Questions and Replies

Reply:

(a) No SASSA senior officials have been (i) suspended, (ii) investigated, (iii) criminally charged or (iv) convicted for being implicated in illegal deductions in any province for any of the years indicated. There is currently an investigation underway in the Eastern Cape (Port Elizabeth) and Western Cape (Athlone) provinces.

(b) No Cash Paymaster Services official have been (i)suspended, (ii) investigated, (iii) criminally charges or (iv) convicted for being implicated in illegal deductions in any of the provinces for the periods indicated.

(c) No other officials have been (i) suspended, (ii) investigated, (iii) criminally charged or (iv) convicted for being implicated in illegal deductions in any of the provinces for any of the years indicated. However, in 2015/16 a criminal case was opened in Western Cape following syndicated fraud activity affecting in excess of 8 000 social grant beneficiary accounts. This investigation is still underway and no further details are available at this time.

 

Reply:

	1. (a)(b) No merger or any kind of joint venture has been formed between Denel SOC Ltd, its subsidiaries or associated companies and the Military Industries Corporation (MIC) in relation to the new arms factory in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, Rheinmetall Denel Munition (Pty) Ltd, an associate of Denel, has designed and built the plant on a turnkey solution basis, as part of the supplier customer transaction arrangement. Therefore, there was no need to either inform or seek approval from Government or Parliament.
	2. (a)(b)(i)(ii) As indicated above in (1)(a) and (b), there was no requirement to notify or consult the SANDF.
	3 (a) Denel is not privy to the information.
	(b) No funds from South Africa were put into the project.
	(c) See (1) and (2) above.

Reply:

1. Yes, on 05 February 2016 a request was received from the municipality to reduce water supply. The municipality also requested the centre to likewise reduce the pressure to the centres and households.

It should be mentioned that from 15 December 2013 Umjindi Municipality started reducing the water pressure to the farm because of the water demands from the local community and the available water supply.

(1)(a) Period without Water	(1)(b) Duration
08 to 27 Feb 2016	20 Days
12 to 14 March 2016	03 Days
15 to 30 March 2016	16 Days
02 April 2016	1 Day
16 to 22 April 2016	07 Days
27 April to 10 May 2016	14 Days

(2)(a)(i) The Department has granted approval to the centre to procure its own water tank truck as well as JoJo tanks to supply water to the facilities and households.

Department of Correctional Services has requested the National Department of Public Works (NDPW) to investigate the possibility of boreholes on the farm and funds have been made available to implement a borehole water system

(2)(ii)(aa) Arrangements are in place between Department of Correctional Services and Umjindi Municipality with the assistance of Sappi to transport water to the centres using a tank truck.

(2)(ii)(bb) The water challenges of the province have been registered nationally due to the fact that the entire area is subjected to severe drought and the municipality reservoir is also empty

2(b) Procurement of the water tank truck will be through a Transversal Contract with National Treasury.

The borehole water system is dependent on the availability of under- ground water levels fed by rainfall, but National Department of Public Works has already started with the investigation process.

Reply:

(1) No, the mentioned offender was sentenced to 2 sentences of life incarceration on 20 March 2002 for multiple offences relating to murder, possession of firearms and ammunition as well as assault.

This implies that he completed 14 years of his sentence and his parole consideration is due after maximum credits were allocated to him as well as the granting of special remission of sentence.

His parole consideration documents (G326 parole profile report) have been prepared by the Case Management Committee but have not yet been submitted as a result of an outstanding Psychologist report.

(2) The Minister has not received the parole profile report of the offender in question and has not considered the offender for placement on parole.

(3)(a)(i) & (ii) No, appointments with a psychiatrist were cancelled or postponed.

(3)(b) The offender has been scheduled to be seen by a psychologist as from 9 May 2016. Once the comprehensive report has been prepared by the psychologist, the Case Management Committee will submit a recommendation to the Minister via the Parole Board.

Reply:

(1) (a) The contract of employment of the Chief Executive Officer was due to terminate on 31 January 2017. The Board decided to bring forward the termination date and pay out the balance of the contract. The decision was precipitated by the fact that the relationship between the Board and CEO was irreconcilable and had irretrievably broken down.

(b) None

(2) Yes, there was an investigation. I am not in a position to share the results of the investigation as there are disciplinary hearings involving other employees unfolding and at this stage there is a likelihood of further legal action.

Reply:

I wish to inform the Honourable Member that the National Prosecuting Authority requests further particulars in relation to this matter in order to locate it within its system. Please provide the name of the specific police station where the docket was opened, the name of the suspect and the nature of the charges being investigated.

Reply:

The mentioned person was eligible for parole on 16 June 2015 and was placed for parole supervision on 18 June 2015.

Reply:

The Honourable Member should note that the Police are the custodians of all dockets and have record of decisions taken by the courts on matters referred to the respective courts. Therefore, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority do not keep such statistics.

Reply:

The Honourable Member should note that the Police are the custodians of all dockets and have record of decisions taken by the courts on matters referred to the respective courts. Therefore, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority do not keep such statistics.

Reply:

a). No, it is not our mandate
b). No, it is not CGE's mandate

 

Approved by the Minister on Acting
Date: 18/05/2016

Reply:

The South African Revenue Service has submitted the following information.  Please note that the Minister is unable to verify the content.

1. The cost incurred for the mandated work was:

• Bain Consulting:
  • • • Total Order: R155,125,728.00 (including contingency claims of 10% so far only R700 000 has been claimed).
      • Paid to date: R103, 609, 629.40

2. No, SARS used an already existing panel that was previously appointed through an open tender process in terms of paragraph 4.9 of the National Treasury Supply Chain Management – A guide for accounting officers/ authorities – February 2004. SARS further ran a close tender process within the panel which resulted in Bain being the successful bidder.

Reply:

The reductions of R10 billion in 2017/18 and R15 billion in 2018/19 were effected on compensation budgets at the national and provincial levels of government. These were allocated based on the proportion of non-occupational specific dispensation (OSD) positions in a department. This ensures that the impact on service delivery is minimised, as the bulk of the reductions will apply to managerial and administrative staff. Of these amounts, national departments carried 53 per cent of the cuts and provincial governments carried 47 per cent, based on the proportions on non-OSD staff at both levels. Provincial reductions were effected through the provincial equitable share (PES).

Table 1: Summary of expenditure cuts at the national level

Table 2: Summary of expenditure cuts at the provincial level

Reply:

The South African Revenue Service has submitted the following information.  Please note that the Minister is unable to verify the content.

1.The cost incurred for the mandated work was:

• Gartner:
  • • • Total Order: R157,442,590.00 (including contingencies of 10%)
      • Paid to date: R60, 555, 640.00

2. No, an open tender was not followed for continuity, the Project was in two phases,

    (a) in phase 1(diagnostic) of the project, the Gartner services were procured on the basis of an agreement for IT Consultancy services between SITA and Gartner.

   (b) In phase 2 of the project, the services of Gartner were procured in terms of National Treasury regulation 16A6.4 read together with paragraph 10.5.2 of the Supply Chain Management practice note number 3/ 2003 for continuity purposes.

Reply:

1.Yes, concrete actions are being undertaken.

South Africa needs to achieve higher levels of inclusive growth that raises employment, reduces inequality and eliminates poverty. Higher growth is also critical to help maintain South Africa’s investment grade rating.

The National Development Plan is the framework followed by all government departments to address structural constraints in the economy and achieve higher growth. The 2016 Budget Review outlines actions taken to promote private investment, address infrastructure bottlenecks, labour relations, improving policy certainty and coordination and on improving the ease of doing business (pg 25 – 27).

To further support efforts and implementation to foster higher economic growth, the president tasked the Ministry of Finance and Mr Jabu Mabuza to lead coordination with business, government and labour. Work from various work streams has focused on:

1. preserving South Africa’s sovereign credit rating, which include joint roadshows to present a united front to rating agencies and international community, recommendations on reducing policy uncertainty and necessary fiscal and economic reforms.
2. finding opportunities for co-investment, such as the launch of the SME Fund announced on 9 May, and
3. resolving blockages in key sectors which can accelerate growth and investment, with ongoing task teams working within agriculture and tourism.

2. Monitoring progress is critical to ensure we are on the right path. Demonstrating concrete progress on our stated commitments to reform state owned companies, to catalyse growth and to maintain sound public finances is critical not only for ratings agencies, but for confidence in South Africa more broadly.

Government’s progress in implementing the NDP is monitored through the medium-term strategic framework (MTSF), which provides detailed reporting on individual programmes, including targets, timelines, and indicators to measure performance and the Minister/s responsible for each outcome. The process is managed and monitored by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Reply:

The total decrease in Asset Under Management (AuM) over the period 08 December 2015 to 12 December 2015 amounted to R99 107 867 476, 76. Table 1 below provides detailed information as per requested institution.

 

Table 1: AuM per institution

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE PENSION FUND
Start date	End date	End Market Value (Rands)	Change in Rands	Change in Percentage
2015/12/08	2015/12/09	1 578 842 958 575,68
2015/12/09	2015/12/10	1 533 030 433 903,16	-45 812 524 672,52	-0,03
2015/12/10	2015/12/11	1 492 840 656 310,47	-40 189 777 592,69	-0,03
2015/12/11	2015/12/12	1 492 952 420 399,11	111 764 088,64	0,00
2015/12/12	2015/12/13	1 492 954 477 051,57	2 056 652,46	0,00
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND
Start date	End date	End Market Value(Rands)	Change in Rands	Change in Percentage
2015/12/08	2015/12/09	118 539 328 931,11
2015/12/09	2015/12/10	113 622 850 706,82	-4 916 478 224,29	-0,04
2015/12/10	2015/12/11	110 538 549 728,88	-3 084 300 977,94	-0,03
2015/12/11	2015/12/12	110 553 868 800,92	15 319 072,04	0,00
2015/12/12	2015/12/13	110 555 818 779,42	1 949 978,50	0,00
COMPENSATION COMMISSIONER FUND
Start date	End date	End Market Value(Rands)	Change in Rands	Change in Percentage
2015/12/08	2015/12/09	34 722 690 994,32
2015/12/09	2015/12/10	32 550 500 181,82	-2 172 190 812,50	-0,06
2015/12/10	2015/12/11	31 615 296 174,48	-935 204 007,34	-0,03
2015/12/11	2015/12/12	31 627 883 140,02	12 586 965,54	0,00
2015/12/12	2015/12/13	31 628 048 616,55	165 476,53	0,00
COMPENSATION COMMISSIONERS PENSION FUND
Start date	End date	End Market Value(Rands)	Change in Rands	Change in Percentage
2015/12/08	2015/12/09	16 943 272 754,78
2015/12/09	2015/12/10	16 271 781 984,86	-671 490 769,92	-0,04
2015/12/10	2015/12/11	15 809 698 426,57	-462 083 558,29	-0,03
2015/12/11	2015/12/12	15 811 843 053,26	2 144 626,69	0,00
2015/12/12	2015/12/13	15 812 007 764,12	164 710,86	0,00
ASSOCIATED INSTITUTION PENSION FUND
Start date	End date	End Market Value(Rands)	Change in Rands	Change in Percentage
2015/12/08	2015/12/09	14 106 965 858,19
2015/12/09	2015/12/10	13 361 805 139,24	-745 160 718,95	-0,05
2015/12/10	2015/12/11	13 055 814 127,87	-305 991 011,37	-0,02
2015/12/11	2015/12/12	13 059 366 371,64	3 552 243,77	0,00
2015/12/12	2015/12/13	13 059 853 104,81	486 733,17	0,00
PIC FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT
Start date	End date	End Market Value(Rands)	Change in Rands	Change in Percentage
2015/12/08	2015/12/09	1 791 426 488 177,86
2015/12/09	2015/12/10	1 737 191 207 615,39	-54 235 280 562,47	-0,03
2015/12/10	2015/12/11	1 692 157 213 606,73	-45 033 994 008,66	-0,03
2015/12/11	2015/12/12	1 692 309 150 164,43	151 936 557,70	0,00
2015/12/12	2015/12/13	1 692 318 620 701,10	9 470 536,67	0,00

Reply:

1. The Unemployment Insurance Fund’s as its name denotes, is an Insurance fund paid for by monies deducted from salaries of workers and from the employers’ payroll. The fund is there to take care of workers in the event that they lose their jobs. The accumulated surplus, after setting aside the actuarial reserves of about R90billion as at 31 March 2015, has technically about R19billion that could be termed surplus in the literal sense of the word.

2. The Unemployment Insurance Fund is set up and governed by the Act of Parliament in the name of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act, No 32 of 2003.

3. The Unemployment Insurance Fund is an insurance policy that caters for workers and their beneficiaries in the event of them losing their jobs or death. For all intends and purposes the Unemployment Insurance Fund is there to fulfil a need therefore the question of who owns it can be gleaned from the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act, No 32 of 2003.

4. Some of the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s surplus is available as cash in order to meet its legislative obligations and these are spelt out in the Act.

5. The money of the Fund, other than money required to meet the current expenditure of the Fund, may be deposited on behalf of the Fund by the Director-General with the Public Investment Commissioners to be invested in terms of the Public Investment Commissioners Act, 1984 (Act No. 45 of 1984) The PIC invests, manages and administers the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s investments according to the set terms and conditions of the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s investment mandate.

Reply:

The South African Revenue Service has submitted the following information.  Please note that the Minister is unable to verify the content.

(1) Due to the secrecy provisions contained in Section 69 of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011, SARS is prohibited from disclosing any taxpayer information (Including whether or not a taxpayer is subject to an audit/ investigation) to any person other than a SARS official.

(2) In terms of Procurement processes SARS is guided by the PFMA and the Treasury Regulations. These requirements form the framework and basis of all practices and processes relating to procurement within the organisation.

Reply:

(a) Since my appointment to date as the Minister of Public Enterprises by the President, I have not officially tasked, directed or instructed directly or indirectly any of the officials in the Department of Public Enterprises to meet with any of the individuals mentioned in the question.

(b) The awarding of contracts between our State Owned Companies (SOCs) and different companies, the nature of these contracts, and the contractual relationships between SOCs and different companies are commercially sensitive.

 

Reply:

The details that the Deputy Minister made public is contained in the media statement released on the 16 March 2016. Please see the media statement attached. The Deputy Minister advises that he is obtaining further legal advice on the matter.

Reply:

The details that the Deputy Minister made public is contained in the media statement released on the 16 March 2016. Please see the media statement attached. The Deputy Minister advises that he is obtaining further legal advice on the matter.

Reply:

(1a) The Minister and four delegates from the National Treasury attended WEF Davos in 2016. National Treasury is the appointed coordinator of the government wide delegation to WEF Davos and so two of these officials attended in this capacity.

(1b) (i&ii) Ministerial delegation:

Minister Gordhan – Minister of Finance

Monale Ratsoma – Deputy Director-General: Economic Policy

Busi Sokhulu – Personal Assistant: Office of the Minister of Finance

WEF Coordinators:

Ofentse Lekwape – Assistant Director: International and Regional Economic Policy

Rebecca Murdoch – Deputy Director: International and Regional Economic Policy

(2a) None of the persons specified were required to pay fees to attend the conference, with the exception of a EUR50 fee for access badges for three of the delegates (see table 1).

(2b) The total cost of the five National Treasury delegates that travelled to WEF Davos was R549 383.72. A breakdown of these costs is in Table 1.

Table 1: Breakdown of costs for WEF

	(i) conference fees1	(ii) accommodation	(iii) subsistence	(iv) travel costs2
Minister Gordhan	0	R40 145	R7 983	R66 217
Busi Sokhulu	R850	R73 900	R7 579	R29 963.72
Monale Ratsoma	0	R38 484	R10 428	R63 670
Ofentse Lekwape3	0	R74 680	R23 386	R26 786
Rebecca Murdoch3	R850	R74 680	R23 386	R26 786
TOTAL	R1 700	R301 889	R62 334	R183 459.72

1 Fee for access badges (EUR50).

2 Travel costs consist mainly of flights as National Treasury delegates used the complimentary WEF vehicles and shuttles to travel in and around Davos. VIP airport lounge services for Minister Gordhan, Ms Sokhulu; Mr Ratsoma are included in ‘travel costs’.

3 Mr Lekwape and Ms Murdoch were required to travel ahead of the conference as they were responsible for the coordination of the government delegation to WEF which accounts for their higher accommodation and subsistence costs.

(3) Not applicable: there were no additional members attending WEF from the National Treasury.

(4) No family members

Reply:

The National Treasury is not aware of any senior officials from the level of Director-General downwards to have met with the persons mentioned in the Parliamentary question during the period 1 January 2009 up to 31 December 2015.

Reply:

The South African Revenue Service has submitted the following information.  Please note that the Minister is unable to verify the content.

1. The South African Revenue Service did employ consulting firms to advise on the SARS restructuring. These were Bain Consulting and Gartner Ltd.

      (a) These were Bain Consulting and

           (i) Total order = R155,125,728.00 (including contingency claims of 10% so far only R700 000 has been claimed). Paid to date R = R103,609.629.40

      (b) Gartner Ltd.

           (ii) Total order = R157,442,590.00 (including contingencies of 10%). Paid to date = R60,555,640.00

2. The total contracted figure is R312,569,318.00

Contracts with service providers were concluded based on fixed amounts for services to be rendered. That being said, the overall cost of the restructuring of SARS cannot be estimated at this point in time as the process is still underway.

Reply:

(a) No

(b) Not informed of

(i)(aa) No

(bb) No

(cc) No

(ii) (aa) No

(bb) No

(aaa) Irrelevant

(bbb)(aaaa) Irrelevant

(bbbb) Irrelevant

(ccc) Irrelevant

Reply:

The details that the Deputy Minister made public is contained in the media statement released on the 16 March 2016. Please see the media statement attached. The Deputy Minister advises that he is obtaining further legal advice on the matter.

Reply:

Names of Learners are available on request.

one of the above Learners from Stellenbosch were awarded the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship. Only one Learner (Ms Sihle Mxosana) from NSC 2nd Chance in the Western Cape was awarded. She is currently studying ND: Sports Management at CPUT. Other 9 Learners who were awarded the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship on the NSC 2nd Chance were from other Provinces.

The Matric Rewrite – NYDA NSC 2nd Chance model does not cover financial assistance given the limited financial resource of the organization. However, the programme offers young people the following at no cost:

• Learners are registered with the Department of Basic Education to sit and rewrite their October/November examination;
• Learners receive a minimum of 52 contact hours per subject registered;
• Learners receive study guides per subject registered;
• Learners receive examination preparation tool kits which includes past examination papers and memorandums; and
• Learners receive career guidance and life skills training as NYDA value-add services.

 

Approved/Not approved

Mr J T Radebe, MP

Minister in The Presidency

Date:

Reply:

1. The Honourable Member should note that this question should be referred to the relevant municipality or sourced from their Budget documents or annual reports (including audited financial statements). Only a municipality can verify such information.

The National Treasury collects budget, financial and other information as a consolidated resource center for the public but cannot verify the information. The National Treasury publishes annually by November the Budgets of all municipalities in terms of Section 17 of MFMA. In addition, the National Treasury also publishes detailed quarterly reports submitted by all municipalities as per the Section 71 of the MFMA. The latest publication available for the 2015/16 municipal financial year can be found on our website. The accuracy of the reports can only be confirmed by the respective municipality. The quarterly reports have been available since 2006/07 on the National Treasury Website.

http://mfma.treasury.gov.za/Media_Releases/s71/Pages/default.aspx

I refer the Honourable Member to the page or table in the latest report published on 4 March 2016 as follows:

  (a) Cash-on-hand

See Part 3 of the 2-page summary per municipality

OR

Refer to the cash flow summary on C7 in the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulation (MBRR) formats.

 (b) Debtor’s analysis

See Part 4 of the 2-page summary per municipality

(c) Collection rate

Refer to the high level summary on C1 in the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulation (MBRR) formats.

(d) Operation revenue and expenditure

See Part 1 of the 2-page summary per municipality

OR

Refer to the Statement of financial performance on C4 in the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulation (MBRR) formats.

(e) Creditor’s analysis

See Part 5 of the 2-page summary per municipality

2. In terms of the information required regarding Capital grants, refer to the conditional grant summaries per municipality as well as the Summary per program / grant.

AND

Part 2 of the 2-page summary per municipality.

3. The National Treasury is not in a position to confirm whether Makana municipality spent its capital grant for operational purposes, reason being our reporting system does not provide detail to that level. However, the national department responsible for administering of the capital grant would be in a better position to provide required detail. It should be noted however, that Makana Municipality is allowed by law (DoRA) to use a portion of capital grant allocation for operational purposes within the threshold prescribed by the national department responsible for the grant.

As noted in the 2015 Division of Revenue Act, Makana municipality received one capital grant being Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) administered by the department of Corporative Governance. The MIG provides that municipalities can use a maximum of 5% of the grant allocation for operational purposes.

Reply:

All programmes specifically targeting small enterprise development administered by the dti were transferred to the Department of Small Business Development in 2014. In carrying out its mandate to broaden economic participation, the dti encourages other businesses to do business with small business in the implementation of programmes such as the BBBEE codes of good practice, local procurement and export support.

Response from the Entities

Only the four entities listed here under provide support to small business.

Entity	b(i)	b(ii)	(aa)	(bb)	(cc)
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)	The CIPC does not run any development programmes for small business	The CIPC does not run any development programmes for co-operatives	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC)	The ECIC does run development programmes for small business	The ECIC does not run any development programmes for co-operatives	ECIC is runing an enterprise and supplier development programme for its suppliers since 2014. The development offered was that of SME related training.	R14m	At this current stage the number of sustained jobs is 133 as reported by the SMEs. ECIC have no indication of how many jobs will be created in 2016/17 FY. It is however anticipated that as the SMEs grow they will create more jobs.
National Empowerment Fund (NEF)	The NEF does run development programmes for small business	The NEF does run development programmes for co-operatives	The NEF provide financial and non-financial support through its two funds namely iMbewu Fund (iMbewu) and Rural and Community Development Fund (RCDF)	iMbewu – R346m RCDF – R150m	iMbewu – 2 700 RCDF – 1200
National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA)	The NMISA does run development programmes for small business	The NMISA does run development programmes for co-operatives	NMISA has a dedicated programme to assist SMEs to understand Technical Infrastructure issues in their organisations and to measure the level of impact quality infrastructure (QI) has on their specific business. A Measurement Toolkit is used to both train the SMEs in QI and to gauge the level of intervention needed. Focused intervention is then performed with specific SMEs (and Cooperatives).	R1,6m	NMISA has no mechanism to determine the number of jobs created through this activity. If internationally developed guidelines are used to convert investment in QI into job creation, the activity supports approximately 7 000 jobs.
South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)	The SABS does run development programmes for small business	The SABS does run development programmes for co-operatives	Certification and Testing - The SABS work with SME’s in the development and implementation of quality management system, testing of product and certification.	Funding is provided by the various provincial departments and agencies such as SEDA	Direct impact on jobs is estimated by funding agencies themselves
			Design and Innovation interventions - The SABS Design Institute provides development and support to entrepreneurs and SMME using design thinking and methodologies to improve competitiveness.	Funding for these activities is also provided by various government agencies and departments.	Direct impact on jobs is estimated by funding agencies themselves

Reply:

All eight students referred to graduated in 2015. The NYDA recruited 70 students in 2015 under the NYDA Bursary Scheme, and 10 more students under ‘Scholarship Funding’. Therefore, the combined number of students starting their studies in 2015 was 80.

Scholarship Funding was established in 2013 as a pilot study for the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund which started in 2014. The Scholarship Funding was therefore a precursor to the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund which currently covers for registration fees, tuition fees, accommodation, meals and books for 406 students.

Out of the 80 students recruited in 2013:

41 have graduated

25 are still in the programme (mainly in longer studies such as Medicine)

2 got other funding offers

12 dropped from the programme

Since the year 2013, NYDA’s Clinical Psychologist visited the universities at least twice a year to assist with mentoring, counselling and coaching of students to ensure a higher success rate. Since the NYDA restructuring process in 2015, the Clinical Psychologist position did no longer exist. In 2016, a Service Provider has been engaged who takes over the coaching and mentoring of the students with a focus on facilitating the transition from school to university.

Reply:

a) The township Lakeside comprises of various extensions which are registered in the name of Merbuild Proprietary Limited and the Gauteng Provincial Government. The Gauteng Provincial Government is registered owner of only Lakeside Extension 4 Township. The total number of erven/stands in the township is 10977 of which 10363 have, since 1 January 1996, been transferred by the township owners to various parties.

b) The number of erven that have been transferred by the township owners, and held by means of separate title deeds, to date is 10363.

c) The number of erven still held by the township owners under various township title deeds is 614.

d) The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is not in a position to know when the township owners will transfer the remaining erven, as it is the prerogative of the township owners to transfer erven still held under various township title deeds.

Reply:

(1) I hope the Honourable member is not suggesting that he awaits my invitation for him (or his party) to undertake his oversight responsibility. The Honourable member should ensure that his party is represented, if that is not the case, in the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements or the Select Committee on Social Services. Both Committees have undertaken oversight visits to various provinces and made valuable recommendations to the National and Provincial Departments of Human Settlements. I encourage the Honourable member to do the same and partner with us in ensuring that we provide the much needed sustainable human settlements.

I must emphasize that as political representatives it is incumbent upon us to remain connected with our constituencies, thus we must and should always be aware of the living conditions of our citizens. In my view the entire days, weeks, months and years of a political representative must and should in fact constitute inspection-in- loco oversight of the impact of our work and what still remains to be done.

As part of our Ministerial outreach programmes, the Deputy Minister and I had on a regular basis undertaken oversight visits to areas referred to by the Honourable Member.

Notwithstanding, one of the key development focus areas of government has been to ensure that the previous Black dormitory residential areas comprising African, Coloured, Indian households, are transformed by providing all the essential infrastructure and services to ensure households quality of life is improved but also integrated with the mainly White residential areas and other economic infrastructure and services including retail, industrial, commercial, educational, technological, innovation and transport. This is a task carried out as a multi-sectoral and spherical government area of development and includes private business and communities as partners.

Since the dawn of democracy, the National, Provincial and Municipal spheres of government have planned and implemented various programmes and projects in the Black residential townships established prior and post 1994. These include the various Special Presidential Programmes, Special Provincial and Municipal Programmes and projects, which have been implemented and include amongst others but not limited to the Kathorus and Alexandra Special Presidential Projects in Gauteng, the INK Programme in Ethekwini in KZN, the Special Presidential Projects implemented in Khayalitsha and Mitchells Plan, in the City Of Cape Town, the focused infrastructure programme implemented in Soweto, in the City of Johannesburg and more recently the focused programmes implemented in Botshabelo in the Free State and Umtata in the Eastern Cape.

It is also important that we are reminded of our continued infrastructure and services grants which include the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, the Urban Settlements Development Grant, the Integrated Energy Grant, the Neighbourhood Development Grant as well as the Regional and Bulk Infrastructure Grant for water bulk and link infrastructure, are also applied in the goal of achieving the sustainable development transformation of inherited dislocated and apartheid created dormitory residential areas.

(2) The Honourable member is referred to my reply to question 279 wherein I indicated that;

“Indeed Honourable member, we have taken considerable strides in transforming apartheid established townships and we are determined to do more still in order to reverse the apartheid spatial planning and its legacy. For instance, in Soweto we have provided sports facilities, built malls, and paved roads. I invite the Honourable member to visit Cosmo City, which is one amongst our success stories. Evidence of our projects can be seen in many apartheid established townships nationally, places like Kwa-Mashu, Umlazi, Langa, Khayelitsha, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville are a few examples where our footprint can be seen.

We have managed to transform approximately 98% of all our projects to be representative of a human settlement, which includes access to amenities like schools, medical facilities, shopping centres, places of worship, points of transportation and access to roads.

The table below indicates the Human Settlements’ footprint.

Number of projects reflecting characteristics of a Human Settlements
	Number of projects being implemented (2014/15)	Amenities: Schools, Medical Facilities, Shopping Centres, Places of Worship, Transportation (Bus-, Taxi-, Railway Points)	Access to roads
Province		1 km Radius	5km Radius	10km Radius	1km Radius	5km Radius
EC	977	829	941	942	904	942
FS	1538	1282	1507	1521	1476	1521
GP	1276	1156	1274	1274	1266	1274
KZN	942	735	924	925	877	925
LP	1251	882	1198	1224	1070	1224
MP	1666	1208	1563	1581	1499	1583
NC	573	354	433	448	430	467
NW	473	436	544	555	542	560
WC	1540	1438	1511	1516	1494	1516
Total	10236	8320	9895	9986	9558	10012
% of projects within specific distances from the project, with characteristics of a human settlement		81%	97%	98%	93%	98%

It is further important to note that out of a total of 10 236 projects, only 70 projects (0.68%), fall outside a designated town boundary. That is due to the fact that they are projects that focus on rural communities and self-help projects (PHP).

Additionally, we have referenced and profiled a few of the largest towns in the country in relation to the above analysis (Annexure A). From this list there are none of these large towns that cannot be classified as a human settlement based on the definition of a human settlement”.

Reply:

(a) The total percentage spent by the National Department of Human Settlements for procurement from Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) for the period 01 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 is 32%.

(b) (i) The information related to Entities on Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises is as per the table below:

Entities	% Spent on SMME's
HDA	30.41%
NHBRC	45%
NHFC	45%
RHLF	35.35%
NURCHA	15.81%
EAAB	49%
CSOS	45%

Provinces

The Provinces are spending on average 66 % of the Human Settlements Development Grant on Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMME’s) of total procurement for the 2015/16 financial year ending 31 March 2016.Limpopo and Free State have spent more than 90% whilst Western Cape and Gauteng are spending the lowest at 46% and 32% respectively to their Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises.

Provinces	% Spent on SMME's
Eastern Cape	-
Free State	90%
Gauteng	32%
KwaZulu Natal	55%
Limpopo	97%
Mpumalanga	63%
Northern Cape	70%
North West	71%
Western Cape	46%

The percentages are 100% of the total procurement by provinces and it is as at 31/03/2016

(ii) Cooperatives

The Department is promoting and supporting the establishment of Cooperatives within the human settlements delivery chain. To this end, the Department (through People’s Housing Process Directorate) has partnered with the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) and the following has been achieved:

• Approximately 65 different Cooperatives have been established in six (6) Provinces, namely KZN, Gauteng, Free State, North West, Western Cape and the Eastern Cape
• Housing or human settlements Cooperatives serves as a catalyst for the establishment of other Cooperatives. The housing Cooperatives ranges from Construction Cooperatives, brick-making, window/door frame making Cooperatives, carpentry, plumbing, transport, electricity, painting etc.
• Other livelihood Cooperatives formed will focus on agriculture, sewing, catering, poultry, shoe-making etc.
• Most of these Cooperatives are led by Women and Youth and there is one Cooperative established in the Free State led by Disabled people
• A Military Veterans Cooperative called Matrosov was also established in the Eastern Cape for the Chatty 491 project in Port Elizabeth
• Delivered pre-formation and Cooperatives workshops in the six (6) Provinces
• Assessed the state of readiness for the Cooperatives Incentive Scheme (CIS) registration application for registered Cooperatives in KZN and Free State. The main objective of the CIS registration is to enable the Cooperatives to access grant funding from the DSBD as part of the start-up capital
• In partnership with DSBD, delivered CIS workshop to the registered Cooperatives in the Free State who have now applied for the CIS Grant from DSBD
• Through the partnership with DSBD, a project will be identified as a pilot under the new Cooperatives Incubator Programme led by DSBD
• The Department will be sourcing Training and Skills development initiatives for the registered Cooperatives through NHBRC, SEDA and other similar institutions

Reply:

(a) A total of 564 houses are to be built in the Ekuphumleni housing project in the Ndlambe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape;

(b) The estimated completion date is 31st March 2017;

(c) The budget allocated for the project is R89m.

Reply:

a) The current building has been condemned by the Johannesburg Emergency Services in July 2015, and all tenants had to vacate the building.

The Department of Labour is engaging with the Department of Public Works on procuring alternative accommodation. The Department of Public Works has identified land on which a building could be erected for the Johannesburg Labour Centre.

We are aware that this will take some time and we are engaging the Department of Public Works to identify suitable alternative premises that could be used in the interim. The request for alternative premises was sent to the Department of Public Works on 2 November 2015.

b) At this stage we do not have a date for re-opening of the office because alternative accommodation has not been identified. We will also first have to bring such accommodation up to standard and provide necessary infrastructure.

c) The office was due to re-open in June 2015, but unfortunately a fire broke out in the basement of the building which resulted in the closure and condemning of the entire building by the Johannesburg Emergency Services.

d) Closest offices are as following;

1. Germiston Labour Centre situated at Number 141 Victoria Street.
2. Alberton Labour Centre situated at Number 89 Voortrekker Street.
3. Soweto Labour Centre situated at Number 2 Khumalo Stret
4. Roodepoort Labour Centre situated at Number 125 Albertina Sisulu Road, Technikon .
5. Randburg Labour Centre situated at corner Oak and Hill Streets.
6. Sandton Labour Centre situated at Number 424 9th Street, Marlboro.

e) Notices were placed on the doors of the Johannesburg Labour Centre office, but normally removed by unknown persons. We have communicated through the media and also respond to all media enquires on the matter.

Reply:

No. The Rural Households Infrastructure Grant (RHIG) is no longer part of the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) allocation. This grant was transferred to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in 2014 when this new Department was established as part of the National Macro Organisation of the State (NMOS).

(a) The Rural Household Infrastructure Grant was allocated the following amounts while still managed by the Department:

(i) R231.5 million in the 2011/12 financial year

(ii) R479.5 million in the 2012/13 financial year

(iii) R106.7 million in the 2013/14 financial year

(iv) R113.1 million in the 2014/15 financial year. The whole allocation was transferred to the Department of Water & Sanitation during the mid-term budget process

(b) The Department of Human Settlement has not been allocated any RHIG funding in 2016/17 financial year and over the MTEF period.

Reply:

(1) The COO’s job description is herein attached.

(2) No. The Executive Directors of the SABC sign performance agreements with the SABC Board, not the Minister.

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

ANNEXURE A

Below is the job description of the SABC COO, as advertised on 15 February 2013, Ref.94358/2:

 

Key accountabilities: As a member of the Board and reporting to the Group Chief Executive Officer, with full day-to-day operating responsibility for the economic, content and platform performance of the SABC, the successful candidate will: ▪Ensure adherence to key performance areas, ie revenue, cost and quality ▪Ensure that the corporate strategy and the operational plans work in tandem and are geared towards positioning the SABC best in class public broadcaster ▪Work closely with the Group Chief Executive Officer and take direct corporate strategy for the operational growth of the corporation in order to improve profitability and quality of the service offering ▪Build the digital and new media capabilities of the organisation ▪Lead the various cross-functional teams across the organisation.

Reply:

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GCIS):

(a) To the knowledge of the Accounting Officers of both the Department of Communications and the GCIS, senior managers of the departments did not meet with the above-mentioned people on their official capacity, between 2009 and 2015.

(b) No contracts were entered into with Sahara Holdings, Comair, Oakbay Investment, Islandsite Investment, Afripalm Horizons Stakes, TNA Media, JIC Mining Services and Vusizwe Media between 2009 and 2015 outside of normal procurement transactions.

Yes, there has been transactions with TNA Media to procure advertising. Payments made from the budget appropriated to Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) to TNA Media are detailed below:

DEPARTMENT	FISCAL 2011-2012	INVOICE AMOUNT
GCIS	Protection of Information Bill	R132 526.37
	SONA	R153 900.00
	SONA	R1 700 000.00
	Information Dissemination	R874 888.00
GCIS Total		R2 861 314.37
	FISCAL 2012-2013	INVOICE AMOUNT
GCIS	National Orders	R450 000.00
	Orders of Companions of OR Tambo	R77 319.00
	SONA	R893 475.29
	State Funeral	R92 836.93
GCIS Total		R1 513 631.12
	FISCAL 2013-2014	INVOICE AMOUNT
	Mandela Memorial Campaign: State Funeral	R62 928.00
	Recruitment	R50 068.80
	SONA	R821 128.32
GCIS Total		R934 125.12
	FISCAL 2014-2015	INVOICE AMOUNT
Government Communication and Information System (GCIS)	Database registration	R 14 945.40
	Profiling Campaign	R 720 990.72
	Recruitment	R 301 195.75
	Recruitment Phase 3	R 57 078.43
	SONA 2014	R 100 137.60
	SONA 2015	R 101 888.64
GCIS Total		R 1 296 236.54
	FISCAL 2015/2016
GCIS	SONA 2016	R 145 555.20
	Voter Education	R 81 874.80
GCIS Total		R227 430.00

ENTITIES REPORTING TO DOC:

ICASA did not award any contracts to Sahara Holdings, Comair, Oakbay Investments, Islandsite Investments, Afripalm Horizons Stakes, The New Age Media, JIC Mining Services and Vusizwe Media during 1 January 2009 up to 31 December 2015.

Brand South Africa did not award any contracts to Sahara Holdings, Comair, Oakbay Investments, Islandsite Investments, Afripalm Horizons Stakes, The New Age Media, JIC Mining Services and Vusizwe Media during 1 January 2009 up to 31 December 2015.

Media Diversity and Development Agency did not award any contracts to Sahara Holdings, Comair, Oakbay Investments, Islandsite Investments, Afripalm Horizons Stakes, The New Age Media, JIC Mining Services and Vusizwe Media during 1 January 2009 up to 31 December 2015.

South African Broadcasting Corporation

    (a) N/A

     (b) Yes, The New Age Media.

      (i) 1. Newspaper subscriptions

           2. The SABC and The New Age (TNA) have an agreement that the SABC will cover live all the TNA Business Breakfasts. This agreement is for a period of three years. The agreement stipulates that the TNA will arrange and organise the Business Breakfasts by providing the venue (as well as catering) and secure the participants. The SABC in turn broadcasts the event. The advantage for the SABC is the acquisition of content.

       (ii) 1. R 733,930.

            2. Nil

Film and Publications Board did not award any contracts to Sahara Holdings, Comair, Oakbay Investments, Islandsite Investments, Afripalm Horizons Stakes, The New Age Media, JIC Mining Services and Vusizwe Media during 1 January 2009 up to 31 December 2015.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MR D LIPHOKO

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

DoC and GCIS:

(a) Both the Department of Communications and GCIS - considering shared procurement systems in the initial year of the DoC’s operation - have not entered into contracts with the above mentioned companies since 1 May 2014, outside of normal procurement transactions.

(b) Yes, the Departments transacted with TNA Media to procure advertising. Payments made are detailed below:

DEPARTMENT	FISCAL 2011-2012	INVOICE AMOUNT
GCIS	Protection of Information Bill	R132 526.37
	SONA	R153 900.00
	SONA	R1 700 000.00
	Information Dissemination	R874 888.00
GCIS Total		R2 861 314.37
	FISCAL 2012-2013	INVOICE AMOUNT
GCIS	National Orders	R450 000.00
	Orders of Companions of OR Tambo	R77 319.00
	SONA	R893 475.29
	State Funeral	R92 836.93
GCIS Total		R1 513 631.12
	FISCAL 2013-2014	INVOICE AMOUNT
	Mandela Memorial Campaign: State Funeral	R62 928.00
	Recruitment	R50 068.80
	SONA	R821 128.32
GCIS Total		R934 125.12
	FISCAL 2014-2015	INVOICE AMOUNT
Government Communication and Information System (GCIS)	Database registration	R 14 945.40
	Profiling Campaign	R 720 990.72
	Recruitment	R 301 195.75
	Recruitment Phase 3	R 57 078.43
	SONA 2014	R 100 137.60
	SONA 2015	R 101 888.64
GCIS Total		R 1 296 236.54
	FISCAL 2015/2016
GCIS	SONA 2016	R 145 555.20
	Voter Education	R 81 874.80
GCIS Total		R227 430.00

ICASA has not (a) awarded any tenders to and/or (b) concluded any contracts and/or financial transactions with (i) Sahara Holdings, (ii) Oakbay Investments, (iii) The New Age Media, (iv) Vusizwe Media, (v) Mabengela, (vi) Islandsite Investments 255, (vii) Afripalm Horizons Stakes, (viii) Dunrose Investments and/or (ix) JIC Mining Services since 1 May 2014.

MDDA has not (a) awarded any tenders to and/or (b) concluded any contracts and/or financial transactions with (i) Sahara Holdings, (ii) Oakbay Investments, (iii) The New Age Media, (iv) Vusizwe Media, (v) Mabengela, (vi) Islandsite Investments 255, (vii) Afripalm Horizons Stakes, (viii) Dunrose Investments and/or (ix) JIC Mining Services since 1 May 2014.

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC):

(a) SABC has not awarded any tenders to (i) Sahara Holdings, (ii) Oakbay Investments, (iii) The New Age Media, (iv) Vusizwe Media, (v) Mabengela, (vi) Islandsite Investments 255, (vii) Afripalm Horizons Stakes, (viii) Dunrose Investments and/or (ix) JIC Mining Services since 1 May 2014.

(b) SABC concluded contracts with The New Age Media for Newspaper subscriptions at a cost of R733,930 since 1 May 2014.

Brand South Africa has not (a) awarded any tenders to and/or (b) concluded any contracts and/or financial transactions with (i) Sahara Holdings, (ii) Oakbay Investments, (iii) The New Age Media, (iv) Vusizwe Media, (v) Mabengela, (vi) Islandsite Investments 255, (vii) Afripalm Horizons Stakes, (viii) Dunrose Investments and/or (ix) JIC Mining Services since 1 May 2014.

Film and Publications Board has not (a) awarded any tenders to and/or (b) concluded any contracts and/or financial transactions with (i) Sahara Holdings, (ii) Oakbay Investments, (iii) The New Age Media, (iv) Vusizwe Media, (v) Mabengela, (vi) Islandsite Investments 255, (vii) Afripalm Horizons Stakes, (viii) Dunrose Investments and/or (ix) JIC Mining Services since 1 May 2014.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MR D LIPHOKO

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

(1)(a)The Department has not sponsored any organisations in the 2015-16 financial year, and was yet to be established in the 2014-15 financial year.

(1)(b) Brand SA has not sponsored any organisations in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years.

FPB has not sponsored any organisations in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years and will enter into partnerships with various institutions to save costs and for marketing benefits. The said partnerships are herein attached as Annexure A.

MDDA has sponsored the MTN Radio Awards 2015 to an amount of R 78 300 ex Vat. The sponsorship was for an Award category and was in support of the recognition given to the community radio stations by the Awards. As a partnership between the MDDA and MTN, the MDDA branding was incorporated in the promotion of the Awards.

ICASA has not sponsored any organisations in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years.

SABC

1(b) (i) Yes.

(ii) Yes.

(aa) 2014/15 - Writers Guild of South Africa.

2015/16 - Writers Guild of South Africa (Muse Awards).

(bb) 2014/15 - Writers Guild of South Africa: R37 000.

2015/16 - Writers Guild of South Africa (Muse Awards): R50 000.

(cc) 2014/15 - 15 Previously disadvantaged youth with the creative writing flair got an opportunity to attend a two day workshop where they had an opportunity to have one-on-one sessions with Andrew Welsh who assisted them with turning their ideas into tangible concepts. They also received course materials which they could use for future idea development.

2015/16 – Support of the local independent production industry. The annual awards celebrate South African drama writers.

(2)(a) The Department does not intend to sponsor any organisations in the 2016- 17 financial year due to budgetary constraints.

(1)(b) Brand SA does not intend to sponsor any organisations in the 2016-17 financial year.

FPB does not intend to sponsor any organisations in the 2016-17 financial year.

MDDA does not intend to sponsor any organisations in the 2015-2016 financial year. Sponsorships are only considered where they will directly benefit community media and encourage media diversity and the MDDA does not anticipate that approaches for sponsorship that meet these criteria will materialise.

ICASA does not intend to sponsor any organisations in the 2016-17 financial year.

SABC intends to sponsor the Durban International Film Festival & Durban Film Mart in the 2016-17 financial year.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

(1) Yes, Official trip to promote mining and investment opportunities in South Africa. The trip was also as opportunity to be apprised about the work done with African countries on matters pertaining to stemming the flow of illicit diamonds, and precious metals.

(2) Yes (a) To promote mining investment opportunities, as well as South Africa, as a preferred destination; (b) No.

 

Approved/not approved

Mr MJ Zwane, MP

Minister of Mineral Resources

Date Submitted: 11/05/2016

Reply:

1. The National Development Plan (NDP) was formulated through a thorough consultative process. Various stakeholders and members of the public were consulted in several road shows and extensive public engagement programmes by the National Planning Commission. The Plan was adopted by Parliament in 2013 with the objective to accelerate economic growth, eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. The Plan is already being implemented. The 2013 Budget was the first to be tabled within the framework of the National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP remains the cornerstone of all our budget allocation decisions. The Plan has been translated into a five year Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), which is government’s five year programme of action. In this way, it forms part of the strategic plan of every government department.

The key priority for South Africa at the moment is to remove all possible impediments to implementation. The government cluster system ensures that there is alignment, facilitation and monitoring of implementation of priority programmes which feed from the NDP. Parliament is also able to monitor the implementation through the normal parliamentary oversight processes.

We have also introduced innovative programmes such as the Operation Phakisa Big Fast Results methodology. The programme is being implemented in a few sectors such as the ocean economy, information and communication technologies in schools, health and mining. Operation Phakisa is proving to be an effective implementation mechanism. Other programmes such as the Industrial Policy Action are also aimed at implementing the NDP, in order to promote inclusive growth and create jobs.

Every member of the Executive subscribes to the NDP. All government programmes are informed by the NDP.

Reply:

1. Government is committed to remaining within overall expenditure ceilings which were initially introduced in 2012. The main driver of growth in the past in the government wage bill has been the implementation of above inflation salary increases. However, careful reprioritisation of spending since 2012 has led to a reduction in the share of compensation of employees from 36.1 per cent in 2012/13 to a revised estimate of 34.5 per cent in 2015/16.

In the 2016 Budget Speech, the Minister of Finance announced measures to curtail growth in the wage bill, including reducing compensation budgets by R25 billion over the next three years. An additional R7.2 billion has been shifted out of compensation budgets over the medium term to other spending priorities. The National Treasury, the Department of Public Service and Administration, and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation are working on proposals to reform wage negotiation processes. Appointments to non-critical posts will be blocked on the payroll system. However, to protect service delivery, teachers, nurses, doctors, police officers and other critical posts will be excluded from this process. To further restrain growth in wage bill, the 2016 Appropriation Bill proposes earmarking compensation budgets. The success of these interventions will be assessed during the next three-year period.

The process of determining salaries of public representatives and office bearers is undertaken by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Office Bearers (“the Commission). The Commission is an independent statutory body mandated in terms of section 8 (4) and (5) of the Commission’s Act (Act No. 20 of 1998), to make annual recommendations relating to salaries, allowances, benefits and making submissions to the President for consideration. A number of factors are taken into consideration with the objective of restraining expenditure. Such factors include affordability, economic conditions, and inflation forecasts, amongst other. These factors are carefully considered by the President prior to taking a decision on the Commission’s recommendations. The process also involves consultation with various stakeholders including the Legislative Sector Forum (LSF) and the Minister of Finance. A case in point is the recently announced cost-of-living adjustments for public office bearers nationally and provincially. The Commission had recommended between 5% and 6% for main categories of public office bearers but the President, after due consideration, determined a below inflation increase, (i.e. Consumer Price Index minus 1% which translates to 4.4%) for the 2015/16 financial year.

Reply:

(1) (a) The current plan of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) regarding the Red Tape Reduction Programme is to revisit the piloted municipalities to assess progress made in relation to the following: complaints notification system, 30 payment system, building plan approval processes, business registration permits, by-laws and communication of small business information to SMMEs and Cooperatives. Specifically for Moses Kotane Local Municipality in North West, the turnaround times for payment to small businesses have been reduced to the required 30 days period.

(b) There is no record of unnecessary (i) policies, (ii) by-laws and (iii) regulations rescinded in the specific municipality. The total number of policies, by-laws and regulations that impede the development and promotion of small businesses will only be outlined upon the conclusion of the proposed study on regulatory protocols affecting small businesses to be conducted by DSBD during the 2016/17 financial year. However, in terms of Moses Kotane Local Municipality the by-laws are reviewed every two years.

(c) The current assessment did not consider the administration costs. However, the improvement on turnaround times as well as communication on compliance will reduce Red Tape in each of the identified municipalities ultimately reducing costs experienced by SMMEs.

2. Some of the examples that can be referred to regarding how the red tape has been reduced include: improvement on turnaround times regarding complains on service delivery from 48 to 24 hours.

Reply:

(a) This needs to be responded by the Department of Water and Sanitation

(b) The situation described below and under (a) is not applicable to Durban or any specific city but is in general applicable to most cities. Given their population density and sheer intensity of economic activity, cities are a major source of overexploitation and depletion of natural resources. As was noted in the recent OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050, the number of people living in cities will increase to around 6.4 billion by 2050, or approximately 70% of the total world population (OECD 2012).

Therefore all cities can be considered environmental hotspots– this shear density of humanity means that cities are huge sinks for food, water, energy and other natural resources as well as being significant sources of waste, effluent, heat and atmospheric emissions (often mostly vehicle emissions).

Loss of natural habitat is the biggest single cause of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the terrestrial environment. Outright loss of natural habitat takes place mainly as a result of conversion of natural vegetation for necessary infrastructure development and urban development, which means that patterns of land use have a great impact on the health and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, resulting in impacts on their ecological functioning and viability, particularly in the context of climate change.

Furthermore, waste generated by urban settlements generates water pollution, soil pollution and air pollution, impacting on ecosystems, species and ecological processes (National Biodiversity Assessment, 2011).

Nothwithstanding the above, Durban like any other city in South Africa is subject to environmental laws of the country. This city has a dedicated environmental and planning institutional arrangement that is meant to mitigate and manage potential environmental impacts. Part of their environmental vision, the eThekwini Metropolitan city, advocates for conserving biodiversity and the ecosystem goods and services.

Operation Phakisa led by the Department of Environmental Affairs has key focus areas on Marine Protection Services and Governance that include key initiatives addressing overexploitation and depletion of natural resources or marine living species. These include a network of Marine Protected Areas and Coordinated enforcement programs.

The monitoring and evaluation of local authorities’ performance is the mandate of COGTA.

(c) (i), (ii) and (iii)

The Department is in the process of conducting a National Coastal Assessment which will identify such hotspots.

(d) (i), (ii) and (iii)

Coastal cities by their nature are potential environmental hotspots with respect to water quality. As an example, some of recreational beaches in Durban had lost their Blue Flag status due to poor water quality but have since regained this Blue Flag Status.

The Department has tools that aim to assist municipalities to better manage water quality.

(e) (i), (ii) and (iii)

All cities contain highly prized ecosystems, but continue to face pressing needs of ever expanding need to provide for housing and other land uses. However, most of the more advanced metropolitan areas and bigger cities entertain these pressures through proper land use planning. Conservation plans and other tools are in place to indicate where the environmental hotspots are located. Planning of infrastructure takes these hotspots into consideration. Designing these cities consider environmental impacts and is dedicated to the minimization of the required inputs of energy, water and food, waste output and water pollution.

A number of conservation and legislative tools to ensure conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity have been developed.

---ooOoo---

Reply:

a) 18 applications were received by the Human Resource Unit of Boxing SA.

b) 3 candidates were shortlisted.

c) at this moment the names and other details required of the applicants cannot be revealed as the process of appointment is still in progress and the approval from Minister of Finance as per the Boxing Act is still awaited.

Reply:

Government is not only working with international partners and stakeholders regarding the “siege of Gaza and push for a rapprochement between Gaza and Israel”, but to address the full spectrum of challenges between Palestine and Israel, including those in the occupied territories and Jerusalem.The South African Government interacts on this issue with the international community in many structures, including the United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and BRICS.

In addition this issue also forms part of discussions in our bilateral relations.This process of engaging international partners and stakeholders is further facilitated through the appointment in 2014, of the Special Envoys for the Middle East Peace Process, former Minister Skweyiya and Former Deputy Minister Pahad. Since their appointment, the Special Envoys have visited Palestine, Israel and neighbouring countries to convey President Zuma’s grave concern over the then escalating violence, the civilian displacement and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

More recently visits included high-level discussions to understand the impact of conflict in the broader Middle East region on the Middle East Peace Process and to assess a possible South African contribution. The Envoys intend briefing all structures of Parliament as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made.Similarly, DIRCO will also brief Parliamentary structures.

 

UNQUOTE

Reply:

The National Development Plan (NDP) is a coherent policy framework that is used to achieve alignment and co-ordination across government.

A number of implementation strategies are in place. They include addressing the growth path challenges to the creation of more jobs, and implementing industrial and agriculture policies. Our Medium-term Strategic Framework puts timeframes to specific actions in these strategies.

In order to ensure that our planning and our policies do in fact achieve what we want them to, we have, amongst other initiatives, strengthened the role of Parliament in the budget through the Money Bills Amendment Act, and established a Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation.

To improve the ease of doing business, we are now conducting socio-economic impact assessments on new legislation to enable the true costs and benefits to be known.

A large share of public sector spending, is aimed at establishing and maintaining conditions in which the private sector can invest. Public investment levels are robust and contributed to creation of jobs and opportunities for industrialisation.

As regards regulation, we have recently amended our visa regime to better balance the various policy objectives and to help the growth of tourism. Government departments are committed to helping municipalities cut red tape and provide a range of support measures for small businesses.

Many of our largest municipalities are participating in a programme intended to reduce red tape for business in areas such as getting construction permits, obtaining electricity connections and registering property.

To develop and strengthen a vibrant partnership with key economic stakeholders, we have engaged foreign and domestic investors, trade unions and community leaders. NEDLAC continues to remain an important body which facilitates consensus and cooperation between Government, Labour, Business and the Community in dealing with South Africa’s socio-economic challenges.

In the run up to this year’s State of the Nation, I met with business leaders to hear their concerns and exchange views on what each social partner can do to lift the rate of inclusive growth and job creation. We met again on the 9th of May and announced to the nation a package of interventions to unlock growth.

These measures that I have outlined are part of our efforts to build a capable, developmental state. While are stepping up efforts to improve the performance of the state, a number new investment commitments by the private sector, including foreign investors, point to examples of successful implementation of polices by the state. These include the automobile production sector as well as renewable energy plants.

Reply:

1. During the State of the Nation Address I announced a far reaching programme that is aimed at reigniting our economy and creating jobs for our people. The programme I announced, details of which were further announced in more detail in the Budget Speech by the Minister of Finance, includes measures government is taking to reduce wastage of resources in the state. I believe that if this turnaround and fiscal consolidation strategy is fully implemented, we will successfully address the matters you raise in your question.

One of the main contributors to cost is keeping two capitals, one in Pretoria and the other in Cape Town. I made a call to Members of Parliament to look into this matter and ensure that it is addressed with the urgency it deserves.

The State of the Nation Address as well as the Budget Speech contain details of our government’s plan to address wastage in the state.

Reply:

The World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos is a premier global marketing opportunity, bringing together Heads of State and Government and global business executives and owners to discuss the state of the global economy.

WEF traditionally provides an excellent opportunity for South Africa to market itself as an investment destination. The January 2016 meeting was important, given the depressed global economic climate. We met global captains of commerce and industry to brief them on the various interventions that we have undertaken to reignite growth and create jobs, especially the Nine Point Plan that I introduced during the 2015 State of the Nation Address, within the framework of the National Development Plan. The engagements went well as Team South Africa, both government and business, was able to send out a common message that South Africa is open for business.

I was accompanied by my wife Ms Bongekile Zuma as well as the Ministers of Finance, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Energy, Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Health, Water and Sanitation. Officials from the Presidency included Ms Lakela Kaunda, the Chief Operations Officer; Mr Silas Zimu; the Special Advisor to the President; Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, Deputy Director-General in the Private Office of the President. In addition, the support staff responsible for research, protocol, communication and general included Ms Grace Mason, Mr Bongani Majola; Ms Milka Bosoga; Mr Pride De Lange; Mr T Sekano; Mr K Sebata; Ms T Khambane; Ms N Dlamini and Mr G Moloisi. Ministers were also accompanied by a limited number of support staff. The cost of travel, accommodation and transport is still awaited and will be available after final reconciliation.

I am not aware of any family member of a delegate being on the visit as well. Other than my wife, no other delegate from the Presidency travelled with a family member.

None of the government delegates were required to pay the amount mentioned. Accommodation for participants and support teams in Davos is arranged through a WEF-appointed travel agency in Davos. There are no individual country arrangements.

The visit to Davos contributed immensely to the drive by government to assure investors and to promote the country as an investment destination.

Reply:

The Minister sees no possible conflict of interest between allegations relating to employment in one role and the pursuance of employment in another.

(a) If the question is asking whether allegations against an employee in one role are compromising to his employment in a second, in this case that of the CEO of SA Rugby, the Minister is satisfied that the Federation has properly exercised its fiduciary responsibility and would point the questioner to the legal opinion provided by Fanie Cilliers, S.C. and Professor Michael Katz. They advised that it would be unfair labour practice to take action against an employee on perceptions of third parties or on the basis of a report of which the facts have not been tested in court.

(b) Based on the above advice, the Minister will not be taking any action against Mr Roux.