Questions and Replies

Reply:

(a) Yes -Government is involved in a continuum of actions securing the release of Mr Stephen McGowan, involving support from any of the Government Departments when needed. Actions were taken since March 2016, including, but not limited to, considering every viable option to ensure his release. Government continued to liaise with other Governments and agencies who may contribute to effect the release of Mr McGowan. Disclosing any details of actions taken at this stage will not serve a proper purpose but the House should know that Government did not leave any stone unturned to secure the release of Mr McGowan and will continue to assign resources and sincere efforts to ensure his return to South Africa..

(b)The exact location of Mr Stephen McGowan is not known, because it is a known trend of the captors to move their captives with regular intervals, ensuring their safety and security. Different groups are publicly known to capture tourists in Mali and, although more information about the group may be sourced, providing more information on the group is not in the interest of the matter being dealt with.

(c)Government is working with many other Governments and agencies in an effort to effect the release of Mr Stephen McGowan. Providing details on each of these organisations at this stage may compromise his safety.

UNQUOTE

Reply:

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) did not procure any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

The National School of Government (NSG) has neither procured any services nor made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

(b) (i) No – The Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) has not procured nor had any need to procure any services from the Decolonisation Foundation.

(ii) No – The CPSI has not made any payments nor had any need to make payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

(dd) Not applicable

(ff) Not applicable

End

Reply:

An LRP Charter does not apply to our regulatory context , since all LRP administrative matters are regulated through domestic legislation applicable to the respective countries of accreditation. Therefore, DIRCO does not have such a charter.

a) Not applicable

b) Not applicable

Reply:

a) The Department is in the process of analysing the comments received from the public, once done the Department will also consult sister departments for comments and submit to Cabinet for processing. The updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) will then be submitted to Parliament for processing.

b) i) The next step is to analyse the public inputs, make adjustment to assumptions used where necessary, rerun the base case, run scenarios and come up with a balanced scenario (draft IRP) before policy adjustment. We anticipate having the plans to Cabinet by the fourth quarter of 2017/18 financial year.

c) Once Cabinet has processed the updated IRP &IEP,..

d) i) Once Cabinet approves the IRP it will be submitted to Parliament for processing

    ii) See response to question (c)

(e) (i) See response to question (a)

    (ii) See response to question (c)

 

Reply:

Paragraph 1.2.4 of Chapter 5 of the Ministerial Handbook relates to the purchase of motor vehicles for Members. There are proposals to amend this provision as part of the review of the Ministerial Handbook.

(a) It is expected that the review of the Ministerial Handbook will be completed once the Joint Cabinet Committee has considered the content and approved a revised Ministerial Handbook.

(b)The details of the revised Ministerial Handbook will be made available as soon as it is approved by the Cabinet.

End

Reply:

(a) (i) Total number of grievances handled during the period 01 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 is thirty two (32), and all thirty two (32) were concluded.

 

Nature of grievance	Number	Status
Unfair PMDS process	2 (two)	Finalised
Unfair recruitment and selection process	3 (three)	Finalised
Verbal abuse and intimidation	2 (two)	Finalised
Failure by the department to assist officials serving abroad with medical aids	1 (one)	Finalised
Disapproval of resignation	1 (one)	Finalised
Unilateral decision by the CFO to discontinue education allowance	6 (six)	Finalised
Failure by the department to upgrade the officials’ qualifications from FAA to MAC	4 (four)	Finalised
Harrasment and victimization	1 (one)	Finalised
Disapproval to undergo surgery abroad	1 (one)	Finalised
Exclusion from management meetings	1 (one)	Finalised
Disapproval of an application to attend MAC bridging course	1 (one)	Finalised
Disapproval of transfer back to South Africa	1 (one)	Finalised
Failure to upgrade post to high level	4 (four)	Finalised
Disapproval to attend a course	1 (one)	Finalised
False accusations	2 (two)	Finalised
Non payment of COLA	1 (one)	Finalised

(ii) Twelve (12) misconduct cases were handled and finalised during the period 01 April 2015 to 31 March 2016. See the table in paragraph (C)

(b) Twelve (12) grievances were from officials stationed abroad while twenty (20) were from officials at DIRCO Head Office

(bb) One (1) misconduct case was for the official stationed abroad and the remaining eleven (11) were for officials at DIRCO Head Office

(c) The nature of sanctions that were meted out in each misconduct case are as follows:

Nature of Misconduct	Sanction
Plagiarism	Not Guilty
Fraud	Dismissal
Insubordination	Not Guilty
Breach of Security	Final Written Warning plus recovery of COLA Allowance
Failure to disclose conflict of interest	One month Suspension without pay plus final written warning
Direlection of duty	Written Warning
Contravention of the procurement policy	Written warning
Gross negligence and dishonesty	Final written warning
Fraud	Final written warning plus one month suspension without pay
Misrepresentation and fraud	Dismissal
Irregular processes of the DBAC	Final written warning plus counselling
Absenteeism	Written warning

(d) All the cases have been finalised

(e) See the answer in (d)

Unquote.

Reply:

1. (a) The information that the Honourable Member is seeking is currently going through an audit process in order to ensure its accuracy. However, we will gladly provide such information in the 2016/17 Annual report which will be tabled in Parliament in August 2017 as prescribed in the PFMA.

(2) (a) The total budget for Supported Enterprises is R141 million and

(b) Marketing-advertising budgets is R4.4 million

Reply:

The State Security Agency (SSA) has no company called Decolonisation Foundation in its data base.

Reply:

1.The person referred to, is said by the member that he is a suspended person from Crime Intelligence.

2. Crime Intelligence does not have its mandate on the Minister of State Security.

3. Labour Relations Act and Basic Conditions Employment Act defines every Employment Relations of everyone in the Employment of the State.

Reply:

(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f); The information that the Honourable Member is seeking is currently going through an audit process in order to ensure its accuracy. However, the Entities and the Department will gladly provide such information in their respective 2016/17 Annual reports which will be tabled in Parliament in August 2017 as prescribed in the PFMA.

Reply:

The State Security Agency (SSA) has no Bell Pottinger in its data base of companies.

Reply:

the dti has facilitated numerous investments since 2012 and we are not aware of any of these companies divesting since then.

The General Motors decision is due to a commercial decision by its Head-Quarters in terms of its future global operations. Such divestment may also based on restructuring of the companies, mergers & acquisitions and general restrictive global market conditions.

Invest SA, offers as part of its services investor facilitation and aftercare and we are paying particular attention on the retention and maintenance of investment in the country. We have engaged with the steel sector, companies such as AMSA, Highveld, SC Smelters and well as companies in the renewables sector.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Energy and (b) its entities reporting to it has never; (i) procured; (ii) nor made any payments to the Decolonisation foundation.

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

(dd) Not applicable

(ee) Not applicable

(ff) Not applicable

Reply:

(a)(b) Not applicable.

________________________

Approved by the Minister on

Date………………………..

Reply:

(1) (a) The detailed breakdown of the 2014/15 and 2015/16 information can be gleaned in the Productivity South Africa’s Audited Financial statements and/or the Annual Reports that were tabled in Parliament in the periods in question.

(b) (i), (ii) & (iii) Detailed breakdown for 2016/17 is currently being audited and as such it will be premature and improper to provide such information at this stage. However the information will be provided in the Productivity South Africa/s Audited Financial Statements and/or in the 2016/17 Annual Report as prescribed.

(2) The projected budget for Productivity SA for 2017/18 Financial Year is in the region of R177 million.

(3) The staff complement of Productivity South Africa for the 2016/17 financial year is currently being audited and as such it will be premature to provide such information at this stage. However, the detailed information in this regard will be tabled in Parliament in August 2017 as prescribed.

Reply:

 

Neither the department nor its Entities procured any services or made any payments to Bell Pottinger or any other public relations firm.

Reply:

The Minister of Finance provided a guarantee to the Commonwealth Games Federation in support of South Africa’s hosting of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in June 2016. The guarantee was in respect of the operational budget for the Games of R2.7 billion and a contingency budget capped at R479 million (18% of the operational budget) for possible overruns.

In effect, this meant that the South African Government, through the national and provincial departments involved in the hosting of the Games (including the Departments of Sport and Recreation; Arts and Culture; Police; and Human Settlements) as well as the host city, eThekwini, would commit these funds towards the cost of hosting the Games. These departments and the eThekwini municipality were to reprioritise their baseline funds to cover these costs. There would be therefore no additional funds made available for the hosting of the Games.

Reply:

(1) The only full qualifications on offer by the Department are the National Certificate (Vocational) [NC (V)] Level 2, 3 and 4 qualifications. The total number of students who attained full NC (V) qualifications in the November 2016 examinations is 34 003 of which 16 031 completed NC (V) Level 2, 11 361 completed NC (V) Level 3 and 6 611 completed NC (V) Level 4.

(2) The total number of certificates printed and forwarded to public colleges for the November 2016 NC (V) Level 2, 3 and 4 examinations as at 30 April 2017 is 33 439 of which 15 798 were for NC (V) Level 2, 11 206 were for NC (V) Level 3 and 6 435 were for NC (V) Level 4.

(3) The challenges linked to the processing of the outstanding 564 NC (V) certificates (233 for Level 2, 155 for Level 3 and 176 for Level 4) for the November 2016 examinations are due to data problems and data processing inconsistencies detected in earlier examination cycles by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) during the clearing of the NC (V) certificates backlog. These challenges have had a knock-on effect on the processing of the outstanding certificates for the November 2016 cycle. SITA has committed that the challenges affecting the release of the outstanding certificates will be resolved by 30 June 2017.

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1100 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

DAFF

DAFF has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

PPECB

PPECB has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

OBP

OBP has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

NCERA

NCERA has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

ARC

ARC has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

NAMC

NAMC has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

MLRF

Marine Living Resources Fund (MLRF) has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

Reply:

(a) What amount did the National Empowerment Fund’s sponsorship of the Black Business Council (BBC) event on 15 May 2017 cost?

The NEF approved sponsorship of R150 000 including VAT, totalling R171 000.

(b) Which person(s) or organisation approached the BBC for this sponsorship?

The Acting CEO of the BBC approached the NEF for the sponsorship. BBC correspondence to the NEF dated 11 May 2017 states that:

“We have invited the Minister of Finance, Honourable Malusi Gigaba to be our guest speaker and engage the Black Business Council fraternity on a number of issues.”

The BBC therefore approached the NEF, as an entity with the mandate of driving the implementation of black economic empowerment policies, to be part of an engagement with the Minister of Finance on issues affecting black entrepreneurs in South Africa.

(c) What are the full relevant details of the processes followed in expending the amount in this way?

The NEF approved the sponsorship in accordance with its internal policies.

Reply:

Departmental transfers to public entities is governed by section 38(1)(j) of the Public Finance Management Act. Treasury regulation 8.4 sets out the framework for transfers and subsidies. In terms of Treasury Regulation 8.4.1, the accounting officer of a department must maintain appropriate measures to ensure that transfers to public entities are applied for intended purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, regular reporting procedures, internal and external audit requirements, regular monitoring procedures and scheduled and unscheduled inspection visits or reviews of performance.

Public entities strategic plans and annual performance plans are approved by the relevant Executive Authority and tabled in Parliament. These plans set out performance targets for public entities and in terms of Treasury Regulation 8.4.2, the accounting officer of a department may withhold transfers and subsidies to a public entity if, amongst others, the agreed objectives have not been attained and the transfer does not provide the value for money in relation to its purpose or objectives.

Treasury regulation 5.3.1 requires accounting officers of departments to establish procedures for quarterly reporting for effective performance monitoring, evaluation and corrective action.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Science and Technology:

a	(aa)	(bb)	(cc)	(dd)	(ee)	(ff)
(i)	(ii)
No	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

(b) The entities reporting to the Minister of Science and Technology:

b	(aa)	(bb)	(cc)	(dd)	(ee)	(ff)
(i)	(ii)
No	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Reply:

a) The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has neither procured any services from Decolonisation Foundation nor made any payment to Decolonization Foundation

Currently, in the context of its mandate, the Department does not anticipate any dealings or engagement with the Foundation.

b) The National Prosecuting Authority, Special Investigating Unit and Legal Aid South Africa have informed me that they have neither procured anything from, nor made any payments to the Decolonization Foundation.

c) The office of the Chief Justice has not conducted any business with the Decolonization Foundation.

d) The Department of Correctional Services has not conducted any business with the Decolonization Foundation.

Reply:

1. (a).My department has never procured any services from or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation

(b). none of the entities reporting to my Ministry (DAC)

    (i). have procured any services from the Decolonisation Foundation and/or

    (ii). made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

Please refer to the question 443 of 10 March 2017.

Reply:

a) The Department has defined its e-Transport architecture which is meant to integrate Transport transversal electronic services (e.g. eNaTIS, NLTIS, AARTO, Driving Licence etc) to enable them to be available online to improve citizen convenience, reduce queues and improve efficiency of integrated systems.

b) The expenditure is embedded in the operations of the current electronic services and it will be difficult to isolate because there is no special funding reserved for eTransport. But as cooperate with our agencies there is a focus to expand our services to make them available online. The current resources will be used to achieve the department’s online services.

Reply:

(a) The following universities are currently receiving bursaries for heritage promotion:

• Sol Plaatjie University
• University of Cape Town
• University of Venda
• University of South Africa
• University of Johannesburg
• University of Pretoria
• University of Kwazulu Natal
• Rhodes University
• North West University
• University of Witwatersrand
• Stellenbosch University
• University of the Western Cape.

(b)(i) A total of 95 bursaries have been awarded in the 2016/2017 financial year.

(b)(ii) 271 bursars are currently in the system.

(b)(iii) 180 students have completed their studies since the inception of bursaries five years ago.

Reply:

Schedule 5A of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act No 108 of 1996, which stipulates that libraries, other than national libraries, are an exclusive provincial legislative competence

Reply:

No.

Reply:

(a), (b) Not applicable

 

________________________

Approved by the Minister on

Date………………………..

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:

The Department’s spending on e-Government services is as following:

(a) 2016/17 expenditure was R1 million.

(b) 2017/18 projected expenditure is R2 million.

Reply:

1. (a) The police has submitted the docket to the prosecution on 9 May 2017.

(b) There is still a considerable amount of investigation outstanding, and further investigation is currently underway.

(c) Due to the fact that there is still a lot of investigation outstanding, on 17 May 2017 the prosecution postponed the matter in court to 11 July 2017, to allow further investigation. The accused were released on bail.

2. The prosecutor examined the docket and provided further guidance for police investigation.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department and each entity reporting to me as follows:

(a) No

(b) No

Reply:

The biggest risk to growth in 2017 lies in lower confidence. Achieving faster growth requires government to prioritise building confidence in households as well as foreign and local investors. This requires engagement with social partners, a focus on improving the ease of doing business to encourage investment and the development of Small Medium Enterprises as well as urgently addressing key structural reforms in the economy.

The National Treasury supports growth through the budget. The budget allocates resources according to the priorities and guidance of the National Development Plan.

In addition, the Minister of Finance and the National Treasury engage regularly with global and local investors to communicate Government’s fiscal and economic strategies and have also played an important role in Government engagements through the CEO initiative, to identify opportunities in labour intensive sectors such as agriculture and tourism to create jobs and growth.

Reply:

My assumption is that the question by the Honourable Member is in relation to the investigation that was done by the Special Investigating Unit into the affairs of Mhlatuze Water Board in Richards Bay. The investigation by the SIU was not into a particular individual but it was in relation to Mhlatuze Water Board as an Institution and as such, no findings were made in relation to a particular individual.

Reply:

The prevailing unemployment rate remains ominously high. To address the high unemployment rate will require greater effort to reignite growth in the economy. Government is focusing on three main areas: restoring investor confidence, improving the ease of doing business and implementing structural reforms to ensure inclusive growth. Extensive engagement with social partners should reinforce efforts to improve labour relations.

Government’s plans to reduce inequality and poverty; raise employment; and raise the standard of living of all South Africans is guided by the National Development Plan (NDP) supported through the allocation of budget resources according to the NDP priorities and direction.

The National Treasury oversees the following specific programmes to address unemployment, namely:

• the employment tax incentive which seeks to reduce the risk of hiring young, inexperienced workers;

• the learnership incentive which seeks to encourage the development of skills; and

• the Jobs Fund, which seeks to support innovative ways to support employment creation.

Additional details on government programmes to address unemployment can be directed to relevant departments such as Department of Labour, Department of Higher Education etc.

Reply:

No. Currently the provisions of the South African Reserve Bank Act, 1989 (Act No. 90 of 1989 – “SARB Act”), as amended by the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Act , 2010 (Act No. 4 of 2010 – “SARB Amendment Act), effectively rule out the possibility of anyone, through the accumulation of shares, exerting undue influence on the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”).

The Board of the SARB (“Board”) is a supervisory board and is strictly responsible for the corporate governance of the institution and not its day-to-day management. The Governors are vested with original powers of management and are responsible for the day-to-day management of the SARB, which includes monetary policy, bank supervision, financial stability and the payment system.

Previously, in the period before the SARB Act was amended in 2010 there was an absence of adequate preventative measures, private shareholding in a central bank could potentially create the risk of untoward actions by shareholders taken in pursuit of personal objectives rather than the public interest. Although a single shareholder in the SARB was in terms of the SARB Act restricted to holding not more than 10,000 shares and to no more than 50 votes at a meeting of shareholders, the SARB at times in the past (i.e. before 2010) experienced deliberate attempts at circumventing these limitations. Individual persons by utilising the names of minors, relatives, friends or other persons under their influence accumulated unduly large numbers of SARB shares under their control. This resulted in undue concentrations of SARB shares under the ultimate control of single persons, who could potentially utilise the commensurate number of votes under their control to exercise undue influence on the SARB for personal purposes and their own personal gain.

The SARB Amendment Act, which introduced substantial amendments to the legal structure and operations of the SARB, amongst other things, adequately addressed the previous anomaly. Major amendments constituted the introduction of the concept of “associates” in respect of shareholders or potential shareholders of the SARB and the establishment of a panel (established and convened by the Governor) to give effect to fit and proper principles with regard to non-executive directors elected by shareholders. It resulted in the existing numbers of SARB shares held by all persons who qualify as associates of a specific shareholder or potential shareholder being taken into account in the determination of the number of shares (limited to 10,000 shares) that the specific shareholder may lawfully hold or acquire. Shareholders were also hereafter only entitled to elect non-executive directors to the Board that had been declared eligible by the panel. The Board consists of fifteen directors (eleven non-executive and four executive directors) of which the President appoints eight, which includes the Governors. The shareholders elect the remaining seven.

Consequently, shareholders of the SARB have limited powers, which in addition to the above (at a general meeting of shareholders), are limited to discussing the annual report and financial statements of the SARB, appointing of the auditors and approving their remuneration and discussing special business duly placed on the agenda of the meeting.

Reply:

The OTO announced earlier this year that they will be launching an investigation with regards to the refund processes administered by SARS to better understand the challenges, risks and complexity associated with the process. The investigation is currently underway and SARS is committed to working with the OTO to give them the required insight into the process so that they will be able to satisfactorily give feedback to the public on their findings.

SARS would want the current investigation underway to first be concluded before additional responses to the topic at hand is made as this stage.

Reply:

Sections 39 and 40 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) places the responsibility of budgetary control and financial management on the accounting officer of the department, which in this case is the Director-General of the Department of Energy. Should fruitless and wasteful expenditure have taken place, Section 38(1)(g) requires the accounting officer to report the details of the case to the relevant treasury. The Department of Energy’s monthly expenditure report for March 2017 does not reflect any fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the department.

 

 

Reply:

Chapter 6 of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011 protects the confidentiality of all taxpayers and as such I am unable to provide any details of the Presidents’ tax affairs.

Reply:

1.Due to the confidential nature of some of the information requested and our legislative obligation to the protection of personal information governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act, SARS is prohibited from disclosing any employee specific information that may include names of individuals, qualifications, job specific information, length of service, work record, etc.

The following summarised information can however be made available:

1227 employees resigned during the period 1 September 2014 to 30 April 2017 and 82 employees were dismissed during the same period.

2. Due to the confidential nature of some of the information requested and our legislative obligation to the protection of personal information governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act, SARS is prohibited from disclosing any employee specific information that may include names of individuals, qualifications, job specific information, length of service, work record, etc.

The following summarised information can however be made available:

The attrition rate for SARS remained stable over a period of 7 years. There is in actual fact a significant decline in the rate between 2013/14 and 2016/17 financial year.

913 External applicants were recruited during the period 1 September 2014 and 30 April 2017.

2674 Internal applicants were appointed during the period 1 September 2014 and 30 September 2017.

Internal appointments as a percentage of external appointments are reflected in the table below:

External Recruitment	Internal Appointments	Total	% Internal Appointments
913	2674	3587	74.55%

All recruitment is based on the requirements of the job that is necessary in terms of years of service and experience and demanded by the job to be performed.

Reply:

NATIONAL TREASURY

(1)(a) No

(2)(a)(i)&(ii) No

(2)(a)(aa) N/A

(2)(a)(bb) N/A

ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD

(1) The Accounting Standards Board did not participate in the Dialogue with the President: Unpacking of the SONA 2017 on Radical Economic Transformation Implementation event.

(2) The Accounting Standards Board did not it participate in the auction of the (i) souvenirs or (ii) personal belongings of the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob G Zuma.

CO-OPERATIVE BANKS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

The Co-operative Banks Development Agency did not participate in the Dialogue with the President in Unpacking of the SONA 2017 on Radical Economic Transformation Implementation event hosted at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, Durban, on 25 February 2017

The Co-operative Banks Development Agency did not participate in the auction of the (i) souvenirs or (ii) personal belongings of the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob G Zuma.

DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

(1) (b) No

(2) (b)(i) (ii) No

(3) (aa) (bb) N/A

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE

1. The FIC did not take part in the Dialogue with the President: Unpacking of the SONA 2017 on Radical Economic Transformation Implementation event, hosted at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, Durban, on 25 February 2017.

1. The FIC did not participate in the auction of the (i) souvenirs or (ii) personal belongings of the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob G Zuma.

FINANCIAL SERVICES BOARD

(1) (a) Not applicable.

(b) The FSB did not participate in the event referred to.

(2) (a) Not applicable.

(b) The FSB did not participate in the event referred to.

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PENSION FUND

GEPF did not participate in the dialogue referred to in the question, and GEPF did not participate on the auction as mentioned in question 2.

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BOARD FOR AUDITORS

No person from IRBA participated in the dialogue with the President, and no person participated in the auction referred to in the question.

PENSION FUNDS ADJUDICATOR

1. (b) No

1. (b)(i) No

(b)(ii) No

LAND BANK

1. (a) The Land Bank did not participate at the above-mentioned event as it was not invited.

2. (a) The Land Bank did not participate in the auction of the souvenirs or personal belongings of the President as it was not invited.

(aa) nothing was purchased.

(bb) no cost to the Bank.

FAIS OMBUD

No person from FAIS Ombud participated in the dialogue with the President, and no person participated in the auction referred to in the question.

PUBLIC INVESTMENT CORPORATION

(1)(b) The PIC did not incur costs for any participation in the Dialogue with the President: Unpacking of the SONA 2017 at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga Durban.

2(b) The PIC did not participate in any auction of souvenirs or personal belongings of President Jacob G Zuma.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

1(b) SAA did not participate in the Dialogue with the President: Unpacking of the SONA 2017 on Radical Economic Transformation Implementation event hosted at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, Durban, on 25 February 2017.

2(b) SAA did not participate in the auction of the (i) souvenirs or (ii) personal belongings of the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob G Zuma.

SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICES

1. The South African Revenue Service did not participate in any dialogue with the President to unpack SONA 2017.

2. The South African Revenue Service did not participate in any auction pertaining to items belonging to the President of the Republic, Mr JG Zuma.

SASRIA

1. Sasria SOC Limited did not participate in the dialogue with the President: Unpacking of the SONA 2017 on Radical Economic Transformation Implementation event.
2. Sasria SOC Limited did not participate in the auction of the (i) souvenirs or (ii) personal belongings of the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob G Zuma

TAX OMBUD

The Office of the Tax Ombud did not participate in the auction of the (i) souvenirs or (ii) personal belongings of the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob G Zuma.

Reply:

(1)(a) The total number of staff members of the SA Revenue Service who have resigned during the period 1 September 2014 to 30 April 2017 is 1277.

(b) 82 Employees were dismissed during the period 1 September 2014 to 30 April 2017.

(c)(i) 166 Employees were suspended with full pay during the period 1 September 2014 to 30 April 2017.

(c)(ii) 43 Employees were suspended without pay during the period 1 September 2014 to 30 April 2017.

(2)(a) 913 External applicants were recruited during the period 1 September 2014 and 30 April 2017 to fill funded vacancies.

(b) The annual attrition rate is reflected in the table below per financial year:

Reply:

(a) & (b) The National Department of Human Settlements and the entities reporting to me have not (i) procured any services from and/or (ii) made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

Reply:

(1)(b) No, the National Treasury and South African Airways have not made any payment for the Board Chairperson to stay at the Oyster Box Hotel in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. National Treasury does not pay for accommodation for non-employees based on our internal policy.

(2)(b) Prohibited in terms of the National Treasury policy on Gifts, Donations and Sponsorships.

(3) No.

Reply:

(a) Department of Tourism

	(i) Procured any Services from the Decolonisation Foundation	(ii) Made payments to the Decolonisation Foundation
(aa) what services were procured	No service procured	No payments made
(bb) what were the total cost	Not applicable	Not applicable
(cc)what is the detail breakdown of the cost	Not applicable	Not applicable
(dd) What is the total amount paid	Not applicable	Not applicable
(ee) what was the purpose of payments	Not applicable	Not applicable
(ff) Is the detailed payment in each case	Not applicable	Not applicable

If no services were procured or payments made what is the Department’s position in this regard?

The department procure goods and services from service providers registered on the Central Supplier

Database through the normal tender procedure as prescribed.

(b) SA Tourism

	(iii) Procured any Services from the Decolonisation Foundation	(iv) Made payments to the Decolonisation Foundation
(aa) what services were procured	No service procured	No payments made
(bb) what were the total cost	Not applicable	Not applicable
(cc)what is the detail breakdown of the cost	Not applicable	Not applicable
(dd) What is the total amount paid	Not applicable	Not applicable
(ee) what was the purpose of payments	Not applicable	Not applicable
(ff) Is the detailed payment in each case	Not applicable	Not applicable

If no services were procured or payments made, what is SA Tourism’s position in this regard?

SA Tourism procures services and goods from suppliers registered on the central supplier database. The entity is guided by the prescripts of the PFMA and prescribed tender processes.

Reply:

(a) (i) 2014/15: R58,983,000, adjusted to R54,273,000

(ii) 2015/16: R55,662,000, adjusted to R94,698,000

(iii) 2016/17: R104,643,000, adjusted to R132,395,000

(b) R162,683.000

Reply:

1. The Minister of Finance does not have the authority to conclude country agreements for the nuclear new build programme on behalf of government. In addition, the Minister does not have the mandate to determine policy or implementation frameworks for the energy sector. The Minister of Finance’s role in this regard will relate to Sections 66 and 70 of the Public Finance Management Act, which requires concurrence for any guarantee, indemnity or security that binds the National Revenue Fund to future financial commitments. In addition, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act allows the Minister of Finance to make exemptions from provisions in the interests of national security, if the likely tenderers are international suppliers, or if it is in the public interest.

2. If any agreements have been concluded regarding project management and the construction of specified nuclear power plants, it would be between the relevant accounting authority and the service provider. Such agreements do not necessarily require the approval of the Minister of Finance.

Reply:

The Department and its entities have not procured any services from/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.

 

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1221 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

1. There is currently a satellite campus of the Ehlanzeni Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College operating in the Thaba Chweu Municipality at Lydenburg. The satellite campus is currently located in a municipal building.
2. The College undertook a basic feasibility assessment, and established that there is an immediate need to provide mining related programmes for the area and further identified the need to support the Tourism and Hospitality sector. As an interim response to this, the College supported by the Department is in the process of securing access to a building in closer proximity to the centre of the town. The College is also at an advanced stage of securing land from the Municipality.
3. At present, there is no allocated budget. The College is in the process of mobilising expressions of interest to fund the initiative from the various mines within the area.

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1080 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

No, neither the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, nor her departments and all entities reporting to her procured any services from and/or made any payments to the Decolonisation Foundation.