transport Management	1 531
	Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs	699
	Economy and Enterprise Development	210
	Education and Sport Development	30 978
	Finance	615
	Health	17 557
	Local Government and Human Settlements	520
	Office of the Premier	795
	Public Works and Roads	2 917
	Rural, Environment and Agriculture Development	1 495
	Social Development	2 436
	Tourism	154
	Total	59 907
Northern Cape	Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	589
	Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs	620
	Economic Development and Tourism	208
	Education	12 730
	Environment and Nature Conservation	253
	Health	6 968
	Office of the Premier	259
	Provincial Treasury	339
	Roads and Public Works	895
	Social Development	958
	Sport, Arts and Culture	467
	Transport, Safety and Liaison	383
	Total	24 669
Western Cape	Agriculture	949
	Community Safety	341
	Cultural Affairs and Sport	620
	Economic Development and Tourism	232
	Education	41 456
	Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	391
	Health	32 254
	Human Settlements	473
	Local Government	374
	Premier	1 168
	Provincial Treasury	357
	Social Development	2 203
	Transport and Public Works	2 342
	Total	83 160
Total	1 250 565
Data source: PERSAL
Compiled by the DPSA
Excludes Defence and State Security Agency
Excludes periodical and abnormal type of appointments

END

Reply:

(a) The Annual Income generated from Day visitors entering through all gates of the Kruger National Park for 2016-17 totalled R120, 772,581.00.

(b) The number of vehicles that enter Kruger during the 2016-17 financial year through all of the gates collectively is 539 088

(c) Gates are the control point for entering and departing guests accessing the Park by road. Guests arriving by air is recorded at the Conservation Office located at the Skukuza Airport. All guests and vehicles as well as Conservation Fees collected are recorded in an online system (Roomseeker) from where vehicle permits (indicating the number of guests, and approved entry and exit dates) and receipts for monies received are issued. The number of visitors and tourism income forms part of the Predetermined Objectives of SANParks and are accordingly audited by SANParks Internal Audit and the Auditor-General.

(d) There is no “vehicle” fee for SANParks. Entrée fees are per person and free entrant persons are recorded.

(e) The monies are reflected under Conservation fees in the Annual Financial Statements.

(f) Entrance Fees were never specifically (temporarily or otherwise) increased for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

---ooOoo---

Reply:

1. In order to ensure compliance with the legal prescripts and processes enshrined in the AARTO legislation, the RTIA has developed Standard Operating Procedures. The Standard Operating Procedures will be published as part of the Regulations in order to ensure compliance by all role players.

2. The RTIA regards every aspect raised in the representation made as a technical issue. To this extent, the number of representations that the RTIA dealt with since the pilot phase since 2008 up to 31 March 2017, is 506 984 representations.

3. The RTIA is in the process of giving effect to the court order in relation to the specified judgement. The Court made a ruling in respect of specified representations that were in dispute particularly due to the inconsistent adjudication outcomes. In this respect the specified representations will be reviewed and be made successful.

4. 

City of Joburg - AARTO Area
YEAR	Fatal Crashes	Pedestrian	Driver	Passenger	M/Cyclist	Cyclist	TOTAL Fatalities
"2012	556	363	206	73	1	607	649
"2013	693	431	188	148	11	7	785
"2014"	533	337	127	94	17	4	579
"2015	698	441	154	127	22	10	754
"2016	746	478	138	137	35	14	802
City of Tshwane - AARTO Area
YEAR	Fatal Crashes	Pedestrian	Driver	Passenger	M/Cyclist	Cyclist	TOTAL Fatalities
"2012	512	247	245	110	1	9	612
"2013	578	264	240	183	3	7	697
"2014"	482	243	135	148	14	18	558
"2015	537	254	168	141	31	16	610
"2016	618	313	186	166	24	7	696
Combined
YEAR	Fatal Crashes	Pedestrian	Driver	Passenger	M/Cyclist	Cyclist	TOTAL Fatalities
"2012	1068	610	451	183	2	616	1261
"2013	1271	695	428	331	14	14	1482
"2014"	1015	580	262	242	31	22	1137
"2015	1235	695	322	268	53	26	1364
"2016	1364	791	324	303	59	21	1498

5. The AARTO Bill is still in Parliament, once Parliament has gazetted for further public engagement the AARTO Bill will be enacted then become South African Legislation.

Reply:

a) Regular maintenance is undertaken by the Department and its agencies.

b) No steps can be taken against officials if regular maintenance is done accordingly.

c) Officials cannot be suspended or charged when they are doing their duty and the systems are available

Reply:

1.The section of the M1 Freeway on which the above questions refer to, is under the jurisdiction of the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport.

(a) and (b) falls away

2. (a) and (b) falls away

Reply:

Response (a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)

The Minister and Deputy Minister make use only of the security services offered in terms of the Ministerial Handbook. Such security services are provided only to the Minister and Deputy Minister and not family or staff members.

(aa) VIP Drivers/Protectors are appointed to provide security and driving services to the Minister/Deputy Minister.

(bb) The South African Police Services (SAPS) is responsible for the payment of such services.

(cc) These services comply with the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook.

(c) c(i) c(ii) c(iii) (aa) (bb) (cc)

The Head of the dti’s listed entities do not make use of security services paid for by the state for themselves, nor their families nor any of their staff members.

Reply:

Maintenance is being undertaken on information technology facilities and systems within the Road Traffic Management Corporation;

(a) N/A

(b) N/A

(c) (i) N/A

(ii) N/A;

In the period 2016/17 the Corporation upgraded the Network Security and is in full control of the perimeter firewall for all internal systems. Various core infrastructure components have been refreshed to facilitate the Virtualisation of the corporation’s servers. The Corporation has also implemented an Oracle EBS solution to integrate core financial, human capital, fleet management, asset management and payroll functions.

 

Reply:

Response for the Department and Entities

No approval is granted for employees to conduct business with the state. In addition the “Standard Bidding Document SBD 4” covers the declaration of interest and the requirement stipulated therein eliminate the risk of anyone doing business with the state.

Reply:

a) No and

b) No

END

Reply:

The Honourable members of the National Assembly are requested to take note:

(i) That the development of the Road Safety Strategy is part of the operational activities. It must be noted that unlike legislation and policy matters, the tabling of the operational activities at Parliament is not a standard practice. However, the Road Safety Strategy can be presented at the Portfolio Committee upon request.

(ii) That the process to develop the Road Safety Strategy before tabling it for Cabinet approval was widely consultative and very exhaustive, with multiple stakeholders taking interest. The National Road Safety Strategy was closing a crucial policy gap and addressing an urgent national malaise on the country's roads, thus cannot be delayed any further.

(iii) That the subsequent step after Cabinet approved the Strategy is to implement it in the fight against road carnage. Had this been a matter of a Policy shift or changing of Legislation, it would have been brought forward to serve before Parliament but in its current form, the strategy contains operational techniques to use in order to effectively make our roads safe.

Reply:

Yes, regular maintenance is being undertaken on information technology facilities and systems within the Road Traffic Infringement Agency,

a) N/A

b) N/A

c) N/A (i) N/A (ii) N/A;

Maintenance of Data Center/ Server Room Facility is done at least once per annum, the following equipment are maintained:

Air Conditioning System, Fire Detector and Suppression System, Water Detection System, Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), Humidity Monitoring System, Power conditioning and Distribution System (PDU).

Maintenance of Network Infrastructure such as Internet, Intranet, Internal Systems, E-Mail and Web infrastructure is done on a daily basis. Proactive security measures are taken by updating RTIA system into latest updates and patches to protect against cyber-attacks.

 

Reply:

 

South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) Information Technology (IT) Department has formulated and put measures in place to ensure regular maintenance of Information Technology infrastructure and systems. The following are as follows

1. Infrastructure

• Systems are in place to monitor performance of the infrastructure to ensure its ability to operate the critical systems that are used by the organization to carry out its duties.
• The performance of the system is monitored frequently to ensure maximum availability at expected levels.

2. Applications Systems

• Business and operations are regularly monitored to also ensure availability to the clients at all times.
• There is a dedicated effort to ensure that these performed as expected and also at expected levels.

Systems generated reports are used to monitor performance and point to the nature or type of maintenance that will be required. As part of maintenance, there are also regular reviews with service providers to address issues prior to them escalating to problems.

The maintenance of the systems and the infrastructure has contributed significantly to avoiding down times and reducing systems and infrastructure performance inconveniences to very low levels which is critical to availability through high uptime.

 

Reply:

a) The SA National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) is aware that the concrete palisade fence along the N3 freeway near Alexandra, Johannesburg is continuously being vandalised by the community. The community (pedestrians) removes the fence uprights to gain access into the road reserve in order to walk a shorter distance to the Industrial area across the freeway, through the N3 freeway and Marlboro Drive.

b) There are no structures built or erected within the road reserve. The erected structures are within the yards, at the back of the houses.

• (i)  As part of the SANRAL’s maintenance strategy, the national road network is continuously under the supervision of the Routine Road Maintenance (RRM) engineering consultants and contractors, who patrol their respective routes daily. Regarding the above-mentioned route, the RRM engineering consultant and contractor has inspected the area. The fence has been broken in two localized areas.
• (ii)  The fence is being repaired continuously due to vandalism by pedestrians referred to in (a) above. The contractor has been instructed to repair the fence and will commence with the work as soon as the funds are available.

Reply:

The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency undertakes regular maintenance on a quarterly basis on its information technology facilities.

(a) – (c) (ii) Not applicable.

Reply:

Yes, regular maintenance is being undertaken on information technology facilities and systems within the Airports Company SA.

The necessary critical maintenance is taking place for the IT Facilities. Contracts are in place to enable the maintenance of critical systems and in some areas where contracts have expired, tenders to continue the services are currently being prepared for publishing on open market processes. We also have a three-year hardware maintenance and replacement plan as part of IT Digital Strategy approved by Exco, IT Steercom and the ACSA Board to refresh/ replace obsolete equipment that are expensive to maintain. That plan is being implemented as and when there is a need in different business units across the company.

Reply:

Regular monthly scheduled maintenance, within the prescripts of the Cost Containment Instructions issued by the National Treasury, is undertaken on information technology facilities and systems within the Road Accident Fund, and performed in accordance with an approved Maintenance Calendar developed in terms of a Board approved ICT Service Management Policy; consequently, questions (a), (b), (c)(i) and(ii) are not applicable.

Reply:

1. Information Technology (IT) facilities and systems are maintained on a regular basis. Annually, an IT budget is compiled for the maintenance of all IT facilities and systems.2. 

2. Maintenance plans are documented and aligned to documented procedures. The plans include Daily, Weekly and Monthly schedules. Maintenance activities are outlined below:

2.1 Patching the IT system for software upgrades, for example, Anti-Virus patches;

2.2 Proactive monitoring and maintenance of our Database environment as well as conducting daily backups;

2.3 Manage disaster recovery on critical data;

2.4 Continuous monitoring of overall (IT) facilities and systems health checks for resolution of urgent issues;

2.5 Proactive monitoring and maintenance of the Wide Area Network and Equipment by External Service Provider;

2.6 Manage software updates and migration data to the Production environment.

3. Service Level Agreements are signed with External Service Providers for maintenance of specialist services and equipment.

Reply:

(a), (b), (c), (i), (ii):The South African Civil Aviation Authority ensures regular monitoring and maintenance of its hardware and software information technology facilities and systems.

NW1910E

Reply:

a) The National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) is operational and no system is offline. The Department is aware that 2 of the 5 Live Capture Units (LCUs) deployed at the Driving License Testing Centre are not operational. The Driving License Card Account (DLCA) entity, which is currently responsible for the maintenance of the equipment is working towards a solution to this problem.

b) Services are being rendered and no member of the public is turned away. There are however delays due to only 3 LCUs being fully operational. The DLCA has deployed technicians to fix the faulty 2 LCUs but in the long term the units will have to be replaced.

c) The services are not offline as indicated in (b) above, the technical team is working on the replacement of the 2 LCUs that are not working.

d) The staff in question are administration staff, hence they are performing other administrative functions.

e) The challenges experienced by the DLCA is that the current LCUs are old and some of the parts are no longer available in the market. The Department is working with National Treasury on new acquisition of new LCUs.