Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1) Five thousand four hundred and sixty five (5 465) houses in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape require rectification.

(2) (a)(i)(aa) to (cc) From 2011 to 2014 a total of 28 261 housing units were rectified by the Provincial Department and/or Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality;

(dd) In 2014/15, a total number of 2 048 units were rectified by the Provincial Department and/or Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality;

(ii) Since 1st April 2015, a total of 1 561units were rectified; and

(b) As far as rectification is concerned, it is now policy that my Department will no longer rectify any houses using its funds. A directive in this regard was issued in 2015 to all Provincial Human Settlements Departments that no funding from the Human Settlements Development Grant may be utilised for rectification. Where defects and poor workmanship are identified, they remain the responsibility of the Province, Municipality and/or the Developer to take relevant remedial action against the contractor and enforce repairs at the cost of the contractor or developer.

The Honourable member is also referred my speech to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on 12 May 2015 during the Policy Debate on the budget of my Department. I indicated,

“We are no longer rectifying houses using our budget. Any house that has defaults is the responsibility of the NHBRC, which is responsible to identify the contractor and ensure that they rectify the shoddy work at their own cost. The money currently used on rectification can and will be used in building more houses”.

In order to limit the need to rectify houses, Government established the National Home Builders Registration (NHBRC). Its mandate is to ensure that all contractors who undertake the construction of a subsidised house are registered with the NHBRC and the requirement for registration, amongst others, is that they comply with all minimum norms and standards and expertise to construct a house.

In addition, the National Department conducts structured project-level monitoring on a quarterly basis in all nine Provinces for verification of delivery. During these, the quality of construction is also observed and reported. I also recently met with contractors involved in the housing subsidy market to address challenges and to emphasize amongst other the importance of quality workmanship.

Reply:

1. South African Airways has indicated that on all destinations they have stopped transporting fire-arms for passengers. Additional information is available on SAA’s webiste at http://www.flysaa.com/za/en/flyingSAA/baggage/firearms.html

2. The Minister does not intend to make an announcement on this matter.

Reply:

(a) There have not been attempts to replace the Councillors. Minister met with the previous Chairperson and expressed the intention to change the structure of the Council to derive maximum value for all stakeholders.

(b) There is currently no designated Chairperson of the council.

(c) There has not been any meetings with the Chairperson.

Reply:

1. Loate and Dube police stations.

(b) A map indicating the boundaries is attached as per Annexure A.

(c)(i)

	(c)(i)(aa) Police Act Employees	(c)(i)(bb) Public Service Act Employees
Dube	41	9
Loate	118	26

(c)(ii)(aa) and (bb) Breakdown per function and salary level is attached as per Annexure B.

(c)(i)(cc) Operational vehicles at Dube police station:

Operational vehicles at Dube police station
Sectors	6
Detective Service	5
Client Service Centre	6
Crime Prevention	2
Total operational vehicles	19

Operational vehicles at Loate police station
Detective Service	16
Client Service Centre	5
Crime Prevention	15
Total operational vehicles	36

Reply:

1. No. The Minister has not earned any additional income from doing business with government

a) N/A

b) N/A

c) N/A

d) N/A

(2)     whether his (a) spouse, (b) children and (c) close family earned income from businesses, in particular businesses doing work for the Government, through his appointment as Minister; if so, in respect of each case, (i) when, (ii) how much did each earn, (iii) from which businesses and (iv) for what work?          NW1019E

ANSWER

2. No family members of the Minister have earned incoming from doing business with government.

i) N/A

ii) N/A

iii) N/A

iv) N/A

 

Reply

Approved/not approved

Mr MJ Zwane, MP

Minister of Mineral Resources

 

 

Date Submitted:-………………/………………/2016

 

Reply:

(1) Yes, a case docket was opened by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). The matter is still under investigation and is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT), a subcomponent of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).

(2)(a) Witnesses who were involved in the day-to-day running of Nedlac were interviewed.

(2)(b) The case is under investigation.

(2)(c) Allegations of fraud are being investigated.

(2)(d) The matter will be finalised as soon as all the prosecutor’s instructions have been dealt with.

(3)(a) No arrests have been made yet.

(3)(b) No person has been prosecuted yet.

(3)(b)(i) The case is still under investigation.

(3)(b)(ii) When the investigation and the case is finalised in court.

(4)(a) A progress report/feedback has been given to Nedlac.

(4)(b)(i) On 2016-03-08.

(4)(b)(ii) Feedback given was that the matter was still under investigation and further particulars were requested from Nedlac.

Reply:

Yes. The provincial equitable share formula is reviewed and updated annually with new data, where available. Periodic reviews of the formula are also undertaken.

The provincial share of nationally raised revenue is disbursed to provinces using the Provincial Equitable Share (PES) formula. The formula comprises of six components, of which health is one of them, weighted at 27 per cent.

The structure of the health component in the provincial equitable share was amended through a review undertaken in 2010/11. The revised health component, introduced from 2011/12, uses a risk-adjusted capitation index and output data from public hospitals to estimate each province’s share of the health component. These two subcomponents work together to balance the needs (risk-adjusted capitation) and demands (output component). Caseload data in the health component, which measures demand on the ground, changes from year to year and is updated every year with data from the national Department of Health’s Information System. However, the epidemiological landscape that drives the risk profile of a population in a province is unlikely to change from year to year and this subcomponent of the health component is updated on a 4 to 5 years interval cycle.

A review of the provincial equitable share formula is currently underway that will, amongst others, assess all data sources available for each of the components of the formula, including the health component. The outcomes of this review will be implemented in future medium term expenditure frameworks (MTEFs).

(i) Not applicable.

(ii) With respect to the health component, yearly data updates were applied for (a) 2013/14, (b) 2014/15 and (c) 2015/16 as follows:

• 2013/14

          The health component for 2013/14 was updated with the 2011 General Household Survey, 2012 mid-year population estimates, data from the Council for Medical Schemes’ Risk Equalisation Fund, and District Health Information Services data for 2010/11 and 2011/12. The details of such updates are contained in pages 77 to 79 of the 2013 Division of Revenue Bill.

• 2014/15

        The health component for 2014/15 was updated with the 2012 General Household Survey, 2013 mid-year population estimates, data from the    Council for Medical Schemes’ Risk Equalisation Fund, and District Health Information Services data for 2011/12 and 2012/13. The details of such updates are contained in pages 77 to 78 of the 2014 Division of Revenue Bill.

• 2015/16

         The health component for 2015/16 was updated with the 2013 General Household Survey, 2014 mid-year population estimates, data from the Council for Medical Schemes’ Risk Equalisation Fund, and District Health Information Services data for 2012/13 and 2013/14. The details of such updates are contained in pages 79 to 80 of the 2015 Division of Revenue Bill.

Reply:

a) The process of updating our website is underway including Contact us page. We have appointed an Online Media Service personnel to deal with it

b) The process is already underway and the Online Media Personnel is working on it

c) Its Communications Directorate to update content that goes on the Website

d) Online Media Service will be working with all stakeholders to collect information and update the website

Reply:

(a) (i) 5449 individuals

(ii) 837 Corporate/businesses

(b) Smallest amount = R204.75

Largest amount = R10 551 548.16

(c) The Legal cause is Non Payment of Toll.

(d) (i) & (ii) From a Summons issue perspective Daly Attorneys were used. They form part of the Contractor’s business model with their sub-contractors.

Werksmans Inc. is on a retainer as Sanral’s attorneys of record related to e-Toll matters. A due SCM process was followed in their initial appointment.

(e) (i) Senior advocates may be appointed depending on the specifics of the defences offered for specified claims. However, no matter has reached a stage where the particular defences are known.

(ii) (iii) The appointment of senior advocates depends on the legal matters to be argued and the availability of a particular senior advocate.

(f) (i) There are fixed costs applicable to the drafting of summonses, costs of the court and sheriff costs. (ii) There is no specific budget for legal costs. SANRAL has a general budget for legal costs. Furthermore, depending on the particular process, legal costs are determined by the courts and if a defendant found guilty, the costs are carried by the defendant.

Reply:

The Minister has not met with any member, nor close associate of the Guptas. He has also not attended a meeting with a specified person at the Gupta’s Saxonworld Estate in Johannesburg.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

1. No.

(a) The Department has engaged with USAASA to ensure alignment of the Broadband initiatives being funded through the USAF and SA Connect Phase 1 hence USAASA’s current and future plans are aligned with the SA Connect Phase 1 District Municipalities.

(b) The Department and USAASA will continue to engage to outline the agency roles on SA Connect implementation taking into consideration developments in the sector

2. (aa) (i)-(ii) The estimated cost for Phase1 of SA Connect is R6.56billion

(bb) (i) – (ii) The estimated cost for Phase2 of SA Connect is R67.4 billion

(b) (i)-(iii) Phase 1 detailed breakdown

Phase 1 Budget Allocation (Million)
2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	Total
R 516.34	R 719. 52	R 720. 37	R6.56 Billion

(i)- (iii) Phase 2 detailed breakdown

Phase 2 Budget Allocation (Million)
2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	Total
R 823, 9	R 1, 557	R 2, 213	67.42 Billion

(c) The funding for Phase 1 will come from Budget allocation MTEF 2016/-2018/19. No allocation for Phase 2

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

The 1 200 properties are not untraceable as suggested by the Honourable Member. Rather, the land parcels in question cannot be linked to the Geographical Information System (GIS) due to the absence of cadastral information on them. The Department of Public Works (DPW) has therefore approached the Office of the Chief Surveyor-General to provide spatial geo-reference cadastral data of South Africa for these properties in the format of the (Environmental Systems Research Institute) ESRI files that are currently being used in the Department, so that the land parcels can be linked to the GIS. It is important for all property under the custodianship of the DPW to be put on the GIS system so that the Department or the Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE) is enabled to manage immovable assets optimally, incorporating the ability to do conditionality assessments and thus provide for asset investment decisions.

Attached to this reply is Annexure A, which lists the 1 200 properties.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

1. (a) Since 1 October 2015, the National ICT Forum has held a number of meetings through its various structures, which comprises of the Chairpersons Forum, Chamber meetings and Working Committees.

(b) (i) Meeting Dates:

• • • Chairpersons Forum – 30 November 2015, 11 March 2016 and 06 May 2016
    • Economic Chamber – 3 March 2016
    • Social Chamber – 27 November 2015 and 19 February 2016
    • Governance and Security Chamber – 7 December 2015
    • ICTs and Disability Chamber – 2 December 2015 and 17 March 2016

(ii) Venues:

• Chairpersons Forum – Director General’s Boardroom (Department)
• Economic Chamber – Blue Crane Boardroom (Department)
• Social Chamber – Blue Crane boardroom (Department)
  • Governance and Security Chamber – Blue Crane Boardroom (Department)
• ICTs and Disability Chamber – Burgherspark Hotel (Pretoria)

 

(iii) Agendas:

Chairpersons Forum – Stakeholder Mobilization and Participation, Resource Mobilization, Draft Work Programmes of Chambers, National Workshop

Economic Chamber – ICT Skills, ICT SMMEs support, Electronic Manufacturing, Postal Sector and ICTs

• Social Chamber – e-Health, e-Education, e-Justice and e-Agriculture
• Governance and Security Chamber – e-Commerce, Internet Governance, Policy Mapping and Cyber Security.
• ICTs and Disability Chamber – ICT Assistive Devices, Access to Government websites, Access to Banking Services

(iv) Records of decisions:

• Chambers have developed their Terms of Reference and firmed up their structures
• Chambers have now resolved and are prepared draft Work Programmes which still need to
• be approved by the department
• The Chairpersons Forum agreed to convene a National Workshop to discuss and endorse
• the draft Work Programmes

(2)(a) Reports and (b) Initiatives

Initiatives that are coming out of the draft work programmes of the chambers include the following:

• Conduct a National ICT Skills Audit with relevant stakeholders
• Develop and implement a basic National e-Literacy Programme
• Facilitate creation of Creative Hubs for SMMEs in townships with relevant support
• Support development of ICT applications that will enable SMMEs to expand business opportunities
• Develop and implement a Cybersecurity Awareness programme
• To develop a National set of Principles/framework for Internet Governance in South Africa
• Establish/ or revive an Intergovernmental Forum on Internet Governance
• Create a cybersecurity Body of Knowledge for general access by South Africans
• Explore Youth Job Creation Programme focusing on cybersecurity awareness
• Facilitate engagements with relevant to improve access to banking services, government websites, employment, education and broadcasting for people with disabilities.

A National Workshop will be convened before the end of June 2016 to discuss and endorse the draft programmes of each Chamber. The workshop will also discuss resource mobilization for implementation of the work programme and timelines.

Reply:

1. Yes. According to South African Airways, their sponsorships in the financial years (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16 were as following (all these sponsorships were approved in accordance with the company’s delegation of authority requirements and followed an internal approval process which included the approval of a business case):

Sponsorship Property	Right Holder	Value	Period
Springboks	SA Rugby	R22.5m per annum	2013-14
SA Olympic Teams	SASCOC	R6m per annum	2014-15
Springboks	SA Rugby	R22.5m per annum	2014-15
SA Olympic Teams	SASCOC	R6m per annum	2015-16
Springboks	SA Rugby	R22.5 per annun	2015-16
Miss South Africa	Sun International	R594k	2015-16
World Routes	UBM	R1.5m	2015-16
NBA Africa Games	NBA Africa	R1.3m	2015-16
International Jazz Extravaganza	Teacup Projects Proprietary Limited	R1.1m	2015-16

Notes:

• The SA Rugby sponsorship was a four (4) year agreement that ended in on 31 December 2015
• The SASCOC sponsorship is a three (3) year agreement that expires in March 2017
• All other sponsorship listed above with the exception of SA Rugby and SASCOC were agreements reviewed annually
• All SAA sponsorships including the ones listed above, are offered strictly on Value-In-Kind (VIK) basis with no outlay of cash. The sponsored parties are liable for airport taxes.

2. There is no mandatory provisions in the cost containment measures (National Treasury Instruction 01 of 2013/14) prohibiting sponsorships although accounting authorities were required to implement measures to contain operational costs and eliminate all non-essential expenditure. SAA is only required to obtain the Minister’s approval for significant transactions outlined in terms of Section 54(2) of the PFMA.

3. According to SAA, the Bafana Bafana sponsorship is valued at R110m in value in kind over a five (5) year period.

4. The Minister does not intend to make an announcement on this matter as SAA announces and accounts for all its sponsorships.

Nonetheless, prudence is required in exercising financial authority during times of financial constraints.

Reply:

The interviews for the vacant position at the Electoral Commission were conducted by a Panel chaired by the Chief Justice comprising of the representatives of the South African Human Rights Commission, Commission for Gender Equality and the Public Protector, and constituted in terms of section 6 of the Electoral Commission Act, on 17 February 2016.

   (a) The interviews were held at the Southern Sun, OR Tambo International Airport, Gauteng.

   (b) (i) Travelling costs: There were four candidates who were based outside of

  Gauteng and their travelling costs inclusive of air travel and shuttle amounted to R27 657.00.

(ii) (aa) Accommodation costs and (bb) catering costs: The four candidates who are referred to in (i) were the only persons who were provided with accommodation at the Southern Sun OR Tambo International Airport. The costs that were expended in relation to accommodation, conferencing and catering amounted to R32 497.70.

(iii) Remuneration of any persons: There were no costs associated with remuneration of any persons.

(iv) The other costs incurred relates to recording and transcription which

amounted to R16 484.80.

The total amount incurred for the interviews was R76 639.50.

Reply:

(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii) Yes, the Department bought space for recruitment advertising in The New Age for the period only in 2014-15 and the total amount is R67 125.02

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:

1. The recent severe drought has had a severe impact on the vulnerable groups in South Africa in terms of (a) food insecurity, (b) escalating food prices and (c) household water shortages.

According to the Issue 3 - March 2016 Food Basket Price Monthly report from the National Agricultural Marketing Council and the Food Price Monitoring Committee using the Stats SA data, In February 2016 the price a basic 22 item food basket increased by approximately R56 (+10.86%) in nominal terms from R510 to R566.

It is projected that South Africa will need to import an estimated five million tons of maize between May this year and April 2017, which will weigh heavily on the trade deficit.

Water shortages were reported across various Provinces, Districts, Local Municipalities and Communities. The drought disaster declared areas were supported with various measures including the supply of water using water tankers in Local Municipalities and the affected communities.

2. The Social Assistance Act, Act 13 of 2004 mandates the Department through the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to provide social relief of distress (SRD) to any person in need of immediate relief, provided they meet certain prescribed criteria. One such criterion is that the person has been affected by a disaster as defined in the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002).

During this drought period SASSA has continued to provide SRD to affected households. By December 2015, the following beneficieries were supported:

• 2 271 SRD disbursed in a form of cash
• 49 387 SRD disbursed in a form of food parcels
• 46 681 SRD disbursed in a form of vouchers

Over and above SRD provision DSD also continue to implement various programmes that seek to provide relief to the food insecure and vulnerable households, incliding the drought affected households. Below is the overview of other interventions that provide food relief to the effected specified groups, the number of beneficieries and the projected budget allocation to the programmes:

PROGRAMME	TOTAL NUMBER	BUDGET
Community Nutrition & Development Centres (CNDCs)	166 CNDCs reaching about 1,901 952 beneficiaries	R175 million (FY 16/17)
Drop Inn Centres (DIC)	678 DICs	R1, 7 million
Social Relief of Distress (SRD)	263 057 beneficiaries	R 450 million
Early Childhood Development Centres (registered)	26 553 ECDs & 1.5million children	R1,9 Billion
Social assistance	16 million social grant beneficiaries in SA	R130 Billion per year,

3. In the financial year 2016/17 budget speech the Minister of Finance announced the the social grants increase as follows:

• The old age, disability and care dependency grants will rise by R80 to R1 500 in April 2016 and by a further R10 to R1 510 in October.
• The child support grant will rise by R20 to R350 in April and the foster care grant by R30 to R890.

This overall increased expenditure on social assistance from R129 billion to R165 billion in 2018/19 reflects a decisive intention to curb food insecurity challenges amongst the poor and vulnerable people in our country. This will also curb the impact of drought amongst food insecure and vulnerable citizens.

Reply:

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

Reply:

SAA currently reports to National Treasury. The Honorable Member is advised to direct his question to the Minister Finance.

 

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) The total amount spent on the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Fraud, Corruption, Impropriety or Irregularity in the Strategic Defence Procurement Packages as at 31 March 2016 is R137, 264, 521.

(b) The table below provides the breakdown of the expenditure since its establishment in 2011 to date:

2. (a) Total amount spent on evidence leaders, forensic auditor and research consultant is R93, 148, 779.

    (b) The tables below provide the breakdown of expenditure as follows:

    (i) Evidence leaders:

   (ii) Forensic Auditor:

(iii) Research Consultant:

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:

1. Yes, I am aware of the working conditions of social workers in the Free State. During 2014/15; I initiated district dialogues across the province where social workers identified and discussed issues pertaining to working conditions impacting on social work practice. This was in preparation for the National Social Work Indaba held in March 2015, where working conditions was identified as a theme for discussion. Feedback from Free State district dialogues was incorporated into a consolidated report on provincial dialogues, which was presented at the Indaba. Resolutions, inclusive of improvement of working conditions were adopted to guide the development of a National Action Plan to respond to the plight of social workers. Through the support of the department, the Provincial Department of Social Development in the Free State is developing a provincial Action Plan to respond to the situation.

2. (a) I am also aware of the situation in all other provinces.

(b) There are similar challenges to working conditions of social workers in all provinces, and these include inadequate tools of trade, inadequate office accommodation and poor office infrastructure, limited support staff (e.g. receptionists) and inadequate transport for social workers.

(c) Based on information collated from district and provincial dialogues I hosted a National Social Workers Indaba in March 2015 with the theme “Revitalising Social Work Practice in South Africa” providing a platform for further discussions and identification of solutions to alleviate poor working conditions of social workers. A consolidated report on working conditions was presented at the Indaba to inform discussions and resolutions. Based on resolutions adopted, a National Action Plan on the Social Work was developed to guide development of province specific plans. The Department is monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan in all provinces. Furthermore, implementation of the Action Plan is a standing agenda point of MINMEC to ensure monitoring thereof by senior managers within the department.

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:

(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:

1. The average turnaround time for the registration of all categories of social work practitioners is one day provided that applicants furnish the council with all the required documentation.
2. In terms of the Act the SACSSP has three complementary mandates to execute, namely, registration and professional services, education, training and development as well as professional conduct. These mandates are executed in relation to all registered social workers available to practice in the country.
3. Def Music Studio was contracted by the SACSSP for publication of promotional material during 2006. An amount of R81 000.00 was paid for services rendered.

 

 

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:

(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. 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:

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:

1. The Department of Social Development transfered the following amounts respectively:

(a) 2012-13 : Amount transfered was R1 550 000.00

(b) 2013-14 : Amount transferred was R1 628 000.00; and

(c) 2014-15 : The Council was not funded for this financial year

2. (a)

The SACSSP is a statutory body established in terms of the Social Service Professions Act, (Act 110 of 1978) as amended. It has the primary aim of guiding and regulating practitioners within the sector and protecting the interest of the public at large.

The SACSSP has been funded in line with the Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers for the development, management and implementation of projects linked to the departmental mandate and key strategic objectives.

As the lead employing organ of state and key role player in planning, supporting and ensuring that there is adequate workforce to provide services, the Department has to ensure support to the Council in order for it to meet its statutory obligations.

For the financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14, the Council was funded in order to implement the current Social Service Professions Act, (Act 110 of 1978), deliver on its core mandate, priorities and ensure effective regulation of the Social Service Practitioners.

(b) the rationale behind the non-transfer of funds to the SACSSP in respect of the 2014-15 financial year was mainly to allow the SACSSP an opportunity to finalise the implementation of objectives funded in the previous financial years, utilizing funds rolled over to the 2014/15 financial year but also to develop and present an expenditure plan linked to the said funds. The Department continued to monitor compliance and performance in the 2014/15 financial year.

3. The audit opinions received by the SACSSP for each specified financial years were as follows:

2012-13 financial year

The opinion received on the financial performance of the Council presented a fair view on the financial performance of the Council in accordance with the accepted accounting principles.

2013-14 and 2014-15

For both specified financial years, the Council received qualified audit opinions although the financial statements presented a fairly financial position of the SACSSP in line with the accepted accounting principles.

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:

It should be noted that the only permissible deduction form a social grant is that which is done in terms of Regulation 26A to the Social Assistance Act, 2004. This provides for deductions from a social grant, before it is paid into the SASSA card, and is for funeral insurance only. There are limitations on the amount which may be deducted. There are currently approximately 778 000 such deductions taking place monthly.

All other “deductions” are in fact EFT debits, which come off the social grant once it is paid into a bank account. Again, not all of these are illegal as many are done with the express consent of beneficiaries. However, both the Department and SASSA are alarmed at the reported increase of disputed deductions.

The Ministerial Task Team, appointed to look at the whole issue of deductions from social grants, and make recommendations as to how this can be addressed, has been working from February 2014 and is still active. This Task team is comprised of representatives from the Department, SASSA and civil society. The Team has recently completed its second report, with recommendations which are currently under consideration.

Currently the Department is involved in two court cases on deductions, with a third pending; the outcome of which will have an impact on how deductions are dealt with in the future.

 

The Department has also published proposed amendments to the regulations to the Social Assistance Act, 2004 for public comment, which will allow for better control and limit most kinds of deductions. The closing date for public comments was 15 April and the Department has received a wide range of comments from various stakeholders, including the industry itself. There is now a process to work through these comments, before the proposed amendments are finalized and published for implementation.

SASSA implemented a recourse mechanism in 2015. The mechanism was developed after consultation with various stakeholders, including civil society. SASSA staff have been trained on the implementation of this mechanism, and follow up training and implementation monitoring is being done in all provinces.

Any beneficiary experiencing a problem with his/her grant, whether this be related to deductions in terms of Regulation 26A or EFT debits off the social grant once this has been paid into the bank account should contact the nearest SASSA office or phone the SASSA call centre on 0800 60 10 11, CPS 0800 60 01 60 or the GBV 0800 428 428. The beneficiary will be expected to complete an affidavit confirming that he/she never gave authority for the deduction and SASSA is then responsible to work with the relevant role players to resolve this query. Where it is confirmed that the deduction has been implemented without authority, arrangements are made to refund the money to the beneficiary.

In addition to the above, SASSA has embarked on an active communication campaign to educate and raise awareness about this problem. Community leaders are requested to assist in this task, so that every beneficiary understands that they should not give their card or PIN to anyone, it is their responsibility to safeguard their SASSA card, and that they should not respond to tele-marketing or SMS marketing offering financial services or products at all.

Reply:

I wish to refer the Honourable Member to the Office of Registrar of Member’s Interest in Parliament where I have made submissions since becoming a Minister and a Member of Parliament.

 

Reply:

(1) It is difficult to isolate the number of unauthorized, illegal and falsified deductions which have been effected, as not all deductions are unauthorized and illegal. There are many deductions taking place which have been authorized by the beneficiaries. However, since 2014, when SASSA started recording and tracking the disputes, a total of 21 466 disputes have been recorded. In addition, during January 2016, syndicate fraud affecting approximately 8 000 social grant beneficiary accounts was uncovered originating in the Western Cape. For all these cases, the beneficiaries have been refunded the amounts deducted and a criminal investigation is underway.

(2) Of these 21 466, a total of (a) 12 160 have been resolved and (b) 9 094 are still under investigation.

(3) (a) None of the cases under investigation involve SASSA officials. Deductions occur once the social grant money has been paid into the bank account, and generally involve the beneficiary responding to SMS (mobile) marketing or taking a loan from a micro-lender.

(b) Since the practice does not involve SASSA officials, no SASSA official has been arrested in this regard.

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 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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

(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 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) 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:

(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 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.