Questions and Replies

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

The first phase of the cabinet-approved National Infrastructure Plan 2050 refers to the state of infrastructure in the identified sectors without necessarily providing a blow-by-blow account of the condition assessment of specific components of infrastructure under examination. The NIP 2050 proposes, amongst others, the 3-year intervention and the more long-term interventions to remedy the deteriorating infrastructure; it proposes areas of intervention, including green design elements and financing.  

In addition, ISA has entered into a collaboration agreement with the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) to support them with collating information on the condition assessment of infrastructure within the respective provinces. This will augment the accuracy of the SAICE Infrastructure Report Card.

ISA is currently embarking on a project entitled the Infrastructure Barometer of South Africa that not only focuses on the information contained in the Infrastructure Report Card but also considers other reference material such as the World Bank and infrastructure information from project sponsors. The Infrastructure Barometer of South Africa report will be published in March 2023. The broad aim of the Infrastructure Barometer is to:

• report on the condition assessment and subsequent trends of infrastructure asset condition in South Africa by sector;
• report on the level of access to infrastructure and subsequent services by sector;
• develop specific Infrastructure Indices; and
• identify critical infrastructure interventions required.

Infrastructure South Africa is conducting research on infrastructure scenarios for 2050. The scenario analysis aims to describe the implications of three different levels of acceptance of infrastructure governance and delivery of smart infrastructure by the year 2050. This report will be published by November 2022.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) I have been informed by the Department that:

(i) hospitals and/or former hospital buildings, and

(ii) Warehouses, belonging to the Government that are not in use in each province, can be best dealt with by the National and Provincial Departments of Health.

(iii) residential buildings belonging to the Government that are not in use in each province are listed on the table below:

PROVINCE	NUMBER OF PROPERTIES
EASTERN CAPE	46
FREE STATE	14
GAUTENG	32
KWAZULU NATAL	17
MPUMALANGA	14
LIMPOPO	63
NORTHERN CAPE	16
NORTH WEST	17
WESTERN CAPE	40

(b) The unutilised properties listed were handed back to DPWI by various User Departments as they are no longer required. Most of the properties are not in a habitable state.

(c) The Department intends to re-allocate the unutilised properties to other socio-economic objectives of government such as Gender-Based Violence and Femicide shelters and rental to interested tenants/Investors for revenue generation.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

(a) I have been informed that the Department conducts annual occupancy audits of the Parliamentary Villages after all designation letters of sessional officials have been received from client Departments;

(b) Sessional officials are appointed on a yearly basis for a Parliamentary year.

(2) Yes, I received a complaint from the Minister of Tourism of six former sessional officials who are illegally occupying units at Acacia and Pelican Park Parliamentary Villages. The Department has instituted the process of eviction as at 12 May 2022. The Department has also requested that the SAPS at the gates refuse entry to the six former sessional staff members.

(3)

(a), (b) and (c)

Yes, the department will commence with the occupancy audit on the 01 July 2022;

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

a) There is a total of 3742 vacant properties owned by the Department;

b) The properties have been vacant for between two and 10 years;

c) The properties are unutilised;

d) The Department is currently conducting feasibility studies to determine the highest and best use of each property. It should be noted that some of the properties shall be made available to the market for letting-out, to create jobs and generate revenue for the state.

e) The total costs incurred for security is R15 266 382, 16.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)(a) I have been informed by the Department that there were no facilities management contracts in Pretoria for the specified periods. There are 67 Ministerial residences that the Department is maintaining through day-to-day maintenance. The scope of maintenance includes: plumbing, electrical, mechanical, civil and building works. Attached as annexure A are monthly maintenance costs for the specified periods.

(b) There was a facilities management contract in place in Cape Town for the period of 2019 until November 2020. There was no facilities management contract from December 2020. Maintenance was done through day-to-day reactive maintenance until March 2022 when a new Facilities Management contractor was appointed. The cost for day to day reactive maintenance went down from December 2020 because there was not preventative and proactive maintenance that was done. There are 63 ministerial residences and the scope of maintenance includes: plumbing, electrical, mechanical, civil and building works. Attached as Annexure B are monthly maintenance costs for the specified periods.

(2) There is no facilities management company that has been appointed for Ministerial residences in Pretoria. The envisaged date for finalisation of the appointment is November 2022. There is a facilities management company that has been appointed for Cape Town Ministerial residences as at March 2022.

(a) Tefla Group (Pty) LTD

(b) 5 years

(c) The envisaged cost for the maintenance of Ministerial residences will be R78 829 for corrective maintenance and R83 454 for preventative maintenance.

(3) I have requested the acting Director-General to do an assessment of the past three financial years to establish whether the Department received value for money.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

I have been informed by the Department that all treatment plans have been drafted to address the 30 findings in the BDO report

(a) There is no outstanding treatment plan

(b) Not Applicable.

(i) See the attached Annexure

(ii) See the attached Annexure

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) as follows:

(1)

(a) In 2020, CIDB went through an Organisational Design (OD) led by an independent service provider. The OD looked at restructuring the organogram, salary structure, and job grades. As a result, the job grades were reduced from 24 to 16 levels. This resulted in collapsing E4 and E5 to E Upper. The CIDB grades as follows: three lower subgrades, i.e. E 1-3, and one sub grade in the upper bands, e.g. E4 and E5 = E upper.

(b) To align more with CIDB current strategy, the Board prioritised expertise and qualifications in the built environment as a construction regulator. A Master's degree was added as an advantage to include those with experience and relevant qualifications.

(2) To expand the talent pool and include more people with disability, women, and youth, the Board opted to set the requirement in the advert in the manner that it was advertised.

(3) Same as above, in an effort to expand the talent pool to include more people with disability, women, and youth, the Board opted to set the requirement in the advert

(4) Six candidates met all the requirements including the added advantage: Master’s degree and

(a) were shortlisted accordingly.

(b) five candidates were interviewed as one candidate formally withdrew their candidature.

(5) The appointed individual exceeded the minimum requirements by having a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1) a)

(i) I have been informed by the Department that the following repairs are funded by the Department of Sport Arts and Culture:

Phase 1: Repair and maintenance was completed by 30 March 2022 and this was the external painting of the entire building & boundary wall including repairs of the ceiling that collapsed, bird proofing, replacement of broken windows and window frames, sanding and varnishing of doors.

Phase 2: Further repairs and maintenance are in progress. The contractor is on site undertaking the work, including the electrical upgrade. The estimated completion for all the infrastructural work is end of November 2022.

(ii) The estimated completion for all the infrastructural work is end November 2022. Thereafter the artworks, other collections and new installations will be reinstalled by the Curatorial Team. The aim is to reopen the IOTH to the public during Heritage Week 2023.

b) The client is responsible for maintenance work up to R1 million.

c) As indicated above repairs and maintenance are in progress, the contractor is on site undertaking the work.

(2) The estimated completion for all the infrastructural work is end November 2022

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1) I commissioned the report after a meeting with the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces on 07 October 2019. This followed a complaint by the Presiding Officers about the time, quality and budget overrun of the Prestige projects in Parliament. The terms of reference were developed between the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and Parliament which covered the areas of concern raised by the Presiding Officers.

(2) The timelines provided to Binder Dijker Otte to deliver the report was 6 months due to the number of projects to be audited.

(3) Binder Dijker Otte delivered the report to the Department by 20 November 2020, within three months of their appointment. However, the report was only given to me almost a year later on 17 September 2021. The report was subsequently handed to the Speaker of the National Assembly on 18 September 2022 for processing.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I have been informed by the Department that the Board of Trustees of the IDT resolved to sell the National Head Office building in the Board of Trustees meeting held on 23 February 2022.

• The Board resolved to sell the building as there are latent structural defects and electrical issues with the building that will be costly to fix.
• There are visible cracks at the entrance of the building and the basement also tends be flooded when it rains leading to the columns supporting the building to move.
• The building is therefore not safe to be occupied by employees, and it does not comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• The building also has high maintenance costs. A cost benefit analysis has been done and the conclusion is that the cost to maintain and refurbish the building outweighs the one of seeking for new leased office accommodation.

2. The sale of the building has not been advertised. This will be determined by the issuance of the Certificate of Compliance.

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

(3) The advertisement for the lease of the new building was issued and the procurement process is in progress.

(a), (b) and (c)

The IDT does not therefore have monthly costs at this stage. The cost per square metre as well as the date for relocation to the new building will be determined once the procurement process is finalised. The cost per square metre should be within the Rode Independent guidelines.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) I’ve been informed by the Department that DPWI does not have any state property that could be made available to the taxi industry in:

1. Matatiele;
2. Mount Fletcher;
3. Maclear; and
4. Mthata

As a result, the Department rents from private landlords for our clients.

However, in Mthata, the Department has the following state properties that are to be developed for our clients to decrease our lease portfolio:

• Erf 920: the Old Enkululenkweni Ministerial Complex along R61, it is illegally occupied and was identified to be a government precinct; and

• Erf 265: at No. 33 Sprigg Street, it is a vandalised and dilapidated house where SAPS, Home Affairs and Environmental Affairs showed interest but never availed funds for refurbishment.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

(a) I have been informed by the Department that the entrances to the property were previously boarded up. However, vandals have since removed the boards at the entrances and regained access. Subsequently, on 1 May 2022 the Department’s Security Division conducted a site visit, during which it was established that is not feasible to brick up / board up the openings of the buildings due to the extent of the damages to the building. A decision has been taken to deploy a security company to monitor the remains of the building as well as to prevent further vandalism and any illicit activities from taking place. The security company will be appointed by June, so as to allow the SCM processes for the appointment to unfold.

(b) The Department will deploy a security company to monitor the property. Subsequent to our previous response, the Client Department, South African Police Service, has expressed interest in the property for official accommodation purposes.

A Technical team has visited the site to conduct a Technical Condition Assessment of the facility to quantify the extent of the damage as well as costing. The Assessment Report will be finalized by the end of May 2022. The outcome will determine whether the nature of the work to be done is of a capital nature or it is work that can be done by our in-house team.

(2)

(a)

(i) Approvals: Depending on the outcome of the Technical Condition Assessment on the extent and cost of the damage, a formal process of registering a project for budget allocation purposes will be followed during the budget process of the 2022/23 financial year.

(ii) Authorities: Currently not applicable.

b) Timeline: A Project Execution Plan will be developed and available once the Assessment Report has been finalized by the Technical Team.

c) Status of the subdivision – This is no longer required.

d) Proposed timeline – Not applicable as the subdivision of the property is no longer required.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

I have been informed that the department has lease agreements with private individuals, firms and/or companies on behalf of various government departments and state-owned enterprises.

(a) As illustrated in the summary table below, this is the spread over the nine (9) regional offices;

Indicate whether DPWI has leases on behalf of various government departments
				Company details
REGION	TOTAL	TOWN	Leases with private entities YES/NO	Company Name	Names of the Director(s) of the company	Gender	Race	Amount involved with annual escalation by %	Duration of the lease
BLOEMFONTEIN	158	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	119	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 82 White = 101 Indian = 17 Coloured = 3	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
CAPE TOWN	206	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	No = 39 Yes = 120	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 49 White = 228 Indian = 14 Coloured = 19	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
DURBAN	207	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	No = 39 Yes = 121	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 40 White = 112 Indian = 119 Coloured = 0	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
JOHANNESBURG	208	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	122	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 75 White = 96 Indian = 0 Coloured = 0	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
KIMBERLEY	209	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	No = 39 Yes = 123	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 27 White = 182 Indian = 30 Coloured = 23	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
MMABATHO	210	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	124	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 26 White = 62 Indian = 45 Coloured = 0	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
NELSPRUIT	211	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	No = 39 Yes = 125	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 60 White = 85 Indian = 26 Coloured = 3	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
POLOKWANE	212	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	126	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 41 White = 76 Indian = 24 Coloured = 2	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
PORT ELIZABETH	213	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	No = 39 Yes = 127	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 156 White = 253 Indian = 0 Coloured = 0	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
PRETORIA	214	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	128	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 98 White = 108 Indian = 21 Coloured = 8	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years
UMTATA	215	Various towns within the province (as appended in the spreadsheet)	No = 39 Yes = 129	Various - details available on attached spreadsheet	Full details provided on appended spreadsheet	Male and female (varies per company composition. Details available on appended sheet)	Black African = 73 White = 30 Indian = 8 Coloured = 3	Varies from minimum 5.5% to maximum 8.0%	Varies from minimum 2 years to 3, 5, 7 & maximum 9.11 years

 

a) The full details of the company names, directors and amounts involved with annual escalations by percentage and the duration of such lease agreements have been provided in the attached, Annexure A.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I have been informed that the Department has investigated custodianship and can confirm that DPWI is the custodian of mentioned property. The Department is aware that the property is unlawfully occupied.
2. The Department has sent a request to the Department of Social Development for profiling of the illegal occupants so that we can be able to make informed decision on the property.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that as a flagship government programme, the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)’s core objective is to create work opportunities for the poor and unemployed people of South Africa. Enterprise Development support is provided at a marginal scale to assist with sustainable pathways for participants and advance the use of labour-intensive construction methods. The EPWP has a Contractor Development Programme which is called Vuk’uphile. The Vuk’uphile Contractor Development Programme is one of the programmes implemented by public bodies as part of the National Contractor Development Programme (NCDP) that is championed by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). The NCDP aims to develop emerging contractors and transform the construction industry. In the 2021/22 financial year, 215 Contractors were trained through the Vuk’uphile Programme. Amongst the 215 contractors trained in the 2021/22 financial year, the following demographics were included: 91 Women, 45 Youth and 2 Persons with Disabilities. Training offered to contractors in the Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme is at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 4, covering labour-intensive methods delivered through theoretical and practical training, to ensure contractors can acquire skills to become successful contractors. Public bodies are still being engaged for the 2022/23 financial year, with commitments to train 70 contractors thus far. The EPWP Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme will continue to ensure that the participation of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities is optimised in its implementation.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

(a) I have been informed by the Department that a Security Company has been appointed as from 4 May 2022 to secure the property, contain invasion and prevent further invasion.

(b)

(i) Yes, now that the State of Disaster has been lifted, the Department will follow due legal processes in dealing with the unlawfull occupants.

(ii) The Cape Town Regional Office has received a request from one of the departmental internal Units, Human Capital Investment, for the coversion and refurbishment of the subject property into student accommodation. The unit provides bursaries to needy and deserving students in the country in line with the unit’s service delivery objectives. The application / request is currently being processed internaly for approval and budget allocation.

(2) The Department has not yet received any request from the surrounding residents for a meeting. However, should such request be received, arrangements will be made to meet with the residents.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed by the Department that Erf 5697 does fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

a) The initial purpose of the building was for residential accommodation for SAPS members.

b) The building/dwelling has been vacant for 6 (six) years.

c) The property is in the process of being disposed of via an open tender process and will be finalised during the course of this year.

2. The Department is aware of the Criminal activity. The property was fenced and building was boarded up to prevent access and criminal activities. However the fence was broken on more than one occasion and the boards removed.

3. Numerous requests have been received from private individuals for the use of the premises. Approval has been obtained to dispose of the property by way of open tender.

4. No requests have been received from either the Provincial Government or the Municipality for the acquisition or transfer of this property.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I have been informed that the Department did not apply for Green Bonds because Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) 28, is viewed as an integrated approach to rolling out Renewable Energy and resource efficiency in Government buildings. The programme provides for engagement of various institutions such as Development Finance Institutions and Multilateral Banks, with various engagements currently underway. Green Bonds have however not been applied for. DPWI and GTAC are assessing all local and international Green Building/Infrastructure funding instruments, with focus on sustainable and cheaper funding. In this regard, discussions are underway with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on their green infrastructure and climate funds; (b) (i) No monetary value has been attached to the application, (ii) no outcomes have been reached. The expectation is that all projects under SIP28 will be funded, given the interest of DFIs and green funding institutions.

2. The Department and GTAC are currently engaging the DBSA to participate on SIP28 through the DBSA’s Green Climate Fund and related funds. Actual monetary values to be potentially made available, should DBSA come on board, have not yet been discussed. Keen interest to participate has however been shown by both the DBSA and the IDC; (b) Discussions have not matured to a level of monetary value discussions; (c) Discussions are still underway; (d) All SIPs have actions linked to implementation within the current Financial Year (e). SIP28 has finalised and assessed Requests for Information (RFIs) and a process is currently underway for Client Engagement for signing of Framework Agreements/ MoUs and necessary applications with National Treasury in order to go out on a Request for Proposals (RFPs) by Q2 this Financial Year.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

a) I have been informed by the Department that the total rental paid for leased buildings belonging to private entities in the year to date is:

Month	Private Entities (R )
April 2021	172 187 274
May 2021	873 817 193
June 2021	224 744 354
July 2021	413 140 464
August 2021	331 225 938
September 2021	457 371 273
October 2021	484 853 590
November 2021	415 815 885
December 2021	460 821 365
January 2022	405 637 899
February 2022	269 957 050
March 2022	443 074 700
April 2022	311 062 035
TOTAL	5 263 709 022

b) Arrear lease payments owed to private entities in April 2022 amount to R 333 890 214. The Department has an additional control measure that suspends payments so that they are verified first before released to avoid duplications which may result in overpayments. As soon as payments are verified, they are released to service providers accordingly.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1)

(a) I have been informed by the Department that it is currently leasing out about 1288 state-owned properties.

(b)

(i) There is no department that has hired a private facility for an Executive.

(ii)Not applicable

2. The primary mandate of the Department is to provide functional state-owned accommodation to various User Departments. The Department at the point of request for accommodation – does consider using State-Owned Facilities – however, in many instances – they are not readily useable nor available in areas identified for the executive. This is where the Department then considers using the private leases. In recognizing that there are challenges – the department has embarked on the following strategies in order to address overreliance on the private sector.

• Refurbish, Operate and Transfer Model for more office space;
• Precinct Development. Building head offices for Departments eg the Salvokop Precinct in Pretoria which will house five government Departments
• Lease to own model for smaller service delivery nodes in remote areas where there are no buildings.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

No. The Department of Public Works & Infrastructure is not covering the legal costs with regard to the disciplinary process of the Minister’s Special Advisor since public service prescripts do not provide for such payment to be made.

(a) As per the response above that the Department is not covering the legal costs.

(b)(i) There is no agreement in place between the Department, State Attorney, and Special Advisor to pay the legal cost for her disciplinary hearing.

(ii) The Department has not paid any legal cost on behalf of the Special Advisor.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) The Department has total number of 17 (Seventeen) infrastructure projects for courts earmarked for the Repairs and Refurbishment Programme in the Eastern Cape Province for the 2022/23 Financial Year. This project pipeline includes 6 infrastructure projects in the Planning and Design phase, 7 infrastructure projects in the Construction phase, 3 infrastructure projects in the Practical Completion phase and 1 infrastructure projects in the Close out phase.

b) The Department has a budget allocation of R93Million (inclusive of Contractor and Consultant allocations) for the courts in the Eastern Cape Province for the 2022/23 Financial Year under the Repair and Refurbishment Programme.

c) The Department has spent R503 967 of its budget allocation as at end April 2022 for courts in the Eastern Cape under the Repair and Refurbishment Programme.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I have been informed by the Department that there are no costs of court orders that the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure has entered into to assist the Government to drive down costs with private service providers. However, the Department has incurred legal costs for a briefing of Senior and Junior Counsel to assist in bringing an urgent court application for spoliation against one landlord who illegally locked-out some client departments from leased premises and the costs thereof are still to be received from the Office of the State Attorney.

2. 

(a) The Department has undertaken a lease renegotiation drive for lease renewals with various landlords whose leases have expired or are about to expire; where user departments are still in occupation of such buildings. In this process, the Department relies on the following principles:

• All renewed lease agreements are aligned to the Rhode Report – which is an independent instrument that does market research to determine fair rentals for various areas around the country.
• Escalation is capped at 6% to manage the increase in rental rates annually.
• Negotiation of longer-term leases to increase our bargaining power to negotiate the lower rentals.
• Improved maintenance and tenant installations for such buildings where longer-term lease agreements have been successfully negotiated.

(b) In the medium term, the Department is implementing various strategies in order to reduce over-reliance on private leases and reduce the cost of leasing.

• • The Lease-to-own Strategy – Involves signing longer-term leases (more than the usual 9years, 11 months) that allow developers to build these facilities to specification and the facilities reverting back to the state at the end of the lease period. This is aimed at smaller properties such as police stations and some courts.

• • The Precinct Development Strategy - The DPWI is making strides to plan and integrate accommodation requirements within government precincts, targeting both urban and rural areas. Because of population growth mainly in metros, there is a deliberate infrastructure planning interventions in the metro areas. In this regard, most of the Government Head Offices are situated in Tshwane, which is a hybrid of state-owned and leased accommodation. In terms of state-owned 14, National Government Departments occupy 750 000m2 of accommodation.

The establishment of the Government Estate Development Framework will facilitate the development of a further 900 000m2 of state-owned development across the following Precincts in Tshwane: Northern Gateway, Civic Precinct, Caledonian Precinct, Government Boulevard, and Ceremonial Boulevard

Within the Northern Gateway precinct, Salvokop is a mixed-use precinct gazetted as Strategic Infrastructure Project. Salvokop is a state-owned mixed-use precinct located within the inner city of Tshwane. The development will focus on phase 1 to develop 360 000 m2 of Head Office Complex for four (4) National Government Departments. This flagship project is jointly executed by DPWI, the National Treasury, and the City of Tshwane.

• • The Refurbish, Operate, and Transfer Strategy (ROT) - The ROT is an offtake of the already well-established infrastructure financing scheme called Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT). Only the target for DPWI is already existing buildings that require funding to refurbish. BOT is a scheme or private finance initiative (PFI) or alternative procurement method in which a government contractually grants to a private sector entity a concession requiring the entity to obtain financing for the design, build, and operation of a public facility or infrastructure for a fixed period of time, during which the private entity can recover its costs of construction, plus profit, by charging fees or tools for its use and at the end of the concession period, transfer ownership and operation of the facility back to the government.

 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(a) and (b) I have been informed that the list and breakdown of the capacities of the Council members of the SACAP is as follows:

1. Mr Charles Ntsindiso Nduku (Professional Architect): President of the Council, member of the Transformation Committee and Recognition of Prior Learning Committee.
2. Ms Letsabisa Shongwe (Professional Architect): Vice President of the Council; Chairperson of the Professional Fees Committee; Chairperson of Stakeholder Relations Committee and Vice Chairperson of the Transformation Committee.
3. Ms Mandisa Pepeta Daki (Professional Architectural Technologist): Council member, Chairperson of the Investigating Committee and Transformation Committee and Vice Chairperson of the Stakeholder Relations Committee and member of the Continuing Professional Development Committee.
4. Mr Vusi Phailane (Professional Architect & State Representative): Council member, Chairperson of the Identification Committee and member of the Investigating Committee and Recognition of Prior Learning Committee.
5. Mr Kevin Bingham (Professional Architect), Council member, Chairperson of the Education Committee and Recognition of Prior Learning Committee.
6. Mr Mohammed Allie Mohidien (Professional Architectural Draughtperson), Council member, Chairperson of Registration Committee and member of the Identification of Work Committee and Recognition of Prior Learning Committee.
7. Mr Lufuno Motsherane (Public representative), Council member, Chairperson of the REMCO, member of the Audit & Risk Committee and Investigating Committee.
8. Dr Sitsabo Dlamini (Professional Senior Architectural Technologist): Council member and Chairperson of the Continuing Professional Development Committee and member of the Recognition of Prior Learning Committee.
9. Mr Nick Nichols (Public Representative): Council member, member of the REMCO and Audit & Risk Committee.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that the tender in question was not processed by the DPWI and as such, the department is not in a position to respond to the specific questions asked. The tender was processed by the Department of Justice.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1) No, Dr. A. Moemi is appointed as an Acting Director-General for a period of six (6) months in accordance with Section 32 (2) (a) and (b) (ii) of the Public Service Act 30 of 2007 as amended read with Regulation 63 sub regulation (2) and (3) of the Public Service Regulations 2016. In the event that his appointment as the Acting Director-General is not extended beyond the six months, then Dr Moemi will assume his position as the Head of the Property Management Trading Entity,

(a) The term for acting is six (6) months, renewable.

(b) The position was not advertised, however

(c) Dr Moemi is appointed on contract additional to the establishment for a period of 12 months in accordance with Regulation 57 sub regulation (2) to (6) of the Public Service Regulations 2016.

(d) Dr Moemi is an employee of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, appointed on contract additional to the establishment, hence he was considered for appointment as Acting Director-General.

(2)

(a) The difference between the salary of Dr Moemi and Adv. Vukela is R155 217.00.

(b) No, Dr. Moemi is appointed in the Department as Head of the PMTE and requested to act due to his extensive experience as a Director-General. It is further due to a need to strengthen the GRC Branch with the return of DDG Imtiaz Fazel to his original post. Lastly, it will be premature to plan on the possible outcome of the disciplinary proceeding of Adv. Vukela because that process is handled by an independent chairperson and the outcome cannot be predetermined.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

a) I am informed that during the 2021/22 financial year SACAP undertook 60 digital Public Awareness campaigns educating the public about using registered professionals to design and build their homes, explaining what each category of a registered professional is competent and qualified to do in terms of the Identification of Work regulation, publishing the names of unregistered person to discourage members of the public from using them. SACAP reported all persons who falsely used the title of registered professional to the South African Police Services for investigation and prosecution.

b) The SACAP transformation and gender-empowerment programmes include Recognition of Prior Learning, architectural bursaries and the proposed Built Environment Code of Good Practice.

The procurement practices by clients in built environment have been identified as a hindrances to transformation by the built environment professions. Anti-transformative procurement policies are the reasons why built environment professions require an enforceable code of good practice. An effective and transparent mechanism is necessary to procure built environment services from previously disadvantaged built environment professionals in line with the provision of section 217 (2) of the Constitution.

More work is being done to push for transformation and gender-empowerment programmes.

• During the 2021/22 financial year 58 Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) assessments were undertaken.
• 10 students were offered bursaries to study architecture at accredited architectural learning sites.

• SACAP held a Women’s Day Webinar on 06 August 2021 to have meaningful conversations about the role and challenges women face in the architectural profession.

• SACAP held a Transformation webinar on 26 November 2021 to have a meaningful discussion about transformation and how SACAP can contribute to transformation of the architectural profession. The webinar resolved to push for a Code of Good Practice for the built environment. The Transformation Webinar was a huge success with over 556 architectural professionals in attendance.
• Black architectural practices, particularly women architectural practice continue to struggle to find work from the public sector to sustain their businesses. SACAP notes with concern that public sector clients are failing to heed the call of the President of the Republic to set aside 40% of all procurement spend for women-owned businesses.

c) 

• The Transformation webinar was held on 26 November 2021, on a virtual platform
• The Women’s Day Webinar on 06 August 2021, also on a virtual platform
• In the first quarter of 2021/22, SACAP issued 15 awareness posters for CPD campaigns and 16 other social media updates were undertaken across all SACAP online media platforms. In addition, 2 x public awareness and Expo conducted at Soweto and Eldorado Park.
• In the second quarter 15 awareness posters were updated on social media platforms.
• In the third quarter 15 awareness campaigns posters were updated on social media platforms.
• In the fourth quarter 15 awareness campaigns posters were updated on social media platforms.
• 1 Voluntary Association Forum was held on 25 March 2022, on a virtual platform

d) In terms of the measurement of the success of the programmes, The SACAP has largely recorded a huge success, as there is a noticeable appreciation from members of the public of the different categories of registration and their competencies. Members of the public are now more alert, because when some persons pretend to be registered architectural professionals, these are immediately reported to SACAP. As such, 47 cases against unregistered persons were referred to the South African Police Services (SAPS) for investigation. However, the SACAP has not seen a positive reaction from law enforcement agencies with regard to prosecution of the reported individuals.

During the 2021/22 financial year 58 RPL assessments were undertaken. This number is indicative that the SACAP RPL outreach programmes are success and year-on-year we a noticing an increase in those registering for RPL.

Every year within the first quarter of the financial year, SACAP offers 10 architectural students bursaries towards their tuition fees. The assessment of the bursary programme shows a huge success. Out of 10 bursaries offered, 9 were given to black female architectural students. All students who received bursaries from SACAP have progressed to the next year of study. This development is very encouraging given the need to address the demographic imbalance of the professions, especially in terms of the representation of women.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(a and b) I’ve been informed that the Department has already released eleven (11) buildings for use by victims of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF). Those properties are listed below as follows:

Table A

No.	PROVINCE	PROPERTY AREA
1.	Western Cape	Albertina
2.	Western Cape	Laingsburg
3.	Western Cape	Aurora
4.	Western Cape	Aurora
5.	Western Cape	Mooreesburg
6.	Western Cape	Heidelberg
7.	Gauteng	Salvokop, Pretoria
8.	Gauteng	Pretoria
9.	Gauteng	Pretoria
10	Gauteng	Pretoria
11.	Gauteng	Johannesburg

In addition to the above, the Department has identified more properties and jointly conducted site inspections with the Department of Social Development in various provinces. The Department is awaiting confirmation from the Department of Social Development on properties which must be released for use by victims of Gender based Violence. As a result the Department is unable to confirm the date on which the properties would be released.

I have requested a meeting with the Minister of Social Development, to expedite the handover.

The total number of 39 such buildings in each (i) province, (ii) region and (iii) municipality are listed on Annexure A.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed by the Department that the old Tennis Courts located on erven 6361, 6362, 6348-Re and Erf 6350-Re do not fall under the jurisdiction of the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure but that of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

2. The National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is not aware of any criminal activity on this site as the site does not fall under the jurisdiction of this Department.

3. Any enquiries received by the Department should accordingly referred to the Provincial Government for further attention.

4. The Provincial Department of Transport and Public Works will be in the best position to respond to this question as the property is under its jurisdiction.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(a), (b),(i), (ii) I have been informed by the Department that neither the Department nor its Entities concluded any commercial contracts with the government of the Russian Federation and/or any other entity based in the Russian Federation since 1 April 2017.

(aa), (bb), (cc), (dd), and (ee) Not applicable.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that it is in a process of appointing an Independent Service Provider to assist with reclaiming, identification an audit of state-owned properties that are either illegally disposed of, unlawfully occupied, encroached, unregistered, unsurveyed and incorrectly vested.

Corrective measures shall be undertaken to evict illegal occupants and where possible regularise lease contracts with individuals who are qualifying to use the subject properties. The project would also include the reversal of illegally transferred land back to the custodianship of the National Government of the Republic of South Africa.

In addition to the above, the Department will also embark on the letting out of unutilised state- owned immovable assets to interested investors and communities.

Continuous safe guarding of land and active engagements with Courts to obtain eviction orders is also another measure which the Department is using to reclaim illegally occupied properties.

 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed by the Department that the South lawn grounds are not part of the National Key point, only the Union Buildings Precinct has been declared a National Key point.

2. The Department deployed the Private Security Company, Shellman Security, in January 2022 to secure the area. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has also approached SAPS stationed at Union Buildings to assist the Private Security Company in monitoring the area.

3. The Department did not engage the specified group on the matter. The Presidency Office engaged the group. The DPWI is responsible for the eviction process of the group on site. The Sheriff is currently in the process of serving documents.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed by the Department that as at 31 January 2022, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure owed an amount of R157 765 088.14 for water and electricity, as per age analysis received from various municipalities. Upon receipt of the age analysis, DPWI further analysed it to confirm the amount outstanding and could then break down the outstanding amount as per the age analysis as follows:

Category of Debt	Sum of Outstanding amount: Electricity and Water
Arrears amount confirmed (payments in progress)	R 14 175 299.01
Claims/invoices not yet submitted by municipalities	R 15 165 658.35
Disputes over incorrect billing, interest charged, etc.	R 42 519 639.02
Payment rejected due change of municipal bank account	R 14 524 049.90
Payments not allocated by municipalities	R 52 482 538.23
Reconciliations in progress with municipalities	R 18 897 903.63
Grand Total	R 157 765 088.14

Based on the above review, DPWI can confirm based on the age analysis submitted by municipalities, an outstanding amount of R48 million as at 31 January 2022.

2. DPWI processes all valid invoices received within the stipulated timeframe indicated by municipalities since their invoices are due and payable within the regulated 30 days of receipt of invoice. Notwithstanding the above mentioned, DWPI has made payments across all 257 municipalities for water and electricity to the value of R2.4 million. This is a clear demonstration and continuous endeavours by DPWI to ensure that all valid invoices from municipalities are settled timeously.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

1. Yes
2. Yes

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1) I have been informed by the Department that the professional councils are not listed public entities and therefore they fall outside of the scope of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1999) (PFMA), as amended. They are statutory bodies that exist primarily to safeguard the interest of their members, but also serve the public interest purpose of ensuring public safety, by regulating the professions in such a way that registered persons who are practicing professionals and candidates are held accountable in line with the prescribed code of conduct established by the respective Councils. In that regard, many of the requirements on listed public entities, such as the submission of annual financial statements to the Auditor-General South Africa, do not apply to the professional councils. Therefore, there is no requirement that audited financial statements must be submitted to the Auditor General. Section 15 (7) (a) of the Act stipulates that the Council must annually prepare a statement of income and expenditure and a balance sheet demonstrating its financial position as at the close of the financial year to which it relates. This is done without fail.

(a) Furthermore, section 15 (7) (b) enjoins the Council to have the statement and balance sheet audited by an auditor registered in terms of the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Act, 1991 (Act No. 80 of 1991). SACAP’s financial statements for the past three financial years have been audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. SACAP has now acquired the auditing services of Nexia SAB&T auditors registered with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors. There is no legal requirement that SACAP must submit financial statements to the Auditor General.

(2) There were no material findings on the SACAP financial statements. SACAP obtained an unqualified audit.

(3) The Council has filled all key positions including the position of Registrar and Senior Finance Manager. SACAP does not have a position of Chief Operating Officer on its operating model.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that Erfs 153 and 159 situated at 24 and 26 Webber Street respectively in Germiston are under the custodianship of Public Works and Infrastructure. These Erfs are recorded on the Immovable Asset Register.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I have been informed by the Department that the monthly costs for the period in question are as follows:

Financial Year	Precinct	Acacia Park	Pelican Park	Laboria Park
2019/20	71 900 699,77	41 078 469,60	19 683 433,35	24 818 242,05
2020/21	45 303 375,98	25 550 801,65	11 995 117,64	15 139 303,41
2021/22	19 697 474,82	8 281 908, 44	1 978 276,89	2 097 824,56
Total	R136 901 550,57	R74 911 179,69	R33 656 827,88	R42 055 370,02

(2) The Facilities Management Company has not yet been appointed for the Parliament Precinct.

For all Official Residential Accommodation:

(a) Tefla Group (PTY) Ltd was appointed as the Facilities Management Company in March 2022,

(b) They are appointed for a period of 5years

(c) The monthly cost is approximately R8,5 million.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

a) I’ve been informed by the Department that out of the six Councils for the built environment professions, only two of them have the positions of President of Council being vacant. That is the Engineering Council of South Africa (ESCA) and the South African Council for the Landscape Architectural Profession (SACLAP).

The SACLAP Council has just been appointed and will have its first meeting during the month of April 2022. The Council members will then be able to elect the President and Vice-President of the Council.

ECSA is yet to decide on who will be elected as President, to replace the late Mr Lebea.

All the Acts of Parliament establishing the six Councils provide for the election of the Presidents by the Council members themselves.

b) As indicated above no officials are implicated as the filling of the positions of the President of a Council is the domain of the Councils themselves.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has finalised a technical condition report on the constructed fence. In its current form, the fence is not fit for purpose and is in material non-compliance with the project specifications. For this reason, the DPWI has resolved not to carry out any repairs on the fence as this will constitute wasteful expenditure.

The DPWI is also currently collaborating with the Department of Defence (DOD), the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to develop a multi-party Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to integrate and align the collective roles, responsibilities and operational plans of each organisation on the matter of border fencing and control as a precursor to implementing a new integrated border-line solution.

2. (a) Currently, the DOD, supported by the DPWI and the DALRRD through the above-mentioned processes, is consulting its internal DOD structures to develop user specifications and user asset management plans in compliance with the Government Immovable Asset Management Act No. 19 of 2007 Section 6 (1) (b) and Section 14 (1) (a) (b).

(b) The tasks and projected timelines are as follows:

i. Request for Information: To support the DOD in the development of an integrated Borderline solution, a Request for Information (RFI) was commissioned by DPWI on 28 March 2021. The RFI closed on 26 of April 2021 and 16 Proposals have been received. The Bid Evaluation Committee completed the evaluation of bids in June 2021. Three bids were compliant to the terms of reference of the RFI. Compliant bids were submitted to DOD in July 2021 to be incorporated into the final specifications for border fences.

DOD indicated in a meeting held on the 11th November 2021 that engagements are transpiring internally and will confirm the submission date of their approved specifications by 25 November 2021. To date DOD has not submitted their approved specifications.

ii. Feasibility studies: Site acquisition feasibilities completed.

Construction feasibilities will require 12 to 18 months to complete, upon receipt of DOD output specifications.

The above processes have been commissioned, some completed and the remainder are underway as indicated above. This will ensure that all legal and legislative frameworks are complied with to allow for the formalisation of the RSA borderline to meet South African and International Standards.

The collective body of work from the above processes will identify viable engineering options, risk analysis and mitigation strategies, funding models and budget co-ordination. These would input into subsequent bid and construction processes, and enable informed funding requests to be submitted to National Treasury.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

a) and (c) Yes, consequence management has been initiated against the officials who are alleged to have had a hand in irregular appointments at a national and regional offices of the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure. The disciplinary hearings are chaired by independent chairpersons who are practicing advocates. One hearing was completed in 2020 with not guilty findings. A second hearing is nearing conclusion, but has been postponed to 20-22 April 2022. A third hearing took take place on the 30 March 2022. Furthermore, the Department has, in May 2019, lodged a court application to review and set aside the irregular appointments at the Labour Court. The date of this hearing is in May 2022.

Response with respect to North West Provincial office:

b) Yes, there is consequent management that is being applied against the officials who have been found to have had a hand in irregular appointments at Provincial Department of Public Works and Roads.

• There are three (3) cases which are currently in the process of consequence management with two (2) of the contracts being further investigated by forensic auditors

• Furthermore, there are seventeen (17) contracts currently in the process of forensic investigation with one of the terms of reference being to identify responsible official(s).

Upon completion, consequence management will be implemented as per recommendations.

NB: Kindly note that with respect to other Provincial Public Works and Roads offices, the question should be directed to their responsible MECs.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1) I have been informed by the Department that:

(a) There are two pumps at the ESSEX pump station.

(b) Only one pump is operational.

(2)

(a) They are serviced monthly by DPWI Workshops personal.

(b) They were last serviced on 17th March 2022.

(3) The pumps were installed in 2019. One pump is in a good working condition and the other one is overheating due to ceased bearings and it is undergoing repairs.

(4) The faulty pump was discovered during the monthly servicing which took place on the 17th March 2022. The Facilities Management unit is in the process of requesting a quotation from the service provider who services the pump in order to determine whether the replacement cost can be accommodated under day to day servicing or if the replacement will need to be registered under planned projects.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) (i) Two

(ii) Two

b) The Board of the IDT is appointed for a period of four years with effect from the date when the Trustees received their letter of authority, dated 05 July 2021.

c) The Accounting Authority is the Board of Trustees. The following are the names of the Board members:

1. Ms Tebogo Malaka: Chairperson, but currently acting as the CEO.
2. Ms Zimbini Hill: Interim Chairperson
3. Mr Timothy Sukazi
4. Dr Michael Sutcliffe
5. Mr Krishen Sukdev
6. Ms Lerato Kumalo
7. Ms Karabo Joyce Siyila
8. Ms Nthabiseng Mkhwanazi
9. Prof Raymond Nkado
10. Mr Mpilo Mbambisa
11. Mr Lufuno Nevondwe
12. Ms Rehana Parker

d) i) The details of posts with officials in an acting capacity are as follows:

• Regional General Manager: North West Office

• General Manager: Portfolio Management Services

• Executive Head: Corporate Services Unit

• Regional General Manager: Limpopo Office

• Regional General Manager: Mpumalanga Office

• Senior Manager: Legal Services

• General Manager: Financial Management

• Project Accountant – National Office

• Senior Business Analyst

• Human Resource Development Manager

• Personal Assistant to the CEO

• Programme Manager: Northern Cape

• Committee Officer

• Manager: Employee Relations

ii) These posts have not been permanently filled is due the history of the IDT, whereby the entity has been confronted with a going concern for the last 10 years. The IDT has gone through several phases of turnaround, of which the strategy of 2017 identified the most desirable organisational structure that reduced the staff complement to 310. However, there was a skewed balance between project management and admin staff. The latter formed the majority. There was a process of right-sizing the organisation that was required to be undertaken. The financial challenges and the uncertainty of the future of the IDT led to some of staff leaving. Since 2020, some of the vacant posts could not be filled because the IDT was not generating adequate funding to cover the employee costs.

iii) To date, the progress on filling vacancies is as follows:

• New appointments - the positions below were filled:
• Chief Financial Officer.
• Chief Audit Executive.
• Company Secretary.
• General Manager: Corporate Services Unit.
• Senior Manager: Risk and Compliance.
• 2 Internal Auditors.
• General Manager: Portfolio Management Services – To be advertised on 3 April 2022
• Executive Head: Project Management Services Unit (PMSU) – Position on advert stage.
• Senior Manager: Legal Services – Position advertised.
• General Manager: Financial Management – Negotiations and offer stage.
• Project Accountant – Priority list for advert.
• Manager: Employee Relations - Position advertised.
• Chief Information Officer - Position advertised.
• General Manager: Supply Chain - The position was re-advertised on 13 February 2022.
• Executive Manager: Corporate Services Unit - Position to be re-advertised.
• Supply Chain Practitioners – at shortlisting stage.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

(a)(i)(ii)(aa): Total number of incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault that were reported in the department in each of the past three financial years

	2018/2019	2019/2020	2020/2021
(i)Total number of the incident of sexual harassment	Nil	2 cases reported 1 case was withdrawn by the complainant following the informal process	Nil
(ii)Total number of sexual assaults reported	Nil	Nil	Nil

 

(bb)(b)(i)(ii)(iii): since 01 April 2021

(b)(i). No. of cases opened and concluded	(ii). Cases withdrawn	(iii) cases remain open or pending
Nil	Nil	Nil

(c) Sanctions meted out against each person who was found guilty

2018/2019	2019/2020	2020/2021	2021/2022
No incidents reported	1 case, employee sanctioned to one-month suspension from work without pay, coupled with a final written warning and corrective counselling.	No incidents reported	No incidents reported

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I requested the State Attorney to appoint the Initiator and Chairperson for the ensuing disciplinary process. An Initiator and Chairperson have been appointed by the State Attorney. The Initiator has prepared draft charges against Ms. Melissa Whitehead. I interacted with the Initiator on 9 December 2020, 27 February 2021 and 1 April 2021. I, further, met with the Initiator and State Attorney in December 2021 to finalise the charge sheet. To this end, charges have been finalised and will be presented to Ms Whitehead in due course. The reason for the delay emanates from one of the implicated officials taking the matter on review, leading to a postponement of these proceedings. I have since received legal advice that I can go ahead with the disciplinary proceedings. The charge sheet is now finalised by the Initiator and will be served on her by 30 March 2022. Hearing dates will be set for April 2022.

2. She has not been placed on suspension.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I have been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) does not have any Service Level Agreement (SLA) to render any Horticultural service to SAPS. This is a client function so SAPS is responsible for this function.
2. The DPWI is not in a position to enter into any such agreement for the same reason indicated above.
3. There was never a contract in place by DPWI to provide gardening/horticultural services at the SAPS Bomb Disposal Unit.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. (a) I have been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure used the competitive process on the waived existing requirements by requesting the two Implementing Agents to compete against each other for the appointment on the assessment phase.

(b) The value of the contract is R383 295.00 (Three Hundred and eighty three thousand) inclusive of VAT

(c) The first output of the first phase, being the initial assessment report that seeks to determine the structural integrity of the fire damaged building consists of Structural Engineers and Occupational Health and Safety Professionals. The second output of the first phase, being the comprehensive assessment report that seeks to determine the extent of the damage caused by fire, restorative scope and associated cost consists of all built environment professionals including Heritage Architects, Civil/structural Engineers, Electro/Mechanical Engineers, Occupational Health and Safety Specialists and Quantity Surveyors.

2. All the identified professionals are professionally registered with their relevant Councils.

3. If the Department will adopt the Implementing Agent approach to implement the recommendations that emanates from CDC report, CDC won’t be considered for the work it is currently implementing as it will be conflict of interest and defeating the competitive process. The Department has not yet made a decision on the approach it will take until the assessment report is finalised.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Response in respect of Loreto Convent School:

I have been informed by the Department that the status regarding Loreto Convent School in Gauteng can be best dealt with by the Department of Basic Education as it is not in the purview of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

Response in respect of Tlotlang-Thuto Secondary School:

I have been informed by the North West Administrator that:

a) Litigation is in the Mmabatho High Court.

b) Progress is at 98%. Building work was declared structurally unsound, non-salvageable and recommended to be demolished.

c) The contractor opted to terminate the contract and follow the litigation route. The Department is defending the matter.

d) The project is deemed as evidence in the SIU investigation and all materials on site are being treated as such.

In the interim there is a high level discussion between the Department of Public Works and Roads and the Department of Education in the North West to facilitate temporary school accommodation.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that in terms of the Department’s books no money is owed to the Port St Johns Municipality.

As at 31st January 2022, the age analysis obtained from the Port St Johns Municipality (PSJ) reflected an outstanding amount of R10 million compromising mostly of historical debt that is broken down as follows:

NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS MUNICIPAL SERVICES, RATES & TAXES DEBT AS AT 31 January 2022
Municipalities	Opening Balances as at 01 April 2021	Billing Rates and Services: 01 April 2021 to Jan 2022	Payments made since 01 April 2021 to 31 January 2022	Total Debt After Payment	Custody/Ownership Dispute Under Investigation for Verification by Department	Amount Disputed By the Department due to non-allocation of payments
PSJ	10 312 579	83 806	946 442	9 449 943	2 521 886	6 928 057
GRAND TOTAL	10 312 579	83 806	946 442	9 449 943	2 521 886	6 928 057

The total amount billed and invoiced by the municipality in the current year (2021/22) amounts to R83 806.00. The payments made since April 2021 to Jan 2022 amounts to R946 442. The amount paid includes the invoices emanating from the opening balance (1 April 2021).

The amount in dispute amounts to R9.4 million. The Department has arranged for a working session from the 7th March 2022 until the 11th March 2022 to resolve the disputed amount.

The Department remains committed and continues to settle all valid invoices within 30 days.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

1 (a) Caledon RD, Grabouw : The Farm Vlakte No. 445 was registered in Name of the Republic of South African in 1975.

Caledon RD, Grabouw: Farms No. 335 & 336 were registered in the Name of the Republic of South Africa in 1911.

(b) - The Farm Vlakte No. 445 was previously an unregistered piece land.

The Previous owner The Farms Knoflokskraal No. 335 & 336 was Daniel Eliza Klem.

(c)(i) -The Farm Vlakte No. 445 measures 1355, 17.78 hectares.

The Farm Knofloskraal No. 335 measures 311.4212 hectares and Farm No.336 measures 166.5197 hectares.

(ii) The current value of the properties is not yet determined.

(2) The land parcels were allocated the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) for forest plantation purposes and those leases have since expired.

(3) DEFF must re-apply for the use of the said properties and has not yet done so officially. Once the application is received, it will be considered and processed in line with G.I.A.M.A.

 

 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. DPWI:

a) I have been informed by the Department that the total number of supplier invoices that currently remain unpaid (i.e. on the 15 February 2022) for the Department (DPWI) is:

Category	Number of Invoices Outstanding	Total Amount Outstanding
more than 30 days	0	R 0
more than 60 days	0	R 0
more than 90 days	0	R 0
more than 120 days	0	R 0

1. Not applicable;
2. Not applicable.

PMTE:

a) As at Friday, 25th February 2022 the number of invoices that were unpaid and beyond 30 days were 0:

Category	Number of Invoices Outstanding	Total Amount Outstanding
more than 30 days	0	R0
more than 60 days	0	R 0
more than 90 days	0	R 0
more than 120 days	0	R 0

Summary Narrative:

(i) DPWI and PMTE handles and pays on average 858 and 11 300 number of invoices on a monthly basis respectively:

(ii) The department used to have more than 11 500 unpaid invoices over 30 days before the introduction of Reapatala Tracking System;

(iii) Reapatala system is a platform where all invoices of the department are internally received and managed to ensure effective tracking of invoices to be paid timeously;

(iv) Weekly meetings with our regional offices and regular interventions by the Minister through Reapatala reports resulted in the zero (0) and ten (10) outstanding invoices for DPWI and PMTE respectively as illustrated above.