Questions and Replies

Reply:

According to the information provided by the Eastern Cape Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs:

a) (i) The total cost to the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs in the Eastern Cape for the services of Ms Pam Yako, who was the Administrator in the municipality for a total period of nine months, was R3 089 928 .96.

(ii) Her replacement, a Senior Manager in the employ of the same department, was (and still is) remunerated at the normal level applicable to public servants at senior managerial level (Salary Level 13), because he is currently performing his functions in the municipality on secondment by the department.

b) According to the information we received from the abovementioned department, Ms Yako was paid an amount of R2 014 133. 76 for the first six months of her contract in the municipality. The payment was for work performed for four days per week for the first three months, each day calculated at eight hours at the DPSA rate of R2 568 per hour. It was also for work performed for three days per week for the second three months, each day still calculated at eight hours at the same DPSA rate of R2 568 per hour. Her contract was later extended for a period of three months. For this period (the last three months), she was remunerated at the DPSA rate of R 1 966 per hour for work performed for five days per week, each day constituting eight hours of work as usual, which amounts to R1 075 795. 20. When both amounts are combined, she was paid a total amount of R3 089 928 .96, as already reflected above.

As already stated, Ms Yako’s successor is remunerated at his current salary level (Salary Level 13) applicable to him as an employee of the provincial department occupying a senior managerial post.

c) In respect of the current legal status of the intervention, this intervention is still legal because it was approved by both my predecessor (Minister Pravin Gordhan) and the NCOP, in terms of the provisions of section 139(2) of the Constitution. The approval by Minister Gordhan and the NCOP came after the intervention was reinstated by the Provincial Executive a few weeks after it had been withdrawn following its disapproval by the NCOP.

Reply:

1. The companies that participated in the tender process were Regiments, Old Mutual and Colourfields.
2. The Board of Trustees appointed Regiments based on the outcome of the technical evaluation process during the tender process.
3. The company’s background and achievements were evaluated and scored during the tender process conducted by a technical task team consisting of the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Principal Officer, Trustee, Actuary, Investment Consultant and a Transnet Representative.
4. The appointment of the specified company was based, inter alia, on the fact that they are well established as a financial company managing this specific type of liability-driven mandate and the team executing the mandate are all experts in their field. In addition, during the due diligence process carried out by the technical team, their risk management structure and practices were found to be compliant with industry standards.

 

Reply:

1. All Members of Parliament do declare as required through Members Interests Office and such declarations are made public.

2. The forms used for declarations in the Members Interest Office specify who else should reflect.

Reply:

The lease will expire on 30 September 2016. CCMA intending to extend the existing lease to allow for sufficient time to go for tender.

Reply:

(1) Advertising: 2013/14 – April 2016

Department of Energy: R38 709 229

Entities: R65 897 944

(2) Consulting: 2013/14 – April 2016

Department of Energy: R101 454 801

Entities: R416 699 483

(3) Transport: 2013/14 – April 2016

Department of Energy: R99 735 984

Entities: R191 009 784

Reply:

1. The Public Service has a framework of minimum qualifications in place for the recruitment of staff to each position in the Senior Management Service. The Directive on compulsory capacity development, mandatory training days and minimum entry requirements for senior management service issued for implementation on 1 April 2015, is a subordinate legislation to the Public Service Act, 1994, which stipulates the minimum entry requirements for Senior Management Service (SMS) posts.

The Directive, which is currently being implemented by departments, indicates the entry requirements in terms of educational qualifications and years of experience for the different levels of SMS posts.

2. The Directive mentioned in paragraph 1 supra, also provides for the management of development priorities for existing SMS members in-so-far as providing specific training and development opportunities in order to ensure that the incumbent members who do not meet the minimum requirements are capacitated, as well as mandating the expected minimum qualification requirements for progression to higher posts.

(3) (a) A uniform salary dispensation applies to Directors-General across all national departments who are appointed in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994. A different salary dispensation applies to Directors-General in the so-called "services departments" who are appointed in terms of the Police Act, the Correctional Services Act and the Defence Act.

(b) The reason for the differentiation is the difference in employer contribution towards the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) between Public Service Act appointees on the one hand and those appointed in terms of the Acts for the services departments on the other.

   (i) Directors-General appointed in terms of the Public Service Act are paid at the same level irrespective of the size of budget of the department because of the core responsibilities performed as accounting officers.

   (ii) The full-time salary scales (Total Cost-to-Employer packages) for Directors-General appointed in terms of the Public Service Act and the Acts for the services departments are contained in the Table below as follows:

PUBLIC SERVICE ACT (Rpa)	POLICE ACT, CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ACT AND DEFENCE ACT (Rpa)
1	656	618	1	686	438
1	681	464	1	711	737
1	706	694	1	737	414
1	732	299	1	763	475
1	758	285	1	789	929
1	784	661	1	816	782
1	811	427	1	844	037
1	838	601	1	871	700
1	866	183	1	899	771

(4) No additional incentives are payable to employees possessing identified critical or scarce skills. Special salary dispensations, called Occupation Specific Dispensations (OSDs), have been implemented for identified occupations to stimulate recruitment and retention of personnel in these occupations. The following OSDs have been implemented in the Public Service:

• Legally qualified personnel;
• Engineers, Technicians, Technologists and Artisans and related occupations;
• Nursing personnel;
• Medical Officers, Medical Specialists, Dentists, Dental Specialists, Pharmacologists, Pharmacists and Emergency Care Practitioners, Therapeutic, Diagnostic and related Allied Health Professionals;
• Correctional Services Officers;
• Educators; and
• Educators in the Department of Correctional services.

Reply:

The Department does not have any frozen positions.

 

Reply:

(a) The members of the VTC are:

• National Department of Transport;
• All nine Provincial Departments of Transport;
• South African Police Sevice;
• South African Bureau of Standards;
• National Regulator of Compulsory specification;
• Road Traffic Infringement Agency;
• Road Traffic Management Corporation; and
• Business Against Crime South Africa.

(b) As outlined in my previous response, the determining factors are those related to institutions that perform a regulatory function. This must be institutions that do not have financial interest in the development of a regulatory process geared at regulating the Vehicle Testing Stations.

(c) Those members that have any financial interest in the regulation of the sector, such members will be requested to be part of the Working Group that would input on the regulatory framework.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable member is contained in the Annual Report of the Department tabled since 2011/12 to the Annual Report of 2014/15. The Annual Report of the Department provides Quarterly and Annual information in accordance with the National Treasury guidelines.

Reply:

The Minister did not seek or obtain legal advice during the compilation of his report into the security upgrades at the private home of the President.

Reply:

The Board of Inquiry 12/15 conducted by SA Army Support Base Bloemfontein was completed on 13 October 2015.

FINDINGS OF THE BOARD

Circumstances that caused the loss of 2x weapons (R4’s) and equipment (radio, 2x magazines, 2x weapon belts, 2x lanyards and 60 rounds)

The guards were on official duty when the incident occurred but they were asleep on guard duty. The loss of the weapons and equipment can be contributed to negligence, a lack of discipline and neglect to obey orders and instructions. Security fence, cameras and security lights around the warehouse were not up to standard. The guards did not adhere to the orders of the Adjutant. The guard commander did not post the two guards (Private’s Sam and Mdayi) on 232400B Aug 15 but they were posted by the driver. The training of Protection Services Guards were not up to standard.

Who was responsible for the loss?

02047744 MC Private S. Sam and 08415176 MC Private L.B. Mdayi.

The consequences that it may have for the SANDF

The upgrading of security measures. The development of a specific training program for Protection Services members. The loss of weapons and equipment of R18,483.20.

(2) No suspects have been identified thus far.

(3) No

Reply:

(a) To promote mining and investment opportunities in South Africa
(b) Minister was accompanied by an official from the department.
(c) R347 000, 00.

Approved/not approved

Mr MJ Zwane
Minister of Mineral Resources

Date Submitted: 05/05/2016

Reply:

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GCIS)

(1) Social media is an increasingly important platform to convey government messages. Government Communication and Information System, (GCIS) has developed and published Social Media Policy Guidelines in 2011 and they are available on the GCIS website.

(a) The Socal Media Policy Guidelines apply to government employees; (b) it states in Section 3 that the policy guidelines prescribe acceptable behaviour for government employees using social media for official government purposes as well as personal use of social media by government employees.

(2) The Social Media Policy Guidelines applies to government employees.

(3) The Social Media Policy Guidelines are on the government website:
- http://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/www.gcis.gov.za/files/docs/resourcecentre/guidelines/social_media_guidelines_final_20_april2011.pdf 

(4) The Social Media Policy Guidelines are designed to provide a guide on the acceptable use of Social Media by government employees and are not meant to be punitive. They should be read in conjuction with the Code of Conduct for Public Sector Employees.

 

MR D LIPHOKO

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

The certain official’s contract was coming to an end in March 2016. She did not make herself available.

Reply:

1.The number of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary beneficiaries for both the National Certificate (Vocational) [NC(V)] and Report 191 from 2013 to 2015 are as follows:

• 2013 – 478 students;
• 2014 – 802 students; and
• 2015 – 340 students.

2. The NC(V) programme is a three year qualification and in terms of the Bursary Rules and Guidelines, NC(V) students can be awarded bursaries up to a maximum of four years. The fourth year bursary is awarded only in the fourth year of study (after Level 4) to allow students to complete any outstanding subjects. This provision is only applicable to continuous study and on a pro-rata basis.

The Report 191 programme students, i.e. levels N1 – N6, can apply for all semester or trimester courses in the calendar year of study. A bursary at levels N2 – N6 may only be awarded to students if they passed a minimum of 3 subjects on the previous N-level. Students who have passed exit levels, i.e. N3 and N6, but still have one outstanding subject can be awarded a bursary to allow them to complete the outstanding subject. This provision is only applicable to continuous study and on a pro-rata basis, i.e. proportional for one trimester or semester to complete one subject.

(3) Students with criminal records are not prohibited from applying for NSFAS funding. In terms of the Bursary Rules and Guidelines for applications to be considered, students must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• be South African citizens;
• registered or intending to register on an NC(V) or Report 191 programme;
• in need of financial assistance; and
• have an ability to demonstrate potential for academic success.

 

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1218 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) monitors payment of suppliers through (i) progress reports on the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and reports to the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD) Plan of Action. The DPME’s Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) is also used to assess payment of suppliers. In addition, the DPME has established a unit dealing with the 30 days payment of suppliers which receives and investigates complaints of non-payment from suppliers to facilitate payment. To date, a total of R61 million has been paid to various suppliers as a direct result of DPME’s interventions.

The findings of Monitoring for National and Provincial departments are as follows:

National Departments	Provincial Departments
January-December 2014 149 926 invoices to the value of R3,7 billion were paid after 30 days   62 382 invoices to the value of R2,3 billion older than 30 days and were not paid	January-December 2014 256 399 invoices to the value of R14 billion were paid after 30 days   374 564 invoices to the value of R22.9 billion, older than 30 days and were not paid
January-December 2015 163 056 invoices to the value of R3.7 billion were paid after 30 days 64 232 invoices to the value of R4,7 billion, older than 30 days and were not paid	January-December 2015 337 277 invoices to the value of R27 billion were paid after 30 days 454 903 invoices to the value of R36.8 billion, older than 30 days and were not paid
January-February 2016 32 694 invoices to the value of the value of R856 million were paid after 30 days 16 629 invoices to the value of R1 billion, older than 30 days and were not paid	January- February 2016 47 067 invoices to the value of the value of R3.7 billion were paid after 30 days 98 520 invoices to the value of R8.5 billion, older than 30 days and were not paid

The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) provides for consequences in the case where Accounting Officers are found to have been guilty of financial misconduct. The misconduct as defined in the PFMA includes failure by the Accounting Officers to carry out their responsibilities in terms of the Act. It is the responsibility of relevant departments to implement consequences for erring officials as provided for in the PFMA and other relevant legislations.

Reply:

The legality, lawfulness or otherwise of the activity in question is currently the subject of legal proceedings before the Northern Cape High Court. The Department's further conduct in this matter will be guided by the outcome of these legal proceedings

Approved/not approved

Mr MJ Zwane, MP

Minister of Mineral Resources

Date Submitted: 08/08/2016

Reply:

(a). The following process is used during the recruitment and selection of the Artists in the Artists in Schools Programme;

      (i) Adverts are placed in the local newspapers, community radio stations, social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter requesting interested artists to submit the CVs to the Beneficiaries

      (ii) Auditions and interviews are conducted for the short-listed artists

      (iii) Successful candidates are appointed and then placed in the schools.

(b). (i)(ii) and (iii). This programme is implemented jointly with the provinces the kind of information will reside in the provinces and the Department of Basic Education.

Reply:

(1) Disclosure of financial interests by members of the senior management is regulated through the Financial Disclosure Framework (which is chapter 3 of the Public Service Regulations, 2001).

(a) Kindly see Tag A which outlines categories of financial disclosures and particulars which members of the senior management service should disclose (Regulations D and E).

(b) (i) The disclosure of financial interests could be done using a manual form (paper-based form) or electronically using the eDisclosure system.

(ii) The disclosure process is as follows:

• (Disclosure of financial interests is made to the Executive Authority (Regulation C.1). The Executive Authority is the Minister of the National Department or MEC of a provincial department. Premiers are Executive Authorities for their respective departments.

• The Executive Authority submits the copy of the financial disclosure form to the Public Service Commission (Regulation 0.4).

• According to Regulation B(a) the Director-General: Office of the Public Service Commission keeps the register of designated employees' Interests.

• Subject to regulation F.3 of the Financial Disclosure Framework, only the following persons have access to a submitted form or the register:

 (a) The executing authority to whom the form is submitted and the staff designated by the executing authority for purposes of record-keeping of the original form and submission of a copy of the form to the Commission;

(b) commissioners of the Commission;

(c) the Director-General: Office of the Public Service Commission; and

 (d) such other persons designated by an executing authority or the chairperson of the Commission for purposes of the effective implementation of the Financial Disclosure Framework.

2. The measures are found to be effective. The information is verified against Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) data base and Deeds Register to verify completeness of the information and determine if there is potential or actual conflict of interest. The information is further assessed in relation to the functions to be performed by the senior manager.

3. Submitted information is verified against the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) data base and Deeds Register to verify completeness of the information and determine if there is potential or actual conflict of interest. The verification of this information is done by the Public Service Commission which is an independent body. In future the information will also be verified against eNatis data base. If there is potential or actual conflict of interest, the information is discussed with the relevant SMS member and the report is given to the Executive Authority. The Executive Authority has to inform the Public Service Commission of the steps taken to remove conflict of interest.

4. This is the responsibility of Office of the Public Service Commission of which the Report thereof are submitted to Parliament.

TAG A: FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORM

ANNEXURE A

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORM

Personal details

Financial Year
Surname
First Names
ID Number
Persal Number
Current Position
Salary Level
Specialization/brief job description
Postal Address
Residential Address
Name of Department
Telephone Numbers (W)
Cell Numbers
E-mail address

1. Shares and other financial interests

Number of shares/Extent of financial interests	Nature	Nominal Value	Name of Company/Entity

1. Directorships and partnerships

Name of Corporate Entity or Partnership	Company Registration Number	Type of Business (e.g. Construction, Consultancy, etc)	Amount of Remuneration

1. Remunerated work outside the public service

Must have been sanctioned by your Executive Authority and approval uploaded to the system or attached to the form.

Name of Employer	Type of Work	Remuneration

1. Consultation and retainerships

Name of client	Nature	Type of business activity	Value of any benefits received

1. Sponsorships

Source of assistance/ sponsorship	Description of assistance/ sponsorship	Value of assistance/ sponsorship

1. Gifts and hospitality from a source other than a family member

Description	Value	Source

1. Immovable property

Description (e.g.flat/ land/ house	Name of the Flats/ Townhouse/Estate	Suburb/Area (e.g. Arcadia-Pretoria)	ERF number	Unit number	Value

1. Vehicles

Description Vehicle (e.g. car/motorbike/boat/aircraft)	Registration number	Year Model	Purchase price

_____________________________________

SIGNATURE OF DESIGNATED EMPLOYEE

DATE: ________________________

PLACE: ________________________

Reply:

(a) The Department instructed the State Attorney to oppose the matter. A legal counsel was appointed for the matter and consultation took place between him and the Department. Counsel requested certain information from the Department and such information was provided. There was no feedback from the State Attorney on the matter until judgment was granted. The Department has requested the Chief Litigation Officer in the State Attorney's office to investigate the circumstances that caused the non-filing of the answering affidavits.

(b) The MHSI will, as soon it receives outcomes of the above-mentioned investigation, assess if there is any need to change its operating processes. However, as it stands the current operating processes followed by the MHSI in this regard are adequate and do not require any changes.

(c) The Department has paid to Glencore an amount of R696, 828.77. This amount is inclusive of R500, 000.00 administrative fine repayment and interests at 15, 5% per annum from 02nd August 2013, as per the court judgment.

 

 

Mr MJ Zwane, MP

Minister of Mineral Resources

Date Submitted: 08/08/2016

Reply:

The Department of Arts and Culture awarded bursaries to a total of 2102 students in a period of five years who studied language practice and heritage studies.The number of beneficiaries is broken down according to financial years:

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE BURSARIES
Number	Year	Language Bursary	Heritage Bursary	Total
a.	2011-12	94	31	125
b.	2012-13	555	75	630
c.	2013-14	336	83	419
d.	2014-15	284	73	357
e.	2015-16	463	107	570
TOTAL NUMBER OF BURSARIES AWARDED IN 5 YEARS	2101

Reply:

1. (a) Based on the records maintained by this Department, Mr. MA Lenaghan is not a registered military veteran.

(b) The national military veterans’ database is a listing of military veterans who have applied for listing, by completing the prescribed application forms and complied with the prescripts of the Military Veterans Act (Act no. 18 of 2011). Mr Lenaghan has not done so.

Reply:

The Department has submitted annual reports for all financial years reflected in Question No 246, Ref No NW250E.

The Department Spent on advertising in the New Age newspaper as follows:

Department of Labour- 2012-2013	Campaign Name	Amount Spent
	Iron and Steel	R22,418.10
	KZN Job Fair	R85,910.40
	Labour Law Amendments	R111,110.80
	Minister visits farms in Gauteng Province	R40,807.44
	National Day Against Child Labour	R122,422.32
TOTAL		R 382,669.06

Department of Labour- 2013-2014	Campaign Name	Amount Spent
	Domestic worker 2013	R67,254.30
	Domestic workers 2013 (Addendum)	R67,254.30
	Public hearing in funeral undertaking sector	R29,890.80
TOTAL		R 164,399.40

Department of Labour- 2014-2015	Campaign Name	Amount Spent
	Child Labour feature articles	R 71,348.04
	Domestic Workers Kimberly Imbizo	R35,479.08
	Domestic Workers Wage Increase 2014	R 71,348.04
	International Labour Conference 2014	R 63,420.48
	Labour Law Amendments	R144,243.14
	PES Subsidy Scheme	R67,925.76
TOTAL		R 453,764.54

• TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT FOR ALL THE PERIODS: R1,833, 000.00

Reply:

I file a declaration of interests every year with Parliament and the public part of this declaration can be viewed in Parliament

Reply:

A total of 4780 learners were registered on the Programme. 30 sites offer all 5 subjects (Mathematics, Physical Science, Life Science, Accounting and English First Additional Language (FAL)). Only 1 site (Taung) does not offer Accounting and English. This is because none of the learners registered for Accounting or English (FAL). The total subject registration is 9700.

Sites and learners are allocated based on the Department of Basic Education previous year/2015 National Senior Certificate Examination Reports (School Performance, Subject and Technical Reports) which outlines Grade 12 Provincial, districts and Schools performances. Based on the report, the NYDA allocates more sites/learners to Provinces (KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga) that perform poorly on matric results. Whereas for the Provinces (Western Cape, Gauteng and Free State) that performed well, were allocated one or fewer sites. In short, the programme prioritises poor performing areas/districts/provinces on Grade 12 results.

Reply:

In this context, stolen refers to premature phasing-out of systems type aircraft by donating to the museums or selling thus limiting the SAAF to build capacity.

Reply:

The Honourable Member is duly advised to refer to the attached Parliamentary Question 2714.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

Steps have been taken to employ social work graduates benefitting from the scholarship programme:

(a) Since the inception of the programme a total of 7 393 graduates have been absorbed into employment by Provincial Departments of Social Development; additional 94 graduates have been employed and placed at Departmental local service offices through the support of PACT (as part of the Government Capacity Building and Support Programme). A further 165 graduates are employed by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to support the administration and management of foster care grants.

A request has been submitted to National Treasury to utilise part of the 2016/17 allocation (R100m) for the absorption of 450 social work graduates.

(b) The Department is not aware of numbers of graduates employed by the private sector. However, the department is engaging with Non-Governmental Organisations to facilitate absorption of graduates in that sector.

Reply:

Yes, my Department conducted an audit to assess the storage capacity of its dams (referred to as capacity determination survey).

(a) The surveys are taken at the different times as each dam has its own return period for such survey to be conducted. This is largely due to the fact that these dams were commissioned at different times and also that severity of sediment accumulation will differ from dam site to dam site.

The attached Appendix A gives the storage audit of departmental dams. Column E of the spreadsheet gives a date when the capacity survey was done and Column N gives the return period.

(b) For results of storage audits please refer to Appendix A, Column K and L.

---00O00---

Reply:

(a)(b) (i)(aa)(bb)(cc)(ii)aa)(bb)(aaa)(bbb)(ccc) The duties of Ministers and Deputy Ministers are outlined in the Ministerial Handbook.

Reply:

A contingent liability is a possible obligation that arises from past events and whose existence will be confirmed only by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the Department.

The budgetary provision for this line item of expenditure is costed on an annual basis on a specific methodology that considers historical spending trends, forecasts for the new financial year and any specific information that might influence the methodology applied. Should an adjustment to the budgeted amount be required, that is to increase or decrease the level of funding at a particular point in time in the financial year, a process of reprioritisation will be undertaken and additional funding shifted towards this item, or in certain instances moved from this item to other spending priorities where the level of funding of that item, requires adjustment.

Reply:

1. (a)(b)(c)(d) The Member is referred to the Parliamentary process where Members annually declare their interests.
2. (a)(b)(c) (i)(ii)(iii)(iv) The lives of family members of the Executive are not regulated by the Ministerial Handbook or any act of Parliament.

Reply:

1. (a) Budget is centrally controlled. There is allocation for LTSM for schools and compensation to pay stipends to practitioners

(b) 1075

(c) None

(2) (a) Gert Sibande- 33, Bushbuckridge- 0, Ehlanzeni- 4- Nkangala-20

(b) Gert Sibande- Community based centres have ECD facilities available. School has no learner space to accommodate Grade R

Ehlanzeni –Community based centres have ECD facilities available. School has no learner space to accommodate Grade R

Bohlabela- No community based centre is linked to school.

Nkangala- School has no learner space to accommodate Grade R and community based centres have ECD facilities available

3. Ehlanzeni District: Ehlanzeni TVET College- Early Childhood Education Development National Qualification Framework- Level 4 and 5

Gert Sibande District- Gert Sibande TVET College- Early Childhood Education Development National Qualification Framework- Level 4 and 5

Nkangala District- Nkangala TVET College- Early Childhood Education Development National Qualification Framework- Level 4 and 5

 

Reply:

(1)(a) The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs AM Motshekga, MP, received reports in terms of Section 58B of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 from the following provinces:

1. Free State;

2. Gauteng;

3. KwaZulu-Natal;

4. Mpumalanga;

5. Northern Cape;

6. North West; and

7. Western Cape.

 

(1)(b) The table below indicates the dates reports were received from Members of the Executive Council:

Nr	Province	Date submitted
	Free State	22/04/15
	Gauteng	23/03/15
	KwaZulu Natal	16/06/15
	Mpumalanga	23/03/15
	Northern Cape	24/02/15
	North West	22/03/15
	Western Cape	24/02/15

(2)(a) The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs AM Motshekga, MP, after consultation with Council of Education Ministers (CEM) and Heads of Education Departments Committee (HEDCOM), issued a circular, Circular D1 of 2014, on 5 November 2014 to guide provinces on how to identify and manage underperforming schools.

A School is deemed to be underperforming if:

1. At Secondary level, its percentage pass in the National Senior Certificate examinations falls below 60%; and
2. At Primary level, using Literacy as a proxy, it has more than 50% of learners performing at level 3 and below in the Annual National Assessments in Grades 3 and 6;

(2)(b) Provinces do not uniformly submit names of schools they have identified. Some provinces submitted the names of the underperforming schools while others just indicated the number of schools identified using the criteria above.

Attached at Annexures A1, A2, A3 and A4 are the lists of schools identified as underperforming in the 2014 academic year from the provinces that submitted the information.

(2)(c) Provinces complied with the guidance as provided in Section 58B of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, as well as the guidance provided by the Minister. The following are collective actions taken by the provinces when managing underperforming schools in the 2014 academic year:

1. All identified schools were issued with letters indicating that they have underperformed in the 2014 academic year and were also asked to prepare Academic Performance Improvement Plans detailing how they will improve their performance;
2. All identified schools submitted their Academic Performance Improvement Plans and these were reviewed and approved by the Superintendents-General in respective provinces; and
3. Meetings with underperforming schools were organised and District Support Teams were set up by Provinces to assist identified schools to improve their performance.

Reply:

(a) in-kind contributions made to the sources of the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) funding are as follows:

		*2013 and 2014	2015
		R’000	R’000
(b) (i)	Government and Skills Education Training Authorities	-	725 610
(b) (ii)	Business	-	1 248 000
(b) (iii)	Foundations and Trusts	-	-
(b) (iv)	Labour	-	-
(b) (v)	Interest income	1 008 073	1 046 777
(b) (vi)	Other sources of funding	-	-

*The NECT’s initial financial year was for 18 months (1 July 2013 to 31 December 2014). Due to this, the figures for 2013 and 2014 is combined.

 

Reply:

1. The overall budget of the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) and the sources the amount was spent on are as follows:

		*2013 and 2014	2015	2016
		R’000	R’000	R’000
(a)	Budget	111 608 742	196 264 895	225 377 018
(b) (i)	Remuneration of staff	5 504 075	6 175 199	6 989 530
(b) (ii)	Administration costs	4 000 776	3 076 448	2 544 791
(b) (iii)	Projects	102 103 891	187 013 248	215 842 697

*The NECT’s initial financial year was for 18 months (1 July 2013 to 31 December 2014) due to this the figures for 2013 and 2014 is combined.

2. (a) The NECT Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee members convened 31 times since July 2013 and the detail are as follows:

Reply:

1. I wish to refer the Honourable Member to the Office of the Registrar of Member’s Interest to which I have made submissions to since being appointed as Minister.
2. I wish to refer the Honourable Member to the Office of the Registrar of Member’s Interest to which I have made submissions to since being appointed as Minister

Reply:

(i)(aa) (a)(b)(c)(d)(e) 2015/16 information

Prov	(a) No. of Learners in learner transport scheme	(b) Budget for 2015/16 FY	© No. of routes	(e)No of service providers	(d)no of routes in operation
EC	62627	R 432 000 000.00	248	290	248
FS	6293	R 40 000 000.00	315	172	315
GP	82917	R 461 000 000.00	2 007	166	2007
KZN	37223	R 168 430 000.00	339	43	339
LP	20751	R 141 103 000.00	422	203	422
MP	59691	R 441 622 000.00	524	111	524
NC	23237	R 118 280 000.00	355	190	355
NW	35813	R 264 466 000.00	238	121	238
WC	57596	R 319 830 000.00	531	137	531
TOTAL	386448	R 2 386 731 000	4 979	1433	4979

(iI)(bb) (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)

2014/15 learner transport
Prov	No. of Learners in learner transport scheme	Budget for 2014/15 FY	No. of routes	No of service providers	no of routes in operation
EC	55537	R 330 088 925	1350	1	1350
FS	8177	R 32 759 559.49	363	180	320
GP	79420	R 338 349 000.00	2755	126	2755
KZN	23359	R 168 430 000.00	222	38	222
LP	19162	R 152 995 000.00	215	215	215
MP	66598	R 455 000 000.00	525	111	525
NC	15060	R 107 573 000	364	190	364
NW	31 228	R 240 444 000.00	246	136	183
WC	52 565	R 242 593 000.00	516	136	517
TOTAL	351106	R 2 068 232 484	6 556	1133	6451

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(1) No.

(a), (b), (c) and (d) Fall away.

(2) (a), (b) and (c) No.

(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) Not applicable.

Reply:

(a)(i)(aa)-(cc) No, the Minister has never met with any member, employee or close associate of the Gupta family.

(a)(ii)(aa)-(bb) No, the Minister has never attended any meeting with the specified persons at the Gupta’s Saxonwold Estate in Johannesburg or anywhere else since taking office and has no position on the matter.

(b)(i)(aa)-(cc) No, the Deputy Minister has never met with any member, employee or close associate of the Gupta family.

(b)(ii)(aa)-(bb) No, the Deputy Minister has never attended any meeting with the specified persons at the Gupta’s Saxonwold Estate in Johannesburg or anywhere else since taking office and has no position on the matter.

Reply:

MDE response (HRP inputs)

1 (a) Bohlabela:

District	Grade R Practitioner	Grade R Teacher	Total
Bohlabela	454	48	502
Ehlanzeni	443	70	513
Gert Sibande	497	27	524
Nkangala	487	25	512
Total	1881	170	2051

1 (b) Grade R Practitioners are paid a stipend of R5500.00 per month and Grade R Teachers are paid the same salary as a mainstream teacher in line with their REQV. REQV 13 a minimum of R160902 per annum and REQV 14 a minimum of R212811 per annum.

2. Minimum qualification: Early Childhood Education Development National Qualification Framework- Level 4

Bushbuckridge:0

Nkangala: 0

Ehlanzeni: 0

Gert Sibande: 0

3 SACE REGISTRATION

District	Grade R Practitioner	Grade R Teacher	Total
Bohlabela	274	48	322
Ehlanzeni	65	70	135
Gert Sibande	178	27	205
Nkangala	146	25	171
Total	663	170	833

Base on employment contracts submitted in April 2015

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(a), (b) and (c) One official was arrested and charged with corruption (solicitation of a bribe to release payment). A sting operation was carried out by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations  (The Hawks) in terms of Section 252 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977).

(i)-(iv) The above-mentioned incident took place at the Department of Public Works’ Pretoria Regional Office during the 2014-2015 financial year.

Reply:

1 (a) (i–iii) Mr Sizwe Nxasana is the Chairperson of the Ministerial Task Team.

(b) The terms of reference of the task team is as follows:

The Ministerial Task Team shall determine and advise on alternative financing and operating models for funding poor and “missing middle” students, having regard to:

• the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa;
• all relevant higher and basic education legislation;
• all relevant public policy, legislation and regulations;
• all findings and recommendations of the various Presidential and Ministerial Task Teams; and
• all relevant educational policies, reports and guidelines.

In developing the proposals, the Ministerial Task Team must address the following issues:

• Whether or not the existing NSFAS Act, structure and mandate is still suitable to address the funding and other forms of support to poor and “missing middle” students;
• Raise sufficient funding from the public sector, private sector and other sources to offer a complete solution to fund poor and “missing middle” students at universities, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges;
• The feasibility of granting fully subsidised loans to poor students and loans with progressive reducing subsidies as household income increases for the “missing middle” students;
• The funding of occupations in high demand;
• Develop proposals which contribute towards the improvement of the success and graduation rates for poor and “missing middle” students and reduce drop-out rates; and
• Create an efficient and robust model with appropriate internal controls to minimise leakage, fraud and risk in the granting and disbursement of bursaries and loans to deserving students whilst improving collection of the loan portion granted to students.

(c) The reference group will include but is not limited to high level membership from:

• Department of Higher Education and Training;
• Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation;
• National Treasury;
• Department of Trade and Industry;
• Universities South Africa;
• Universities Council Chairs Forum-South Africa;
• Council on Higher Education;
• National Credit Regulator;
• South African Union of Students and other student formations;
• A representative from the Sector Education and Training Authorities; and
• National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

(d) (i) The Ministerial Task Team must present its final recommendations and blueprint to the Minister of Higher Education by 30 September 2016.

(ii) It is envisaged that the model will be piloted at universities which will be agreed upon with Universities South Africa and the Department by January 2017, and to be fully implemented in 2018.

(e) Mr Nxasana is being assisted by the Banking Association of South Africa.

2. The Terms of Reference as indicated above stipulates that the Ministerial Task Team must advise on any possible changes to the NSFAS Act and rules, and present its final recommendations and blueprint to the Minister of Higher Education and Training by 30 September 2016 for consideration.

The Department as part of its mandate has included the review of the NSFAS Act in the 2017/18 financial year.

 

COMPILER/CONTACT PERSONS:

EXT:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

QUESTION 1163 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(1) The Department of Public Works (DPW) did not spend any money on maintenance of the homestead of Mr JG Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, during the (a) 2012-2013, (b) 2013-14, and (c) 2014-15 financial years;

(2) There are four general workers (employed on a contract for three years) at the President’s homestead at Nkandla. Their main duties are to maintain the gardens at the State Domestic Facilities adjacent to the President’s homestead. These are facilities that are used mainly the South African Police Services (SAPS).

_______________________________________________________________________

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(a) and (b) (i) (aa), (bb) and (cc) and (ii) (aa) and (bb)

No.

(aaa), (bbb) (aaaa), (bbbb) and (ccc) Fall away

Reply:

Upon receipt of the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) Final Report, the Minister received legal advice to allow teacher unions and individuals implicated in the report to rebut and/or make formal representations to the MTT before the Minister can release the report.

The reason for this is not to compromise the importance of the work of the MTT because of perceived and/or inadequate consultations and/or interactions on the MTT final report.

Based on the legal advice, the Minister issued the following timeframes which must be followed by all concerned:

DATE	ACTION
01/04/16	Teacher Unions were favoured with the MTT Final Report and requested to respond to it on or before 15 April 2016.
15/04/2016	Chairperson of the MTT to receive inputs/rebuttals from Teacher Unions with the details of any of their members who might be implicated in the MTT report but may inadvertently been deprived of the benefits of the audi alterem partem rule.
15-29/04/2016	Any teacher union, and/or School Governing Body Association and or individuals wishing to make presentations to the MTT, must have done so by midday, 29 April 2016.
29/04-4/05/ 2016	The MTT to consider the inputs and representations
04/05/2016	MTT submits the final report after taking into account all the inputs from teacher unions and other concerned stakeholders.
	Minister may convene a consultative meeting with Teacher Unions and National School Governing Body Associations to reflect on the MTT processes and the re-submitted report.
06/05/2016	Minister will officially release the MTT report to the public.

(a) What are the main highlights of the specified report?

The report will be made available once the process outlined above is completed.

(b) Who are the main culprits referred to in the specified report and

This information will also be disclosed when the Minister releases the report.

(c) What steps does he intend to take to deal with the specified culprits? The recommendations will be implemented after the report is released.

Reply:

(1) Number of learners that qualified for fee exemption
Province	2012	2013	2014
EC*
FS	12,913	11,742	11,723
GP	53,789	63,130	65,259
KZN	43,464	50,222	82,959
LP	124	0	0
MP	0	0	1,883
NC	8,385	12,211	15,377
NW	3,613	2,628	3,760
WC	90,506	103,988	73,342

Source: Provincial Education Departments

MP implemented policy starting in 2014

*No information was provided by EC

(2) Amounts allocated towards compensation for fee exemption by provinces
Province	2012	2013	2014
EC*
FS	R5,150,462	R4,480,611	R6,042,000
GP	R11,000,000	R11,806,000	R12,349,000
KZN	R16,679,583	R19,256,204	R17,100,000
LP	R0	R0	R0
MP	R0	R0	R2,000,000
NC	R3,130,120	R4,740,696	R7,457,761
NW	R1,094,770	R805,009	R1,444,855
WC	R45,331,000	R44,363,997	R39,322,000

Source: Provincial Education Departments

LP reported that no allocation was made since no school applied for fee exemption

MP implemented policy starting in 2014

*No information was provided by EC

(3) Number of schools which benefitted from compensation for fee exemption
Province	2012	2013	2014
EC
FS	140	125	131
GP	393	491	479
KZN	340	349	338
LP	0	0	0
MP	0	0	18
NC	65	89	93
NW	50	29	46
WC	700	714	550

Source: Provincial Education Departments

LP reported that no school applied for fee exemption for all the 3 years

MP implemented policy starting in 2014

*No information was provided by EC

Reply:

(a) Provincial per-learner norms and standards allocations for 2014-15
PROVINCE	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5
EC	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 530	R 183
FS	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 530	R 240
GT	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 530	R 530
KZN	R 932	R 932	R 932	R 509	R 175
LP	R 788	R 788	R 788	R 395	R 136
MPU	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 530	R 183
NC	R 1,059	R 1,000	R 1,000	R 631	*R 294
NW	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 605	R 183
WC	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 567	*R 244
* Average allocations
(b) Provincial per-learner norms and standards allocations for 2015-16
PROVINCE	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5
EC	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 530	R 183
FS	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 559	R 240
GT	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 559	R 559
KZN	R 955	R 955	R 955	R 522	R 179
LP	R 646	R 646	R 646	R 320	R 130
MPU	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 559	R 193
NC	R 1,070	R 1,070	R 1,070	R 663	*R 309
NW	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 605	R 193
WC	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 1,116	R 595	*R 269
* Average allocations
(c) Provincial per-learner norms and standards allocations for 2016-17
PROVINCE	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5
EC	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 1,059	R 530	R 183
FS	R 1,177	R 1,177	R 1,177	R 590	R 240
GT	R 1,177	R 1,177	R 1,177	R 590	R 590
KZN	R 955	R 955	R 955	R 522	R 179
LP	R 965	R 965	R 965	R 484	R 165
MPU	R 953	R 953	R 953	R 503	R 173
NC	R 1,125	R 1,125	R 1,125	R 698	*R 326
NW	R 1,177	R 1,177	R 1,177	R 605	R 204
WC	R 1,144	R 1,144	R 1,144	R 573	*R 198
* Average allocations

 

Reply:

After the finalisation of the first draft of the Bill, and before the publication thereof for public comment, I deemed it necessary to present the Bill to some stakeholders, which included School Governing Body (SGB) associations and education sector unions.

Some of these stakeholders commented on the Bill during the presentations, and some subsequently provided the Department with written comments on the Bill. After all the options had been weighed up, it was decided that the comments submitted by these stakeholders should be considered and, where there was merit, incorporated into the draft Bill before the Bill was published for public comment. It is believed that this will eliminate double work in the later part of the process of finalising the Bill.

If the Department is able to finalise the above-mentioned processes, as well as the processes required for the introduction of the Bill, I still intend to introduce the Bill during the 2016 parliamentary session. However, if I do not achieve this, I intend to introduce the Bill during the early part of the 2017 Parliamentary session.

Reply:

The Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee (ACIMC) was established in June 2014. The Committee met in August and September 2014, September and November 2015, March 2016, and approved five programmes which are implemented as follows:

• Communication and Awareness

The key focus of this programme is to communicate government’s efforts and successes in combatting corruption in a consistent manner and to educate South Africans about what constitute corruption and encourage citizens to contribute to a Societal Approach towards preventing and countering corruption.

• Intelligence Coordination, Policy and Strategy Development

To give effect to the government anti-corruption agenda by focusing on intelligence coordination, policy and strategy development.

• Public Sector Policy and Capacity Development

To develop policies and strategy in the public sector to support Government’s anti-corruption agenda and to manage and monitor domestic implementation of and reporting on identified international obligations on anti-corruption.

• Vulnerable Sector Management

To enforce accountability by, inter alia, ensuring enforcement of statutory and regulatory in government business, systems improvements; litigation where appropriate in order recover government losses and also assist in preparation of criminal cases.

- Crime Operations and Resolutions.

To deal with Criminal Investigations and Resolutions (prosecutions) in terms of identified National Priorities and Criminal Asset Recoveries. To ensure coordination of activities of all law enforcement agencies involved in the process of Anti-Corruption Criminal Investigation.

A total of 203 corruption priority cases involving 1065 persons were investigated. The total number of persons convicted since 2009 to date is 116. Thus between 2009 and 2014, a total number of 63 persons were convicted. During the financial year 2014/2015; a total number of 23 persons were convicted. During the financial year 2015/2016; a total number of 30 persons were convicted. Investigations in 11 cases are currently underway in relation to possible contraventions of the OECD Foreign Bribery Convention.

Freezing orders to the value of R 601 million were obtained by the end of the 3rd Quarter of the 2015/16 financial year, which has contributed to a cumulative total of R4.21 Billion since 2009.

Proceeds of crime and government losses to the value of close to R 71 million were recovered by the end of the 3rd Quarter of the 2015/16 financial year, which contributed to a cumulative total of R1.96 billion since 2009.

Over and above the successes referred to in the preceding paragraphs, government has through the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU), made significant advances in securing convictions in cases other than the priority cases stipulated in the MTSF. Since 2012 the SCCU has obtained the conviction of about three thousand, three hundred and forty individuals for serious corruption and or serious financial and economic crimes.

A total of 234 government officials were convicted for corruption related offences from 2014/15 financial year to date. However note should be taken that the monitoring of conviction was negatively affected by the disbandment of the JCPS Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) and the under-reporting of disciplinary cases instituted by departments.