Questions and Replies

Reply:

The Portfolio Committee on Labour was briefed by the Department of Labour through the Director General where the Department of Labour presented its plan and programmes to turn the Fund around. Also SCOPA was briefed on the same work plan approximately in the Month of June 2015. At this stage there are no intentions to privatise the medical aid portion.

Reply:

 

(a) R22.2 million

(b) The amount of R22.2 million was spent on the following:

• 2014 Build-up process costs (transportation, accommodation, adjudication training, provincial ceremonies,
• The 15th Annual NTA event: Transportation, Printing and Distribution costs, accommodation, prizes, audio-visual, catering and related event costs.
• Corporate gifts for the national event;
• Sign language interpreters for the national event;
• Television production for the national event; and
• Advocacy for the national event and travel agency and professional conference organiser fees.

(c) Over-expenditure amounted to R6 488 396,57

(d) The overspending on this programme is due to the fact that the NTAs expenditure was higher than the available funds for the period under review. The NTA has been earmarked as a critical instrument for the acknowledgement and advocacy attached to the strategic priority to support the professionalisation of teachers at all levels, across the curriculum, and focuses on the inclusion of all learners and teachers within the sector. The 15th Annual NTA was utilised to elevate and celebrate all teachers across the country that serve South Africa.

(e) The R6 488 396.57 over-expenditure was approved by the Acting Director-General of the Department of Basic Education after all due procedures for approval had been followed in order to ensure that the objectives of the NTA were met.

Reply:

The dataset for 2015 is not available yet for both LURITS and Annual School Survey.

• The Annual School Survey dataset will be available in February 2016.
• All learners and educators will be uploaded on LURITS by 30 September 2015.

Reply:

1 (a) 38 individual responses and 1 (one) group submitted proposals in this regard.

S Pillay

2. Mr T Botha: Administrator: Life Sciences Member List

3. M Tekere: Geography teacher

4. Ms L Kroll: Brainline

5. P Esterhuysen, HOD Wykeham College

6. Ms L Rodwell: Holy Rosary School

7. N Simamane: Geography teacher

8. Mr KB Mbatha: Dwaleni High School

9. Ms M Mokoka: Limpopo Education Dept

10. Mr A Nxele: Eastern Cape Education Dept

11.Mehmoodbhge

12.Ms U Pillay: Geography teacher

13 CT: Ndwandwe

14. VT Miya: Amaphisi High School

15. Ms I Grimsell: St Dominic’s College

16. Ms E Haffajee: Maritzburg Muslim School for Girls

17. V Govender: Mountview Secondary School

18. Mr Provost: Pinelands High School

19. P Oosthuysen: Holy Rosary School

20. J Lucas: Holy Rosary School

21. B Blampied: Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School

22. JC Steimann: John Vorster Technical School

23.  Ms S Wiese: GED

24. K Clover: Cedar House School

25. T du Plessis: Milnerton High School

26. A Davey: St Patrick’s College

27. M Smith: St Andrew’s College

28. Mr G Keats, Moderator for Geography

29. Mr B Hughes: Bridge House School

30. Ms J Brown Beaulieue: College:

31. Mr DA Collins: Teacher

32. Dr A Crowe: Lecturer at UCT

33. HL Janse van Rensburg: False Bay High School

34. Ms N Masurei: Pinelands High School

35. Ms M Blignaut: St Catherine’s

36. Ms S Webber: DSG School

37. Mr C Nowlan: Weston Agricultural College 38. Ms Anne Oberholzer: Independent Examinations Board 39. A group of Geography teachers in the Limpopo Province, comprising of 131 individuals.

1(b) Responses to the Government Gazette were as follows:

31 respondents are not in favour of the proposal, especially the coupling of Mathematics with Economics (2 respondents), Geography (24 respondents) and Life Sciences (7 respondents). Seven (7) respondents are in favour of coupling of Mathematics, Accounting and Physical Sciences; one (1) is in favour of coupling Mathematics with Physical Sciences only. One (1) respondent was in favour of the proposal of coupling Mathematics with all the listed subjects.

2. Not yet.

(a) The Minister is still considering the proposals and hence no decision has been taken yet.

(b) The proposals have been taken to relevant structures such as Heads of Education Committee for discussions and will then be considered by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM).

(i) No decision has been taken.

(ii) No decision has been taken yet.

(iii) (aa) The Minister will, after consultation with the Council of Education Ministers, pronounce the decision.

(bb) The amendments will be implemented in the month of January following the year of approval.

Reply:

Advertising is audience centred. Tshwane n/ was selected as the preferred community television station for campaigns as they have the highest amount of viewers among community television stations and that they met the targeted audience the programme was intended for.

The GClS uses scientific methods to determine which media best reach our audiences, as determined by the AMPS, TAMS, RAMS surveys that the SA Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) conducts.


 

MR D LIPHOKO
[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL
GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS
DATE: 24 July 2015


MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
DATE:


Parliamentary question 2513 of 2015
 

Reply:

The Department of Energy, not the National Treasury, is responsible for developing the
Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) and making determinations relating to generation capacity required to enable procurement of power from the proposed Mmamabula Energy Project.

Reply:

(1) The Department is not aware of any municipal managers that are prevented from performing their functions but rather municipal managers who have been suspended from work for breach of conduct.

(2) According to information furnished by provinces, the following are municipal managers that have been placed on suspension by municipalities:

Province	Municipal Manager	Municipality	Date placed on suspension	Nature of misconduct
Eastern Cape	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Ikwezi LM	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Inkwanca LM	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
Free State	Mr PI Radebe	Mafube LM	5 January 2015	Council decision to implement consequence management due to Auditor-General audit opinion of a disclaimer over the past 5 years.
Gauteng	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil

Province	Name of municipal manager	Name of the municipality	Date of suspension	Nature of misconduct
KwaZulu-Natal	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Endumeni LM	26 March 2014	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Imbabazane LM	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Indaka LM	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Vulamehlo LM	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
Limpopo	Mr TM Maake	Mopani DM	1 February 2015	Financial misconduct
	Mr Ntwane	Thabazimbi LM	10 December 2014	Maladministration, misappropriation of funds and non-compliance with supply chain procedures
	Mr M Mathivha	Thulamela LM	28 April 2015	Fruitless expenditure
	Ms C Mamitla	Polokwane LM	4 May 2015	Financial misconduct
	Mr MF Ramaphakela	Lepelle-Nkumpi LM	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.	Details not furnished. Province requested to obtain information.
Mpumalanga	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
North West	Mr K Rabanye	Mahikeng LM	29 November 2014	Corruption and maladministration
	Mr J Bhine	Ditsobotla LM	3 April 2013	Gross maladministration
	Mr J Makade	Ventersdorp LM	11 October 2014	Maladministration
Northern Cape	Mr TF Leeuw	Magareng LM	20 April 2015	Maladministration
	Mr M Fillis	Ubuntu LM	5 March 2015	Corruption and maladministration
Western Cape	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil

Reply:

I cannot reply to this question as the matters raised are currently sub judice.

Reply:

(a) None

(b) Only South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), which is exempted from paying an annual license fee.

 

 

 

 

MR N MUNZHELELE

[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

(I), (2) and (3) The Honourable Member should note that by-elections-to elect a new Municipal Council in the Mpofana Local Municipality with held on 26 November 2014. Before this by-election was held, a recovery plan was circulated to relevant stakeholders for input. The recovery plan covered the following priority areas:

(i) Municipal Institutional Development and Transformation
(ii) Municipal Financial Viability and Management;
(iii) Basic Service Delivery;

(iv) Local Economic Development

(v) Good Governance and Public Participation; and

(vi) Cross Cutting Issues.

From the assessment made by the KZN CoGTA Department, it appeared that Mpofana Local Municipality would still be in a vulnerable state when the section 139(1) (c) intervention terminated after the by-election was held. The Provincial Executive therefore took a resolution to replace this intervention with a directive issued in terms of section 139(1) (a) of the Constitution after the by-election. This directive, which was envisaged to expire at the end of March 2015, provided that the municipality must fulfil the following:

(i) Adopt by Council Resolution, the exit strategy in respect of the close-out report of the intervention in terms of section 139(1) (c) of the Constitution, and accept the continuation and provision of support by KZN CoGTA or any other stakeholder during the period of the intervention;

(ii) Accept a resource deployed by CoGTA to assist the municipality to implement the exit strategy;

(iii) Ensure that the Municipal Manager and all senior managers account in respect of all indicators included in the exit strategy, on a monthly basis;
(iv) Attend all Steering Committee meetings convened by KZN CoGTA on interventions; and

(v) Develop a strategy of addressing imminent service delivery protests.

In the notice of the termination of the intervention, it was reported that the Mpofana Local Municipality has made substantial progress on its exit strategy and also complied with the above directive. It was also reported that the remaining issues on the exit strategy will be implemented by the municipality, with ongoing support from KZN CoGTA and other sector departments. Strategies to address outstanding issues were developed and these strategies were integrated into the Back to Basics approach.

Apart from the above notice, a presentation of the close-out report which was prepared by the Ministerial Representative has highlighted several overall achievements of this intervention. Some of these achievements are the following:

(i) Portfolio committees and MPAC have been established, and meetings of the Municipal Council and portfolio committees convene every month;
(ii) An Interim Finance Committee was established to address cash flow problems;
(iii) There has been a revival of ward committees and the newly elected councillors, who have since undergone capacity building programmes, hold public meetings in all wards;

(iv) As most service delivery challenges revolve around water shortages, the municipality and Umgungundlovu DM are working much closer than before to address the problem;

(v) Successful resolution of the litigation matter between the municipality and Tai Yuen Textiles; and

(vi) Sporadic service delivery protests have been promptly addressed, and there has been an improvement in meeting legislative compliance deadlines.

The achievements made during this intervention partly address the challenges that were prevalent in the municipality, which led to the intervention, such as the absence of an Internal Audit Committee. These achievements also address some of the challenges which were identified in the Back to Basics Support Plan for Mpofana Local Municipality, such as serious backlogs in water provision.

Notwithstanding these achievements, it appears that there are still several challenges among those that were identified shortly before the intervention was invoked, which still remain unaddressed. Examples of these are losses in the sale of electricity, due to illegal connections, and poor debt recovery. In addition to these, the presentation of the close-out report lists further challenges in this municipality. Some of these challenges are:

(i) Very weak internal audit and audit committee, and the skills audit process is long overdrawn and still incomplete;
(ii) The projected budget is in deficit, and there is a lack of relevant capacity in managing municipal finances within the Budget and Treasury Office (BTO), which will delay the financial turnaround;

(iii) The municipality owes grant funds, used for operational reasons, and there is no reflection in the budget on how this will be paid back;
(iv) Inadequate project management and coordination at a technical level delays project implementation;
(v) Ability to manage Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and other grants is inadequate, and there is inadequate development planning capacity; and
(vi) No risk management.

In light of the challenges still prevalent in the Mpofana Local Municipality, the MEC will closely monitor and provide the necessary support to the municipality, working together with the relevant KZN Back to Basics Task Team.

Reply:

1. No, as stated in my response to PQ2015/2459, I am not aware of these assertions.
2. Again as stated in my previous response to PQ2015/2459, I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

Reply:

No. The law has only been in place for few months hence cannot make a realistic diagnosis of the challenges in matching suitable candidates with the requirements of the employers at this stage.

Reply:

(a) Section 62(1)(d) of the Municipal Finance Management (MFMA) provides that the Accounting Officer must take all reasonable steps to ensure that unauthorized, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure or other losses are prevented. Furthermore section 125(2)(d) of the MFMA requires that the notes to the annual financial statements must include particulars of any material losses or any material irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure, including in the case of a municipality, any material unauthorized expenditure that occurred during the financial year and whether these are recoverable.

From the above it is clear that the legislation places the obligation to make public and disclose particulars of any irregular expenditure incurred, including taking steps to prevent such expenditure from being incurred, on the Accounting Officer. Moreover, the legal principle underpinning the MFMA is that the Accounting Officer and Council are responsible for implementation of the MFMA and to ensure appropriate corrective measures are taken.

b) The Honorable member to note that section 62 of the Municipal Systems Act sets out the process to be followed when aggrieved persons are dissatisfied with decisions taken by a municipality. The process provides for appeals to be dealt with by the municipality within its internal governance structures. There is no requirement in section 62 for decisions with regard to the outcomes of appeals to be reported to the National Treasury. Information in this regard is therefore only available at institutional level and therefore National Treasury was not made aware of the extent of the appeals.

c) With regards to supply chain management disputes or objections, regulations 49 and 50 of the Municipal Supply Chain Management Regulations provide the procedure to be followed. The regulations provide that such disputes be first investigated internally by the municipality before it escalates the matter to the provincial or national treasury. It is therefore clear that the National Treasury will not be aware of supply chain management disputes unless a municipality or the relevant treasury was unable to resolve the matter through its internal processes. The details of such information will be available at institutional level.

(2) Correspondence was received from the City Manager dated 3 September 2012. However, this only provided information of irregular expenditure relating to the request for condonement. As mentioned earlier, the detailed information on all irregular expenditure is maintained within the municipality and in this instance was not shared with National Treasury.

(3) (a) Section 32(2) of the MFMA provides that the Municipal Council must recover all irregular expenditure incurred unless the municipal council has, after an investigation by a council committee, certified the expenditure as irrecoverable and has written it off. It is therefore clear that legislatively, the municipal council is the only appropriate structure who should take action in relation to the irregular expenditure that has been incurred. Information in this regard is therefore best obtained from the municipality concerned.

(b) Section 171 of the MFMA defines when an accounting officer of a municipality commits an act of financial misconduct. To further support the implementation of this section and chapter 15 as a whole, the Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings (“Financial Misconduct Regulations”) was promulgated on 31 May 2014 which sets out processes to be followed by municipalities in dealing with allegations of financial misconduct. The regulations provide that as a start, allegations has to be dealt with by the municipal council through its internal established structures that deals with disciplinary matters. This relevant matter will therefore be referred to the Executive Mayor of this specific municipality for his further handling consistent with the provisions of the Financial Misconduct Regulations.

(4) The National Treasury will not be conducting any forensic audit at the municipality at this stage as the information at hand indicate that the Office of the Public Protector is in the process of conducting an investigation at the municipality. The National Treasury will await the outcome thereof.

Reply:

This information is not readily available. It will take some time to assemble the information.

Reply:

NATIONAL TREASURY

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 58 945.10	R 60 760.00
(bb) 2013-14	R 131 131.69	R 31 640.00
(cc) 2014-15	R 183 605.28	R 0.00

 

FINANCIAL SERVICES BOARD

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 18 148.80	R 24 519.39
(bb) 2013-14	R 18 148.80	---
(cc) 2014-15	R 53 286.74	---

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PENSION FUND

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 64 022.40	R 87 723.00
(bb) 2013-14	R 0.00	R 0.00
(cc) 2014-15	R 0.00	R 0.00

GOVERNMENT PENSIONS ADMINISTRATION AGENCY

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 726 707.52	R 812 130.97
(bb) 2013-14	R 598 581.50	R 705 080.88
(cc) 2014-15	R 462 578.27	R 362 853.79

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BOARD FOR AUDITORS

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 20 174.00	R 0.00
(bb) 2013-14	R 53 904.90	R 0.00
(cc) 2014-15		R 0.00

LAND BANK

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 47 174.02	R 0.00
(bb) 2013-14	R 107 963.33	R 0.00
(cc) 2014-15	R 149 736.10	R 0.00

PENSION FUNDS ADJUDICATOR

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 8 166.96	R 0.00
(bb) 2013-14	R 0.00	R 0.00
(cc) 2014-15	R 0.00	R 0.00

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 80 028.00	R 421 956.70
(bb) 2013-14	R 0.00	R 116 520.77
(cc) 2014-15	R 648 226.80	R 62 996.40

SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICES

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 892, 611.88	R 651, 197.07
(bb) 2013-14	R 794, 341.85	R 452, 260.17
(cc) 2014-15	R 1, 405, 492.00	R 827, 689.12

SASRIA

Financial year	The Sowetan	The Daily Sun
(aa) 2012-13	R 0.00	R 0.00
(bb) 2013-14	R 0.00	R 0.00
(cc) 2014-15	R 33 744.00	R 0.00

Other entities have not spent any funds on advertising in Sowetan and The Daily Sun during the financial years in question.

Reply:

The department is currently gathering the information required to respond to this question as it is not information that is readily available. After the details of the 87 auditees referred to in the General report have been received from the Auditor General, each of these municipalities will be requested to provide the details of the cases that constituted the total of the irregular expenditure in question in order to respond to part two of the question.

The response will be provided as soon as possible after this information is made available.

Reply:

The Department of Human Settlements:

(a) & (b) The amount spent by the Department of Human Settlements on purchasing and installation of a generator is R1 784 859,00.

(c) The amount for operating costs (fuel) since the generator was purchased R 22 956.00.

(d) There are no maintenance costs incurred thus far.

The Entities:

(a) There are eight (8) public entities reporting to the Minister of Human Settlements, only the following three public entities have purchased generators:

• EAAB spent R391 006.40 on the 11th March 2014;
• NURCHA has spent R 288 635 in 2007; and
• NHBRC has spent R 700 000.00.

(b) Installation cost for the generators of NHBRC and NURCHA was included in the purchasing amount. EAAB has spent R 10 000.00 for installation.

(c) Spending on operational cost, including fuel:

• The HDA is responsible for the refuelling of the generator. The average cost to refuel the generator is R 4000.00, based on 4x4 hour load shedding per month;
• NURCHA has spent R 69 223.00;
• EAAB has spent R 9 763.84 from 12/05/2014 to 01/01/2015; and
• NHBRC has spent R 134 982.82 (This includes: Diesel = R 93 091.49; SMS Commander = R 10 545.00; and SDM Controller = R 31 346.33)

(d) Maintenance of generators

• EAAB has spent R 15 298.80 to maintain the generators from 23/09/2014 to 01/01/2015;
• NURCHA has spent R 13 800.00 per annum
• NHBRC has spent R 64 655.63 for the service and maintenance of the generators since 1 April 2013.

Reply:

I am not aware of these assertions.

I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

Reply:

(1)No, as stated in my response to PQ2015/2467, I have not investigated the matter and therefore am not aware of the details pertaining the matter.

(2)I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

Reply:

I am not aware to these assertions.

I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4) (b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

According to Section 106 (4)(b)of the Municipal Systems Act, the MEC must table a report in the relevant provincial legislature, detailing within 90 days from the date of my request to him, to conduct the investigation. The MEC is required to simultaneously send a report to me, the Minister of Finance, and the NCOP.

I will await the outcome of the investigation to determine whether or not there are findings that enable me to provide specific responses in respect of sub-questions (a)(b)(c)(d) and (i)(ii).

Reply:

The information is not readily available and must be obtained from the provinces.  A request is hereby made for an extension in order for us to provide quality and correct information as soon as it is received.

Reply:

The question asked by Honourable member, Mr K J Mileham, must be directed to National Treasury, as it is the competent authority to provide the information requested. National Treasury monitors Audit Committees in terms of sec 166 of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

Reply:

(1) No, as ststed in my response to PQ2015/2464 I am not aware of these assertions.

(2) I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

Reply:

The following response is based on the information provided by Ekurhuleni, EThekwini, City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay and Mangaung Metropolitan municipalities. The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality did not meet the deadline for submission of responses. However, the municipality has been requested to respond accordingly. The information will be delivered to the Honourable Member as soon as it is received:

1)

Municipality	Qualified and Registered engineers
City of Johannesburg	68
Ekurhuleni Metro	170
City of Tshwane	328
Mangaung	10
City of Cape Town	547
EThekwini	55
Nelson Mandela Bay	53

2)

Municipality	Field of specialisation of each specified engineer in respect of civil engineering, electrical engineering and any other engineers employed
Ekurhuleni	Energy :71 Engineers Roads and storm water : 44 engineers Water and sanitation:55 engineers
City of Tshwane	74 Engineers/ Engineer Technologists 185 engineers/technologists 67 Civil Engineers/ Engineer Technologists 2 Civil Engineers/ Engineer Technologists
City of Johannesburg	Technical Engineers (Water); Civil Engineering (Water); Civil Engineering; Capital Planning Engineering; Chemical Engineering; Electrical Engineering: Network Planning; Network & Services Planning; Network operations; Electrification; Electrical Technology; Plant Test; Roads Engineers: Local Roads Planning; Economic Roads Planning; Road Safety; Storm water Planning; Freight Standards and Compliance; and Freight Infrastructure Support.
Mangaung	8: Civil Engineering 2: Project Engineering
City of Cape Town	2: Chemical Engineers 134: Civil Engineers 11: Construction Engineers 2: Development Engineers 31: Electrical Engineers 208: Engineers I ii iii iv 12: Mechanical Engineers 2: Network Engineers: 2 145: Project Engineers
EThekwini	55: Civil Engineers Information on other engineers is outstanding.
Nelson Mandela Bay	53 Civil engineers

3)

Municipality	how many vacancies exist for qualified and registered engineers in each metropolitan municipality	what is the job title of each vacancy and	since what date has each position been vacant
Ekurhuleni	44 vacancies	See attached	See attached
City of Tshwane	96 vacancies	Job titles vary between Chief engineers, engineering consultant/technologist and engineers and engineering technicians	80 positions since December 2013 Transport Department, 45 positions since the structure was approved. They are unfunded. Tshwane Rapid Transit: The 4 positions are all new. They are unfunded and part of the current approved structure.
City of Johannesburg	16 vacancies	1 :Manager: Technical Co-ordination; 1 :Senior Engineer: Local Roads Planning; 1 :Senior Engineer: Economic Roads Planning; 2 :Manager Regional Storm water Planning Region; 3 :Manager: Network Planning; 1 :Manager: Road Safety Engineer; 1 :Manager: Freight Standards and Compliance; 1 :Manager: Freight Infrastructure Support; 1 :Network & Services Planning; 1 :Network operations; 1 :Electrification; 1 :Capital Planning; and 1 :Plant Test.
Mangaung	45 vacancies	Job Title: Engineer in Training//Senior// First Engineer	The majority of vacant posts are new posts on the MMM structure and have been created with effect from August 2012.
City of Cape Town	55 vacancies	Senior Professional Officer: Tenders and	05-May-15
		Professional Officer	30-Apr-15
		Principal Professional Officer	21-Apr-15
		Senior Professional Officer	21-Apr-15
		Senior Professional Officer	21-Apr-15
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Apr-15
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Apr-15
		Waste Water Treatment Works Manager	01-Apr-15
		Pump Station Manager	05-Mar-15
		Professional Officer	01-Mar-15
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Mar-15
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Feb-15
		Head: Asset Management Water	01-Feb-15
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Feb-15
		Senior Professional Officer	20-Jan-15
		Principal Professional Officer	01-Jan-15
		Senior Professional Officer: Infra Man	01-Jan-15
		Bulk Water Storage & Conveyance Specialist	01-Jan-15
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Dec-14
		Professional Officer	25-Nov-14
		Professional Officer	25-Nov-14
		Professional Officer	25-Nov-14
		Professional Officer	25-Nov-14
		Professional Officer	18-Nov-14
		Senior Professional Officer	18-Nov-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Nov-14
		Co-ordinator: Transmission System Developer	01-Nov-14
		Professional Officer	01-Nov-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Nov-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Nov-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Nov-14
		Head: Water Laboratory	01-Oct-14
		Professional Officer	01-Oct-14
		Professional Officer	01-Aug-14
		Professional Officer	01-Jul-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Jul-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Jul-14
		Head: Fleet Management	01-Jun-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-May-14
		Head: Quantity Survey	04-Apr-14
		Senior Professional Officer	18-Mar-14
		Senior Professional Officer	01-Mar-14
		Professional Officer	01-Jan-14
		Head: Public Transport Survey & Analysis	01-Dec-13
		District Manager: Waste Water Ops	01-Sep-13
		Principal Professional Officer	07-Aug-13
		Director: HS Planning & NHP Implementati	01-Aug-13
		Principal Professional Officer	01-Aug-13
		Chief Mechanical Design Engineer	01-Jul-13
		Head: Integrated Waste Man Strat & Pol	25-Jun-13
		Bulk Water Scheme Manager	01-Feb-13
		Principal Professional Officer: IMS-DS	01-Jan-13
		District Manager: Waste Water Ops	01-Jan-13
		Professional Officer	01-Oct-12
		Pump Station Manager	01-Sep-12
EThekwini	69 vacancies	Professional engineer	31/05/2014
		Professional engineer	29/06/2011
		Professional engineer (chemical)	01/07/2012
		Professional engineer (chemical)	01/07/2012
		Professional engineer (chemical)	01/07/2012
		Professional engineer (chemical)	06/12/2010
		Professional engineer (electrical)	02/05/2014
		Professional engineer (electronics)	31/10/2014
		Professional engineer (mechanical)	06/07/2014
		Senior professional engineer (civil)	31/05/2012
		Senior professional engineer (civil)	01/12/2014
		Information is outstanding
Nelson Mandela Bay	16 vacancies	16 technicians	5 technicians: 2010 2 technicians: 2011 2 technicians: 2012 2 technicians: 2013 4 technicians: 2014

 

4)

Municipality	Whether there are any criteria determining the number of engineers in each field to be employed by each type of municipality; if not, why not; if so,	b) what are the relevant details and	c) where is this codified
City of Johannesburg	Positions are determined in terms of the approved Organisational Structure and the service delivery requirements	This is determined in terms of the approved Organisational Structure.	This is determined in terms of the approved Organisational Structure.
Ekurhuleni	The number of engineers needed is determined in collaboration with the relevant Head of Department by means of a functional analysis and work study.
City of Tshwane	Service Infrastructure –Water and Sanitation , Transport Department and TRT	The details are on approved structure of the department	The details are on approved structure of the department
	Transport Department and TRT	Organizational Structure	Organizational Structure
Mangaung	Not provided	Not aware of any criteria determining the number of engineers in each field.
City of Cape Town	Yes. Competency framework for local government occupational streams	Knowledge, experience and qualifications	Not provided
EThekwini	Yes	ECSA and Water Services Act requirement	ECSA and Water Services Act
Nelson Mandela Bay	Yes	1 Professional engineer. 4 technologist and technicians	ECSA and SAICE

 

Reply:

I am not aware of these assertions.

I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

 

Reply:

Departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

1. Yes

(aa)(i) Amount	(aa)(ii) Person	(aa)(iii) Reason
R2 443 574.83	Ms Lindiwe Gail Msengana-Ndlela	Re-determination of term of office

The CRL Rights Commission

(bb)(i) Amount	(bb)(ii) Person	(bb)(iii) Reason
R 1 397 711.20	Adv. Moreroa (former CEO)	Based on certain complaints received by the Commission, the Commission initiated an internal investigation into such complaints. During the course of the investigation, the CEO reached an agreement with the Commission to terminate his services and therefore the investigation was suspended.

The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB)

1. Yes

(bb)(i) Amount	(bb)(ii) Person	(bb)(iii) Reason
R385 683.00	Clayton Sebastiaan Swart	During January and February 2014, the former Chief Executive Officer made offers of employment to three candidates, although the Board had taken a decision that the three candidates should not be appointed. The Board overturned the decision of the former Chief Executive Officer that the employment offers be retracted and invalidated. The three candidates took the matter to court, after which the matter was settled out of court.
R192 827.00	Thandokuhle Ignatias Ngoza
R143 717.00	Tsholanang Sinatra Polori
R1 691 622.00	Gabusile Caroline Gumbi-Masilela	The former Chief Executive Officer was suspended by the previous Board on 12 February 2014, pending an investigation. In March 2014, the new Board and the former Chief Executive Officer reached an out of court agreement resulting in the termination of the employment contract.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA)

The South African Local Government Association has not paid out the remainder of any employee's contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial year up to the latest specified date.

The South African Cities Network (SACN)

The South African Cities Network has not paid out the remainder of any employee's contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial year up to the latest specified date.

Reply:

(1) Yes, the Department has received the information from the Phumelela Local Municipality.

(2) (a) (i) &(ii) According to the information received, the municipality did not utilize its budget in respect of the farm Krynauwslust in the Vrede district of the Free State; hence, no irregularities were reported (b) In the context of the preceding question, the Department did not engage with the Vrede District Municipality. Instead, the Department exchanged correspondence with the Phumelela Local Municipality on this matter

Reply:

ATTACHED FIND HERE: Reply

Reply:

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

The Departments:

The Sowetan
2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015
111,444 .27	176,592.50	239,974.07
The Daily Sun
2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015
-	-	38,136.42

The Entities:

The South African Cities Network (SACN)

The SACN did not spend any amount on advertising in Sowetan and Daily Sun in the 2012 /13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 financial year.

South African Local Government Association (SALGA)

The Sowetan			Total
2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015
-	R50, 940,90	R73, 051,20	R123,992,10
The Daily Sun
2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015
-	-	-

Municipal Demarcation Board

The Sowetan			Total
2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015
R267,471,36	-	R30,834,70	R298 306,06
The Daily Sun
2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015
R380,933,25	R298,981,26	-	R679 851,54

Reply:

Government has not taken any decision to establish new cities, and thus no funds have been set aside for this purpose. It should also be noted that development of cities can evolve from small towns or urban nodes that grow as a result of increased economic activities and population growth. Examples of such areas include towns such as Lephalale, which is growing rapidly due to increased economic activities and public infrastructure investments in the area. Furthermore, the location, desirability and growth of such areas are informed by municipalities’ Spatial Development Frameworks. It is, therefore, the responsibility of municipalities to approve such developments. However, as new and substantial economic hubs develop in new towns and cities, government will assist these municipalities to acquire appropriate planning and other technical capability to manage these new challenges and opportunities.

Reply:

No. the law has only been in place for few months hence cannot make a realistic analysis of what the real cause of the delays are at this stage.

Reply:

If news were required to give up five minutes of the bulletin, the SABC will hardly be left with enough time to do the stories that are already limited.

The SABC Television and SABC Education are already providing an invaluable service as per its mandate and the ICASA license conditions

MR N MUNZHELELE
[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS
DATE: 24/07/15

MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
DATE:

ATTACHED FIND HERE: QUESTION NUMBER 2305 OF 2015

Reply:

The Honourable Member should note that the Department of Energy is responsible for administering the petrol and diesel prices, and also for determining the basic fuel price (BFP). The Minister of Finance is only responsible for setting the levies and any taxes on petrol and diesel. However, to make it easy for the Honourable Member, I will draw from the website of the Department of Energy (http://www.energy.gov.za/files/petroleum_frame.html) to assist in providing a comprehensive response to the question. The starting point in arriving at the domestic wholesale retail selling price of petrol diesel in South Africa is the calculation of the basic fuel price (BFP), and I will draw on the website of the Department of Energy in response to questions 1(a) and (b) (i) (and (iv)), and then provide my own response to the questions on the tax and levies on petrol and diesel.

(1). (i) and (iv) The website of the Department of Energy states that the basic fuel price (BFP) attempts

“to represent the realistic, market-related costs of importing a substantial portion of South Africa's liquid fuels requirements, and it is therefore deemed that such supplies are sourced from overseas refining centres capable of meeting South Africa's requirements in terms of both product quality and sustained supply considerations.

The petrol price in South Africa is therefore directly linked to the price of petrol quoted in US dollars at refined petroleum export orientated refining centres in the Mediterranean area, the Arab Gulf and Singapore. This means that the domestic prices of fuels are influenced by (a) international crude oil prices, (b) international supply and demand balances for petroleum products and (c) the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate”.

The website goes on to note that there are both international and domestic influences that are added to the BFP to arrive at the final pump prices in the different fuel pricing zones (magisterial district zones). The domestic influences include inland transport costs, wholesale margin, retail profit-margin, the slate levy, and various taxes / levies as listed below. It should be noted that diesel prices are regulated only up to the wholesale level; so the retail price of diesel is not regulated.

(ii), and (iii) Levies on fuels and taxes

The following levies and taxes that apply to liquid fuels in South Africa are provided below:

Table 1: Levy, tax and additional items on PETROL AND DIESEL

Levy	Date first imposed	Amount of levy Fiscal year 2015/16	Objective of the levy
General fuel levy	Early 1980s; Customs and Excise Act, No.91 of 1964 Introduced for the first time around April 1983	255 cent per litre on petrol and 240 cent per litre on diesel	Revenue (net of the refunds) go to the National Revenue Fund, from which they are appropriated to fund government’s general expenditure programmes, including the construction and maintenance of roads and support of public transport. Refer to the annual Budget Review for more information for any specific fiscal year. . Since the abolishment of RSC levies, about one third of the revenue is shared with metropolitan municipalities.
Customs and excise levy	1994; Customs and Excise Act, No.91 of 1964 Introduced in April 1983	4 cents per litre on petrol, diesel and biodiesel. The 4 cents per litre has been fixed since the 1990s.	Included in the Southern African Custom Union (SACU) pool and shared amongst the SACU member countries.
Road accident fund levy	Road Accident Fund Act, No.56 of 1996 Introduced in May 1997	154 cents per litre on petrol, diesel and biodiesel	Provides cover for all road users against injuries sustained or death arising from accidents involving motor vehicles.
Equalisation fund levy	Central Energy Fund Act, No. 38 of 1977; Introduced in January 1979	Zero cents per litre on both diesel and petrol since 1996	The fund was in the past primarily used to smooth out monthly fluctuations in the price of liquid fuels. This was an attempt to try and limit the impact of volatile international crude oil prices and fluctuations in the Rand / US $ exchange rate on fuel prices. This effort has not been very successful and was ceased about 5 years ago.
Demand Side Management Levy	The Central Energy Fund Act, No. 38 of 1977; Introduced in January 2006	10 cents per litre on 95 Octane petrol in inland areas	Most vehicles in the inland market do not require 95 ULP. In an effort to limit the demand for 95 ULP in the inland area to prevent "octane wastage" and to ensure sufficient supply for motorist who really need it the DSM levy was introduced.
Petroleum Pipelines Levy	The Petroleum Pipelines Levies Act, No. 28 of 2004 Introduced in March 2007	0.15 cents per litre - NERSA	To meet the general administrative and other costs for the functions performed by the Petroleum Pipelines Regulatory Authority.
Slate Levy	The Central Energy Act, No.38 of 1977 Introduced in January 2009	Fluctuates	To finance the balance in the Slate account when the Slate is in a negative balance. If the daily Basic Fuel Price (BFP) is higher than the BFP in the fuel price structure, a unit under recovery is realised otherwise there is an over recovery for the oil companies.
IP tracer dye levy	Central Energy Fund Act, No. 38 of 1977. Introduced in August 1999	0.01 cents per litre	To curtail the unlawful mixing of diesel and illuminating paraffin, an illuminating paraffin tracer dye is injected into illuminating paraffin. An illuminating paraffin tracer dye levy was introduced into the price structures of diesel to finance expenses related thereto.

The Table below indicates how the pump price for petrol, and the wholesale price for diesel, is determined for an inland province like Gauteng.

Table 2: Composition of levy, tax and additional items in Gauteng

COMPOSITION OF THE RETAIL PRICE OF PETROL AND THE WHOLESALE PRICES FOR DIESEL IN GAUTENG FOR June 2015
GAUTENG FUEL PRICES	Petrol 93 ULP	Diesel * 0.05% S
	c/l	c/l
Basic fuel price (BFP)	644.65	638.63
Wholesale margin	33.50	64.70
Service cost recoveries	30.00	30.00
Dealers margin (*)	151.10	N/A
Zone differential in Gauteng	35.30	35.30
Fuel levy	255.00	240.00
RAF levy	154.00	154.00
Customs & excise duty	4.00	4.00
IP Tracer levy	N/A	0.01
Slate levy	0	0
Petroleum Pipelines Levy	0.15	0.15
Rounding	0.3
Retail price	1 308.00
Wholesale price		1 166.79

(2) Fuel levy revenue

The money received from the fuel levy is recorded in the relevant audited financial statements every year, and included in the appropriate Budget Review, all made available to Parliament and the public. The figures below are drawn from annual Budget Reviews.

Table 3: Revenue from the General Fuel Levy and RAF

R million	General Fuel Levy (net)*	Road Accident Fund Levy
2011/12 (audited)	36 589.07	16 628.02
2012/13 (audited)	40 320.20	17 621.42
2013/14 (audited)	43 684.65	19 961.98
2014/15 (estimate)	48 466.52	22 038.71
* Net of diesel refunds
Source: Budget Review Table 4: Initial estimate of revenue collected since 1 April 2015 to 31 May 2015
2015/16#	8 602.88	4 364.56
Revenue from 1 April 2015 to May 2015
Source: Statement of the National Revenue, Expenditure and Borrowing as at 31 May 2015 issued by the DG: National Treasury

(3) No, as noted in the Budget Review and other budget documents every year, there is no money received from the fuel levy that is ring-fenced for the maintenance of roads. The building and maintenance of roads is done by departments or agencies in all three spheres of government, and is appropriated in national and provincial laws and municipal budgets. The amounts spent directly by the national government on the maintenance of roads are appropriated from the National Revenue Fund, and the budget information is provided below. A national entity like SANRAL also funds maintenance of certain roads, using budgetary funds and revenue it may collect. The actual funds spent per year on the maintenance of roads requires the Honourable Member to consider the budgets and annual reports of all organs of state involved with road funding in all three spheres of government.

It should also be noted that in 2014/15 R10.19 billion of the net revenue from the general fuel levy was allocated to the eight metropolitan municipalities as a part of a revenue sharing arrangement.

Money from the Road Accident Fund levy is ring-fenced and used by the Road Accident Fund to compensate victims of vehicle accidents for injuries sustained as a result of such accidents. The Road Accident Fund Levy is thus a form of a personal injuries insurance policy. Further information is available from its annual reports.

The tables below are from the 2015 Budget document Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) and provide an overview of the funds allocated to the National Department of Transport.

Vote 37: National Department of Transport
Subprogramme: R million	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
Administration	382.90	399.80	423.50
Integrated Transport Planning	81.20	84.30	89.10
Rail Transport	15 034.60	18 362.00	19 389.60
Road Transport	21 645.30	22 852.10	23 876.20
Civil Aviation	148.30	154.00	162.70
Maritime Transport	110.60	115.40	121.80
Public Transport	11 323.80	11 846.40	12 779.10
TOTAL	48 726.70	53 814.00	56 842.00

Vote 37: National Department of Transport
Subprogramme: %	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17
Administration	0.8%	0.7%	0.7%
Integrated Transport Planning	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Rail Transport	30.9%	34.1%	34.1%
Road Transport	44.4%	42.5%	42.0%
Civil Aviation	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%
Maritime Transport	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Public Transport	23.2%	22.0%	22.5%
TOTAL	100%	100%	100%

Reply:

The department is currently gathering the information required to respond to this question as it is not information that is readily available. After the details of the 12 auditees referred to in the General report have been received from the Auditor General, each of these municipalities will be requested to provide the details of the cases that constituted the total of the irregular expenditure in question in order to respond to part two of the question.

The response will be provided as soon as possible after this information is made available.

Reply:

R0

Reply:

I am not aware of these assertions, nor, have not investigated this matter and therefore, I have not established any facts surrounding this matter.

I intend writing to the MEC responsible for Local Government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission and investigation into the matter.

Reply:

(a) The SAPS and SANDF are not holders of Broadcasting Licences.

 

MR N MUNZHELELE

[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

I am not aware of these assertions.

I intend writing to the MEC responsible for Local Government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4) (b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

I will await the outcome of the investigation to determine whether or not there are findings that will enable me to provide specific responses in respect of sub-questions (1),(2) and (3).

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. We have, however, requested all the Provinces to provide this information.

The Honourable Member will be provided with the requested information as soon as it is submitted to us.

Reply:

The monitoring and evaluation component of the Department is currently at a level of a Sub-directorate, and consists of a Deputy Director and an Assistant Director. A process currently is underway with DPSA to review the organisational structure.

Reply:

(1)No, I have not investigated the matter and therefore am not aware of the details pertaining the matter.

(2)I intend writing to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4) (a) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission an investigation into the matter.

(3) Falls off.

Reply:

I am not aware to these assertions.

I intend writing to the MEC responsible for Local Government in Gauteng, in terms of Section 106(4)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No.32 of 2000), requesting him to commission and investigation into the matter.

I will await the outcome of the investigation to determine whether or not there are findings that will enable me to provide a response to this question.

Reply:

The Department spent as per below breakdown:

HQ LABOUR	2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
(i)SOWETAN	R560 159.87	R585 060.78	R271 368.72
(ii)DAILY SUN	R777 265.50	R789 273.05	R699 177.80

ENTITIES:

(b) ENTITIES REPORTING TO THE MINISTER (i) (Sowetan)	(aa) 2012-13	(bb) 2013-14	(cc) 2014-15
NEDLAC	n/a	n/a	n/a
UIF	n/a	R148,243.32	R371,229.60
CF	R291, 012.20	R624, 552.22	R66, 983.43
PSA	n/a	R76, 799.52	R254, 177.02
CCMA	n/a	n/a	n/a

(b) ENTITIES REPORTING TO THE MINISTER (ii) (Daily Sun )	(aa) 2012-13	(bb) 2013-14	(cc) 2014-15
NEDLAC	n/a	n/a	n/a
UIF	n/a	R29,930.47	n/a
CF	R174, 911.80	R298, 344.39	n/a
PSA	n/a	n/a	n/a
CCMA	n/a	n/a	*R 39, 979.80

# PSA – payment made to Times Media with adverts in Sowetan and Sunday times.

Compensation Fund – Sowetan Live – 2013/14 = R100, 000.00.

Reply:

(a) One hundred and twelve (112) applications for medical parole were received in the 2013-2014 financial year.

(b) Thirty eight (38) applications were recommended by the Medical Parole Advisory Board (MPAB) and out of this thirty seven (37) were successfully released. One (01) not released due to lack of family support.

(c) Fifty nine (59) applications were not recommended by the MPAB for medical parole as they did not meet criteria for release. None of these applicants died whilst incarcerated.

For the remaining fifteen (15):

• Seven (7) died before they could be examined by the Medical Parole Advisory Board (MPAB):
• One (1) died whilst awaiting further medical examination and
• Seven (7) are awaiting further review by the MPAB.

Reply:

The Minister wishes to inform the Honorable member as follows: Questions regarding investigations by the South African Police Service and the SA Revenue Service should be submitted to the Minister of Police and the Minister of Finance, respectively, as it does not fall within the line function of my Ministry. I have been informed that the National Prosecuting Authority is not aware of such a matter being referred to the prosecutor. Falls away. Yes. If more substantiated can be provided.

Reply:

(1) What (a) are the details of the baseline assessments carried out in February 2015 prior to the commencement of the piloting of three alternative interventions in selected schools in the districts of (i) Ngaka Modiri Molema and (ii) Dr Kenneth Kaunda in April 2015 and (b) methodology was utilised in each of the interventions;

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is evaluating three new interventions aimed at improving early grade reading. The evaluation is being conducted through a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) to evaluate the causal impacts of the following three interventions: (i) a teacher training course focused specifically on the teaching of Setswana reading and literacy. accompanied by scripted lesson plans and graded reading materials; (ii) an on-site support programme to teachers from reading coaches, accompanied by scripted lesson plans and graded reading materials; (iii) and a package designed to improve parent involvement in - and monitoring of - learning to read.

Each intervention is being implemented in a group of 50 schools over a period of two years in North-West Province (specifically, in the education districts of Ngaka Modiri Molema and Dr Kenneth Kaunda). A further 80 schools have been selected as a comparison group.

The project has two arms: 1) a service provider undertaking the implementation of the project interventions. 2) An independent service provider conducting the assessment of the project's impact.
The separation of the services required is in line with best practices to maintain objectivity between implementers of the interventions and assessors of the impact in order to attain objective findings.
Both service providers have been appointed.

(1a)
In line with the RCT design and project plan. a baseline assessment of all the 230 schools in the research project was conducted from 3-24 February 2015 by the appointed service provider. The service provider was not informed of the distinct groups of schools as part of the mechanisms to eliminate a bias.

The service provider that conducted the baseline assessment is still in the process of finalising the data collected. The DBE, in partnership with a Research Team of local and international experts, will then process the data and compile a baseline report by October 2015.

(1b)
The same assessment methodology was used in the baseline assessment for all 230 schools in the research project. The baseline assessment consisted of the testing of 20 Grade I learners in each of the 230 schools in the research project. The test focused on pre-literacy skills and was administered orally by an independent fieldworker in Setswana. In addition, questionnaires were administered to the Grade 1 teachers and school principals. A home background questionnaire was also administered.

(2) Who (a) developed and (b) provided the training to the teachers involved in the specified interventions;

As indicated above, the DBE appointed a second service provider to implement all three interventions in the research project according to the approved Terms of Reference. Each of the three interventions requires specific deliverable5 from the service provider; the same applies for the interventions based on teacher training and on-site support. The service provider has considerable experience in running similar training programmes in the sector and has therefore developed and improved the content over a period of time. The content was then adapted for this project by the service provider. The training and on-site support is provided by employees of the service provider, including former teachers who are fluent in Setswana.

The Terms of Reference specify that all material developed/used for the research interventions must be Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) aligned. A Reference Group consisting of the implementation service provider, representative from the North West Provincial Education Department (PED), Subject Advisors from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District and the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District as well as DBE officials in the Curriculum Branch has ken established to review the materials used for the project.

(3)Whether the teachers' abilities to teach reading skills were assessed either before or after the training; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

The study did not administer any substantive assessment of teacher knowledge or pedagogical skill for those teachers receiving the training programme. The research design would require that such a test would be valuable if it were administered to all teachers in the evaluation. i.e. also those teachers in the control group.

The research design in its current format. as it follows an RCT methodology, would have allowed the testing of only the 50 schools in the intervention (i) a teacher training course focused specifically on the reaching of Setswana reading and literacy. accompanied by scripted lesson plans and graded reading materials. This would provide the DBE with information on these schools only but the same information would not be available for the remaining 180 schools, and thus no comparison would be possible. Therefore. testing only those teachers who are participating in the training programme would have been of limited value.

The DBE did. however. administer teacher questionnaires in all 230 schools as pan of the data collection effort. These questionnaires collect information about teaching beliefs and practices (thus providing some indication of pedagogical knowledge). The DBE will again collect this information at the end of the interventions to examine whether teachers improved their knowledge of effective teaching methods through the programme. A small component of the teacher questionnaire administered at baseline was also a short reading fluency test in Setswana.

This was a very rudimentary assessment, but it will enable the department to explore whether the success of a training programme depends on the teacher's own reading fluency. The DBE plans on assessing reading fluency after the intervention again, to see whether their own reading fluency might have improved through the training.

All the data collected in this project will be made available for public release for further research purposes once the project reaches completion. i.e. no sooner than July 2017.

(4) What are the relevant details of other alternative interventions to address reading And literacy being (a) piloted, (b) implemented and (c) planned elsewhere in the county?

a) Piloted

The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) is currently being piloted in 1000 schools nationally in Grades 1 to 3 in all 11 official languages.

b) Implemented

The resuscitation of the Drop All and Read programme is being implemented nationally. The English Across the Curriculum (EAC) programme is being implemented in Grades 4 to 12 to support the acquisition of English as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT). The provision of Workbooks. reading resources, the hosting of the annual National Spelling Bee Competition, the establishment of reading clubs and the implementation of the Annual National Assessments (ANA) in Grades I to 9 in 2015 is aimed at improving reading and literacy outcomes.

c) Planned elsewhere in the country? The National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) has rolled out literacy projects in the Foundation and intermediate phases in targeted districts in KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Mpumalanga. This project i s currently being replicated in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

Reply:

No, parole has not been approved for the mentioned offender. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 22 October 1999 for Robbery x 4; Rape x 2; attempted murder; assault grievous bodily harm (GBH); attempted escape x 2; housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances; housebreaking with intent to steal; theft; unlawful possession of fire-arm x 5 and unlawful possession of ammunition x 3.

The offender was considered by the Minister of Correctional Services on 11 October 2013 for possible placement on parole. The Minister decided that the offender should be reconsidered during October 2015. During this period, the following should inter alia be addressed:

• Offender needs to undergo individual Psychotherapy in order to address his anger towards females and needs to attend counselling sessions to address parental guidance and communication styles.
• A copy of the judgement on conviction and sentence be obtained.
• The profile reports of the accomplices of the offender should be subjoined to the National Council for Correctional Services and Minister during October 2015.

Reply:

According to the information received from the Limpopo Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, there was no record of a forensic investigation report on the matter. There is no record of the alleged report being tabled at the Council of Makhado Municipality.

Reply:

According to information submitted by the Gauteng Provincial Department of CoGTA:

1. Mr M Mlandu was charged with gross misconduct, unlawfully and improperly obtained documents, gross dishonesty and incompatibility. He was found guilty by the presiding officer who imposed dismissal as a sanction. Mr Mlandu has referred the matter to the Bargaining Council and the matter will be dealt with in July 2015.
2. The municipal council is empowered to appoint, suspend and dismiss section 56 managers. In this particular case, a Council resolution was not passed as the decision to terminate the employment of Mr Mlandu, was delegated to the Executive Mayor by the Council.
3. The Local Government: Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers, 2011 (‘‘the Regulations’’), regulation 10(6) provides that the presiding officer must, by not less than ten days after the last day of the hearing, provide the municipality and senior manager or his or her representative with a written reasons for the findings and a copy of the sanction.

Regulation 12(2) of the Regulations provides that the presiding officer must submit a record of the proceedings to the municipal council, within ten days after imposing the sanction. Regulation 12(3) of the Regulations further provides that the municipality must implement the sanction imposed by the presiding officer and report the outcome of any disciplinary hearing within fourteen days after the finalisation of such disciplinary hearing to the Minister and MEC responsible for local government in the province.

The findings of the disciplinary hearing were never presented before the Municipal Council which is a requirements in terms of Regulation 12(2) of the Regulations. The municipality will be advised to adhere to the process as provided in regulation 12 of the Regulations.

Reply:

The following response is based on information provided by the Municipal Demarcation Board.

A consultation meeting was held with the municipal leadership of Umshwathi Local Municipality including traditional leaders, representatives from the IEC, members of the public and other interest groups.

(a) (i) The meeting took place at 10h00 on the 04 of May 2015.
(ii) It was held at a community hall in Cool Air.