Questions and Replies

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:

Find here: Reply

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

As per attached table.

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:

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:

With reference to the question of 21 December 2015 a request was made to all Metropolitan Municipalities to provide the relevant information as per the question. Most Metropolitan Municipalities responded to the request and those outstanding committed to provide the information when it is available.

The original question 4185 was and the following Metropolitan Municipalities replied:

Whether any of the metropolitan municipalities measure the average time it takes to fix (a) potholes, (b) street lights and (c) traffic lights; if not, why not; if so, (i) which metros, (ii) what is the average time in each case, (iii) how is this measured and (iv) what is the specified municipality doing to improve performance in this area?

The information was provided by the respective Metropolitan Municipalties:

NAME OF METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY	(a) (potholes)	(b) (street lights)	(c) (traffic lights)
Buffalo City	The BCMM attend to pothole fixing within seven 97) working days after receipt of report subject to availability of material, resources and weather permitting.	Response to street light repairs is informed by the assessment of the actual problem. Sometimes normal street light failure takes one (1) or two (2) days to repair whilst rea fault takes seven (7) days to repair	All traffic signal faults are attended to immediately upon receipt (depending on staff being available and weather permitting). The roadway is cleared of debris and installation made electrically safe. Where possible the damage or fault is isolated and the signals can operate while the full repair is being completed. Normal Traffic light faults within two days of being reported (In most instances signals are repaired within one day). The response times above are under normal failure conditions and not vandalism, theft or illegal connections. An SMS service is used to improve repair times
	A job card is opened when the complaint is received and closed after repairs are completed. Records of work done are kept to inform plans to cascade them to lower levels. The Ward based volunteers are used in line with EPWP principles on remuneration and use of private contractors to supplement the internal capacity as and when need arises.
Nelson Mandela Bay	ii. Time taken to repair a single pothole bigger than 1m² on a major road is 55 minutes per m²; Time taken to repair a single pothole smaller than 1m² on a major road is 35 minutes per m²; Time taken to repair a single pothole on a minor road is 35 minutes per pothole; Time taken to repair a road following an open trench service crossing is 35-55 minutes per m² - depending on material in trench; Time taken to repair walkways (concrete) is 105 minutes per m²; Time taken to repair walkways (asphalt) is 35 minutes per m².
City of Tshwane	ii. The target time is 48 hours	ii. The target time is 48 hours	ii. The target time is 48 hours
	iii. The road maintenance tasks are measured through IMIS: TASKER system; The response time is measured in terms of time taken from the time identified or reported;
	iv. Standby teams have been established to deal with after-hours reported complaints;
City of Joburg	The CoJ does measure the average time it takes to fix potholes. The average response time for fixing a pothole is (6.21 days).	The CoJ does measure the response time it takes to fix streetlights. The average time is a day after the defected streetlight has been identified or reported.	i. The CoJ does measure the response time it takes to fix streetlights. ii. The average turnaround time to repair traffic lights is 9 days.
	iii. The response time for potholes is measured through the Hansen, the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) performance management system; The streets get inspected during the day and night to identify those that that are not working, which is then followed with repairs are done to defective lights; The clock starts from recording of the event in the system up until physical repair is performed.
	iv. The JRA focuses on a Road Resurfacing programme that will minimise the number of potholes and increase the value of our roads. In addition, the JRA has set quarterly targets which are aimed at reducing the number of potholes and Agency responds to the calls logged by the customers and attempt to resolve the calls within the 3 days turnaround time; Various resources have been allocated to repair vandalized streetlights in the main arterial routes, secondary routes and in the low-cost cost areas; The CoJ field crews are working daily on the maintenance of traffic lights.
Ekurhuleni	(ii) The average time it takes to respond differs as follows: Repair a single pothole – in major road – 24 hours. Repair a single pothole – in minor road – 5 working days. Repair a road following an open trench service crossing – 5 working days. Repair/replace a kerb inlet – 20 working days. Repair walkways – 10 working days.	(ii) The average time it takes to fix non-functioning street lights is 3 days. Non-functional street lights are logged into the Customer Relations Management (CRM) System. The logged complaints are attended to and as-and-when completed, they are closed on the CRM System with actual date.	(ii) The repair of any traffic light fault in a major road (subject to electrical supply available) is 4 hours; The repair of any traffic light fault in a minor road (subject to electrical supply available) – 24 hours
	iii. EMM uses Engineering Management Information System (EMIS); Non-functional street lights are logged into the Customer Relations Management (CRM) System. The logged complaints are attended to and as-and-when completed, they are closed on the CRM System with actual date; The Metro measures the response by using Engineering Management Information System (EMIS);
	iv. The Roads and Stormwater Department within the EMM has put up measures in place for the following: road rehabilitation, pothole signage and road marking and bitumen tar products to supplement and assist Department Depot; EMM has increased capacity through the appointment of as-and-when required capacity to assist the Metro in reducing the average response time to keep the Metro lit; The Roads and Stormwater Department has put measures in place for the following: road rehabilitation, pothole signage and road marking and bitumen tar products to supplement and assist Department Depot.
Mangaung	ii. The targeted turn-around time for fixing portholes is 5 days;	ii. there is not specific turn-around time to fix streetlights	ii. the targeted time to fix traffic lights is 4 hours
	iii. It is measured by the electronic Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System used by the Municipal Call Centre. The measurement is taken from the time the customer reports a complaint to the Call Centre when the complaint is logged into the CRM System and allocated a reference number until such time that the relevant service delivery unit closes the complaint with the Call Centre on the electronic CRM System. At this stage we are busy rolling out the CRM System to the relevant service delivery units which in effect mean that all the service delivery units are in the process of implementing the system.
	iv. Additional vehicles and SUV’s have been ordered to assist the Traffic Signs Division. Contractors were appointed for some areas and their performance can be measured with the implementation of SMART streetlight systems, performance and repairs can be measured.
City of Cape Town	Potholes are made safe within 24 hours after report received from the Roads Department. Final repair depends on the class of road and this can take between 1 and 5 days subject to departmental priority schedule.	The average time to fix single streetlights is 14 days but normally done within 48 hours.	The average time to fix traffic lights is 6 to 12 hours.
	Potholes are measured by analysing customer complaints and fault reporting systems. The fixing of streetlights are measured in days and by the amount of streetlights out and the fixing of traffic lights are measured by the fault reporting system.
	Ongoing training and internal performance reviews are implemented. Maintenance is becoming pro-active and the department performs block replacement of luminaires to mitigate luminaire end-of-life failures.
eThekweni	ii. 14 days	ii. the average time to fix a simple lamp outage is 2 days and when cables are stolen the average time is 5 days
	(iii)Work requests are received from the public via the City’s customer call centre, via work orders from service providers and from scheduled inspections. The process is measured from request to closure.
	(iv) The system is monitored by management with a view to improve performance.

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:

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:

The following information was provided by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality:

1. (a) and (b) The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has indicated that it approached Rand Water regarding the installation of the telemetry system at all of its reservoirs. At present, the final draft of the service level agreement between the Municipality and Rand Water for the installation of the telemetry system at all of the Municipality’s reservoirs is with Rand Water for formalisation.
2. (a) According to the Municipality, an amount of R8 million is available in the current financial year to commence with the work. The design of the system is complete. The data loggers are expected to take six months to install the system at all of the Municipality’s reservoirs. Further phases in the next financial year would include the completion of the integration of the Municipality and Rand Water control rooms as well as the installation of the telemetry to control the reservoir valves. (b) The Municipality has indicated that the first phase will take six months to complete.

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:

The requested information from the remaining four Metropolitan Municipalities is yet to be received and the efforts are being made to follow up on them. The Honourable Member will therefore be updated on progress.

Reply:

The Thokoza Hostel is situated in the Gauteng Province and falls within the jurisdiction of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

(a) The budget allocated for the 2015/16 financial year was R19 730 000.00. This was for the provision of temporary residential units, for accommodation of residents pending the redevelopment. The budget allocated for the 2016/17 financial year is R61 000 000.00, this funding is for the demolition of the existing buildings as well as for the installation of engineering services up to phase one of the development.

(b) The hostel comprises of forty-one (41) hostel blocks in a dormitory formation, which were deemed not suitable for human habitation and will be demolished and replaced by three storeys of Community Residential Units. These three storeys will yield two thousand, six hundred and twenty one (2621) units.

(i) & (ii) Tenders for demolition of the existing buildings and installation of services were advertised during March 2016. This project will consist of seven phases and will be implemented in a phased approach over a period of approximately eight (8) years subject to the availability of the required funding.

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 information below was sourced from the Metros. The information from the other metros is still outstanding:

Name of the Municipality	Operational Budget	Capital Budget
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality	R433,89 million	R210,65 million
Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality	R190,1 million	R252,5 million
City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality	R1,9 billion	R940,5 million
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality	R100 000	R139, 87 million
City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality	Informal settlements are a part of a bigger programme, namely formalisation which includes; Informal settlements; Infrastructure services (Roads, Bulk and Electrification) The total Budget for this category which is funded through the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) is R678 000 000.00 (six hundred and seventy eight million for the 2015/16 financial year. Although this is categorised as Capital expenditure, professional fees and related kind of expenses are drawn from this grant (subject to the USDG conditions) as the total cost is capitalised.

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 requested information from the remaining five Metropolitan Municipalities is yet to be received and the efforts are being made to follow up on them. The Honourable Member will therefore be updated on progress.

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:

Yes, it is anticipated that the relocation of beneficiaries of the Kliptown Informal Settlement will be completed by the end of 2020. The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality has indicated that the project comprises of six precincts, namely Kliptown Extensions 2, 6, 7 and 11, Pimville Zone 9 and Sector 2, which will be independently proclaimed as townships.

The project is in progress and is in various stages of implementation. To date, 1 089 beneficiaries of the Kliptown Informal Settlement have been allocated fully subsidised freehold housing units known as BNG houses at Pimville Zone 9 and Klipspruit Extension 2. An estimated 200 BNG houses at Klipspruit Extension 11 will be allocated to the beneficiaries by the end of April 2016.

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:

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:

(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) refer to the table herewith below

DEPARTMENT	(a) SMS	(b) NON SMS
	(i) 2012-13	(ii) 2013-14	(iii) 2014-15	(i) 2012-13	(ii) 2013-14	(iii) 2014-15
Department in the Presidency	12 319	-	9 864	416 387	243 905	641 178
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries	21 867	112 489	56 874	1 035 018	1 864 952	1 592 482
Department of Arts and Culture	19 918	66 576	32 682	45 526	180 706	130 728
Department of Basic Education	-	5 386	-	395 100	226 197	499 776
Department of Correctional Services	447 405	350 644	-	1 043 945	1 658 816	1 395 545
Department of Defence	-	17 313	-	1 726 295	2 718 120	3 302 708
Department of Economic Development	12 664	-	5 528	4 221	44 325	33 165
Department of Education		-			71 288
Department of Energy	26 798	73 596	25 839	348 375	220 788	723 484
Department of Environmental Affairs	333 777	244 543	79 856	1 260 936	1 316 770	1 789 722
Department of Health	108 908	-	43 933	3 439 678	473 797	129 358
Department of Higher Education and Training	147 422	222 309	35 945	833 500	236 652	854 689
Department of Home Affairs	58 225	11 601	126 393	82 741	1 015 097	2 446 848
Department of Human Settlements	4 921	221 348	152 192	118 109	154 944	488 283
Department of International Relations and Cooperation	199 231	209 306	-	1 535 737	753 501	505 964
Department of Labour	296 264	435 061	192 976	1 915 858	1 489 388	3 315 866
Department of Military Veterans			-			77 430
Department of Mineral Resources	131 485	49 367	253 312	884 538	1 596 215	1 447 496
Department of Planning Monitoring & Evaluation	29 446	-	-	235 569	52 536	105 318
Department of Public Enterprises	64 928	16 124	68 053	64 928	46 760	198 487
Department of Public Service and Administration	124 567	138 871	69 007	1 575 078	1 666 447	2 180 617
Department of Public Works	405 583	46 789	4 197	1 598 299	823 480	591 761
Department of Rural Development and Land Reform	39 339	10 146	15 097	4 442 810	5 969 431	865 588
Department of Science and Technology	325 724	10 113	-	172 442	151 696	184 792
Department of Social Development	62 085	8 467	13 904	418 255	378 179	389 325
Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services		-	85 716		15 375	179 225
Department of Tourism	157 755	44 295	15 060	591 582	673 286	624 988
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)	427 021	387 575	280 234	2 087 656	2 196 260	1 961 640
Department of Transport	194 950	231 783	7 367	27 850	267 054	445 685
Department of Transport	-			8 312
Department of Water Affairs	1 012 651	266 656	204 122	2 716 476	2 377 570	1 820 347
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development	547 013	489 380	353 696	1 566 779	1 125 087	2 992 829
Government Communication and Information System	35 893	-	-	35 893	243 378	725 679
Government Pensions Administration Agency	-	-	5 383	359 534	336 112	231 488
Government Printing Works	-	-	3 804	125 120	94 341	64 662
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID)	54 886	40 246	73 253	192 101	234 770	109 879
National Parliament	11 096	25 680	41 915	5 659 163	3 004 607	2 556 824
National Prosecuting Authority of SA	-	26 007	78 065	26 541	173 377	303 076
National School of Government	136 754	23 051	69 698	383 794	748 103	543 064
National Treasury	134 896	89 643	98 457	277 500	386 881	1 045 676
Public Service Commission	10 188	-	38 486	95 088	77 026	113 626
South African Police Service (SAPS)	-	-	5 116	6 541 413	6 473 637	1 959 404
South African Police Service (SAPS)	-	-	-	37 000	132 000	8 991
South African Revenue Service (SARS)		-	-		6 885	11 140
South African Social Security Agency	-	33 484	-	25 225	1 131 756	1 178 350
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)	23 486	28 028	5 989	2 411 228	1 550 906	1 922 371
Grand Total	5 619 464	3 935 878	2 552 014	46 761 599	44 602 403	42 689 554

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 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. 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:

(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:

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:

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:

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 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:

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:

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:

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) 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:

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. 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