Questions and Replies

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:

(1) Yes. The Directive (Circular No: HRD 1 of 2012) mandates the National School of Government (NSG) to develop and roll out the compulsory induction programme (CIP).

(2) (a) Departments are expected to pay a total cost of R1876 (if NSG facilitator, venue and IICs costs are excluded), R8875 (if NSG internal satff is used and venue excluded) or R16275 (if IICs is used and venue is excluded) per employee

(b) the services included in the fee cover Programme management and administration, materials production and delivery, capacity building, professional support, monitoring and evaluation, and

(c) (i) (ii) factors are as follows, readiness of departments to implement the programme, absence of trainer policies to maximise trainer capacities developed by the NSG and use of cost-recovery model;

(3) (a) The NSG has ensured that the compulsory induction programme accommodates the diverse needs of public service staff members living with disabilities by availaing materials in Word to those who are visually impaired and collaborating with departments in securing the Braille services and of sign-language specialists.

(b) No. The NSG striven to ensure that staff living with disability are not be discriminated against with the introduction of the compulsory induction programme for public servants.

 

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) 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 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:

The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements appointed Contractors to construct houses for Phases 1 and 2 at Obed Nkosi. During 2013, a total of 300 houses were completed and allocated to the qualifying beneficiaries. Phase 2 consist of 1 033 houses and the construction of these houses was completed during August 2015. The Lesedi Local Municipality then requested the Provincial Department that none of these houses should be allocated to beneficiaries without electricity. As the electrification of houses is the responsibility of the Municipality, the Provincial Department had to wait for the houses to be provided with electricity before allocation could start. To date, 695 houses in Phase 2 have been electrified and allocated.

The allocation of the houses with electricity is an on-going process and the Provincial Department has indicated that a further 88 houses will be allocated to the beneficiaries by 6 April 2016. The Lesedi Local Municipality is attending to the electrification of the outstanding houses, and once the houses have been electrified, allocations to the qualifying beneficiaries will commence.

 

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:

(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:

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 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:

The HPCSA is an independent organisation, as such, it has a legal obligation to adhere to all Constitutional and relevant legislative prescripts in the exercise of its mandate. The implementation of the recommendation made in the Ministerial Task Team Report on the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is therefore subject to adherence to these prescripts. I am being kept informed by the HPCSA on the progress in this regard.

  (a) At this point, I have not been informed by the HPCSA that any of the recommendations of the Ministerial Task Team have been rejected;

   (b) Not applicable;

     (i) Not applicable;

     (ii) A final implementation report is expected by the end of April 2016

END.

Reply:

1. Yes. Not all training offered to public servants takes place through the National School of Government. There is no regulation that mandates departments to send public servants to the National School of Governement to be trained.

Mandatory training programmes are the Compulsory Induction Programmes (CIP) for newly appointed public servants from salary levels 1 to 16 as per the Directives issued by the Minister for Public Service and Administration namely;

  (a) Amendments to the Directive on the Implementation of the Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP) in the public service, April 2015

  (b) Directive on Compulsory Capacity Development, Mandatory Training Days and Minimum entry requirements for Senior Management Services (SMS).

    (i) CIP 1-12 focuses on newly appointed public servants on salary levels 1 to 12. This CIP 1-12 is divided into two programmes, namely CIP 1-5 and CIP 6-12 with dedicated focus on the unique requirements of knowledge, skills, values and competencies that is relevant and responsive at these salary levels respectively.

   (ii) CIP 13-14 focuses on newly appointed public servants on salary levels 13 and 14, namely Directors and Chief Directors. These programmes focus on the unique requirements of knowledge, skills, values and competencies that are relevant and responsive at these salary levels.

   (iii) CIP 15-16 or the Executive Inductive Induction Programme (EIP) focuses on newly appointed public servants on salary levels 15 and 16, namely Deputy-Director Generals and Director-Generals. This programme focuses on the unique requirements of knowledge, skills, values and competencies that are relevant and responsive at these salary levels.

2. Yes. All the training programmes are focused on a specific target group or salary level of public servants.

   (a) The department that identified the training needs decides what training should be carried out.

   (b) The guidelines that inform the training programmes are the Learning Provision Cycle and the Learning Programme Design Matrix. The Learning Provision Cycle provides the strategic framework for planning, design, development, approval, delivery and monitoring and evaluation of the training programmes. The Design Matrix provide the specific guidelines with regard to the specific/enabling outcomes, assessment criteria, learning statements, assessment activities, and related critical cross filed outcomes to ensure integration of learning.

   (c) The National School of Government is responsible for the quality of training that is selected and offered. It does this using its Quality Management and Monitoring and Evaluation Systems. The Quality Management System involves the Quality Management System Policies with accompanying implementation toolkits. The Monitoring and Evaluation processes include the 100% monitoring of all NSG programmes, regular on-site visits and evaluation reports as well as application or learning studies focusing on selected National School of Government programmes.

3. (a) Every training programme has assessment requirements to ensure the effectiveness of training.

   (b) Training is monitored and evaluated on a regular basis. The National School of Government conducts evaluations of the training programmes and the application of learning thereof in the workplace to establish (i) whether training is achieving its intended objectives and (ii) whether training is resulting in expected changes in the workplace; and if so, what these changes mean to the public.

4. (a) The National School of Government is continually analysing the Report on National Skills Development Strategy of South Africa from the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa, and also the Workplace Skills Plans of departments, in order to recommend training offered through the NSG as an appropriate mechanism to improve performance where performance weaknesses are identified;

(b) The Public Service Commission has released reports on the “State of the Public Service” as well as reports such as “ Assessing the effectiveness of training provided by PALAMA in improving skills and competencies of public service leadership with a view to inform curriculum development by the National School of Government, September 2014” . The recommendations provided in these AMPAT reports inform the training offered through the NSG as an appropriate mechanism to improve performance where performance weaknesses are identified.

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:

(1) A verification search against the Housing Subsidy System (HSS) as at 13 March 2016, indicates that the person referred to by the Honourable Member does not appear as a subsidy applicant or as an approved beneficiary of a state housing subsidy on the HSS. The North West Provincial Department of Human Settlements has since confirmed this finding. This implies that a subsidy application for the ID number provided was not captured on HSS to date or a subsidy application was not completed by the person or household to access a government housing subsidy.

In terms of the verification of ID numbers when processing applications for housing subsidies, there are set Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are followed before an application is captured on the system before being approved to benefit from a housing subsidy. A subsidy is linked to a household (applicant and / or spouse) and a specific site. The ID numbers (applicant/spouse/dependants) indicated on a subsidy application form is captured on HSS against a specific site number as contained in the deed of sale and specific project.

The captured application is then verified to ensure that the details on the application form have been captured correctly on HSS. The verified application is then submitted for searches via an automated process on the ID against other databases including the Population Register in the Dept. of Home Affairs, and the Deeds Register, in the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, as well as the Department Audit Database to ensure that the applicant did not previously benefit from a state housing subsidy.

The application is tagged for approval only if it passes all the aforementioned verification and search processes.

(2) In respect of the alleged selling of housing subsidy material by the named councillor, the Department of Human Settlements views such activity in a serious light, and will investigate and take appropriate steps based on the findings when the full and exact details, including documentary or other evidence relating to such activity are provided and obtained by the Department.

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:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

(a) The Department of Public Service and Administration's total procurement percentage is as follows:

(i) 34% of total procurement initiatives per respective categories were sourced from SMMEs,

(ii) The department has not procured any goods/services from co-operatives.

(b) The National School of Government’s total procurement percentage is as follows:

  (i) The National School of Government (NSG) has purchased 14.15% of its total procurement from SMMEs from 1 April 2015 up to 24 March 2016

  (ii) The National School of Government has not procured any goods/services from co-operatives

Reply:

(1) There are no incentives provided to encourage the legal use of electricity. Eskom makes use of the Operation Khanyisa Campaign to inform and educate customers about how to better manage electricity usage.

(2)(a) We assume all non-technical energy loss to be attributed to theft. Non-technical losses in Eskom amounted to R4.7bn for 2014/15 FY.

(b) The amount stated in (2)(a) above represents the collective loss across all provinces. Eskom estimates non-technical losses at a national level, a breakdown per province therefore not available.

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:

As per attached table.

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.

 

 

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:

SAPO has advised me as follows:

There are numerous outstanding invoices. SAPO is arranging long term funding with the support of DTPS and National Treasury, to enable implementation of the corporate plan for 2016/17 through 2018/19. Once funding has been secured, SAPO’s arrangements with creditors will be finalised and implemented.

Below is the creditors’ age analysis:

 

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)(i) In terms of the Coal Supply Agreement, Optimum Coal Mine (Proprietary) Limited ("Optimum") was obliged to supply and deliver to the Hendrina power station coal which complies with, amongst others, the following quality specification:

• All coal must have an ash content which shall not exceed 28.8% in order to ensure that the calorific value of the coal is not less than 23.0MJ/kg (calculated on a moisture free basis);
• a monthly average size distribution of:
• not more than 55% of coal supplied will be smaller than 6mm;
• not more than 35% of coal supplied will be smaller than 2.38mm; and
• not more than 15% of coal supplied will be smaller than 0.81mm.
• The Second Addendum amended the quality parameters in respect of the Abrasiveness Index (pursuant to an arbitration with Optimum) to be <423 mgFe on a 7 day weighted rolling average basis.

(ii) The coal that was received by Eskom was within contractual specifications with regard to the Calorific Value but out of specification in respect of Abrasive Index and Sizing.

(iii) The coal currently being received by Eskom meets the contractual specifications with regard to the Calorific Value except for Abrasive Index.

(b) The price of coal paid by Eskom is R174.41/ton as at February 2016.

(2) The coal supplied by Optimum Coal prior to the imposition of the fine was outside the quality specification for Hendrina Power Station in terms of Abrasive Index and Sizing. For the 1 March 2012 to 31 May 2015, Optimum Coal, failed to supply and deliver to Eskom coal which meets the quality parameter as set out in the Coal Supply Agreement. The coal supplied and delivered to Eskom, amongst others, failed to comply with the sizing specification, in that 20% to 45% of the coal supplied and delivered to Eskom by Optimum on a monthly basis, during the period of supply was smaller than 0.81mm. Despite this failure by Optimum, Eskom has, without prejudice to its right in terms of clause 3.6 of the First Addendum, paid Optimum for such coal, without applying any adjustment or reduction to the payment, for Optimum's failure to comply with the quality parameters.

(3) The coal currently received by Hendrina Power Station is within the contractual specifications in respect of Calorific Value except for the Abrasive Index and the Sizing. Since Optimum is currently under business rescue, the parties have in terms of the interim agreement agreed to suspend the application of penalties until the business rescue process is finalised. Of critical importance to note is that Eskom has issued Summons against Optimum for failing to supply coal that meets the quality specification of the station. Optimum has since disputed the penalties. Once the business rescue process has been finalised, the legal proceedings will continue to run its course.

(4) High Abrasive Index causes high wear rate of the plant and sizing affects the material flow frequency causing hang-ups which results in load losses. The wear rate causes accelerated wear of parts. This negatively affects the energy output from the station thus the total energy capacity available for dispatch into the grid. In order to compensate Eskom for the capacity loss occasioned as a result of these quality parameters being out of specification, penalty provisions in terms of the contract apply.

(5) (a) Since Optimum is currently under business rescue, the parties have in terms of the interim agreement agreed to suspend the application of penalties until the business rescue process is finalized.

(b) No. Not applicable.

 

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)(a)(i)

• Calorific value (moisture free): 24,3 Mj/kg (base value) and between 23,3 and 25,4 Mj/kg
• Total moisture: 7,0 – 9,0% (range) and between 7,0 and 9,0%
• Ash content (moisture free): 23,0% (base value) and between 17,0 and 31,0%
• Volatile content (moisture free): 24,0% (base value) and between 21,0 and 29,0%
• Abrasiveness index: 375 mg Fe (base value) and between 325 and 425 mg Fe

(ii) The coal received by Eskom was within the contractual specifications range as per (i) above.

(b) The price of coal paid by Eskom at the expiry of the Agreement was R944.61/ton.

(c) The contract was not cancelled but expired on 31 December 2015.

(2)(a)(i) The coal contracted for Arnot Power Station is a better quality specification compared to the Arnot expired contract and is as follows:

Quality parameter	Unit	Quality Expected	Quality Specifications	Quality Rejection Limit	Measurement basis
Calorific Value	MJ/kg	24.0	≥22.5	<22.5	Air Dried
Total Moisture	%	8	≤9.0	>9.0	As Received
Inherent Moisture	%	4.1			As Received
Ash	%	20.2	≤24.3	>24.3	Air Dried
Abrasive Index (Eskom Mining House Method)	mgFe/4kg	<450	<450	>450	Air Dried
Sulphur	%	1.19	≤1.19	>1.19	Air Dried
Volatiles	%	21.7	≥19.5	<19.5	Air Dried
AFT (Initial deformation)	ºC	1380	>1380	<1380	N / A
Sizing: (cumulatve) %					N / A
	+60mm	0	0	>0
	+50mm -6.35mm	5 50	5 50	>5 >50
	-3.35mm	30	30	>30
	-1mm	15	15	>15

(ii) The coal received by Eskom is within the contractual specifications as per (i) above.

(b) The contractual price is R470/ton to Arnot Power Station.

(c) The coal is suitable for Arnot Power Station as it meets the quality specification for the station.

Reply:

Since the advent of load shedding and the creation of the war room in 2014, the DoE commissioned a study in conjunction with the CSIR to quantify the extent of the cost savings emanating from the deployment of renewable energy technology, including solar, in the place of diesel and this was estimated at R3.6bn.

The DoE made a proposal to accelerate the cheaper alternative of using solar technology to replace diesel-fired power generation. This alternative is based on the generation of solar energy using solar plants that have been procured under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPPP). The DoE further made a determination under Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act to procure additional solar generation capacity through an expedited procurement process given that there was evidence that this option would assist in reducing the cost of generation of diesel fired turbines, especially during peak periods.

The process for the expedited procurement of an addition 1800MW of solar power generation was concluded under the REIPPP with bid submissions closing on 11 November 2015. The commissioning of these power stations is expected within two years and it can therefore be expected that less and less diesel will be required during periods when solar power is generated.

Reply:

The Chief Executive Officer of the IDC was quoted in a local newspaper in February 2016, as noting that the IDC needs to restructure some of the debt that it holds.

This restructuring would be on the asset, not liability side of the IDC’s balance sheet, ie money owed to the Corporation by local companies.

The purpose of the debt restructuring is to assist IDC clients and business partners that are affected by the downturn in the macro-economic environment, particularly those that are negatively impacted by the slump in commodity prices. In this regard further details will be provided in my budget vote speech, or as soon as the IDC has completed the technical work on the matter.

-END-

Reply:

1. No.

South Africa enjoys a strong cordial relationship with the US. Various channels of communication are open for both sides should they see the need to discuss any issue. The two Ministers normally do so under the auspices of Strategic Dialogue which they co-chair.

2. No.

 

UNQUOTE

Reply:

1. NERSA does not use the marginal cost based method for electricity tariffs but rather the revenue requirement method. The Electricity Regulation Act requires that NERSA allow an efficient operator to recover its cost plus a reasonable return. This method is applied fully for Eskom. In case of Municipalities, this method has just been approved for implementation. It has therefore not been applied for municipal regulation. The cost of supply studies will be performed by municipalities and submitted to NERSA for review and consideration when municipal tariff applications are considered.
2. Please refer to (1) above.

Reply:

a) The department is only responsible for managing the local government equitable share which provides for the subsidization of the provision of basic services to poor households. In the Local Government Equitable Share formula a monthly household income equal to two old age pensioners’ grant of R2 300 per month is used to define the formula’s affordability threshold. It should be noted that the threshold is not an official poverty line or a required level to be used by municipalities in their own indigent policies. However, should municipalities choose to provide fewer households with free basic services than they are funded for through the local government equitable share, their budget documentation should clearly indicate why they have made this choice and how they have consulted with their community during the budget process.

b) With regard to the Local Government Equitable Share (LGES) formula, the basic services component of the formula provides for the subsidisation of the provision of basic services to poor households. The subsidy includes funding for the provision of free basic water (6 kiloliters per household per month), energy (50 kilowatt-hours per household per month) and sanitation and refuse (based on the service levels as defined national policy). The basic services component provides a subsidy of R313.76 per month in 2015/16 for the cost of providing basic services to each of these households. The monthly amount provided to each service is provided in the Explanatory Memorandum to the 2015 Division of Revenue Bill.

c) According to the STATSSA Non-Financial Census released in August 2015, the total nationwide number of indigent households registered with municipalities is 3 482 260. The table below captures registered indigent households per metro:

Table 1: Total Number of Indigent Households Registered in each Metropolitan Municipality

Province	Metropolitan Municipality	Indigent Households
Gauteng	City of Johannesburg	288, 209
	Tshwane	96, 883
	Ekurhuleni	36,526
Free State	Mangaung	20, 105
KwaZulu Natal	Ethekwini	589, 605
Eastern Cape	Buffalo City	61, 960
	Nelson Mandela Bay	85,022
Western Cape	City of Cape Town	288, 724
Total		1,467,034

d) The basic services component of the local government equitable share is worth
R33.3 billion in 2015/16 financial year and accounts for 74.9 per cent of the total value of the local government equitable share.

e)

• • 1. The eligibility for indigent subsidy is determined via application. All households who qualify in terms of the criteria set by the municipality visit municipal offices and/ or other registration points established by the municipality to complete and lodge applications for subsidy consideration.
    2. The eligibility for indigent subsidy is not determined automatically via Property valuation. Instead, it is determined via application process as in (i) above. Property valuation is just but one of the many targeting methods that municipalities can use to target indigent households as spelt out in the national indigent Policy framework and the implementation guidelines.

Reply:

1. During the period 1 July 2015 to 31 January 2016, GCIS placed advertisements to the value of R153 138 655.73 on behalf of its clients (national and provincial departments and entities reporting to these departments). R22 187 761.61 of this advertising expenditure was allocated to community media (community radio stations, community print media, community television stations and small commercial publications), representing 14% of the allocated budget. A detailed breakdown follows below:

(a)(i) 13% of advertising allocated by national departments as listed in the accompanying table

(ii) 12% of advertising allocated by provincial departments as listed in the accompanying table

(b) 18% of advertising allocated by all entities reporting to specified departments as listed in the accompanying table

2. Community media offers government the opportunity to direct communications messages at specific and highly localised audiences. Whilst this is adequate for tactical interventions on community print or community television, interactive campaigns requiring the targeting of multiple communities simultaneously are best suited to community radio.

The Government Communication and Information System primarily focuses on such high reach multi-site campaigns which often use interactive phone-in community radio programmes. In this advertising format, a minimum of 75 community radio stations are connected via satellite to enable a single interview to be broadcast to multiple community radio stations. In turn, listeners resident in the broadcast footprint of any of the participating community radio stations can call in to the GCIS studio and interact live with the studio guests.

This capability is not available on other forms of community media as detailed in the question.

MR D LIPHOKO

[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the department. We will however engage the affected provincial department responsible, to solicit the relevant information from the municipality. The Honourable Member will be kept updated on the process.

Reply:

NO	(b), (c)Period:	(i) What No of Times	(ii) Amount:
A	April 2012 to March 2013	1	R45,131.18
B	April 2013 to March 2014	2	R1,038,466.70
C	April 2014 to March 2015	1	R305,208.41

Grand total R1 388 806.29

Reply:

a)  The Department does support SMMEs, Co-operatives, as well as Township and rural enterprises through their procurement spent.

b) The procurement spent for SOEs was mainly on SMMEs and they are detailed below as follows.

Entity	Report
NNR	15% of R51 million total Expenditure year to date on goods & services
SANEDI	R3,313770.00 being 19% of total cash and accrued operating expenses
CEF	R 3,847,260,039.37 spent on BBEE including SMME (CEF Group does not report specifically on SMMEs and Co-operatives or categories these suppliers separate from the BEE spend.
NECSA	37% of the total procurement spend (R 86 million) was spent on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs= Annual revenue of less than 10 million 25% of the total procurement spend ( R 58 million ) was spent on Exempt Micro Enterprises (EME=Annual revenue of less that R 50 million ) NB: In terms of the BBBEE Act, SMME’s are now referred to as QSEs and EMEs.
NERSA	More than 40% of R60 million (NERSA’s procurement spend for 2015/16) went to service providers with a BBBEE Level 3 and above.
NRWDI	NRWDI is not yet operational; this is not applicable to the Institute.

Reply:

According to information received from Tlokwe City Local Municipality, as at Dec 2015.

(1) (a) Two (2) officials are currently on suspension.

(b) (i) (aa) Position of suspended official	(bb) Reason for suspension	(ii) Period of suspension	(iii) Total remuneration during period of suspension
Senior Librarian	Harassment and intimidation of subordinates, failure to report theft by a subordinate and gross misconduct (abuse of power).	One (1) month (27 October 2015)	R 49 762.30
Senior Admin Officer	Disruption of normal operations of the employer, displaying rude and aggressive behaviour to fellow employees, wilful absence from performing tasks and responsibilities allocated to him.	One (1) month (2 October 2015)	R 39 172.29

(2) No severance packages were paid to any municipal official.

Reply:

a) Yes, the current installed capacity of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (REIPP) Programme is 2.48 GW and the maximum simultaneous contribution recorded is 1.59 GW.

b) Yes, the REIPP programme has been run and is delivering in a world class way comparable to the best in the world. Time expectations have been met and although there is not a “budget” in the strictest sense of the word, the energy prices for the programme have come down via the competitive tendering process, exceeding expectations. There is significant confidence in the industry, which can be seen in the large amounts of money being invested.

c) No, it was never an objective of the REIPP programme to make a case for or against the argument that renewable energy will not meet base load. The decisions around the requirements for base load or peaking energy is made in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process. At the same time it can be stated that the country’s electricity demand profile requires a large portion of base-load generation, which is generation that is predictably available throughout the day for every day of the week. Unfortunately, renewables cannot supply this base load as they are inherently extremely variable and large scale storage, to smooth out this variability, is not yet economically viable. Either nuclear or fossil (coal or gas) or hydro (unfortunately only in a limited way in South Africa) generation must provide this base load. Put differently, a large scale renewable wind programme can provide a degree of base load if geographically well diversified but will need to be supplemented with storage and other dispatchable generation technologies. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) can provide base load if built with enough storage but the cost of this far exceeds the other base load options.

d) Yes, the REIPP programme has already demonstrated its viability. From an integrated power system point of view, the renewable energy contributed to the grid every day, significantly reducing the need for Eskom to use open cycle gas turbines and as such is preventing load shedding as well.

e) Yes, the electricity supplied from renewables is currently being used by all customers and is thus suitable and available for all. The nature of the country’s integrated power system is such that all generation, regardless of technology or origin, is effectively pooled and all customers draw from this pool. It is not impossible for any customer to determine the generator(s) sourcing its electricity.

Reply:

(1) An unused sub-site on the Government Communication and Information System website that housed a redundant contact database was hacked exploiting an SQL injection vulnerability.

(a) No restricted area of the website was accessed. All the information on the sub-site database is public information and the log files of the content management system (CMS) of the sub-site database indicate that none of the exposed user information was used to log onto the CMS before the vulnerability was closed.

(b) No data was lost.

(c) The vulnerability was removed, all redundant accounts on the user table were locked and active accounts were reset.

(2) The Department’s website and the websites of the entities reporting to it have not been hacked over the past 12 months.

 

 

MR DONALD LIPHOKO

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

DATE:

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

(a) Minister was not invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

 

(b) (i) not applicable

(ii) not applicable

 

(c) (i) not applicable

(ii) not applicable

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

The Economic Development Department is not involved in this project. The Gauteng Department of Economic Development is overseeing the project.

-END-

Reply:

a) Kurara FM received a total grant funding of R 1,575,946.59 from the Media Development & Diversity Agency in October 2010 which was to cover the Purchasing of a digital broadcast studio; Transmission costs; Stipends; and Operational costs. The allocated funds were to be disbursed to the station on a tranche payment basis, meaning for every tranche of the funds released, the station was or is contractually obligated to submit a comprehensive financial and narrative report accompanied by supporting documents. The station could not adequately report on the first tranche of the funds and the Agency sent an official to the station to assist with the report. As a result, the station was then able to receive its second of the four tranche payments.

Subsequently, as contractually required, the station once again could not submit a thorough report and the Agency once more visited the station to intervene and assist the station. Upon the Agency’s engagement with the project, it learnt that the station had undergone a change in management and the management, together with its board, declared that the station had no records of the funds. As such, it claimed, it could not furnish the Agency with the required report, a key prerequisite before any further funds could be disbursed to the project. In light of this impasse, the Agency has since advised the station to request that the grant be written-off and reapply for another grant with the Agency. The station is yet to respond after the last engagement with the Agency. It should be noted that the recommendation to the station from the Agency’s officials is based on the fact that the station has declared that it cannot account for and has no record whatsoever of the funds in question.

Radio Teemaneng received a total grant funding of R 954,773.62 from the Media Development & Diversity Agency in July 2011 which was to cover Equipment and Operational costs. The station has so far received two payments of the four tranches as per its contract with the Agency. While the Agency has tried to assist the station to adequately report on the latest funds it received, the contract the station has with the Agency lapsed as a result of slow reporting from the station. It also emerged that the station could not provide the Agency with a valid tax clearance certificate. As part of requirements, before any payment can be made to any entity or beneficiary, a valid tax clearance must be submitted to the Agency, and the station is yet to do so do date. As it stands, the Agency has given the station an opportunity to resolve its tax certificate issues with SARS before any further payment can be made. The process will also require that the station’s contract with the Agency be extended, provided that the station can adequately report on its previous tranche and also provide a valid tax clearance certificate.

(b)(i) A total number of 57 community radio stations have been assisted by the Media Development & Diversity Agency from the period 1st January 2012 to 31st of December 2015, as follows: Limpopo (10); North West (9); KZN (12); Eastern Cape (5); Western Cape (4); Free State (3); Mpumalanga (7); Northern Cape (3); Gauteng (4).

(ii) The stations were funded for various line items and the breakdown per province is as follows:

Limpopo Province

1. Maruleng FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
2. Giyani Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends, Programme Production)
3. Greater Tzaneen FM ((Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, and stipends)
4. Sekhukhune FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
5. Botlokwa FM (Programme production)
6. Lephalale Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
7. Mohodi FM (Programme Production and stipends)
8. Malamulele FM (Digital broadcast studios, operational costs and stipends)
9. Tshepo ya Sechaba Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
10. Hlanganani FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs and stipends)

North West

1. Kgatleng FM (Digital broadcast studios, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
2. Madibogo Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
3. Mafikeng Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
4. Mmabatho FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
5. Radio Mafisa (Transmission equipment, operational cost)
6. Village FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
7. Motsitle Community Radio(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
8. Aganang Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, stipends and programme production)
9. Star FM (Operational Costs, Office Equipments, Salaries and Programme production)

KwaZulu Natal

1. ICORA (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
2. Ngquthu Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
3. Nqubeko Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
4. Umgungundlovu Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
5. KZN Capital Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
6. Inanda FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
7. Ugu Youth Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
8. Siyathuthuka Community Radio ( Transmission equipment, operational costs and stipends)
9. Maputaland Community Radio
10. Vibe FM ((Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs and power back- up)
11. Radio Khwezi (Programme Production)
12. Nongoma FM(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)

Eastern Cape

1. Mdantsane FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
2. Kumkani FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
3. Izwilethemba Community Christian Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
4. Isajonisi Youth Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
5. LA FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)

 

Western Cape

1. Radio KC (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, security costs, marketing costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
2. Bush Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio and stipends)
3. Radio Kaapsepunt (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
4. Radio Namakwaland (Programme production)

Free State

1. Koepel Stereo (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
2. Naledi Community Radio(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
3. Mozolo Community Radio(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)

Mpumalanga

1. Mash FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs and stipends)
2. Emalahleni Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, stipends and Programme production)
3. Bushbuckridge Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios and signage)
4. Nkangala Community Radio(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs and operational costs)
5. MP East Community Radio (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
6. Nkomazi FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
7. Kanyamazane Community Radio(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, stipends and Programme production)

Northern Cape

1. Radio Riverside (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming, stipends and audio streaming)
2. N FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming, stipends and audio streaming)
3. Revival FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)

Gauteng

1. Eldos (Digital broadcasting equipment, Transmitter, Training and Operational Costs)
2. Hweletsa Hope FM (Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs, audio streaming and stipends)
3. Ekasi Connexion (Power back up, Digital Broadcasting Equipment)
4. Bagaka FM(Digital broadcast studios, transmission costs, operational costs)

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

1. No, NERSA develops rules not regulations. We are in the process of developing Licensing Regulations, which will enable NERSA to implement Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) rules that they have developed.
2. (a) It is the responsibility of the Department to ensure organised development in the electricity industry and the development of licensing regulations is meant to facilitate government policy objectives. Incidentally, it is municipal constraints relating to the wheeling of power that pose the biggest risk to SSEG.

(b) The Regulations are still under development and are expected to be published for public comments.

Reply:

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

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

(c) The current assessment did not consider the administration costs. But the reduction of Red Tape in each of the identified areas will lead to the reduction of costs in of turnaround times, improvement of communication on compliance will also reduce costs experienced by SMMEs.

2. Some of the examples that can be referred to regarding how the red tape has been reduced include: The establishment of the Moretele call centre to receive, capture and provide status report on general community queries.

Reply:

1. Yes, (a) accounting officers and oversight committees have responsibilities to ensure that the directors at any local government operate within their designated (i) operating and (ii) capital budgets in line with Chapter 8 of the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act, 56 of 2003. Further, section 79 of the Local Government Structures Act gives municipal councils the power to establish one or more committees necessary for the effective and efficient performance of any of its functions or the exercise of its powers.

After the municipal council approves the budget, the Budget and Treasury Office (BTO) ensures that each director within the municipality manages their own budget. On a weekly basis cash flow plans as well as expenditure plans are distributed amongst directors to avoid over expenditure on budget votes. Councillors also play an oversight role due to the fact that expenditure reports are tabled to the council on a quarterly basis.

2. Three (3) municipalities reported in line with Section 32 of Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act, expenditures to MEC: Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in Northern Cape in the last financial year. The municipalities which reported are Tsantsabane Local Municipality, Sol Plaatjie Local Municipality and ZF Mgcawu District Municipality.

 (a) Municipalities do not report regularly to the Province on unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Such expenditure is reported to council and the necessary steps are taken to recover the losses. The actual amount of unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure can only be determined at the end of the municipal financial year. Municipalities also reports to the National Treasury on a monthly basis in line with Section 71 of the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003.

 (b) Municipal Councils have the responsibility to recover monies from the responsible directors and political office bearers. In addition, where political leaders and senior officials are found to have ignored their mandates or disregard legislation, the Code of Conduct for Political Leaders and the procedures provided for in the Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No 32 of 2000), as amended are invoked, respectively. Members of the Executive Council (MECs) have been sensitized on the matter and were urged to take the necessary steps to apply the said provisions, as and when required.

Reply:

(1) Sections 51, 52, 53 and 54 of the Financial Management Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, 2009 (Act No. 10 of 2009), as amended (herein called “the Act”), took effect on 19 April 2009. The Act was amended by the Financial Management of Parliament Amendment Act, 2014 (Act No. 34 of 2014), which took effect on 1 April 2015. The mentioned sections of the Act were not amended by Act No. 34 of 2014.

(2) The Act does not confer authority on the National Treasury to grant exemptions from compliance with any of its provisions to Parliament. The National Treasury is not seized with the administration of the Act and ensuring compliance with its provisions. Sections 51 to 53 of the Act impose obligations on the Accounting Officer of Parliament, i.e. the Secretary to Parliament, while section 54 of the Act imposes obligations on the Executing Authority of Parliament, i.e. the presiding officers of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, acting jointly, and also on Parliament. The oversight mechanism envisaged in section 4 of the Act is tasked with maintaining oversight of the financial management of Parliament.

 

Reply:

1. Yes, Minister Gordhan attended formal WEF meetings. He also attended a number of bilateral meetings with his international counterparts, prominent economists and business people to discuss challenges facing the South African economy and steps being taken by government to build confidence.

    (a) Minister Gordhan attended seven formal meetings. They were:

    (b) (1) South Africa Briefing

A round table discussion with South African Investors, civil society and heads of corporate South Africa.

(2) South Africa Issue Briefing: South Africa’s Economic Outlook

Televised one-on-one session with Minister Gordhan on South Africa’s Economy moderated by Oliver Cann; attended by local and international media. The following is a link to the interview: http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2016

(3) Press Conference: How can we finance the Sustainable Development Goals?

Other Speakers: 

• Georg Schmitt, 
• Chrystia Freeland, 
• Bertrand Badre

See: https://webcasts.weforum.org/widget/1/davos2016?p=1&pi=1&ms=1&th=2&s=w

(4) Productivity growth slowdown in the age of the fourth industrial revolution.

A round table discussion with the following experts:

• Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Santiago
• Douglas W. Elmendorf, Dean, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA
• Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalization and Development, and Director, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
• Edmund S. Phelps, Director, The Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University, USA Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics and International Business, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, USA
• Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA
• Bruno Sánchez-Andrade Nuño, Data Scientist, Innovation Labs, World Bank, Washington DC
• Arun Sundararajan, Professor of Business; Rosen Faculty Fellow, New York University, USA
• Rodrigo Valdés Pulido, Minister of Finance of Chile

(5) Business Interaction Group on South Africa

A closed session in which Government briefed South African Business and International Investors on the South African economy; followed by a question and answer session. Government was represented by the President, and Ministers Gordhan, Davies, Patel, Motsoaledi and Radebe.

(6) Accelerating Access to Capital

Minister Gordhan was a discussion leader in the above mentioned session with the following experts:

• Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister of Finance of Indonesia
• Thomas Finke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Babson Capital, USA
• Adena Friedman, President, Global Corporate and Information Technology Solutions, NASDAQ, USA
• Ben J. Kruger, Joint Executive Officer, Standard Bank Group, South Africa
• Michael Drexler, Head of Investors Industries, Member of Management Committee, World Economic Forum
• Alison Tarditi, Chief Investment Officer, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, Australia

(7) Africa’s Next Challenge

Minister Gordhan was a participant in this session.

Panelists were:

• Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
• Hans Vestberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President of the African Development Bank
• Yemi Osinbajo,  Vice-President of Nigeria
• Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda

2. The World Economic Forum presents an opportunity for government to interact with government, business and civil society leaders from around the world. South Africa uses the Forum to advance its national interests in areas of Foreign Direct Investment, building investor confidence, cooperation with other national governments and best practices in policy development. For the Ministry and the department, building investor confidence and assuring the markets of our commitment to fiscal discipline and economic growth was a key objective in Davos in 2016.

Minister Gordhan’s presence at WEF Davos in 2016 was especially important after the change in leadership in the Ministry of Finance in December 2015. In numerous radio and television interviews, formal sessions, bilateral and other meetings, the Minister was asked to respond to questions on the future of the South African economy. The Minister’s discussions with business and investors centered on measures being taken by government to grow the South African economy; reasons why South Africa is a desirable investment destination and steps being taken to avoid a sovereign rating downgrade.

Reply:

1. Yes, the Minister requested the SARS Commissioner to discontinue the restructuring of SARS operational restructuring to enable him to review and consult with the team on the matter.
2. The National Treasury does not have an oversight role of SARS.