Questions and Replies

Reply:

 

SAPO has advised me as follows:

There has been no recent strike at SAPO, the last strike was in 2014.

(1)(a) 851 Post Offices (including 13 mail centres) were closed across the country at the start of the strike. In the third and fourth week 634 post offices (including 14 mail centres) and 714 post offices (including 9 mail centres) were respectively closed. The closures were mostly in the Gauteng Province followed by Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. These were mainly in; Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. The closures in other provinces were sporadic in nature.

(b) A total of 4656 employees were reported to be on strike. However the level of intimidation and violence that was experienced during the strike led to more employees not being at their workstations during the strike due to fears of intimidation and violence.

(2) The details of the grievances included:

    (i) Back pay for the 2014 salary increases

     (ii) Casual employees requesting full time employment with full benefits

     (iii) Permanent Part time employees (flexible labour contracts) requesting full time employment

     (iv) Equal work for equal pay

    (v) The 588 employees that were previously dismissed due to illegal strike but then re-employed in 2013 after agreements between SAPO and labour Unions demanded re-instatement of full benefits

(3) The Minister established the National Leadership Forum at SAPO in October 2014. This was used as a platform to re-establish the engagements between representatives of the organised labour and SAPO management with the Department attending as an observer. SAPO workforce forums were subsequently established and settlement agreements reached with labour representatives taking into account SAPO’s financial situation. These agreements included:

    (i) Back pay for 2014/2015 salary increases

    (ii) Conversion of casual and permanent part-time workers to permanent full time employees

    (iii) Equal pay for work of equal value

    (iv) 2015/2016 salary increases

Of the above agreements, the conversion of the temporary employees (casuals and flexible labour contracts) to permanent employees started in 2014 in a phased-in approach but was stopped due to financial constraints. Other settlements agreements were not honoured altogether due the entity’s continued constrained cash-flow position as the entity battled to recover financially post the strike action.

Reply:

DRAFT REPLY

There is a sitting Commissioner of SARS, so there is no need to look at potential candidates when there is no vacancy.

Reply:

The Department is able to provide information for learners with disabilities in the schooling system for 2015. The Department is currently collating 2016 learner information. Below is the summary of information on learners with disabilities as reported by the Provincial Education Departments.

(a)(b)

Table 1: Number of learners with disabilities, in special schools, by age, in 2015 see link:

http://www.pmg.org.za/files/RNW854Province.docx

Source: Special Needs Education Centre’s SNAP 2015

(c)

Table 2: Number of learners with disabilities, in special schools, by grade, in 2015

Note1: Kindly note that not all Special Needs Education (SNE) centre’s learners are classified

into grade.

Grade	Total
Grade R	4 102
Grade 1	7 939
Grade 2	6 046
Grade 3	6 679
Grade 4	4 293
Grade 5	4 283
Grade 6	5 057
Grade 7	5 214
Grade 8	6 134
Grade 9	5 409
Grade 10	4 181
Grade 11	2 384
Grade 12	1 828
Special	55 097*
Total	118 645

Source: Special Needs Education Centre’s SNAP 2015

* Learners not classified according to the grade.

(d)

Table 3: Number of learners with disabilities, in special schools, by race, in 2015

RACE	TOTAL
AFRICABN/ BLACK	77 830
COLOURED	20 820
INDIAN/ASIANS	2 377
OTHER	263
WHITE	17 355
TOTAL	118 645

Source: Special Needs Education Centre’s SNAP 2015

Reply:

(a) There are 53 key indicators for the ten Medium-Term Strategic Framework Outcomes, namely a) Universal Health coverage progressively achieved through implementation of National Health Insurance; b) Improved quality of health care; c) Implement the re-engineering of Primary Health Care; d) Reduced health care costs; e) Improved human resources for health; f) Improved health management and leadership; g) Improved health facility planning and infrastructure delivery; h) HIV & AIDS and Tuberculosis prevented and successfully managed; i) Maternal, infant and child mortality reduced; and j) Efficient Health Management Information System developed and implemented for improved decision-making

The result of the above work is aimed at improving of the health status of South Africans. The impact indicators and targets are: see the link: http://www.pmg.org.za/files/RNW83Table.docx

(b) Cabinet, chaired by the President, monitors performance on the Programme of Action which includes MTSF outcome Two, and its sub-outcomes for every quarter of the financial year (i.e. four times per financial year).

(c) The Minister accounts to Cabinet on a quarterly basis on these key indicators. Some of the high level indicator achievements for this MTSF period against set targets are as follows:

• The Life expectancy at birth (which has a target of 63 years in March 2019) has increased from 60 years in 2012 to 62.9 years in 2014.
• Maternal Mortality ratio (which has a target of < 100 per 100,000 live births by March 2019) reduced from 269 per 100,000 live births in 2012 to 155 per 100,000 live births in 2014.
• The Under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) significantly decreased from 56 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009, to 39 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014. The health system is working towards a further 25% reduction of child mortality with a target of 30 per 1000 live births by 2019.
• The infant mortality rate (IMR) decreased from 39 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009, to 28 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014.
• The Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) also declined from 14 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009 to 11 per 1,000 live births in 2014. It has remained stable at 11 per 1,000 live births for the past 3 years.

(Source: The Rapid Mortality Surveillance Report, 2015)

More information on progress made on the Programme of Action is published on the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation website.

(d) The targets of the MTSF sub-outcomes are set as annual and five-year targets but monitored quarterly. Impact indicators do not change much within a year. On a quarterly basis, performance of some MTSF sub-outcome indicators has been below planned annual targets due to data inaccuracies, poor recording at health facility levels and incomplete reporting by health facilities. For example, low coverage of long-acting contraceptive methods and inappropriate recording of the oral method have been found in some areas. This is resulting to quarterly Couple Year Protection Rates lower than the planned annual MSTF target. Similarly, poor data recording is also causing sub-optimal in-year performance of planned MTSF targets for multi-resistant TB and male medical circumcisions. For example, currently only male medical circumcision performed among men between the ages of 15 and 49 years is reported. Data systems on male medical circumcisions performed is being developed for young boys between ages of 10 to 14 years and men who are 50 years and above.

(e) Annual Performance Plans of the National and Provincial Department of Health are largely aligned to MTSF outcome and sub-outcomes. Remedial actions to challenges of implementation are therefore captured and recorded through the quarterly reporting system of the Annual Performance Plans. These actions are then taken through the various national policy and strategic forums at national level which are filtered down at provincial levels. For example with the regard to Couple Year Protection Rate data, re-training of providers has been undertaken.

Implementing partners have also committed to assist with addressing data capturing issues on MDR-TB indicators. Partners are assisting with addressing the data quality issues with regards to male medical circumcisions. The Department is strengthening data collection systems for these developing programmes through the development of patient-based information system and implementation e-Health strategy.

END.

Reply:

I appointed the Minister of Finance because I have confidence in his ability to execute his responsibilities. The fiscal consolidation programme he announced in the Budget Speech was developed collectively by the Cabinet and is fully supported by the Cabinet.

Reply:

Due to the court challenge relating to the appointment of the Head: DPCI which is currently before the High( Gauteng North).The list of shortlisted candidates and their curriculam vitae will be delivered to Parliament once that process is finalized.

Reply:

Maize:

Grain SA submitted an application for an increase in the dollar based reference price for maize in December 2015. ITAC engaged with stakeholders and solicited comments from 25 interested parties. ITAC staff is now evaluating the application. The preliminary submission will be submitted to the Commissioners of ITAC during the Commission meeting of May 2016 for consideration.

Wheat:

Wheat tariffs are determined by a variable tariff formula based on US dollars. At the request of producers, when the conditions were met for an upward tariff trigger, ITAC applied the formula and tariff increases were accordingly applied. This resulted in an increase of customs duties on wheat from 91.12c/kg to 122.43c/kg and wheaten flour from 136.68c/kg to 183.65c/kg.

However, in light of the drought, the current exchange rate and the impact on food prices, government has requested a review of the variable import duty formula to ensure that consumer needs are properly taken into account.

-END-

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(1) Since, my reply to question number 471 for oral reply on 09 September 2015 the Department of Public Works has not received any requests from any Government departments regarding further security upgrades at the President’s private residence in Nkandla.

(2) The Department has not worked on a costing exercise, as the request for the security upgrades has not been received. An estimation or calculation of costs will only be done pursuant to a security assessment and the identification of requirements for the installation of security measures by the relevant departments in the security cluster.

____________________________________________________________________

Reply:

(a) The anticipated total costs of producing and installing the 5 million subsidized STBs, as appropriated, is R2.45 billion.

(b) Over the MTEF period the National Treasury has allocated R1.1 billion.

(c) The funds will be drawn from the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services’ vote.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

1. The following table represents commercial, industrial and residential building plan submissions per Metro in the 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 financial years

Building Plans:2013-14
Metro	Commercial	Industrial	Residential	Total
City of Tshwane	94	97	12 323	12 514
Ekurhuleni	50	190	5062	5302
City of Johannesburg	104	72	11977	12153
City of Cape Town	330	7904	8234
Nelson Mandela Bay	95	86	7734	7915
Buffalo City	83	96	2461	2640
Mangaung	45	17	2283	2345
eThekwini Municipality	927	408	9618	10953
Building Plans:2014-15
Metro	Commercial	Industrial	Residential	Total
City of Tshwane	128	87	12 883	13 098
Ekurhuleni	33	241	5382	5656
City of Johannesburg	41	79	12963	13083
City of Cape Town	353	8985	9342
Nelson Mandela Bay	87	94	9530	9711
Buffalo City	84	86	2370	2540
Mangaung	35	24	2069	2108
eThekwini Municipality	1363	601	12740	14704

2. The following table represents building plans that were approved by each municipality in the (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 financial years

Municipality	YEAR
	2013-14	2014-15
City of Tshwane	10 654	9 554
Ekurhuleni	4550	5272
City of Johannesburg	11247	11934
City of Cape Town	8407	9859
Nelson Mandela Bay	2475	3724
Buffalo City	2314	2207
Mangaung	3083	2173
eThekwini Municipality	5748	6044

3. The table below represents the time indicated by each metro on the response time to acknowledge receipt of building plans

Municipality	Response time to acknowledge receipt of Building Plans
City of Tshwane	Application is acknowledged as soon as it is received and the necessary fees are paid.
Ekurhuleni	Upon submission and payment of necessary fees.
City of Johannesburg	Upon receipt and payment of necessary fees.
City of Cape Town	Application is acknowledged as soon as it is received and necessary fees are paid.
Nelson Mandela Bay	Upon submission the application is issued with an invoice.
Buffalo City	1 week
Mangaung	Immediately after submission and payment of the requisite building plan fees.
eThekwini Municipality	Immediately on submission and payment of the prescribed tariff where applicable.

4. The information below represents response time each municipality takes to finalise building plan submissions.

Municipality	Time taken to finalise Building Plan Submissions
City of Tshwane	Building Plans 500m² and less: 30 days Building Plans 501m² and more: 60 days
Ekurhuleni
City of Johannesburg	As per the legislated time period, namely 30 days for building plans smaller that 500m² and 60 days for plans larger than 500m².
City of Cape Town	Building Plans 500m² and less: 30 days Building Plans 501m² and more: 60 days
Nelson Mandela Bay	Eight (8) days from date of submission if application has all necessary supporting documents
Buffalo City	22 days
Mangaung	The general norm is as per the legislated time period, namely 30 days for building plans smaller that 500m² and 60 days for plans larger than 500m².   In most cases Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality complies.
eThekwini Municipality	In terms of timeframes expressed as a percentage the performance has been 98.1% (2013/14) and 99.9% (2014/15).

Reply:

1(a). The National Archives has been operating at the same level of professionalism and dedication since 1994. Additional functions have been added to the work of the National Archives. These new services/activities include the provision of access to information in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) Act, Act No 2 of 2000, the implementation of Oral History programmes, the provision of policies, the guidelines, procedures and management of Electronic Records Management and Digitisation programmes.

(b). The National Archives is charged with the responsibility of managing government records through its records management unit and having custody of all national records through the National Archives Repository. The filing plan of the National Archives is up to date and properly implemented.

Through Oral History Programmes and projects implemented by the National Archives in partnership with other stakeholders including the Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA), the National Archives is systematically recording histories of different communities throughout the country. This is in line with section 3(d) of the National Archives and Records Service Act, Act 43 of 1996 as amended, which refers to the collection of non-public records with enduring value of national significance which cannot be more appropriately preserved by another institution with due regard to the need to document aspects of the nation's experience neglected by archives repositories in the past.

Reply:

Metropolitan Municipality	Centre Established (Yes/No)	Number of staff working for each Specified Centre	(b)(i) Budget for 2015/16 financial year	(b)(ii) the critical disaster risk management issues for each municipality
City of Cape Town	Yes	83	R 119.18 mil (Capital Budget: R 8,183 mil Operational Budget: R111 mil)	Fires and floods
City of Tshwane	Yes	26	R 22.566 Mil	Shortage of staff and resources
City of Ekurhuleni	Yes	11	R 18. 935 mil (Capital Budget: R 14.176 mil Operational Budget: R 4.759 mil)	Staff of shortage in relation to the municipal population of ± 3.2 million which the municipality is trying to resolve with 11 more positions created and advertised. Lack of funding model for disaster management which still awaits the approval of the council. Mainstreaming of the function in all the sector departments of the municipality as required by law.
City of Johannesburg	Yes	30	R 1 350 000 (Incident Management Fund R 1 000 000.00 Capacity Building – R100 000.00 Printing & Stationery (Public awareness campaigns) – R200 000.00 Stores & Material – R50 000.00)	Establishment of an integrated Disaster Management Centre Increase of Human Capital Funding for the City’s Disaster Risk Reduction Projects Ward based capacity building programmes Enhancement of Early Warning Systems
Ethekwini Municipality	Yes	7	R 116 000 000 (Capital Budget: R 21 mil Operational Budget: R 95 mil	Constrain is that there is a huge staff shortage
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality	Yes	22 (5 x Operational staff; 17 x Control Centre Operators)	R 16 477 194	High vacancy rate on critical posts relating to operational staff Insufficient budget allocation (especially for immediate emergency incident relief)
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality	Yes	1 x Manager 1 x Admin 4 x Operational 1 x Intern 1 x Vacant funded post 41 Vacant unfunded posts	R 2 782 063	Buffalo City lacks the capacity in terms of finances, staff, vehicles, equipment and accommodation required for a Metropolitan Municipal Disaster Management Centre. Lack of participation of Sector Departments in Disaster Management Structures Very large informal sector (multiple risks)
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality	Yes	29	R 20 654 900	Budgetary constraints Staffing Incorporation of the DM plan in the IDP and development projects.

Reply:

The Department of Human Settlement (DHS) has developed a draft National Backyard Rental Housing Assistance Policy. The draft policy is based on the findings of extensive research, as well as case studies, commissioned by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on Backyarders and Backyard Dwellings. This research project was followed by an extensive national consultation process to engage all the municipalities and provincial governments on the matter.

The draft policy proposals specifically make provision for grant funding to municipalities to improve the quality of life of the tenants occupying backyard rental dwellings. Importantly, the proposals also deal with the necessity of infrastructure upgrading required to accommodate the additional load on current services, and the provision of basic municipal services for backyard residents.

It is recommended that the Honourable member direct his question to the DHS, which will provide detailed information and a comprehensive answer to the question whether each metropolitan municipality has a programme to provide basic services to backyard dwellers.

Reply:

(1) (a) and (b)

The number of ambulances indicated below serve Mabopane, Ga-rankuwa, Winterveldt and Soshanguve. These ambulances are stationed next to Odi Hospital and serve Odi and Dr George Mukhari Hospitals, all clinics, all Community Health Centres in the Northern Sub-district of Tshwane including house calls.

Type of Vehicles	Number of Allocated Vehicles	Number Operational	Number Not Operational
Ambulances	13	8	5 at workshop
Obstetrics Vehicle	2	1	1 at workshop
Response Vehicle	2	2	0
Planned Patient Transport	4	2	2 at workshop
Rescue Vehicle	1	1	0
Logistic Vehicle	1	0	1 at workshop
TOTAL	23	14	9

(2) (a) Approval has been granted for 7 ambulances to be procured in the 2016/2017 financial year, i.e. 2 Obstetrics and 5 Ambulances. The new ambulances will replace ambulances identified for disposal and to add to the existing fleet.

(b) Ambulance procurement will be completed by the second quarter of 2016/2017.

(3) The average waiting time is as follows:

(a) (i) trauma - green - 57 minutes

(ii) trauma – yellow - 18 minutes

(iii) trauma - red - 13 minutes

(b) OPD referred from clinics - 65 minutes

(c) OPD follow up - 48 minutes

CHALLENGES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF WAITING TIMES

• There is is a general population growth in the surrounding areas.
• Odi District Hospital serves both Gauteng and North West communities and the communities are growing.
• There are a growing number of self-referrals, hence the OPD overflows daily and this affects waiting time.
• There is no regional or tertiary hospital between Odi and DGMA hospital, hence referral to a higher level becomes a challenge and the hospital is required to manage the many patients it cannot refer.
• Patients are reluctant to use the nearby clinics and return to the hospital despite being referred to their respective clinic.
• Most patients with chronic conditions come to the hospital after hours to use the Emergency Centre instead of the OPD during the day; hence the higher patient load and impact on the Emergency Centre.
• Patients with chronic conditions who attend the Emergency Centre after hours complain about long waiting time because acutely ill or injured patients are given priority attention.
• Turnover of clinical and nursing staff is high as they are attracted to higher level hospitals or resign due to pension and this also impacts negatively on waiting time.
• Space in the Emergency Centres and OPD is limited due to infrastructural challenges. Consulting rooms are few so patients cannot be accommodated in comfort while waiting.

END.

Reply:

The response in the attached schedule is based on information provided by the eight (8) metropolitan municipalities.

Metropolitan Municipality	a) How often do metropolitan municipalities review their by-laws holistically	b) On what date was the last review done in each metropolitan municipality
1. City of Cape Town	Council reviews its by-laws during the five (5) years term of office in local government.	The last review was on 29 June 2015.
2. City of Johannesburg	On an annual basis.	The last reviewed was in 2015.
3. Ekurhuleni	On an annual basis.	The last reviewed was in 2015.
4. eThekwini	Currently in the process of rationalising all by-laws, a process which the municipality started a few years ago.	Still in the review process.
5. Mangaung	On an annual basis.	The last reviewed in May 2015
6. City of Tshwane	By-laws are reviewed on an on-going process.	The last review was in September 2013. Some by-laws are still in the review process.
7. Buffalo City	The review process is ongoing. Some by-laws some in the process of commented on.	The last review was in 11 August 2014.
8. Nelson Mandela Bay	Periodic review are undertaken.	The last review was in January 2016

Reply:

 

	(1)	(a)	Denel SAAB Aerostructures (“DSA”) was a joint venture formed out of an equity partnership between SAAB and Denel Aerostructures (“DAe”) in January 2007. Prior to the formation of the partnership, DAe entered into two off-set contracts following the eight (8) A400m aircraft order by ARMSCOR. The offset packages with Airbus were to supply airframe structures namely, the Wing-to-Fuselage Fairing (“WFF”) and the Top Shells (“TS”) for the A400M military aircraft. As a result of the exposures with regard to these contracts, a condition precedent to the joint venture was that the Government indemnifies DSA in order to de risk the contracts. The indemnity is for a maximum amount of R1.6 billion (ONE POINT SIX BILLION RANDS) over a fifteen year period. The Indemnity Agreement was concluded on 21 May 2007.
		(b)	(aa)	As a program partner on the A400M, Denel has the obligation of the design, development, manufacture, and sole supply of the WFF and TS structures.
			(bb)	Denel has no obligation to ARMSCOR. DAe is directly contracted by Airbus to deliver the WFF and TS structures to their assembly lines.
			(cc)	As contracted through the Indemnity Agreement, Denel submits a claim to the Department on an annual basis, supported by an audited financial report, fully governed risk mitigation plan and a program report.
	(2)	(a)	From the R1.6 billion (ONE POINT SIX BILLION RANDS) indemnity cover, there is a balance of R359 million (THREE HUNDERED AND FIFTY NINE MILLION RANDS) remaining over the next 5 years.   Amount Capped Claim Value R 1,600,000,000 Claim YTD R 1,240,676,952 Balance R 359,323,048
		(b)	(i)	To date there has been 10 (TEN) claims submitted by Denel. Details of the claims are on the table below.
			(ii)	Amounts paid to Denel are shown on the table below.
		Claim Number Date Claim Submitted (DD/MM/YY) Period (MM/YY) Amount of Claim Amount Paid Balance of the Full Indemnity (over 15 years) R 1 600 000 000 Date of Payment (MM-YY) Status 1 31/07007 04/06 –06/07 R 222,290,420 R 220,980,584 R 1,379,019,416 Nov 07 Paid 2 22/08/08 07/07-07/08 R 259,516,131 R 257,639,637 R 1,121,379,779 Dec 08 Paid 3 20/05/09 08/08 – 03/09 R 191,865,684 R 191,865,684 R 929,514,095 Dec 09 Paid 4 28/10/09 04/09 –07/09 R 103,500,000 R 103,501,382 R 826,012,713 Dec 09 Paid 5 30/06/10 08/09 – 0310 R 96,000,000 R 78,155,111 R 747,857,602 Dec 10 Paid 6 13/06/11 04/10 – 03/11 R 116,634,725 R 116,254,986 R 631,602,616 Dec 11 Paid 7 28/05/12 04/11 – 03/12 R 118,782,844 R 118,782,844 R 512,819,772 Dec 12 Paid 8 18/05/13 04/12 – 03/13 R 57,249,797 R 57,249,797 R 455,569,975 Dec 13 Paid 9 29/05/14 04/13 – 03/14 R 63,140,844 R 63,140,844 R 392,429,131 Dec 14 Paid 10 25/05/15 04/14 – 03/15 R 33,106,083 R 33,106,083 R 359,323,048 Mar 16 Paid
	(3)	Yes oversight has taken place.
		(a)	(i)	As contracted in the Indemnity Agreement, Denel submits a claim to the Department on an annual basis, supported by an audited financial report, fully governed risk mitigation plan and a program report. When a claim is received, the Department appoints its own independent auditors to authenticate the claim as submitted by Denel.
			(ii)	The Department’s auditors physically go and verify relevant documentation and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
		(b)	The Department through its independent auditors. The Department conducts DAe plant visits at least twice a year to appraise itself of the A400M programme status.
		(c)	In instances where discrepencies were discovered, the claimed amounts were reduced accordingly, as indicated on the table above. The value of the annual claims over the past 10 years has reduced from R221 million (TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO MILLION RANDS) to R33.1 million (THIRTY THREE POINT ONE MILLION RANDS). Furthermore, for the past 4 (FOUR) years there has been no errors between the amount claimed by Denel and the audited amounts by the Department.
	(4)	The recent 2015 claim amounted to R33.1 million (THIRTY THREE POINT ONE MILLION RANDS). The R63.1 million (SIXTY THREE POINT ONE MILLION RANDS) was claimed and paid during 2014.   Earned Sales Cost Commitments Claim Serial Production and Ramp-up R184,943,445 R210,517,440 (R15,988,815) (R9,585,180) Jigs/Tooling RNIL R1,726,787 RNIL (R1,726,787) ILS & Freight R NIL R5,288,869 R NIL (R5,288,869) ENG & MODS R NIL R16,505,247 R NIL (R16,505,247) T O T A L (R33,106,083) ACRONYMS: ILS : Integrated Logistics Support ENG & MODS : Engineering and Modifications

 

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. The Department thus made a request to Metropolitan Municipalities to provide the relevant information. Information was received from the following Metropolitan Municipalities:

BUFFALO CITY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (BCMM)

The BCMM does not provide Primary Health Care Services, hence there is no service level agreement with the relevant provincial department of health. This function was provincialized and devolved to the Eastern Cape Province, Department of Health.

CITY OF TSHWANE (CoT)

1. A Service Level Agreement between the Gauteng Department of Health and the CoT for the provision of Primary Health Care is available and signed.

     (a) The City is rendering Primary Health Care services in 26 fixed facilities; Operating hours are from 07:30 – 16:00, Monday to Friday; 2 mobile units and 1 satellite clinic; Extended service hours are rendered on Saturdays from 08:00 to 13:00 in a selected 13 facilities to accommodate those clients that could not manage to visit the clinic during week days.

     (b) Full comprehensive PHC package is rendered in 26 facilities.

     (c) 9 Clinics were built and upgraded, namely: Lotus, Danville, Doornpoort, Gazankulu, Pretorius Park, Stanza Bopape, Olievenhoutbosch, Zithobeni and Soshanguve JJ.

     (d) The CoT allocated R43 million towards the construction and upgrade of three clinics, namely: Soshunguwe, Gazankulu and Zithobeni during the 2015-16 financial year. The projects are all in the final phase of construction and upgrading.

EKURHULENI METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

a) The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality manages ninety one (91) Primary Health Care Services as at February 2016 as indicated in the table below.

All Community Health Centres and Medical Male Circumcision Sites are managed by the Gauteng Department of Health.

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE FACILITIES BOTH PROVINCIAL AND EKURHULENI EXCLUDING MALE MEDICAL CIRCUMCISION SITES
FACILITY TYPE	EMM	GDoH	GRAND TOTAL
Community Day Centre		2	2
Community Health Centre (24-Hours)		7	7
Clinic	78	3	81
Satellite Clinic	1		1
Mobile Clinic	12	2	14
Grand Total	91	14	105

b) The Primary Health Care Facilities managed by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality render health services relevant for the type of facility as defined in the Primary Health Care Core Package of Services, namely:

Clinics: Render the basic range of Primary Health Care Services as follows:

• Child Health Services:
• Expanded Programme on Immunization;
• Vitamin A supplementation;
• Protein Energy Malnutrition Programme;
• Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses; and
• Growth monitoring and developmental screening.

• Women and Maternal Health Services:
• Reproductive Health including Family Planning;
• Cervical cancer screening;
• Antenatal Care Services;
• Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV;
• Postnatal Care Services; and
• Counselling and referral for Termination of Pregnancy.

• Men’s’ Reproductive Health:
• Prostate cancer screening (Selected facilities).

• HIV, AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Tuberculosis Programme:
• Health and HIV Counselling and Testing;
• Elimination of Mother-to-Child-Transmission of HIV;
• Antiretroviral Therapy;
• Post Exposure Prophylaxis;
• Comprehensive Care, Management and Treatment of HIV Positive clients and treatment of opportunistic infections;
• Management of Sexually Transmitted infections; and
• Tuberculosis Control Programme.

• Acute and Chronic Diseases Management:
• Acute Curative Care;
• Management of Chronic Diseases.

• Specialised Services:
• Primary Mental Health Services; and
• Secondary Level Mental Health Services (Selected facilities);

• Health Information, Education and Communication

• Multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS Programme:
• Door-to-Door Ward-based HIV/AIDS Education and awareness programme;
• Stakeholder engagements including traditional health practitioners and vulnerable and marginalized groups;
• Health awareness and screening programme; and
• AIDS Council.

c) Twenty-one (21) new clinics, as listed in the table below, were built and they are all operational. In the current financial year (2015-16), six (6) clinics are under construction.

NEW PRIMARY HEALTH CARE FACILITIES 2011 TO DECEMBER 2015
Number	Facility Name	Year opened	Ward	Address
1	Katlehong North Clinic	2011	52	2098 Khotso street Katlehong
2	Phutanang Clinic	2011	84	7522 Kgaga street  Tsakane
3	Reedville Clinic	2011	74	Stands 604 + 605 Ottawa Street, Reedville
4	Slovo Park Clinic	2011	75	Erf 1932,1933 + 1954 Durban Drive, Slovo Park
5	Tsakane Ext 10 Clinic	2011	86	Stand 45522 & 45523, Simelane Street, Tsakane
6	Wannenburg Clinic	2011	21	C/o Pretoria and Mimosa Road, Primrose
7	Ethafeni Clinic	2012	14	43 Bennin Steet, Ethafeni Section, Ethafeni Park
8	Itireleng Clinic	2012	13	2959 Posmor & Inauguration Road, Phomolong Section, Chloorkop Ext 52, Tembisa
9	Tsakane Clinic (Ward 83)	2012	83	33334 Fingo Street, Tsakane
10	Vosloorus Poly Clinic	2012	47	New: Vosloorus ERF30, EXT1, Vosloorus
11	Alrapark Ext 3 Clinic	2014	88	Cnr Sasstri and Molopo street Ext 3 Alra Park
12	Joy Clinic	2014	67	Erf 1343 Etwatwa West
13	Ramaphosa Clinic	2014	42	Ingwamza Street, Reiger Park Ext 5
14	Springs Clinic	2014	75	Middle Six and Plantation Road, Springs
15	Tamaho Clinic	2014	51	Erf 2141 Nhlapo Section, Cnr. Sokele and Matsose Street, Katlehong
16	White City Clinic	2014	79	Thema Road, Kwa -Thema, Springs
17	Daveyton East Clinic	2015	68	Stand No 869, Chris Hani, Ext 9 Daveyton East
18	Motsamai Clinic	2015	50	260 Motsamai Section Katlehong
19	Palmridge Clinic	2015	58	RE 41 Palmridge Road, Palmridge Community Centre, Palmridge
20	Tswelopele Clinic	2015	44	22 Lusika Street, Eastfield, Vosloorus
21	Villa Lisa Clinic	2015	43	22 Camel Street, Villa Liza
	TOTAL			21

d) The budget for health infrastructure upgrades for 2015/16 is R96 727 171(ninety-six million, seven hundred and twenty-seven thousand, and one-hundred and seventy-one rand).

MANGAUNG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

There is no Service Level Agreement between the Municipal Health Services of the Mangaung Metro and the Provincial Department of Health.

NELSON MANDELA BAY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (NMBM)

Since July 2012 the NMBM is no longer providing Primary Health Care Services following the provincialisation of these services. There is no Service Level Agreement in place since the above-mentioned date. The only clinic service rendered by the NMBM is for Occupational Health Services for Municipal employees.

Reply:

(1) (a) All provinces have introduced measures to reduce expenditure, including the freezing of non critical posts. Medical posts are not frozen.

(b) Not applicable, see (1) (a) above.

(2) No.

END.

Reply:

a) Yes, the GCIS has placed advertising in The New Age in 2012-13, regarding (i) and (ii), insertions detailed in table below.

b) Yes, the GCIS has placed advertising in The New Age in 2013-14, regarding (i) and (ii), insertions detailed in table below.

c) Yes, the GCIS has placed advertising in The New Age in 2014-15, regarding (i) and (ii), insertions detailed in table below. In the period October 2014 – April 2015, the GCIS merged with the Department of Communications to facilitate the start-up of the Department of Communication, hence the reference to Department of Communications.

	2012-2013
DEPARTMENT	CAMPAIGN NAME	INVOICE AMOUNT
GCIS	National Orders	R 450 000.00
	Orders of Companions of OR Tambo	R 77 319.36
	SONA	R 893 475.29
	State Funeral	R 92 836.93
GCIS Total		R 1 513 631.58
	2013/2014
GCIS	Mandela Memorial campaign: State Funeral	R62 928.00
	Recruitment	R50 068.80
	SONA	R821 128.32
GCIS Total		R934 125.12
	2014/2015
Communications	Database Registration	R 14 945.40
	Profiling Campaign	R 720 990.72
	Recruitment	R 301 195.75
	Recruitment Phase 3	R 57 078.43
	SONA 2014	R 100 137.60
	SONA 2015	R 101 888.64
Total Communications		R 1 296 236.54

 

 

MR DONALD LIPHOKO

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

(1) Yes. The concerns were received and acknowledged by the Ministry of Health. A further acknowledgement and assurance of the fact that the concern is being attended to was done by the Chief Directorate: Environmental Health and Port Health Services on the 08th of February 2016 to the complainant.

(2) Yes. The Department of Health conducted an investigation. The Department of Agriculture which is responsible for conducting chemical analysis for a range of chemical residues in food products (poultry, hens, eggs, bovine, ovine, porcine, etc.) whether imported into the country or produced inland, was engaged.

Food samples were taken by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the poultry products were found to be complying to the country's legal requirements and therefore it has been released to the market.

The role of the Department of Health will be to make sure that the poultry and its products are safe for human consumption through required monitoring processes. All Food Premises handling imported poultry products will be monitored. The two departments are working very closely in sharing information about consignments received and the destination for further handling which may include resale, repackaging, processing, etc.

Poultry products are handled, packaged and sealed at the point/country of origin and certified by the local inspectorate authority. All preservatives used should be indicated on the label and only approved preservatives can be used at approved levels (in terms of the CODEX Alimentarius list). The poultry products from the USA are preserved with Acetic Acid which is vinegar and kept under controlled temperature. South Africa conducts several tests on the poultry product including testing for preservatives. Consignments are transported in a sealed temperature controlled container at -18 ̊C and the seal is broken on arrival at the cold storage in South Africa. Temperature control is monitored and can be tested on arrival to see the trend throughout the voyage; a report can be generated to give an indication if there were any temperature issues during the transportation.

Additional tests are conducted to identify if there are any micro organisms in the poultry product being imported into the country. Aerobic plate count process is used as a screening measure. Further tests are done if there is an indication that the meat product is not fresh.

The National Department of Health is of the view that the identified risk can be contained through the normal processes of Environmental Health monitoring activities done by the Department of Health, Districts and Metropolitan Municipalities. Necessary steps will be taken to address any issues arising from the monitoring process. All role players are taking all necessary steps within the South African legislative provisions to deal with all perceived risks.

END.

Reply:

(1) The legal costs to be paid by ICASA are yet to be determined. The full extent of these costs will only be determined upon taxation by the Taxing Master of the High Court. In terms of the Court Order the taxed costs are to be borne jointly and severally by ICASA, Vodacom and Neotel.

(2) The court found that meetings conducted between ICASA and Vodacom, without the participation of all interested parties, were improper and unlawful in that they were impermissible in respect of a public process and that gave credence to the suspicion of bias. As a result the court concluded that ICASA’s decision is hereby reviewed and set it aside.

Kindly be informed that the Minister is currently in a process of obtaining the relevant information pertaining to the transfer of Neotel`s operating and spectrum licenses to Vodacom. Therefore, once ICASA submits all the information that the Minister requested, the Minister will be able to assess the matter and take the necessary and appropriate steps.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

The following information was provided by the Tlokwe Local Municipality:

Below is the response regarding the amounts spent by Tlokwe Local Municipality on print media, radio, television, online and outdoors during the 2014/15 financial year and since July 2015:

Amount spent and purpose on advertising by Tlokwe Local Municipality for 2014/15

(a) Print Media

(i) Local Community Newspapers

MEDIA	PURPOSE	COST
Mooivaal Media	The purpose of the advertisements was to inform the communities about public meetings relating to progress on	11 959
lzindwe Marketing		82 100
lzindwe Marketing	service delivery and unexpected interruptions to services	29 000
Total	123 059

Please find here: (ii) National Magazines

Reply:

(a) (i) 60.1%

(ii) Bid documents do not make provision for suppliers to indicate whether they are SMME’s or Co-operatives. The procurement was thus done with consideration of BEE levels.

 

(b) (i) South Africa Medical Research Council (31.4%)

National Health Laboratories Services (22.5%)

Office of Standard Health Compliance (70%)

 

(ii) Bid documents do not make provision for suppliers to indicate whether they are SMME’s or Co-operatives. The procurement was thus done with consideration of BEE levels.

END.

Reply:

1. The surplus is based on an actuarial valuation of a guaranteed statutory increase of 2% per annum, as the bonuses are not guaranteed.

While the actuary had indicated that a 10% bonus was affordable the actuarial surplus would reduce to a very insignificant amount or to nil should a CPI linked pension increase (in addition to the statutory increase of 2% per annum) be implemented in future together with a 13th cheque. To improve the affordability of implementing such an increase policy, the Board of Trustees resolved to pay a 13th cheque (8.33%) as per the practice of the Board of Trustees since 2010.

2. The Board of Trustees has not taken a resolution proposing payment of a further bonus in 2016.

3. (a) The firm was appointed by the Board of Trustees to implement a Liability

Driven Investment mandate with the objective to enhance investment returns;

(b) An amount of R 9 billion was allocated by the Board of Trustees; and

(c) The firm was appointed by the Board of Trustees based on the outcome of a

tender process.

 

Reply:

a) The process to be followed by provinces is as outlined in Section 12 of the Municipal Structures Act, which requires the MEC for local government in a province to establish a municipality in each municipal area which the Municipal Demarcation Board demarcates, and which establishment takes effect at the commencement of the first election of the council of that municipality.

Section 14(5) of the Municipal Structures further provides that the MEC, by notice in the Provincial Gazette, may make provision for transitional measures to facilitate the disestablishment of an existing municipality and the establishment of a new municipality.

The different transition matters are discussed and processed through various transitional structures at the provincial and municipal spheres, as well as reported at the Municipal Demarcation Transition Committee which is convened by the Department of Cooperative Governance.

b) The Section 14(5) Notices also provide for the establishment of Municipal Political Change Management Committees and Municipal Technical Change Management Committees.

The Municipal Political Change Management Committees are constituted by the mayors, speakers, members of the executive or mayoral committees and traditional leaders from the affected local and district municipalities.

The Municipal Technical Change Management Committees are constituted by the municipal managers and heads of department from the affected local and district municipalities, as well as representatives from organised labour and the South African Local Government Association.

The Section 14(5) Notices deal with matters relating to budgets, organograms, systems and processes, assets and equipment, integrated development planning, communications and other institutional systems and processes.

Reply:

(1)(a) The latest results available for E coli for Apies River reveal medium to low risk. This can be attributed to the improvement made at the Rooiwal waste water treatment plant since my Department’s intervention.

(1)(b) Tests conducted in adjacent boreholes revealed low to medium risk levels of E-coli found.

(2) The action plan was requested for end of August 2015.

(3) Yes. The action plan was submitted on 31 August 2015. A copy of the action plan is attached. It must be noted that the action plan is a living document and it is revised as and when required.

(4)(a) If all avenues provided for by the Inter- governmental relations framework Act, Act 13 of 20015 has been exhausted and no noticeable improvement can be observed, Criminal Charges are laid against the relevant organ of state.

(4)(b) These criminal charges are pursued in terms of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998).

(5) No. My Department has not pursued the alternative (criminal charges) thus far. My Department is engaging with the City of Tshwane on the action plan and the last engagement was on 8 December 2015. During the engagement, the City Manager committed R140 000 000 to upgrade the plant. Furthermore, the municipality is currently looking at all legal avenues within the supply chain process (SCM) to fast track the procurement of the contractors to urgently start with the required upgrade. My Department is closely monitoring the SCM process and the development at the woks. The last visit at the plant was on 15 January 2016 and there is promising improvement, within the current treatment capacity.

---00O00---

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. The Department thus made a request to Metropolitan Municipalities to provide the relevant information. Information was received from the following Metropolitan Municipalities:

BUFFALO CITY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (BCMM)

1. The BCMM does not have a Metropolitan Police Department. BCMM is in the process of establishing a Metropolitan Police Department with its implementation date being scheduled for 2016/17.

2. Not applicable

3. Not applicable

CITY OF TSHWANE (CoT)

1. (a) The Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) was established on 04 April 2002. It functions independently from the South African Police, funded by and accountable to the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, as per the South African Police Service Act, 1995 and 1998, as amended (Act No. 68 of 1995 and Act No. 83 of 1998). The Act prescribes the functions of a Municipal Police Service per Section 64E, as follows:

    Traffic policing, subject to any legislation relating to road traffic (Road Policing);

    The policing of municipal by-laws and regulations which are the responsibility of the municipality in question;

    The prevention of crime.

(b)  The TMPD Staff Establishment is listed within the table below:

Designation	ESTABLISHMENT
	Approved Posts as per structure	Posts filled as per Migration and Placement process	Vacancies	Current warm bodies	Proposed vacancies to be filled in 2015/16	Male	Female	Operational	Admin	Occupational   level
						A	C	I	W	A	C	I	W
Admin Officer	289	167	122	143	0	22	1	0	6	65	8	2	39	0	143	5
Cashier	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Chief of Police	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Chief Security Evaluator	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Chief Security Officer (GR A): Internal Security	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Commander	36	21	15	21	0	8	1	0	9	2	0	0	1	21	0	2
Constable / Sergeant	2601	1533	1068	1531	0	824	48	5	108	518	10	0	18	1531	0	5
Constable Gr III				1875		1032	24	0	3	812	4	0	0	1875		5
Deputy Chief of Police	5	2	3	2	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Deputy Director	15	10	5	10	0	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	3	1	9	2
Director	13	11	2	11	0	7	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	7	2
Driver	8	2	6	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5
Driver Messenger	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Examiner	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4
Executive Commitments Tracking Specialist	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Executive Secretary	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	4
Executive Support Specialist	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Functional Head	41	19	22	19	0	4	1	0	6	5	1	0	2	2	17	3
Functional Head/ Snr Superintendent	8	2	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	3
General Worker	22	14	8	14	0	10	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	14	6
Human Resource Officer	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4
Inspector	350	230	120	230	70	97	5	1	65	57	1	0	4	230	0	4
Law Enforcement officer	80	73	7	73	0	42	3	0	0	28	0	0	0	73	0	5
Liaison Officer	7	1	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4
License Officer	0	0	0	9	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	2	0	9	5
Librarian	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Management / Strategic Support Officer	3	2	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	3
Messenger	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6
Operator Radio Control	40	18	22	18	0	3	0	0	2	12	0	0	1	18	0	5
Personal Assistant	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
Regional Director	7	5	2	5	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	0	2
Secretary	20	3	17	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	4
Security Evaluator	8	2	6	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	5
Security Officer (GR C)	120	1	119	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5
Snr Admin Officer	56	34	22	33	0	5	0	0	3	12	2	0	11	0	33	4
Snr Secretary	5	4	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	4	4
Snr Security Evaluator	4	3	1	3	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	4
Snr Security Officer (GR B)	18	4	14	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	5
Snr Superintendent	88	55	33	55	0	25	1	0	15	9	0	0	5	55	0	3
Strategic Support Specialist	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4
Superintendent	146	87	59	87	0	34	2	0	14	32	0	0	4	87	0	3
Supervisor (Worker)	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
Support Service Officer	22	5	17	5	0	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	5	4
System Officer	8	5	3	5	0	0	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	5	4
Technical Officer	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	5
Waiter	3	3	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	6
Warden	52	27	25	27	0	22	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	27	0	5
Total	4095	2354	1741	4212	75	2165	91	6	245	1575	27	2	100	3941	271
														4212
			Sergeant	866		429	17	4	83	317	3	0	13
			Constable	665		395	31	1	25	201	7	0	5
				1531

(c)         The Tshwane Metro Police Fleet vehicles are listed within the table below:

Type	Total
BUS	11
CAR	187
KOMBI	72
LDV	192
MOTORBIKE	142
TRACTOR	1
TRAILER	47
TRUCK	25
TOTAL	677

2. The Tshwane Metro Police’s Special Project Team assists with drug enforcement, as per the initiative implemented by the Chief of Police since January 2015. The unit consists of seven (7) members and one Supervisor who has sixteen (16) years’ experience relevant to the enforcement of illegal substance abuse. Tshwane does not have a problem of gangs as such, but the department however works closely with the SAPS to deal with crime prevention in general.

3. (a) The current TMPD system (manually) assists with monitoring calls and call time intervals. The TMPD Nodal Point (331) dispatches complaints to the regions, after which the regions contact members via cell phones or radio to attend to complaints.

    (b) Status quo on dispatch is 00:01:39 (1 Minute and 39 seconds from receipt of a call until dispatched to operational members).

MANGAUNG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality does not have a Metro Police Department.

NELSON MANDELA BAY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (NMBM)

NMBM is currently busy with the planning and physical establishment process of a Metro Police Department.

 

Reply:

1(a). I was wary of allowing the current CEO of PanSALB to act as both the Accounting Officer and Accounting Authority since he was fairly new to the job and could be overwhelmed with work. The Department is trying to avoid similar challenges that occurred in the past when the former caretaker CEO acted as the Accounting Authority

(b). The basis for the appointment was made in terms of section 49 (3) of the Public Finance Management Act, as the National Heritage Council is one of the public entities reporting to me as the Executive Authority. We proceeded because initially we received concurrence from National Treasury, but later the National Treasury withdrew the advice they gave me, immediately thereafter the National Heritage Council was withdrawn, I realised that PANSALB is a constitutional entity, and is not part of the entities listed by the PFMA, therefore it cannot be governed under those rules.

Reply:

The new Department of Communications was only established by President Jacob Zuma after the 2014 national and provincial general elections. The changes in the structure and administration of government were introduced in the 5th democratically-elected government thorough the introduction of the Proclamation to split the then Department into two Departments namely, Department of Communications (now the new Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services), and the New Department of Communications. The Presidential proclamation issued in December 2014, also re-organized the reporting structure of entities, which historically reported to one old Department while other entities including the public broadcaster, the SABC were transferred to the new Department.

Having given this background, it is therefore clear that the new Department of Communications has not allocated or spent any public money towards the hosting of the annual Metro FM Awards. In addition, the Annual Metro FM Awards takes place at no costs to the SABC. The annual awards are fully funded through sponsorships and partnerships.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

1. SAPO is cooperating and implementing the recommendations of both the Public Protector and the SIU Reports.
2. The Minister through our department is monitoring that SAPO complies with the recommendations of the Reports.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

(a) The funds reflected under the Consultants: Business and advisory services line item are not funds that will be used to procure consultancy services. National Treasury allocated Phase 1 roll-out funding under the Economic classification (Goods and Services: Consultants: Business and advisory services) line item. These funds will be used to procure connectivity services for the facilities targeted for the Phase 1 roll-out over the MTEF period.

The increase in the allocation is due to additional funds that National Treasury allocated towards the SA Connect Phase 1 implementation.

(b) Additional funding was allocated by National Treasury in 2017/18 and 2018/19 as it was envisaged that lessons learnt from the Phase 1 pilot will allow for a ramp up of the project in the outer years. This funding is in addition to the partial funding that was allocated for the Phase 1 roll-out during the 2014 MTEF allocation period, covering the 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years.

(c) There will not be any consultants procured using the funds allocated for the roll-out.

(d) Refer to (c)

 

Reply:

(1) In line with a cooperative governance approach, indeed the concerns in Isithebe area were attended to at an early stage through the intervention of provincial government leadership and by engaging with business, communities and other stakeholders in order to find solutions to the challenges. It was through these engagements it was established that interventions to the challenges needed a multi-sectoral approach. To this end, it was agreed that interventions should focus, amongst other, on the need to expedite service delivery. Mass prayers and community dialogue were facilitated to emphasize the need for constructive engagement, peaceful protests, respect for rights and properties of others as well as education on rights to recourse as well as poverty alleviation programmes.

To date, Lower Tugela Bulk Water Supply for the area was launched on 22 March 2016 as one of the service delivery responses which also present the people of Isithebe with jobs as well as skills development opportunities. A prayer meeting for peace and stability in Isithebe was held 31 March 2016. Other activities are planned to take place in the area.

(2) In 2014, government adopted the Local Government Back to Basics Strategy as a response to challenging situations at local government level. Recognising the need for inter-sphere collaboration, the strategy is implemented and monitored collaboratively, with the Department of Cooperative Governance taking the lead in the coordination of the following five pillars of the strategy:

(i) put people and their concerns first and ensure constant contact with communities through effective public participation platforms;

(ii) create conditions for decent living by consistently delivering municipal services of the right quality and standard;

(iii) demonstration of good governance and administration;

(iv) ensuring sound financial management and accounting; and

(v) building and maintaining sound institutional and administrative capabilities, administered and managed by dedicated and skilled personnel at all levels.

Since the strategy was implemented, the department’s monitoring of municipalities has shown signs of municipal performance improvement in the KZN Province. The Department also established Back to Basic teams clustered in Provinces to provide oversight and rapid response.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. The Department thus made a request to Metropolitan Municipalities to provide the relevant information. Information was received from the following Metropolitan Municipalities:

ETHEKWINI METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

1. (a) Once a week

           (b) Yes

      2. None

BUFFALO CITY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

1. (a) Once a week

          (b) Yes

   2. Yes, there were disruptions of services in BCMM Solid Waste Department

      (a) Disruptions were caused by frequent breakdowns of Refuse Compactor Trucks and labour unrests;

     (b) The Department of Solid Waste usually addresses the labour issues that arise with the assistance of Corporate Services.

CITY OF TSHWANE

1. (a) Once a week

          (b) Yes

2. The collection trucks were mostly on schedule but there may have been 1 or 2 days where some areas experienced delays.

    (a) The delays would typically be due to a break-down of a vehicle or a workers strike.

     (b) The collection continues into the following day or days so that there are no backlogs when the following week starts.

MANGAUNG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

1. (a) Once a week

        (b) Yes

2. Yes, there were disruptions and late removal of waste since 1 January 2015.

     (a) There is often a shortage of vehicles due to vehicles breaking down.

     (b) The municipality utilises a pool of SMMEs who have been appointed to render emergency door to door waste collection as and when necessary.

NELSON MANDELA BAY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

1. The NMBM is collecting refuse from 99.98% of households within the urban edge, excluding informal areas on privately owned erven not earmarked for Human Settlements development. Almost one third of the households waste is collected bi-weekly and the remaining two-thirds are collected weekly. The NMBM is in the process of converting all bi-weekly refuse collection to a weekly service by June 2016.

2.   Yes, there were instances of late removal of waste since 1 January 2015.

     (a) The capacity to render efficient Waste Collection Services is often hampered by breakdowns in refuse trucks due to ageing fleet and turnaround time on repairs and maintenance. This leads to refuse being collected later than usual, in certain communities. Nonetheless, the refuse is collected on the same day of refuse collection schedule even if it is late during the day.

     (b) The NMBM has embarked on a process of recapitalisation of old fleet. New refuse trucks have been purchased and other trucks are scheduled to be purchased in the next financial year. In the meantime, the NMBM is hiring externally through the existing Municipal contract in order to supplement its service delivery demands.

 

Reply:

There was no decision to ban call-ins on radio SABC’s stations. The SABC management did not prohibit talk shows hosts from having open lines discussions during programmes. Talk show hosts of religious or sport programmes are subject matter experts and will have open line discussions on relevant religious or sporting matters. At the same time, political discussions can only be dealt with during News and Current affairs programmes where presenters/hosts are skilled to deal with these matters. Therefore, the SABC strives to ensure that political discussions are dealt with on the correct platforms.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

Yes, Government is pursuing a vigorous policy for the early detection of Glaucoma and provision of medical intervention for those who already have the condition. As part of Government’s response to the 1999 Vision 2020 Initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and IAPB, guidelines for Eye Health were developed prioritising the five leading causes of blindness and visual impairment in South Africa, that is Cataract, Glaucoma, Diabetic retinopathy, Childhood blindness and Retractive errors. The following services/activities have taken place as part of a strategy to minimize the impact of eye health conditions and Glaucoma specifically:

• A symptom-based integrated clinical management Primary Care (PC101) guideline incorporates the detection and management of Glaucoma and other eye care conditions at a Primary Health Care (PHC) level;

• Eye Health has been integrated with all other programmes to ensure that eye health is addressed holistically and not as a vertical programme. This allows for the screening of Glaucoma on patients with conditions such as diabetes and hypertension;

• Every year, provinces organise a Glaucoma awareness week to raise awareness about the impact of Glaucoma. During the week, screening and health education on Glaucoma is provided. Different mainstream and social media are also utilised to educate the public on Glaucoma. In 2016, Glaucoma awareness week was commemorated during the week of the 6th to the 12th March 2016; and

• The following services are regularly provided at different facilities:

• Primary level - screening is conducted by PHC nurses, ophthalmic nurses and optometrists. Suspected cases of Glaucoma are referred to hospitals for further assessments and management;

• Secondary level – Ophthalmologists and Optometrists screen the eye and provide management for all Glaucoma cases that are detected. Low vision and rehabilitative services are provided to people whose vision has been irreparably damaged.

• Government has appointed a dedicated eye health person at the National Department of Health to prioritise eye health and develop strategies to eliminate avoidable blindness and visual impairment including the early detection of Glaucoma.

No records are available on specific year on year programmes run during the period 01 June 2009 to 29 February 2016.

END.

Reply:

The initial advert of 2014 did not attract a suitable candidate. In the intervening period an acting person was put in place. The post has since been re-advertised and the closing date was 18 March 2016. The applications received are still being processed.

Reply:

1. The clinic at Senekal, OR Tambo Section, in the Eastern Free State province, was not completed because the contractor failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract, and as such was never handed over to the provincial department of health, and as such it could not be opened.
2. The damage, due to the vandalism of the facility, is a responsibility the contractor because it was never handed over to the provincial department of health.

END.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

The investigation into alleged irregularities at the Independent Development Trust (IDT) was not conducted by the Auditor-General of South Africa. The IDT Board of Trustees appointed Gobodo Forensic and Investigative Accounting (PTY) Ltd. (GFIA) to conduct a preliminary investigation into the allegations of irregularities in the procurement of goods and services.

A preliminary report, which was presented to the IDT Board of Trustees, revealed serious irregularities in the supply chain management processes within the IDT and further recommended that certain significant findings required further investigation.

The Board then took a proactive step and referred such an investigation to the Specialised Audit Services Unit (SAS) within the Office of the Accountant-General at the National Treasury. This Unit conducts all its investigations in collaboration with all the law enforcement agencies of Government, including the South African Police Service under the auspices of Anti-Corruption Task Team.

Reply:

(a) No, the Minister has not visited Ga-Rankuwa.
(b) The Minister visited the Tlokwe Local Municipality, since his appointment.
(i)
The Minister has taken steps to address community grievances. These include:

• Ensuring that the department continues to implement the Back-to-Basics (B2B) programme that addresses challenges in the local government sphere

• Directing the department's provincial 828 coordinators to focus on areas where violent protests are taking place, to address community grievances;

(ii) The City of Tshwane is involved in addressing concerns raised by the residents of GaRankuwa.
The Back to Basics provincial teams have identified municipalities where violent protests are taking place and are working at resolving the challenges in these municipalities.
The teams report back to the Minister regularly.

Reply:

(1)(a) Eskom is in constant interaction with various suppliers for the required goods and services. This interaction includes Microsoft.

(b)(i) Eskom currently has an existing contract that is due to expire on 29 May 2016. A commercial process is currently underway for the renewal of the support and maintenance of the current contract. It must be noted that the bulk of this renewal is to maintain the current investment and ensure adequate maintenance and support of software.

(ii) The current contract with Microsoft expires on 29th May 2016. Please note that price is a confidential matter.

(aa) The current commercial process is to do the renewal of licences, subscription and maintenance.

(bb) The software is already in use as per the existing contract, except for the additional licenses. The additional licence is for functionality requirements from the business aligned to the digitisation strategy which will be deployed via approved projects once contract is approved.

(cc) Eskom’s commercial process which forms part of Eskom’s Procurement and Supply Chain Management Policy and Procedure was followed.

(dd) The commercial process that was followed is in alignment with Eskom’s Procurement and Supply Chain Management Policy and Procedure and Public Finance Management Act.

(2) Yes, Eskom’s process followed on the Microsoft transaction satisfied all prescribed legal requirements. The details are that the commercial process which is provided for in Eskom’s supply chain policies, is aligned to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA).

(3) There are currently no email capabilities with open source and a number of our critical systems are integrated to our email application (exchange), using open source therefore is not possible. Eskom’s applications are extremely critical, given the nature of our business, use of open source will cause vulnerabilities and security is a risk that cannot be tolerated. Furthermore, using open source will have too many incompatibility issues between different word processing applications. There is also a massive proliferation of excel macros across the organisation which will lead to different version that we will have to manage hence there will be an increase in costs (support and maintenance required).

Reply:

SAPO has advised me as follows:

There has been no recent strike, the last strike was in 2014.

(1)(a) 851 Post Offices (including 13 mail centres) were closed across the country at the start of the strike. In the third and fourth week 634 post offices (including 14 mail centres) and 714 post offices (including 9 mail centres) were respectively closed. The closures were mostly in the Gauteng Province followed by Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. These were mainly in; Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. The closures in other provinces were sporadic in nature.

(b) A total of 4656 employees were reported to be on strike. However the level of intimidation and violence that was experienced during the strike led to more employees not being at their workstations during the strike due to fears of intimidation and violence.

(2) The details of the grievances included:

1. Back pay for the 2014 salary increases
2. Casual employees requesting full time employment with full benefits
3. Permanent Part time employees (flexible labour contracts) requesting full time employment
4. Equal work for equal pay
5. The 588 employees that were previously dismissed due to illegal strike but then re-employed in 2013 after agreements between SAPO and labour Unions demanded re-instatement of full benefits

( 3)The Minister established the National Leadership Forum at SAPO in October 2014. This was used as a platform to re-establish the engagements between representatives of the organised labour and SAPO management with the Department attending as an observer. SAPO workforce forums were subsequently established and settlement agreements reached with labour representatives taking into account SAPO’s financial situation. These agreements included:

1. Back pay for 2014/2015 salary increases
2. Conversion of casual and permanent part-time workers to permanent full time employees
3. Equal pay for work of equal value
4. 2015/2016 salary increases

Of the above agreements, the conversion of the temporary employees (casuals and flexible labour contracts) to permanent employees started in 2014 in a phased-in approach but was stopped due to financial constraints. Other settlements agreements were not honoured altogether due the entity’s continued constrained cash-flow position as the entity battled to recover financially post the strike action.

Reply:

Province	(1)(a)	(1)(b)	(1)(c)(i)	(1)(c)(ii)	(2)
Mpumalanga	38	37	One (1) investigation is still active (ongoing).	5 cases are pending in court One case is with IPID	Provincial Taxi Contingency and Operational Plan is in place.
Free State	8	6	Four (4) warning statements are outstanding. One (1) docket is at the DPP for a decision.	Investigation is ongoing.	Not Applicable
Eastern Cape	2	1	One (1) investigation is still active (ongoing). The accused is deceased. Suspected that more perpetrators are involved.	Investigation is ongoing in respect of the other perpetrators possibly involved.	Information received regarding a second party that was with the accused currently at Waterval Prison is being pursued.
Northern Cape	0	0	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
North West	6	5	One (1) investigation is still active (ongoing) because the suspect is still unknown.	Investigation still active (ongoing)	N/A

Province	(1)(a)	(1)(b)	(1)(c)(i)	(1)(c)(ii)	(2)
KwaZulu-Natal	66	20	Forty six (46) investigations are still active (ongoing) because a break-through has not been made.	THE PROVJOINTS has established a priority committee comprising of all security agencies, joint intelligence committee, Provincial Department of Transport, Department of Community Safety and liaison. PSIRA and other municipal role players. The priority committee meets monthly to address TAXI and Transport Violence committee. Special efforts are put in place to ensure visible presence from uniform and Public Order Police . Metro Police and Road Traffic Inspectorate.	A task team at Provincial level has been established to investigate all cases at Provincial level. Specialised prosecutors have been appointed to deal with matters at court. SAPS are involved in supporting mediation efforts of the Department of Community Safety and Liaison.
Guateng	153	38	One hundred and fifteen (115) investigations are still active (ongoing) because a break-through has not yet been made due to: Witnesses reluctant to come forward and provide statements. Witnesses intimidated after suspects are arrested.	Potential witnesses are informed of the Witnesses Protection Programme in order to keep them save. A special investigation team was formed to deal with Taxi violence cases This team is working closely with Crime Intelligence in order to identify suspects and solve cases. The investigation team also communicate with their counter parts in other Provinces. The team is constantly striving to improve the informer network.	The officers in the investigation team have regular meetings with the HOD of the Department of Transport and other stakeholders, in order to identify potential conflict in the industry and to possible solve it. The SAPS has formed the taxi stability task team, who is mandated to inspect and impound taxis that are operating illegally, they also patrol taxi violence hotspot. Members of the investigation team also patrol identified hotspot and are tasked to gather information. The HOD in the Department of Transport and officers of the investigation team meet with rival taxi associations in order to resolve their differences.

AXI VIOLENCE CONTINGENCY

Province	(1)(a)	(1)(b)	(1)(c)(i)	(1)(c)(ii)	(2)
Western Cape	85	30	Fifty five (55) Investigations are still active (ongoing).	All cases were assigned to new investigating officers. Witnesses are being re-interviewed to obtain further information.	A task team at Provincial level has been established to investigate all cases at Provincial level.
Limpopo	1	0	One (1) investigation is still active (ongoing).	N/A	All taxi related incidents are being discussed during the Cluster JOINT Meetings Members attached to POP and Vispol Monitor Taxi ranks where suspicions of any Taxi relate incidents Regular interaction with all Taxi Associations and during the Rural Safety meeting

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. The Department thus made a request to Metropolitan Municipalities to provide the relevant information. Information was received from the following Metropolitan Municipalities:

BUFFALO CITY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

The BCMM does not offer any support to neighbourhood watch initiatives other than the BCMM Law Enforcement Services and Traffic Services.

CITY OF TSHWANE

The functions of the Tshwane Metro Police include Crime Prevention, By-Laws and Road Policing. The Crime Prevention and Social Crime Prevention Units do assist neighbourhood watches as and when needed. Tshwane is divided into Regions and Regional Policing offices attend meetings at South African Police Stations whereby the community is assisted through the Community Police Forum Meetings.

MANGAUNG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

Not applicable

NELSON MANDELA BAY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (NMBMM)

Metro Police not yet established. The SAPS currently provides support to neighbourhood watch initiatives.

 

Reply:

Telkom has provided me with the following response:-

(1)- (3) Telkom as a listed company must comply with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) rules.

In terms of the JSE rules, information that is of financial nature has to be disclosed to all shareholders at once during an open period (reporting period). The company is currently in a closed period.

Furthermore, the information required, requires Telkom to reveal information which is of a commercial nature. The information therefore cannot be shared as it is competitive sensitive.

 

Reply:

The processes relating to the supply chain management policies of municipalities including metropolitan municipalities is regulated by chapter 11 of the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003. Section 111 this Act requires each municipality to have and implement a supply chain management policy which is in line with a framework that is prescribed in section 112 of the same Act. This section provides the minimum requirements to be covered by the supply chain management policy. Of relevance to this parliamentary question is section 112(h) which prescribed that the policy must provide for procedures and mechanisms for: “(i) Opening, registering and recording of bids in the presence of interested persons” and (ii) “The evaluation of bids to ensure best value for money”

There is no requirement for the evaluation and adjudication of bids in public in the Act nor in any other municipal relevant legal prescript.

(i) There is no legal prescript that requires the meetings of a municipality’s bid adjudication committee to be open to the public. Only two metropolitan municipalities; Ekurhuleni and City of Cape Town have adopted this practice as an additional measure to emphasise transparency in procurement.

The following table outlines is the approach elected by each of the eight metropolitan municipalities in this regard; this is according to the information provided by the municipalities:

Metropolitan municipality	Are the bid adjudication committee meetings open to the public?	When was this practice implemented?	Where are the meetings advertised?
City of Johannesburg Metro	No	N/A (Not a legal requirement)	N/A (Not a legal requirement)
Tshwane Metro	No	N/A (Not a legal requirement)	N/A (Not a legal requirement)
Ekurhuleni Metro	Yes	1 December 2015	Local media and municipal notice boards.
City of Cape Town Metro	Yes	1 June 2006	Local media and municipal notice boards.
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro	No	N/A (Not a legal requirement)	N/A (Not a legal requirement)
Buffalo City Metro	No	N/A (Not a legal requirement)	N/A (Not a legal requirement)
Ethekwini Metro	No	N/A (Not a legal requirement)	N/A (Not a legal requirement)
Mangaung Metro	No	N/A (Not a legal requirement)	N/A (Not a legal requirement)

(ii) The public opening of municipal bids is a legal requirement as prescribed in section 112(h) (i) of the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003. This section prescribes that the supply chain management policy must provide for procedures and mechanisms for: “(i) Opening, registering and recording of bids in the presence of interested persons”.

In this regard; all metropolitan supply chain management policies require the public opening of bids and they have all confirmed that the bid boxes are indeed opened in view of the public.

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

(1) (a) All project applicants submit their business plans and requested budgets. After engagement with MDDA Project Staff members through on site assessment, a needs analysis is conducted with the applicants, this entails interrogating each budget line item and a recommended budget is decided based on that need analysis. Below is the costing for 2011 and 2013 funding to Treasure Magazine:

2011

Item description	Quantity	Cost
Printing	10 000 copies @ R 70,100.00  (bi monthly, 64 pager, full colour) x 6 annually	R 420, 600.00
Distribution	10 000 @ R 3,000.00 (bi monthly, 64 pager full colour) x 6 annually	R 18, 000.00
Software – in design	@ R8,000.00	R 8,000.00
Public Relations & Promotions	@ R 2,000.00 per month x 12	R 24,000.00
Email & internet connection	@ R500.00 per month x 12	R 6,000.00
Website developer and hosting	@ R 1,000.00 per month x 12	R 12,000.00
Photo & Illustration	@ R 2,000.00 per issue x 6	R 12,000.00
Bank charges	@ R 400.00 per month x 12	R 4,800.00
Stipends	1 x Journalists @ R 5,500.00 per month x 12	R 66,000.00
	1 x Layout & Graphic Designer @ R6,500.00 x 6 editions	R 39,000.00
	Publisher @ R 8,500.00 x 12	R 102,000.00
	1 x Marketing and Sales Officer @ R 5,500.00 per month x 12	R 66,000.00
	1 x sub-editor @ R 8,500.00 per edition x 6	R 51,000.00
Audit & Accounting fees	Once off	R 10,000.00
Total		R 839,400.00

2013

Item Description	Quantity	Costs per month	Total Costs
Printing	10 000 copies @ R72,400.00 (bi monthly) x 6 editions	R 72,400.00	R 434,400.00
Distribution	10 000 copies @ R 2,000.00 (bi monthly)x 6 editions	R 2,000.00	R 12,000.00
Bank Charges	12 months	R 400.00	R4,800.00
Telecommunications	12 months	R2, 000.00	R24,000.00
Audit Fee	Once off	R 14,800.00	R 14,800.00
Total Budget			R490,000.00

1. (b) The printing costs are reflected on the costing above as quoted by Paarlcoldset printers in Cape Town
2. The MDDA funding criteria is embedded in Section 3 of the MDDA Act of 2002. Treasure Magazine meets all the objects as stipulated in the Act and therefore a successful project established and managed by a black young woman. The MDDA measures the success of each supported project based on its sustainability which is driven by the publication’s ability to generate revenue through advertising and other promotion, sales and marketing activities. A magazine that sells 8000 copies can per month be deemed to be successful if it has managed to generate enough advertising that will enable it to continue printing, cover all its operational costs including staff retention.

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

(1)(a) The DTPS will increase the number of schools per province from one (1) to two (2) as reflected in quarterly targets in the 2016/17 Business Plan. The Child Online Protection Programme also includes the e-Parenting Programme and in this regard the DTPS intends to develop an interactive e-platform for parents and an e-guide for parents to capacitate them to cope with issues of exposure of the children to harmful content online.

(1)(b) The Child Online Protection Programme will be implemented in all nine provinces and in two towns in each province. The e-Parenting Interactive Sessions will be held in all provinces except the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal as these provinces were covered in the 2015/2016 financial year.

(2)(a)(i)The DTPS will be hosting School based Awareness Workshops in eighteen (18) schools with grade 9 to 11 learners, at least two hundred and fifty (250) learners per school, and their respective teachers, at least six (6) teachers per school. The content of the workshops includes the following topics: Dangers of being Online, Safety Tips for being Online, Cyberbulling and Sexting, Identity Theft and the impact of creating a negative or positive digital footprint for the individual and the country.

(2)(a)(ii) No training workshops are planned to be implemented in private schools.

(2)(b)(i) The learners and teachers are given content and information in terms of web based resources that may be accessed in order to assist them to mitigate against the online abuse of children.

(2)(b)(ii) No training support is planned to be given to educators in private schools.

Reply:

Yes, I have been engaging with the Minister of Environmental Affairs on different platforms to collectively come up with a coherent programme for preserving our ecological infrastructure. These engagements have resulted in several strategies and action plans, as follows:

1. Chapter 5 of the National Water Resource Strategy 2, outlines the protection strategies for our fresh water ecosystems which are inclusive of rivers, and wetlands. The progress in the implementation of these protection measures is monitored in the outcome 10 report of the Minister of Environmental Affairs as a key performance indicator on the number of rivers that have been classified. A joint Implementation Plan with the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has been developed to ensure the implementation of protection measures and the sustainable functioning of ecological infrastructure. It is important to note that this Implementation Plan is also in alignment with the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan developed by the DEA.
2. The Classification, determination of the Reserve and Resource Quality Objectives work done by my Department, takes into cognisance the information contained in the National Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas (NFEPA) and Strategic Water Source Areas developed by DEA, in collaboration with SANBI & the CSIR and stringent protection conditions are prescribed to protect ecologically important and sensitive ecological resources e.g. threatened wetland habitat, rivers, lakes, pans and estuaries which have been identified within these studies.
3. These protection measures outlined above are further translated into license conditions when the different water use authorisation applications are approved with clear recommendations on the management of the ecological infrastructure. My Department and DEA have a joint responsibility in the management of estuaries, where my Department is responsible for determining the ecological state, importance and sensitivity of estuaries and DEA is responsible for the regulatory measures for maintaining the ecological state. The ecological information determined by my Department is taken into consideration by DEA when issuing of permits for the utilisation of estuaries.

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Reply:

I have been advised by ICASA and the Department as follows:

(1)(a) ICASA does not have this information. We rely on map data provided by the operators as we do not have the resources to independently verify coverage of operators on a nationwide scale, although we can verify coverage in a specified location through measurement.

(b) The Authority has information regarding which operator has the largest coverage by the type of technology. However, this information has been submitted on a confidential basis therefore the Authority would have to request for permission to disclose it.

(2)(a)The roll-out of broadband does not affect the cell phone spectrum. Spectrum is an enabler for broadband roll out. It should however be noted the release of digital dividend spectrum after the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting will be critical in ensuring broadband rural deployments.

(b) Cell phone operators are dependent on spectrum to roll out broadband but not solely on analogue spectrum currently being held by broadcasters. The analogue spectrum will not be made available through the roll-out of broadband. It will be made available through digital switchover, a process of migrating analogue TV broadcasting to digital transmission, and analogue switch off, a process to complete switch-off of analogue TV services and freeing-up of spectrum. Thus, this spectrum would be available for broadband roll-out.

(3)(a) Both Kamiesberg and Richtersveld areas in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape were not monitored for the availability of Coverage. The Authority relies on the on coverage complaints it receives from the people in the area to conduct such monitoring.

(b) The areas of Namaqualand will be covered in the 2016/2017 financial year. It should be noted that Operators are not obligated to provide coverage in all areas as long as their total coverage remains within their licence conditions.